alexxiv's reviews
330 reviews

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar

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emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The prose is gorgeous to the point that it sometimes feels gratuitous, but I'm a sucker for pretty prose so that definitely didn't detour me. The world building is a bit weaker than you would expect from a sci-fi book, but this works to showcase the fragmented format of the narrative: the letters between Red and Blue. All this makes for a weird, engaging read that definitely requires the reader's full attention to really appreciate the narrative. By around chapter 6 I was obsessed, so if you're having a hard time getting into it at the beginning it may be worth it to give it a few more chapters. Overall it provided a nice distraction from the daily reality of living through a global pandemic, so I'm definitely glad I picked it up.