A big thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was promised time travel, but all I was left with was an existential crisis.

The Ministry of Time by Kaliana Bradley is a science fiction novel that delves into the concept of time travel. In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she’ll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expats” from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time.

She is tasked with working as a “bridge”: living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as “1847” or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as “washing machines,” “Spotify,” and “the collapse of the British Empire.” But with an appetite for discovery, a seven-a-day cigarette habit, and the support of a charming and chaotic cast of fellow expats, he soon adjusts. Over the next year, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a horrifically uncomfortable roommate dynamic, evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry’s project comes to light, the bridge has fallen haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences she never could have imagined. Forced to confront the choices that brought them together, the bridge must finally reckon with how—and whether she believes—what she does next can change the future.

I didn't per say hate this book. Instead I've come to realize that my brain can't fully wrap my head around time travel and all the wibbly wobbly timey wimey bits that go into it. So, I loved all the non-confusing parts of this book.

This was really good!

While sci-fi/fantasy side of it wasn’t prominent, the story is setup upon time travel, and 5 people being extracted from different eras to test the after effects of it. The story focuses on Graham Gore and his bridge (through her POV). I love the fact Graham is actually a real historic figure in arctic expedition.

The romance was also a little subdued but it was good and steady in the background mostly. The dynamic between MCs and their banter was soooo good. I genuinely loved their humor and companionship. Reading Graham smoke THAT much gave me anxiety.

While he was well adjusted on the outside, Graham had insecurities and overwhelmed traveling hundreds of years forward. That was depicted well, I could feel his anxiety through FMC’s eyes. I loved his friendship with Arthur and Margaret. Both were precious. But their bond was truly special.

I loved the plot twists because they were real twists, and good! The slow burn was quite slow until middle or so, and yet it was deliciously built up. I loved how their relationship slowly developed and genuinely became more almost over the course of the year. The ending and twist left me both hurting and speechless.

I loved there were so many good messages in the book, the criticism of colonialism, the trauma of Cambodian genocide and the future of the world with global warming and wars. It was intricately woven into the story.

I loved the messages in the very end so much.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This book started off so strong! The plot already convinced me that I would like this book, and the author’s note cemented that. I also thought it was hilarious- I loved Bradley’s subtle sense of humor. And she wrote such great characters. (Graham, Arthur, and Maggie at least; I got frustrated with the FMC.) However, a bit before halfway in it hit a lull for me, and I had to force myself to finish. I’m definitely glad I did finish, though, because there were a couple of surprises thrown in that I did not predict. So if you read this and experience that same lull, push through because it’s worth it!

I liked the premise of the book, a fun way to interact with a historical figure. Less than half way through the book, all the overt references to how it was going to end badly got a little old. I'm not a huge sci-fi fan and did get a little lost with who the bad guys are. The trauma of being a refugee in time was well done.

I LOVED this book. The plot is nice and juicy, the prose sings with bright ideas and brand new metaphors I've never read before, the romance stole my heart and the ending had me punching the air. Five stars. One of the best I've read this year.

This book defies categorization. I loved it. While the book has time travel, it isn’t really sci-fi - it’s much more character driven. It has a love story but isn’t really a romance. There is history but it’s not historical fiction. Whatever genre it is, I want to read more of it.

The writing is beautiful and I found myself reading sentences over again to take them in. The characters were fully developed and compelling.

This would be a great book for fans of Jodi Taylor or Connie Willis, or those who read and liked Babel.

This was a great debut and I can’t wait to see what Kaliane Bradley does next.

Very unique and engaging. I enjoyed this a lot, most of all for it's weirdness. This is like nothing I've ever read before - which is a huge plus these days, as I often feel like I've seen everything a book can offer.

This book was bold, exciting, and such an immersive read. I had a hard time putting it down, and couldn’t stop thinking about it while I was doing other things. The concept was compelling, the prose was engaging, and the romance was butterfly-inducing. I enjoyed the lack of specificity - we didn’t name our heroine, and I don’t believe we knew exactly what year it was either (unless I missed it!). That left the novel seeming unspecific (in a good way). I liked so much about this book, and I think the author has so much promise, but there were a few things that didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

Positives:
- The characters were fascinating. Even the ones that weren’t given the opportunity to develop much, or for us to get to know them much, they were all quite compelling, and I would read all of their files in depth!

- The romance was sweet and tender and achingly lovely, the slow burn was slow, but the reward was great

- The concept itself was so great, I was hooked by this premise, and I honestly feel like this would make a great TV series, or book series, following bridges and their expats. It would be delightful

- The mix of genres (science fiction, romance, literary, suspense) was great!

- Overall the writing was strong - engaging, full of prose and melody, and very evocative

- I loved that this colourful story was told in so many shades of grey. Everything was messy and complicated, and morally ambiguous, it was DELICIOUS


Room for improvement:
- The pacing was great for so long, but the story kind of fell apart near the end. Not completely, but it did not stand strong on its own, a lot felt rushed, some stuff wasn’t clearly reasoned out, and there were so many twists and turns that panned out via the exposition of conversations that were as finessed as a brick to the head. The conclusion was clunky, and could use some work.

