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Lexie's Reviews > The Ministry of Time
The Ministry of Time
by
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This was so strange and I don't know how to feel about it
Update: Okay, I've thought about it.
The Ministry of Time should have been right up my alley. I love the 'man out of time' trope and the drama of a time travel romance. Give me a 19th-century man trying to figure out a microwave and modern gender politics, I eat that up! But this book, unfortunately, was a bit of a mess for me.
First off, whoever decided to market this as a romance should be fired. Or at least given a VERY in-depth PowerPoint presentation on the hallmarks of the genre. While there is a romance subplot, the context is so weird and off-putting that I can't actually believe it was ever meant to make the reader swoon. The inherent power imbalance between the couple and weirdly racist background that's implied to be at least a small fraction of the love interest's attraction towards the main character is frankly bizarre and cringe-inducing in the extreme. Everything about their relationship just felt so inappropriate.
I also tend to have a hard time with the mechanics of time travel, and this book pointedly tells the reader to just not think about it. This is a very lazy approach, in my opinion, and did not endear me to the sci-fi elements or weird spy thriller events that eventually played out.
Overall, I think The Ministry of Time tried to tackle too much in its 350 pages. There were some interesting ideas, but they were just bogged down by muddled metaphors and disorganized trains of thought.
Update: Okay, I've thought about it.
The Ministry of Time should have been right up my alley. I love the 'man out of time' trope and the drama of a time travel romance. Give me a 19th-century man trying to figure out a microwave and modern gender politics, I eat that up! But this book, unfortunately, was a bit of a mess for me.
First off, whoever decided to market this as a romance should be fired. Or at least given a VERY in-depth PowerPoint presentation on the hallmarks of the genre. While there is a romance subplot, the context is so weird and off-putting that I can't actually believe it was ever meant to make the reader swoon. The inherent power imbalance between the couple and weirdly racist background that's implied to be at least a small fraction of the love interest's attraction towards the main character is frankly bizarre and cringe-inducing in the extreme. Everything about their relationship just felt so inappropriate.
I also tend to have a hard time with the mechanics of time travel, and this book pointedly tells the reader to just not think about it. This is a very lazy approach, in my opinion, and did not endear me to the sci-fi elements or weird spy thriller events that eventually played out.
Overall, I think The Ministry of Time tried to tackle too much in its 350 pages. There were some interesting ideas, but they were just bogged down by muddled metaphors and disorganized trains of thought.
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by
Allison
(new)
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rated it 1 star
May 29, 2024 10:30AM
It isn’t with the hype.
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Can I please sit in the meeting where the marketing intern has to watch the in-depth power point presentation on the romance genre?! The way this book was sold it should have been my new favorite- romance, time travel, a bit of sci-fi, London! But none of that was there. I was so confused.
Couldn’t agree more with this entire review
Your review is the most accurate I've read so far concerning this very book! I loved the part where the trains of thought are rather disorganized. I only finished reading it because I had been longing to do so, but I almost quit several times before completing the task. Anyway, many loved it, it wasn't my cup of tea this time.
my sentiments exactly! lol i've been looking for someone who was as disturbed as me about the racial aspect of the romance (for those who read the book iykyk)
