Fascinating, spectacular — reflective and cerebral while also full of heart, and ultimately action-packed. This book hooked me in the first quarter, kept me engaged and curious, and went in direction that I totally didn’t expect by the end. I loved how developed and nuanced each character was — side characters included. Each ex-pat and ministry worker felt human and real, with their own idiosyncrasies and strange, unique personalities, all deftly wrought by Bradley. I was blown away by the plot and structure, as well as the line-level writing. This is a remarkable debut, and has something for just about everyone — historical detail, time travel, interesting and layered interpersonal dynamics, a slow burn romance, spies, suspense, twists… The prose and pacing made this one a slow burn all around, but it burns so brightly.

I feel conflicted about this book.

The general premise is intriguing, and the author blends genres of sci-fi, romance, and spy thriller quite well. However, as noted by other reviewers, the pacing was a struggle, as the first 70% of the book is slow and the chapters are very long. I also found the main character's decisions to be frustrating at times. Still, the main character demonstrates self-awareness when they break the fourth wall and reflect on their choices, including the naïve, frustrating ones.

The last 30% of the book was quite good and the author’s writing style shines in the final 3 chapters.

In addition to the multitude of genres of the book, the author explores topics of race, colonialism, imperialism, individual and collective identity, sexuality, and cultural and historical relativism. All this makes for a dynamic, layered book.

I keep coming back to the strange pacing of the book though. And that’s why it’s not a 5-star book for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster for the ARC, and good luck to Kaliane Bradley on their debut novel.

This is a very adventurous and grandiose debut. The concept was interesting, it was surprisingly funny and I enjoyed the time travelling concept (when I suspended my belief to some extent). I know this book will definitely be the most unique one I will read this year. Bradley's use of language is arguably the highlight of this novel, especially with how she utilizes metaphors and sharp comedy so seamlessly. Personally, I wish that the chapters could have been shorter and that the pacing was more consistent. In certain parts, I felt like the story was dragging, whereas in other parts I was fully engrossed. I would definitely recommend this book if you are interested in the plot, but I can see this not being for everyone.

Time travel stories usually follow the exploits of someone rocketing through time to change history. This person ponders the various time travel paradoxes or wrestles with the implications of an ever-splitting multiverse. All of which is to say that Kaliane Bradley’s The Ministry of Time is a unique look at the perils of time travel. Instead of travelers deliberately injecting themselves into history, a mysterious British Agency has used a recovered time machine to “rescue” five Britons from the past from their inevitable deaths by pulling them into a future ravaged by climate change. Our narrator is one of the few civil servants in on the secret, selected to help acclimate one of the “expats” to life in the twenty-first century.

The narrator of The Ministry of Time isn’t a traveler herself and, like the other “bridges, only knows what the higher-ups grudgingly dole out about time travel and their expats. It’s unclear whether the other expats are actual historical figures but our protagonist’s expat is. In our timeline, Commander Graham Gore died with Sir John Franklin’s lost expedition in the Arctic sometime between May 1847 and April 1848. His body was never recovered. In the narrator’s timeline, Gore was whisked away from certain death from hypothermia and starvation, given intensive medical care, and turned loose to our narrator after a crash course in modern culture for polishing in the finer points. Four other Brits were also pulled out of time: one from death in battle during the English Civil War, another from the Great Plague of 1665, one from the Reign of Terror, and one last one from the Battle of the Somme.

Because The Ministry of Time isn’t the usual highwire act of getting to places at the right moment or untangling the skeins of time, much of the book is meditative and often funny as our protagonist and Gore muddle over the changes two hundred-ish years have wrought on the world. Gore gets in trouble for slaughtering all of the squirrels in the back garden and shudders at the free-wheeling dating scene. The protagonist does her best to explain why it would be weird for them to have servants to clean up after and cook for them, as well as what Auschwitz was, why the world is so very hot and battered by incredible storms, and what happened to his companions after he “left” the Franklin Expedition. It’s little wonder that Graham seeks refuge with his other expats when the sheer scale of change gets to him.

Our dutifully writes up daily reports for her bosses but it’s clear that, before long, she starts to wonder if her bosses’ experiments are on the up and up. The anomalies pile up after her immediate supervisor disappears after asking some pointed questions. Our protagonist reluctantly picks up the thread of those questions when it’s clear she’d much rather spend time with Graham. Those questions are irresistible, however. The last third of The Ministry of Time races as our protagonist digs into the big secrets the Ministry is hiding from her and from the expats.

I usually like a tense plot but I rather enjoyed the slower parts of this book. I loved Gore and our protagonist’s meditations on culture and customs. The premise of this book is a rare chance to think about what we do just because of tradition or because of changing social mores. Do we really know better now? In the case of vitamin C as a prevention for scurvy, absolutely—but when it comes to war? Perhaps not, as Gore discovers to his horror after reading about the first and second world wars. I particularly enjoyed the care Bradley gave to creating authentic speech for the expats. Margaret Kemble (late of 1665) frequently made me laugh with her pointed observations, even if it took me a minute to adjust to what I perceived as archaic, almost Shakespearean phrasing.