- Our narrator at times would be brilliant and snarky and smart, and delightful, and at other times, she would shakily almost arbitrarily make her way through some sort of self discovery or memory, and it felt like her reflections were almost half-hearted. I especially noticed this whenever we touched on moral and social issues like race and some of the ethics to do with her work. Often it worked - life is confusing and we don’t always have fully formed thoughts, but other times it felt underdeveloped. Our protagonist would at length list microaggressions, and be so painfully self-aware at her own faults and mistakes, but then would make decisions that felt extremely out of character. While I’m all for a complicated and multifaceted main character, didn’t feel intentional, and It just felt a bit inconsistent.

Ultimately, I really, really enjoyed this book. It was electrifying, and smart, and unforgettable. I hope to read more from Bradley soon!

The Ministry of Time merges time travel with a romance and a spy thriller with varying results.

A minor government translator is given a dream job. She is hired to teach a time traveler from the 1840s how modern life works. They will live together for a year. Rent, food and all the trappings are free. She just needs to provide weekly reports on the time traveler’s acclimation to modern society. The job also includes a giant bump in pay. She can’t say no to all of that. However, things get complicated when she finds herself attracted to her charge, Commander Graham Gore. In the meantime, her government agency is beset by challenges from both within and without.

The world building of the universe is excellent. The fact that Commander Gore was a real person is a mind-blowing addition to the meta feel of this book. The translator also reflects a lot about being biracial in Britain and the horribleness of the Cambodian war. There are also many humorous scenes of Graham and his fellow time travelers’ issues with the modern world.

Unfortunately, the middle of this book dragged a bit for me. I struggled to get past it. However, the slam bam thrilling finale of The Ministry of Time was definitely worth the slog. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars!

Thanks to Avid Reader Press and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.

I enjoy a light sci-fi - like a little more fi and a little less sci. Then again, if there is going to be sci, there should be enough to explain the technology in the world a least a little. Basically, I'm a bit of a picky-penny when it comes to the types of sci-fi books that work for me. Throw in time travel and the lane of likability gets even narrower for me. Even still, this book got a ton of early reviews, was a Book of the Month pick, and is mentioned all over my bookish podcasts by people I usually trust for book recommendations, so I decided to give it a try. Overall, it was a fun and easy read, but left me a bit baffled in certain areas.

The blurb made this out to be a time traveling, historical romantic fiction, spy novel. And while there were elements of all of that word salad description, all of them were surface level and never fully developed. Here's a breakdown of my thoughts:

Pros: Not too much super technical sciency stuff. Many of the descriptions and comparisons are very clever and unique. I love the lack of cliches. I also enjoyed the philosophical questions raised by the time travel elements and the idea of taking a person out of their time period. Besides Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, I hadn't read/watched any time travel novels with that aspect of bringing to the future people from the past. (And in Bill and Ted, they eventually return the people back to their time period). I really enjoyed the view of the 21st century through the eyes of past generations and how would the values of their time period fit in/contrast with the social norms of ours. Can you imagine a man from the 1600s being exposed to the Kardashians? This author did.

Cons: The start was a bit slow. In fact, the pacing was a bit odd. It was slow to start with lots of foreshadow for what is to come. We know pretty early that the speaker (the unnamed main character told in first person) is telling this story in retrospect/flashback. The speaker seemingly breaks the fourth wall by using "you" and telling this story to someone, at the beginning presumably the reader. This can be overdone, but it didn't bother me and we find out later that there is a reason for this. ANYWAY - the pace is slow in the beginning - all about the speaker's rise in the Ministry of Time and the detox of the ex-pats (those people they steal from other timelines). It isn't until after the 50% mark that we start to get any sort of answers to all the foreshadowing.
The attempt at old dialogue from the different time periods were stilted and forced. Like the author researched common vocab of the time period and tried to put it all in. I honestly skimmed most of it.
The majority of the book was world building and explaining the ex-pat information. The actual plot, when it does actually start to pick up, seems rushed and little glossed over.
Overall, the writing style is a little inconsistent. The author is clearly intelligent and has a big vocabulary. But it didn't feel like the narrator should be. The syntax doesn't always match the diction and I could feel the author's hand in the writing. In other words, the author is using words to show off her intelligence and to try to elevate the book instead of me actually believing that the character would use the words herself. I think this type of elevated diction works better in 3rd person like The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russel instead of first person.
The time travel elements always add some loop/plot holes and this was no exception. The ending was ambiguous and a bit unresolved but did end on a note of hope.
Don't get me started on the "romance." Just - no.

Overall, my initial reaction was meh with a side of could have been better or more evenly paced. Loved the premise and the clever descriptions but I guess, given the description, I just expected more to happen. Not a lot happened... and not a lot was ever really explained to satisfaction in the end...

