The Ministry of Time, by Kaliane Bradley, is a great time travel-ly romance. It is the perfect fun enthralling read.

I was happy reading this book and I had a great time. I was texting my friends about the swooning tension occurring. I didn’t know where the novel was going but I was happily along for the ride.

Here’s the plot in a nutshell: Time travel exists, a secret government agency is testing it out on historical expats. The expats have handlers who live with them, help keep tabs on them, and help them adjust to modern life. There’s danger, there’s humor. It’s not too heavy on the romance or the science. So if you want one but not the other don’t let the genres dissuade you.

The direct to reader asides are not my fav. That’s more personal preference to me than a dig against the novel. I also don’t love blatant foreshadowing. It dropped too many comments about the fate of the characters. But overall I really enjoyed it and I think readers are really going to like it. “1847”/Commander Graham Gore is going to have many fans.

Government organizations with secret departments is a specific niche I rather enjoy. If you’re looking for move books along this line try The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O., by Neal Stephenson & Nicole Galland, or The Rook, by Daniel O'Malley.

If you’d like more time travel romance try A Quantum Love Story, by Mike Chen, or An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim.

Here are some quotes from Kaliane Bradley:
“I’d fixated on Graham because ever since seeing his daguerreotype, I’d fallen a little in love with him, and I wanted my readers to be a little in love with him, too.”

“Writing this novel was a sometimes quite exposing journey into thinking about mixed-race identity, inherited trauma, and the ways the personal can be political, or politicized.”

Quotes from the book:
“All likeable people know how to be a flattering mirror.”

“If you ever fall in love you’ll be a person who was in love for the rest of your life.”

“When something changes you constitutionally, you say: ‘the earth moved’. But the earth stays the same. It’s your relationship with the ground that shifts.”

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradly was, by far, one of the most unique books I have read in such a long time. I loved it. It was funny, it was entertaining and it was truly one of the most unique stories I've read. I think this is definitely something that is outside of people's usual reads but I think it will surprise them in the best way. I cannot wait to recommend this to everyone!

Wondering about THE MINISTRY OF TIME by Kaliane Bradley? Don't wonder: Read it if you like stories that are exceptionally well-written, wonderfully plotted with deft descriptions, dialogue that is witty, clever, and revealing. I fell more than a little in love with 1840s Arctic explorer Graham Gore and his "bridge" . No qualifications or explanations can adequately describe the magic, the art, the deft handling of time travel in a time of bureaucracy and overweening management of time traveling where the past and near-future meet in an unlikely pair of man saved from his own death and woman thrilled to have landed a great-paying civil service job. The repartee, the world Bradley has created are like nothing else I've ever read -- an absolute delight from the first lines. I especially enjoyed the management of the impossible, the fissures and complications of managing time travelers by a bureaucratic, extremely cautious team and the inevitable complications and twists regarding messing around with time. I received a copy of this book and these thoughts are my own, unbiased opinions.

I am so glad I decided to read something outside of my comfort zone—because this was fabulous. Was it a bit slow in parts? Sure, but there is a definite pay-off at the end that made it all worth it. It feels a bit like Outlander (though nowhere near as sexy) with a bit of what I think Doctor Who would be (I haven’t seen more than one episode, so this could be a terrible comparison). One thing I will note is that we never find out the main character’s name. If that’s going to bother you, proceed with caution (but please don’t let it stop you!).

What didn’t work for me

Chapter lengths: This book only has 10 chapters, and though there are lots of places to stop, I did find it a little bit frustrating as a reader that the sections were overly long. That’s why it took me a long time to get into it, I think. (See next point.)

Slow start: Again, just grasping at straws because no book is perfect, but it did take me a long time to get into it. I was expecting the book to be a bit…funnier. Don’t get me wrong, this book has its funny moments. But if I’m looking to nitpick about this story, I would have loved for there to be a bit more humourous about the expats living in the modern day—especially with the roommate dynamics. Based on the synopsis, I was just expecting a slightly different tone than what we got, but it wasn’t a bad thing. That being said, about halfway through, I was completely hooked.