I could quibble about some of the messiness of the plotting—especially in the last third—but I was captivated by this book. Bradley does such amazing work with her characters that I fell in love with them within chapters (with some notable exceptions). I ended up reading this book in one day because I just couldn’t put it down. I hope other fans of time travel novels enjoy this original story as much as I did.

This was such a fun read and I'm so glad I got approved for this NetGalley! One of my favorite movies from the early 2000s is Kate & Leopold. Leopold is a time traveler from the late 1800s and he begins a relationship with this modern woman, Kate. It's got Hugh Jackman and Meg Ryan. It's wonderful and hilarious. This book reminded me of that, but better.

There's a lot of funny and quotable moments in this book. The story also brings in topics of race, sexuality, identity, and power dynamics. While it starts slow as we get to know the characters and learn more about the Ministry and the Bridge Program, the action intensifies towards the end. I was on the edge of my seat and there were some pleasant surprises.

While I cared a lot about our time-traveling subjects and what happened to them, I started losing interest in the main character. I don't know why, but we just weren't vibing. It didn't detract too much from the book because Commander Gore was there, but I wish I had connected with her more.

"This, I learned, is how the Ministry received the power of time-travel. Not through invention but through the fine British tradition of finders-keepers."

A civil servant gets the opportunity of the lifetime from the British government. She will be a "bridge" for time travelers or 'expats" in the current age. Commander Graham Gore is her scientific subject. He was presumed dead during a mission to the Arctic in 1845. It is her duty to observe and help him assimilate to modern times. Bicycles. Spotify. Sexual revolution. Cars. Life with live in domestic help.

Part romance, part mystery, part magical realism--this debut introduces so many questions about what out time of existance says about us.

I wanted, dearly, to love this one. I had such high hopes. But, ultimately, the story was just too stilted and disjointed to work for me. There were some truly funny and poignant moments among the expat community, but overall this book was hard to follow and enjoy for me.

Thanks to netgalley for the copy in exchange of a review.

This was the exact right book at the right time for me. I would love to see this adapted into a tv miniseries or movie.

It's difficult to believe this book is the first full length novel the author has written. It's a true feat of imagination and language, and I could not put it down. Even when I did have to put it down, I kept thinking about it.

In a nutshell (ha ha - impossible) the British Government have employed a number of people called 'bridges' who are to help a few time travellers (ex pats) who have been plucked out of their timeline just before certain death and brought into the modern world. It's framed as an experiment of sorts, and the bridges are supposed to live with and observe the ex pats after 'extraction' for one year and to help them understand their new world.

Our narrator is a bridge (we never learn her real name) and her charge is Graham Gore, an Arctic explorer with a smoking habit and survivor's guilt from 1847. He is utterly charming and it doesn't take her long to fall head over heels. In truth, I also fell for him very quickly.

But there's more than romance going on in this book. Conspiracies, murder and betrayal abound. There's a lot happening at once - I did find myself having to read over passages again, so I could find my way. The language is dense as well. I had to look up a number of words - very good for my vocabulary. It's obvious that the author has some background in languages, just as our protagonist does, as the speech of each ex pat (from each different time period) including colloquialisms seem realistic. Don't let that throw you off though - it's still easy to understand.

The other characters are extremely interesting. Arthur, Maggie and Simellia completely drew me in. But the real star of this book is Graham who is at once tragic and joyful - a beautifully wrought character.

Our narrator is also complex - she's explaining her actions in this book for someone (we don't know to whom until the end) and through the lense of hindsight she is judging herself for her actions. As a result, it's very difficult for the reader not to judge her, but I still liked her very much.

The underlying themes of racism and displacement are strong and thought-provoking. I found myself (a first generation immigrant from Asia to Australia) asking myself questions I had never asked before about my heritage and how I relate to it. That's when I think a book is really something special - when it teaches you something about yourself.

I feel absolutely privileged to have read this book before its release date and I will definitely be recommending it to my family and friends.

I received and ARC of this book from Netgalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

The Ministry of Time is so smart and so confidently voiced that I'm a little amazed that it's Kaliane Bradley's first novel. The book begins with a promotion: a diligent civil servant learns that she will serve as the "bridge" to a 19th century explorer named Graham Gore, who has been unceremoniously thrust into the present via newly discovered time travel technology. She and Gore share a house while he socializes with other ex-pats from the past (including a truly delightful 17th century lesbian who loves old movies and Tinder) and acclimates to a world with germ theory, electricity, and feminism. The narrator, obviously, falls for Gore's old fashioned charm, and much of the novel is spent on their developing relationship, which, in addition to the usual challenges of coupling up, must also wrestle with the cultural incompatibility of courtship vs. hook up culture and Gore's imperialist worldview vs. the narrator's background as the daughter of a Cambodian refugee. In addition, Gore is grieving the loss of the men he left behind on a doomed polar exploration mission; his journal entries from the weeks before he was brought to the present break up the forward momentum of the novel and are jarring enough to underscore the psychological scars that result from being taken out of time. Things are complicated, but Gore is dreamy, and so it's hard not to root for their relationship to work out.