I seriously don’t know how to describe this book - I don’t think I can even properly describe what genre it is. 😂 Basically, our nameless narrator is a half-Cambodian British woman in the not too far future, who gets assigned to a new role in a new division. Why? Because 5 people from different eras of history have somehow been fetched through time travel to modern day Britain, and she’s assigned to one of them as his “bridge” or essentially handler as he transitions into the modern day. There’s also some intrigue, some romance, but surprisingly not much science fiction-y elements til towards the end of the book.

Oh, and the person she is assigned to handle, Captain Graham Gore, is an actual figure (an Arctic explorer from 1847), and the author says in a note up front that she basically started this as sort of fab-fiction vignettes to entertain her and her friends during Covid. So yeah, this book is kind of weird.

It’s for sure extremely unique and also funny. The only thing I can think of to even compare it to is The Eyre Affair by Jasper Forde which also has a strange and funny sensibility and genre mash up. But for me, it sort of fell apart a little bit towards the end. But it was interesting, and I really would love to discuss it with someone. Just wish it had stuck the landing more.

I struggled to rate it, but I think I’m going with 3.75 stars.

This moved so slowly and so never got my true interest. It was so interesting a premise with a very dry delivery that left me feeling empty.

Highly recommend this one!! This is my first time reading one of their books but it won't be the last! This book sucks you in from the get-go and you will find yourself thinking about the characters long after you finish it. Do yourself a favor and get this book!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance reader copy of The Ministry of Time. Unfortunately, the ARC was so fraught with spelling and grammatical errors, I had to put it down around the 20% mark and wait for the book to be released. Thankfully, that first 20% still managed to capture my attention and I'm glad I picked it back up. There's not much I can say without giving away the plot, but this book was breathtaking. I found the story to be unique and original. Kaliane Bradley is now on my radar.

I have always LOVED time travel stories and this book was no exception. It's always fun, and sometimes horrific, to imagine what life would be like if time travel were possible. And what the ramifications would be of such abilities. I love that the book pairs a modern-day woman with an 1800's explorer as she "bridges" him: teaching him how to live in the modern world. The two fall in love and hilarity ensues. The book is funny and tender and somehow realistic. I loved it.

Time travel can be really, really tricky, unless you are in Kaliane Bradley's hands. The Ministry of Time is so much more than a time travel book though. It is a love story, it is page turner, and highly entertaining no matter what genre we are in. If you like Outlander, you want to run for this.

The Ministry of Time s the definition of genre-bending. Is it a science fiction, fantasy, time-travel love story? Or is it a speculative spy thriller? The answer is- YES.

I'm struggling to craft a "traditional" review so I'm going to share a bunch of words. Funny, charming, sad, clever, contemplative, wholly unique, twisty, other-wordly, insightful, transporting, and engaging.

AUDIO: I loved the audio narration but also appreciated having a paper copy (library) to reference.

MORE: This cover- amazing.

“𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘪𝘳. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰.”

Thanks to Avid Reader press and NetGalley for the ARC of this title.

I absolutely devoured this, and it's a fun mash-up of genres - a little romance, a little sci-fi timey-wimey stuff, plus some espionage. It's very aware of the type of book it wants to be, and I applaud the way it chooses to end.

Thank you to Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. This is a dystopian type of sci-fi (ish) novel, and I truly enjoyed it. While some themes or things in it seem far away, the reality is we are closer to these realities than we realize, which makes these books so entertaining (in a dark way).

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
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This book is about a woman (I don’t think we even get her name) who starts working for the Ministry of Time. The Ministry has pulled several people from past time periods into this time with some mysterious technology. Claimed to be part time travel, part spy novel, and part love story: Ministry of Time promises it all.
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I did not like it.
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Why, you may ask, did you not like it?

Point #1: I was exceptionally bored and exasperated with this book. There was a lot of talking. There was a lot of soliloquy-ing. There was nothing actually happening until approximately the 74% mark of the book. That is a lot of dead space for me. It could be argued that the story was being slowly built, yet I was still bored with the story building.

Point #2: The “love story” was not great. The female character (again, I do not think she had a name? I am not going to hunt for it, but I legitimately do not recall her name. If anyone knows please tell me) seems to be obsessed with the male character who comes from 1847. But it felt like she didn’t really love him for him, there was no relationship building, he was her roommate that she obsessed over and fell in love with the idea of loving him. It was weird and I didn’t like it. Likewise, the male character seemed more interested in the fact that the female character is half Cambodian rather than falling in love with her.

Point #3: I can see how the last 25% was supposed to be the crazy reveals, everything is happening part that really cemented that “wow, that was a great ending and I forgive how slow this book was up until now.” I did not like the end. One reveal was kind of cool but it felt like it was explained too quickly and then thrown away. It definitely did not make me forgive the first 75%.

Point #4: I have to admit that this point is not really the books fault but an outside party. I read a review where someone compared this book to Outlander, which I promise that I DID take that with a grain of salt. And yet at the end of this book I wanted to scream “HOW COULD ANYONE EVEN MENTION THIS BOOK IN THE SAME CONVERSATION LET ALONE SENTENCE AS OUTLANDER.” Sacrilege. THE SHAME. (Outlander is a work of art, people. ART.)
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2⭐️⭐️