What I liked

The history: I love that Graham Gore was a real person. Though there are some fictionalized bits, there are lots of parts of this story that are rooted in the experiences we know he (and his team) had exploring the Arctic. And his other companions like Arthur and Maggie, though not real people, were rooted in history—you knew who they were and could imagine them perfectly. It made this farfetched story seem more plausible.

The writing: Bradley has a way with words that I haven’t seen in a long time. There are phrases and moments throughout the whole book that are just so tender and thoughtful and really make you feel something. She’s not a flowery writer or one that hits you in the head with details, but the way she strings the words together is almost like magic. It’s quite beautiful.

The ending: I’m definitely not giving anything away, but I did not predict where the story went. It took me on a journey, and I loved every second of it.

5 STARS

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an advanced book copy in exchange for my honest review.

It’s very weird to think a book was well written, funny, and deftly touches on some sensitive themes, and yet not like it. Y’all, this book just wasn’t for me and I have no idea why. I loved the idea of the plot, the characters were fun, and there was a bit of mystery - but I just could not connect to the point where I actively thought about wanting to read it. I kept picking up other books, or binge-watching YouTube, or choosing to go to bed at 8pm. I didn’t like the time jumps, or flashbacks, or whatever we want to call them. Maybe I’m just not a time-travel girlie? I am sure plenty of people are going to love this book, I am just not one of them. (thanks to @‌netgalley for the ARC to review!)

Thank you Netgalley and Avid Reader Press for access to this arc.

This blurb sounded awesome. Time travel, spy stuff, and romance. Heck yeah. Unfortunately I discovered that I am one of the readers who does not click with this book. Either I didn't know or didn't remember that Graham Gore was a real person. Yes, I'd heard of the Franklin Expedition and its horrible end but Gore's name didn't ring any bells. After reading the author's introduction and seeing that she has more than a slight crush on this (dead) man, I felt ... weird about it. Then the book starts and I was reminded of why I don't read books in which Jane Austen or Queen Elizabeth (either I or II) or some other real life person solves mysteries. Making a real person a main character and completely changing them creeps me out and feels slightly insulting to that person. The further I got into the book, the more uneasy I felt about the Gore character. 

The fact that (at the point I stopped) the whole details of the time travel was hand waved away was okay. I'd actually rather that than a tortured explanation that also makes no sense. But then we find out that these people were literally snatched away as if they were wild animals by use of steel mesh nets, that they fought this and were subdued, then hauled off whether or not they wanted to go hit me badly. Fuck that. 

The humor, which I was looking forward to, felt more stiff and awkward than funny. I can see by the other reviews that I'm an outlier but I'm calling it quits on this. DNF

This is such a weird book that I cannot stop thinking about and will definitely be up there as a favorite book of the year!

It is a mix of romance, science fiction, spy novel, time travel, and even some comedy. I have had so many people ask me what kind of book I am always looking for and this is it. This is my perfect read and one I really can’t recommend enough.

I don’t know if you watch the tv show Severance but if you haven’t you really should. There are not many similarities in plot between the show and this book but the vibe is the same and I was picturing so many of the characters from the tv show as the characters of this book. If I were you I would read this and then binge the show and you will definitely see what I am saying.

I really don't want to give anything away but picture expats from the past living with bridges, people that assist the expats with acclimation, one of them being from the Victorian era. The expats are hilarious, the bridges thought provoking, and the Ministry that they are all a part of…. Intriguing.

You are going to want to get your hands on this one and please DM so we can talk about it once you are done!

Thank you so much to @avidreaderpress for the early copy You got my hands on a favorite of the year!

Go buy this today!

When I finished this ARC I thought instantly, "I'd like to own this." Which is quite literally the highest praise I can give a book as I don't often purchase hard copies. I go into every book with as little knowledge as possible about its contents so when it comes to The Ministry of Time I have to recommend you do the same. This is a story about time travel, its not a romance but it is bound in love.