I love a book that plays with genre, and The Ministry of Time dips its toes in a number of ponds: sci fi, spy thriller, romance, history. What's especially cool, though, is that the conflict of the novel is animated by this genre experimentation. The main character desperately wants her story to be a #girlboss romance, and so she is (sometimes painfully) slow at coming to terms with the fact that she is actually living in an action drama. Her colleagues have secrets, there is a mysterious pair of gentlemen running around with mysterious weapons, and she's not sure whom to trust. She's not even sure whether she, herself, is trustworthy. While her indecision and naiveté in the face of government corruption is sometimes frustrating, it never feels out of character or ridiculous. Bradley's attention to the way that identity shapes our interactions with the world around us is incredibly astute, and the narrator feels complex and tough in the way real people always are.

The Ministry of Time is interested in addressing some of the most compelling existential questions of the twenty first century: Does working for a government mean complicity in that government's worst impulses? Is there a way to access power that does not require sacrificing morality? What does a country owe its citizens, and what does it owe the rest of the world? At the same time, it's interested in roommate romance and the patent absurdity of giving people from hundreds of years ago access to the internet. Also, I learned like 92 new words, which I love. All around, a worthwhile read.

What a ride! I loved this cover to cover and couldn't put it down. This has all of the makings of the next big thing and could really be a smash hit this year. I'm looking forward to re-reading it once I get my hands on a physical copy and will be encouraging others to dive into it as well.

This was a total knockout. A genre bending thrill ride from start to finish. The Ministry of Time is Sci fi, dystopia, history, imperial critique, humor and love story all wrapped up in one. I absolutely devoured it.

Bringing people from the past to present for unclear but potentially nefarious reasons; this is a story that begs the question, what does it mean to “only be following orders?” Is it different or the same in every era?

As the novel progresses there is an impending sense of doom that is nearly poetic as the story hurtles towards its end. It’s thrilling, twisty, and heartfelt. I adored it. I cannot wait to bring this into our store as our May Staff Pick!

Thank you netgalley for the advanced copy.

This might be the most unique time travel story I've encountered. I expected more.romance, I expected more spy escapades but instead this was a slow burn, character exploration. The scope, the ambition, the twists (which yeah, I guessed) were impressive. The idea to bring people to the present an explore all that meant from technology to social issues to morals without flinching from heaviness or authenticity and with plenty of emotion stands out other scifi time travel books. The characters were amazing, the book was chaotic. I loved and hated the ending.
In the end, this book is genre-bendy, painful and all over impressive, especially for a debut.

What a fun read! The UK government is reaching back in time to snatch people before they die so they can test what this new time travel tech does to people. And one of the people they grab is an Arctic explorer from the Franklin expedition. He along with a few others are learning about live in the 21st century from their handlers, which is fun in itself. But there there is a little romance, and a government conspiracy, and people from the future come back to change history. What starts off as a fun exploration into time relocated people in the modern era turns into time travel spy thriller. I loved the portrayals of the 'snatched' people from history. This was one of those books I was chatting with people about when I was only partially finished with it. This will be high on my recommendation list to patrons this summer.

This plot was really weird but I actually really enjoyed it lol. I want to ignore the rest of the plot and just get more of the weird sexy lover from another time thing

I did not expect this book to be hilarious , but I definitely laughed out loud at times. It is a genre mix up and definitely not what I expected at all. The characters were the best. I wasn't as into the past history chapters, but they were very short and easy to get through.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC! This book pulled me in just from the title! I am all about a time travel story and this was an excellent time travel story along with a mix of other genres. A great read!

4.5/5 stars
I didn’t expect this book to be so funny, but I was pleasantly surprised. I was literally laughing at every witty and sarcastic comment from Commander Gore. But, apart from being funny, it was romantic, entertaining and heartbreaking, all at once.
This is a work of fiction, but Kaliane Bradley made every character feel so real to me. Everything they went through felt real as well. I don’t think I ever read a book and a story like this one.
It did felt a little slow paced at times, but I still loved it.
I’m genuinely happy that I got to read The Ministry of Time before the publication date. Thank you Avid Reader Press!

Deft relationship comedy in the guise of a time-travel scenario. Bradley has a solid lock on the first aspect, the burgeoning attraction between the Victorian time traveler and his modern-day "bridge" assistant is aromatic, but less so on the second, seeming to lose interest in the plot machinery in the final fourth.

As soon as someone mentions time travel, I jump on it. I can’t seem to get enough. With The Ministry of Time, it was that very element that made me open the book, but in the end, the characters are what completely won me over and are what will continue to take up space in my head. Read in less than 24 hours, I could not put it down. Nor did I predict the twists and turns and deep admiration I would feel for these fictitious characters! This book was utterly charming and very funny at times, but also provided depth with the occasional tearing of my heart. I predict that this title will be in many Best of 2024 lists, and it would be well deserved.

I feel like this was a case of "it's not you, it's me." I just couldn't get into it. It really came together for me near the end, but it was too late. I hope to give it another try at a different time though because it really seems like something I should love.