*I have received an e-arc of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book - despite being in medical school I read it in about a week. I love the character driven focus and the concepts of how time travel works in this novel - though some world building and implications are a bit more glossed over than I'd like. I did guess a few of the twists - though to me that is a sign the author did a good job foreshadowing rather than relying on pure shock factor.

The middle of the book lagged a bit plot wise - and the ending rushed a bit, as if the author realized she needed to wrap things up already - but it was a fast read, and the MC's voice and wit was fun and engaging. Even as someone who does not tend to enjoy historical fictional I thought this was fun.

4.5 Stars

What if time travel existed? This is cleverly answered in a section of England's 'secret' job locations, The Ministry of Time. It's the story of a man from the middle 19 century, Graham Gore, of Franklin's lost expedition to Arctic and his 'bridge' a young woman who had studied all that she could of Graham Gore. But real life is a little different then she had imagined.

It was quite a good book, I couldn't put it down.

i cannot say i rated this fairly, taking into account the author’s style or the character development, as i feel as though a story that profits off the flagrant plagiarism of a prior work of fiction does not deserve anything other than one star.

i tried to go into this with an open mind, even though the title itself already raised a bunch of red flags for me. its title is literally carbon copied from that of a spanish tv show, “el ministerio del tiempo” (which literally translates to “the ministry of time”), in which the premise is very much identical to the one included in this book’s blurb. i do not know whether the editors are already familiar with this work of fiction, but it was widely popular in spain from the mid-2010s to its final season, which aired in 2020 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_ministerio_del_tiempo). time travel is a very common trope and i would not typically accuse anyone of plagiarism from that alone, but bradley has merely taken the premise of the tv show and somehow turned it into something far blander. granted, the main character is a poc woman whereas the main character in “el ministerio del tiempo” was a white man, but the rest of the story is very much there: the expats from other periods in spanish history who become agents for a “ministry of time” in charge of taking care of the ebbs and flows of the time-space continuum, the romantic subplot, the timeline-altering threat. it’s all there already, and i feel as though bradley merely stumbled upon this idea and decided to profit off it, seeing that it is not a well-known tv series outside of spain.

i kept wondering if i should post this review, as i do not like to diss on books like this, but i feel as though plagiarising an idea in such a blatant way, particularly when it comes from a country that is not as strong in terms of cultural imperialism as the uk, felt a little disgusting to begin with, particularly when there isn’t so much as an acknowledgement of the original tv show as a source of inspiration. i merely wish for the editors and the author to acknowledge this, and for them to give the due credit to the original creators for their wildly original idea instead of merely profiting off it.

This story was entertaining and pretty clever, but I kept wondering why future main lead didn’t TRY MORE? I felt like she was just kind of… there? I don’t want to spoil too much, but I would have been a lot more passionate if I had a second chance to talk to my former self. The narrative is of someone ‘telling us her story’ and she’s documenting her journey. It hurt my heart every time she mentioned that she was saying something to prove that ‘it happened’. I have to be honest; I looked up Graham Gore just like everyone else did. However, I can’t say that I’m as ‘smitten’ by him as most… BUT I am still slightly into him… He IS THE MAIN MALE LEAD! Lol… so calm, so smart, and even artistic…ugh, and modeled after a real person… but I felt like he was easily influenced by his bridge. I will give him credit that he was more on his guard than she was. All in all, a clever story and I was happy with the ending. If you love time traveling stories, this one will give you a few details to ponder about. I still think about the story and characters even after the ending.

I’m pretty bummed to be giving this one a 2 star and am honestly not sure if this is just going to be me. The actual writing from the authour isn’t bad by any means but the entire plot lost me and perhaps the confusing marketing has to do with that also.

I think I'm mainly confused on what kind of book this is and typically love a fusion of genres but this doesn’t feel successful in doing so. The afterward even talks about how the idea came about and how it started off as a joke that was then inspired into becoming a book. It feels like this could just be contemporary fiction, sci-fi or even a romance but the mix left me feeling a little confused and wished it would just pick one.

I feel like this could’ve easily been more in the vein of Sally Rooney in material but it almost seemed like the authour wasn’t sure that was enough and took a strange sci-fi espionage route in little bits here and there and it threw off the pacing for me. It would be romantic and day to day material and then suddenly it would dive into random espionage, colluding action and then go right back into coffee days filled with good sex and cigarettes. And then the ending had SO much exposition to really get us caught up on the espionage bits. I would’ve been a lot more into this if it was just a romance or fiction that had the explanation of the time door but I didn't need that whole aspect. If the creator of a movie, show, book, tells me that X exists then I will believe them. It doesn’t always need to be explained or embodied more when the vibe of your book feels very different.

Be prepared for a trip of a life time! This is a book like no other and the fact that this is a debut just leaves me absolutely speechless.