I really appreciate that this story came out of the author’s completely random fascination with Polar expeditions, one specific expedition and one specific member of the expedition in particular. (As someone who has had random obsessions with the Titanic, the 1899 newsboy strike, and obscure Scandinavian royalty, I relate.) Graham Gore was a real person! Go look at his picture on Wikipedia like Kaliane Bradley tells us to, both in the preface and the afterword! I will say it is just a teensy tiny bit odd that this is very obviously self-insert fanfiction (we never learn the first-person narrator’s name!) about a real person, but not odd enough that I didn’t enjoy it (My dear friend who listened to me talk about how weird fanfiction about real people was for years is laughing at me, by the way).

This book covers a lot of ground in not a lot of pages. There’s time travel, romance, colonialism, climate change, government bureaucracy, diaspora, espionage, and more. The idea of time travelers being classified by the government as “refugees'' leads to some interesting commentary on asylum seekers and immigrants more generally. For the hardcore science fiction readers, this may not be for you. It glosses over the actual mechanics of time travel and doesn’t get too much into semantics, but it works because our main character is simply one cog in a bureaucratic machine (at least at first) and doesn’t need to know these things.

This book was also my exact brand of humor with deadpan descriptions of absolutely ridiculous situations (YOU try to explain an equal opportunity employer to a British naval officer from 1847). My Kindle is awash with highlighted passages.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

“Saving” immigrants by rescuing them right before they die…but in the past then tossing them into current day? Sure, The Ministry of Time Travel seems like a legit government operation!

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley has a very interesting premise but was far from what I expected, and that’s a good thing. The reader and even the characters themselves are mostly left in the dark. However that makes for a mysterious book that keeps you reading.

I enjoyed the book as a whole but it did take a few long chapters to really grab my attention. At first I was bored with the history lessons and quite confused as to what was happening and why, until I learned that the origins of this story began as fan fiction for an Arctic British Navy expedition gone horribly wrong. Then the story itself and the satire started to make sense.

The Ministry of Time is about an expat (really meaning immigrant) program that picks people from different eras of time and transports them to present day, shortly before they die in their own timeline . Each expat is given a Bridge; a trained Ministry employee to be their friend and help them assimilate into modern times aka “train them” Both bridge and expat are subject to many odd tests by The Wellness Department to determine if they could mentally and physically survive time travel without their brains melting into glue. The actual details of time travel is not explained.

It’s written in first person by an unnamed female half Cambodian refugee main character who is the Bridge to Commander Gore. I personally had a hard time caring much about her until well into the book when her and Gore become “friends.” She doesn’t talk about herself a lot which lends to my opinion of her being socially awkward, sarcastic yet reserved, often embarrassed, and just lonely in general. I wanted to know her more, OR at least her name, even a nickname would suffice. How does this cast of characters never say her name?

Every other character is unique, intriguing, sometimes insane and grabbed my attention within a few pages of their introduction. Gore is a well-written likable main character with depth and a witty sense of humor, especially when it comes to Sesame Street. He is calm and collected; not much seems to faze him. He assimilates easier than the others which is hard to believe considering his circumstances of being ripped out of the 1800’s and dumped into present time. He is a natural storyteller which helped me learn about him and genuinely care about his life; past and present. Who knew he would be so relatable and hunt all the backyard squirrels?

I do love the story and plot overall. It’s thrilling, funny, and exciting with more than a dash of romance and surprise wrapped up in a bundle of suspense. Social commentary on racism, sexism, immoral experiments, immigration, British colonialism, and shady government practices weave in and out dressed in satire. I won’t lie I had to google a few British things simply because I didn’t know what they were, or the history behind them.

