bumblebee's reviews
134 reviews

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

emotional inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really struggled to get into this book at first. The writing is gorgeous and lyrical, but also very abstract, which made it tough for me to parse. I'm a very visual reader, and I automatically build images in my head whenever I read, but with this I often had no idea what to picture with the (lack of) descriptions given, which was kind of frustrating. The book also has very little explanation of what exactly the overarching plot or world is like, which felt purposeful so isn't necessarily a mistake, but means the reader has almost no context for what's going on. Part of me enjoyed the mystery of this, but it did make it extra hard to get into when halfway through the book I still wasn't certain if the main characters were even vaguely humanoid or not.

Nevertheless, the story was captivating and I wanted to see where it would go, so I more or less forced myself to read two chapters every day until I reached the final 50 pages, which I couldn't put down and finished all at once.

Despite my initial struggles, I do recommend this book. The end was beautiful and well-worth the journey.

The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight by Andrew Leland

Go to review page

informative reflective

4.0

The Frugal Wizard's Handbook For Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson

Go to review page

adventurous medium-paced