The Ministry of Time is a bit of speculative fiction. In the near future, a UK civil servant takes on a new role from her government. She is to bridge - to offer support and monitor one of five individuals who have been brought forward from past history. Her job is to ensure that her assignment (the very real Graham Gore https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Gore) is slowly assimilated to modern times which includes explaining quite a few cultural and iconic moments and fads which bring a light touch to a fairly serious story of emotions.
Our main character remains nameless and due to her lack of training and experience makes quite a few mistakes. One is to fall in love with her bridge. Bradley cleanly juggles this plot line and threads of important themes such as race and ethnicity, country and individual while slowly bringing us closer to the obvious end...she is truly a. genius!

When men turn up with a strange weapon, the government locks down. It's hard to know who to trust and what to do. Join Bradley's wondrous and fabulous speculative, scifi, time-traveling masterpiece. The last paragraph may be my favorite piece of writing in years!
#TheMinistryofTime #KalianeBradley .#avidreaderpress #Simon&Schuster

This was a fun and engaging read of time travel, cultural and generational change and adaptation, and an intriguing spy-style governmental program with a dash of romance. As someone who regularly thinks of what it would be like to host a person from the past (maybe my “Roman Empire” comparison of late), this hit all the right notes.

The main time traveler in question, Commander Graham Gore, is a real historical figure from what is called the “Franklin Expedition” into the Arctic in 1845. When he, and others from various time periods, are brought into modern day, they are assigned to a “bridge” who lives with them, assists in acclimating them to modern life, somewhat controls what historical information they access, and ultimately reports all details to a secretive government department.

The purpose of the program, the intent of bringing the travelers into the future, and even the players involved are part of the mystery than unfolds throughout the book.

We are also witness to the cross-era friendships that unfold, the social norms that vary throughout time, and the touchy emotional attachments that form.

Loved it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster for the ARC.

Thanks to the Publisher and Net galley for a chance to read this advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
First let me just say- reading this book is like having lunch with your funny friend- she is so clever and makes you laugh, you enjoy every minute of it- her phrases are delightful - describing Guinness beer as tasting like “ angry marmite” or a old fashioned pub as “like being inside the elbow of a patched jumper ( a sweater for us Americans).

Essentially this is a time travel story- Modern day Britain has a “doorway” to bring people back from the past. As it’s new technology- there are lots of questions to be answered- what is the impact to their mental health, and what will time travel do to physiology of these people? Can they be integrated into modern society? Guiding them through this transition is a “ Bridge” : a person assigned to monitor their every word and movement, guiding and educating them while living with them for a year. The main character -Graham Gore ( based on a real character) died on an expedition to the Arctic in the 1840s. His Bridge is an ambitious you woman who’s career in linguistics has stalled. The story is told in first person from her POV, so we never learn her name. There are several other ex-pats in this group notably, a young woman Margaret, from the 1600s who was to have died during the plague, Arthur who died in a fox hole during WW1.

There are so many themes explored in this story- love, doing your duty for your job, the meaning of family, being a refugee. One of the themes the story covers is racism- and how we come to terms with harms done in the past, when what was considered normal for our “heros” is looked at with the light of today. Its not an easy answer, but though the main character we see that the path forward must be acknowledging it was wrong, and then with knowing better comes doing better.

Its a tragedy when you discover that your ideal career has not yet been invented. Personally, I feel like I was born to be a “Bridge” to time travelers. But alas the job doesn’t exist ..yet. Perhaps in my next life.

One of the best things about reading ARCs is getting to find favorite new authors- and I have to say - I will be seeking out more books by Kaliane Bradley.

Exciting. Thought Provoking. Page Turner.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I love time travel and romance, therefore, I could not put it down.
I found the FMC easy to connect to, which I find really important for me to enjoy a book, if the reader can't connect with the protagonist then game over.
I found the interactions between the FMC and Graham very endearing, I found myself very invested in the development of their relationship amidst the dystopia of the setting.
The twists and turns kept me hooked the entire way through.
It's perfect for fans of "Outlander", "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" and anyone who enjoyed Matt Haig's "How to Stop Time" and "The Midnight Library".

I expect this book to be a great success when it releases!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster and Kaliane Bradley for this fantastic ARC.

The Ministry of Time
By Kaliane Bradley

This is a book about time travel. Unlike most books in this genre, this one deals with the effects of time traveling for the travelers brought out of their own time, as well as the effect on these travelers in attempting to acclimate in a totally different time and place.

In this story, twentieth century Britain has accidentally come upon the means to time travel. The Ministry of Time is set up to bring select individuals forward in time to be guinea pigs to be studied. Each traveler is assigned a "bridge", a person trained to live with them and help them assimilate into modern society. The fact that these travelers were removed from their time without their knowledge or consent is rather horrifying.

One of the travelers enters into a romantic relationship with his bridge. The fact that Graham Gore was an actual commander in the 1847 expedition to find the Northwest Passage makes this book even more interesting. Having read "The Terror" by Dan Simmons – a novelized account of this expedition - I found Graham Gore's emotional roller-coaster to be very believable.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it gave me much to think about if time travel becomes possible.