I found myself asking too many questions, even more than the expats. Which is why I kept reading; I wanted to know the answers! It’s a mystery! What will happen next? How do doors work? Open sesame? Sesame Street? What exactly IS a toilet and WHY? Am I an expat? I sure am acting like one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Ministry of Time is equal parts thought-provoking and hilarious. I really enjoyed the characterization of the expats, especially Graham Core. This story could have so easily just been a fun romance novel with time travel aspects sewn in, but it did such a good job of navigating past hardships and present-day conflicts and turning them into a really memorable, enjoyable story that stays with you well after the last page.

Thank you Avid Reader Press and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Despite this being one of my most anticipated spring 2024 releases, I ended up DNFing it sadly. The concept was really intriguing to me, but it read like a bad self-insert fan fiction - but with an arctic explorer instead of any random one might be interested in. I know it’s getting a ton of good reviews, but this was not for me.

Every book description I read about this starts with this sentence: "A time travel romance, a speculative spy thriller, a workplace comedy, and an ingeniously constructed exploration of the nature of truth and power and the potential for love to change it." Nothing I write will get close enough to describing everything that this book is half as well and I'm worried that even mentioning details about the plot or characters will ruin the experience that is reading this book. Just know that it's about a young woman working at a shady government Ministry that's exploring time travel and supposedly studying its effects on humans by 'rescuing' people from different eras and seeing how they do in the modern world.

It's full of complex emotions and even more complex relationships that Bradley seems to delight in never fully revealing, and that's what I loved most about it. Every character is fully realized to the point that you feel like you know them and want them to succeed, which makes the twisty path Bradley takes them (and us) on even more exciting. The mix of genres is done in a way that feels organic without ever feeling like elements of one or the other were just shoehorned in to fit a forced narrative. Of course, there are going to be spies in a story about a shady Ministry. Of course, there's romance when two people live in each other's pockets. Of course, the time travel element is going to result in fun fish-out-of-water moments and funky technology. Of course, it all blends together to make a wonderfully entertaining read.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster for the mindblowing read!

“History is not a series of causes and effects which may be changed like switching trains on a track. It is a narrative agreement about what has happened, and what is happening.”

This one’s a doozy. The Ministry of Time has it all – romance, spies, humor, questions about racial justice and feminism and climate change and corporate responsibility. I can’t wait to see what the discourse about this book looks like. But, more than anything, Kaliane Bradley has her finger on the pulse of what makes choice so enchanting. She looks at the way the universe rolls the dice and asks how people make sense of it, like reading tea leaves. As a historian, I’m intrigued. As a writer, I’m captivated. As a person, I’m reassured that in the ebb-and-flow of time, we are so relentlessly here, so audaciously alive.

Philosophizing aside, this novel was a delight to read. I laughed out loud more than once at the perspectives of the time travelers on germ theory and TV, which Graham calls “deformed monstrosities against the will of God—’ ‘What?’ ‘Sesame Street.’” They reminded me of the UK version of Ghosts, throwing a Victorian explorer, a WWI solider, and a 17th century peasant woman into a world of streaming services and dating apps. Commander Graham Gore is stoic and charming, making the reader love him just as much as the characters do. And boy, do we love him.

I can definitely see this being adapted into film at some point, as it has the action, mystery, and energy that would translate well on screen. Fans of Doctor Who, Stuart Turton, and Sea of Tranquility will find themselves devouring this novel and Bradley’s immersive writing style. Apologies in advance to all our local bookstore customers – I’ll be talking about this one for quite a while.

Thanks to NetGalley for the last-minute ARC, and be sure to pick up a copy of The Ministry of Time on May 7, 2024!

Thanks to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for an arc of this book.

The Ministry of Time was delightful. A fun premise for a romance. Never have I read anything quite like it. A time traveling romance doesn’t sound unique but the details really make the story.

"The Ministry of Time" by Kaliane Bradley presents a unique tapestry of time travel, romance, and speculative fiction, wrapped within a workplace comedy setting. This debut novel stands out for its ambitious fusion of genres, creating a narrative that is both entertaining and thought-provoking.

Set in a near-future scenario, the novel introduces us to a civil servant who lands a dream job that quickly turns into an adventure beyond the confines of typical bureaucracy. Tasked with working alongside "expats" from different historical periods, the protagonist serves as a bridge for Commander Graham Gore, a 19th-century explorer who famously perished on an Arctic expedition. The premise is intriguing: what happens when past and present collide, not just culturally but also personally?

Bradley excels in the character development of both the protagonist and Commander Gore, crafting a relationship that evolves from awkward cohabitation to a deep, complex romance. This unexpected love story is the heart of the novel, exploring themes of isolation, connection, and the timeless nature of human emotions. The chemistry between the characters is palpable, and their growing bond provides a stable anchor through the more speculative elements of the plot.

The supporting cast adds a vibrant layer of humor and chaos to the mix, from a 17th-century cinephile addicted to Tinder to a World War I captain navigating the absurdities of modern life. These interactions not only provide comic relief but also reflect on the broader human experience, highlighting the universality of certain traits across ages.

Bradley's writing shines when it delves into the speculative aspects of time travel. The narrative is peppered with philosophical questions about the impact of time travel on personal identity and the fabric of reality, providing a richer backdrop to the unfolding drama. The blend of historical intrigue and futuristic speculation is well-balanced, making "The Ministry of Time" a compelling read for fans of both genres.

However, the novel is not without its faults. At times, the pacing can feel uneven, with some plot developments requiring a suspension of disbelief that might challenge more critical readers. Yet, these moments are often redeemed by the author's clever dialogue and sharp insights into human nature.

Overall, "The Ministry of Time" is a delightful and imaginative debut that successfully blends elements of science fiction, historical drama, and romance. It is a testament to Bradley's creativity and her ability to weave disparate threads into a cohesive and engaging story. This book is recommended for readers looking for something a little different in the realm of time travel fiction, packed with both intellectual depth and heartfelt emotion.

Perusing reviews for this book before getting started writing this one kind of gave me a headache, like .. do we know it’s still okay to have <i>fun</i> while reading and not everything is or has to be the-most-serious-business? 🧐😏
Let’s start there - this book is so many things, but what first caught me was the humor; dry, deprecating, v. British, praise be. It kept me going while sussing out the other few genres this book flips through, and while spy intrigue isn’t usually my thing and was probably my least favorite thing about this book, I still enjoyed those bits and loved everything else this story had to offer.
The readability and structure were overall great for me, and the characters again had something for everyone. The expats are freaking lovely and hilarious and the modern characters all fit/fill a piece of the puzzle in a way that’s interesting vs. overly predictable. The pace of the romance is technically slow burn, but the agony of the little moments, the questioning of the chemistry, if you really saw what you saw (read, lol), hurts so good. 🥺
While the story was a little all over the place and almost like two books happening at the same time, it made me cry at least twice and I’d decided on a reread before finishing it, both no small things for me in what has felt like a few years of largely forgettable reads. If you love time travel, historical nerding out, and/or having your heart stomped on, pick this up. ✨

<i>Thanks so much to Avid Reader Press and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! 🙏🏼</i>

Darkly funny and beautifully inventive, this genre bending novel of time travel takes us from a 19th century Arctic exploration to a future climate catastrophe by way of the greatest love story ever told. There’s almost no way to describe it, but you’ll love the journey!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy. These opinions are my own.

Although time travel/sci fi isn't something I usually read, I had heard so much about this book that I gave it a shot. The concept is great - a ministry that studies time travel and has expats from other time periods living with bridges who help them navigate contemporary London. The book started out really strong. About half way through though things started to fall apart for me

A solid, fun spin on time travel. Bradley is an artful writer and her passion for Graham Gore really shines through in her prose. It was a brave choice to include a biracial but white passing main character in contrast to the racism, colonialism and sexism that Gore normalised in his life. That said, the book attempts to tackle a lot of big themes even beyond the aforementioned and I can't help but feel as though Bradley could've provided more substantial commentary if she focused on fewer themes with deeper commentary.