Someone really mixed up all the genres that I find most interesting (speculative sci-fi/time travel, a spy novel, and a romance) and blended them expertly together into a wholly original novel. I loved this book and felt both on the edge of my seat and deeply moved.

As fun of a book as it is, it also delves into some very thought-provoking territory. I can see some people not jiving with this but I thought the deeper themes explored were relevant to the story in a very poignant way. I’ll very much want to re-read again when it comes out to further grasp some of the twists but also to sit longer with the more quiet observations.

This has been one of my favorite debut in recent years and I can’t wait to recommend this to people when it comes out in May. Thank you to Avid Reader Press and netgalley for a chance to read this early in exchange for my opinions. I need a screen adaptation of this immediately.

I liked The Ministry of Time. The story was, as other reviewed have already said, a mix of many genres, which I didn’t think I would like, but I did. The two main characters were well fleshed out, which had to be hard to-do,, especially when one is a real person from the 19th century.

I tried explaining the plot to a friend and started with. “It’s about time travel, but it really isn’t,”. That was not a good a start to an explanation on my part, but that is what I thinking to myself, while reading it.

It gets slow a bit in the middle of the book, wont say which part, but I just kept reading. Per usual, it paid off.

Thank you to Net Galley for providing me the opportunity to read and give my review this book before it is published.

I absolutely adored this book. The way it was written, the plot, the characters. Left me absolutely sobbing at the end.

A really fun mix of some of the most fun genres: time travel/scifi, spycraft, and some romcom for flavor. The author did a good job with the different tones, but I felt like the balance was really off... the beginning was heavy on the scifi aspect, while the last half was dedicated to the spy part of the story. It might have helped to blend those a little more (but it's not like the spy stuff came out of nowhere, it was obviously threaded throughout). I just thought the weight balance was a bit off.

Other than that, a fun read with an intriguing heroine. Recommended.

I'd like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for a chance at reading this book.

As usual, I give a book 15 - 20% mark to catch me, get me wrapped up so that I finish at 100%. And, sadly, this book was already not going well when I realized the author's type of writing.

Firstly, I'm not a fan of statistic writing. For example:

He walked up to me.
[dialogue]
I replied to him, he did this. I asked another question.
[dialogue]
[funny quip]
[scene ends]

It's like that through the whole book. Peeling that aside, I didn't feel anything at all for these characters. This story lacked depth, real humor, and agency. I get they're pulling people out of the past (or near death moments) and giving them a place in current history. But seeing them act / be in current history? Well, we are told more than we're shown. So already you're jeopardizing the relationship of the character and the reader.

Out of respect for the author, I will not be rating this on good reads because I did not finish it.

A very timey wimpy book. I really enjoyed the world-building in this book and laying out the interworking of the Ministry of Time. Full of twists and a really good ending make this a fantastic debut.

This was a fun, time-bending romp set not too far in the future!
I found the story flowed easily, partly due to the authors lyrical & expressive writing and to a fabulous cast of memorable characters

The premise of the story was appealing (to a fan of time-travel fiction) & allowed the author plenty of opportunity for witty and caustic observations of life in the 21st century. However at times it felt like the author lost her way trying to cover too many big topics (sexuality, racism, colonisation, generational trauma).

The last 70ish pages picked up the pace again and I suddenly realised it had morphed into a suspenseful, murder mystery and I couldn’t put it down until I found out who and why! (The thought-provoking, subtle twists towards the end were perfect!)

I feel I probably won’t remember many details of the storyline in a few months time but I will absolutely remember the main characters and for that reason I hope the author can find room for a sequel &/or preferably a prequel!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An original take on time travel, The Ministry of Time moves slower but presents fascinating characters with really interesting backstories whose slow-burn romance—and how it ultimately plays out—is believable and bittersweet. I went in eager for the "fish out of water" elements I love when someone travels to the past or future, and while I thought that was well done and often funny, I also really loved the book's exploration of life as a refugee.

I picked this up because I love time travel books. This isn’t so much about time travel as it is about a gal keeping watch over someone who has arrived from another period of time. I wouldn’t consider it a romance. There is sex, but no relationship.

I had a really hard time getting into the story and was about 65% in before I was truly invested in the story. The dialogue is awkward and hard to follow, for three reasons. 1) Several characters are from another time and they speak in a different form of English. 2) Dialogue is delivered without attribution to the person speaking and it’s impossible to track who is saying which line. 3) Most of the text is the inner monologue and/or past tense narration by the primary character, so we miss out on the perspective of the other characters.

We are never given the name of the primary character. Why not? Other characters have 2-3 names, which makes it difficult to keep track of who is who.

Several bits of the story are left unresolved. Is this setting it up for a sequel?

Many thanks to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for the opportunity to read and review the book prior to publication.

Excellent time travel novel. Really enjoyed the historical figures experiencing the near future. A real sweetness to it, while also the darkness of some possible futures and recognition of the ways governments are cruel. Satisfying. I would definitely read a sequel.