This Is How You Lose the Time War
Ratings1,133
Average rating3.9
I really don't know how to rate this book...I listened to it and was a bit confused in some parts, which forced me to go back and forth a couple of times. I was fascinated with the concept, but hoped for a bit more of clarity.
The writing style is very lyrical and flourished, so be aware that it's not for everybody (I personally liked it)
Time travelling queer romance? Sounds amazing! But the main characters fall so hopelessly, breathlessly, dramatically, obsessively in love without even knowing each other and then spend the rest of the book proclaiming that love in the most effusive, flowery language you can imagine. retching sounds I still liked the premise and the plot (secondary though it was to the characters' emotions) but I am not enough of a romantic to fully enjoy this kind of thing.
This was very interesting. Not sure what I expected going in but it was nice to listen to while it was raining.
The book was beautifully written, and the story that unfolded was well crafted. However, this wasn't a book for me.
Ok, this is probably one of the best novellas you're going to read this year, probably ever.
It is beautifully written, poetic, abstract but filled with real feelings at the same time.
It is confusing at times, funny at others, and you'll delight in finding all the references to modern culture hidden within.
Also, it's a great way to learn a thousand different ways of saying the colour Red and Blue.
Ok, this is probably one of the best novellas you're going to read this year, probably ever.
It is beautifully written, poetic, abstract but filled with real feelings at the same time.
It is confusing at times, funny at others, and you'll delight in finding all the references to modern culture hidden within.
Also, it's a great way to learn a thousand different ways of saying the colour Red and Blue.
A story worth reading, especially perhaps in these quarantine times. It helped to feel less lonely though a bit aching for companionship. Beautifully told and well written. Go read it.
The authors threw me into the ‘deep end of the pool' and I sank.
Where's the bit of backstory to get you settled in? And more importantly with all the jumping about, I can only assume because there's no history of the timeline, I'm completely lost and frustrated.
Where are the definitions of some of the terms and groups involved?
I need this in the beginning pages, or sprinkled among them at least, or I drop the book.
So many different precisely crafted moments of excellence.
It was like a literary fireworks show, moments of wonder, humour, horror, beauty.
So much in so few pages.
Wow. This is a love story. A love story backwards and forwards through infinite dimensions. A love story of souls that is so beautiful it isn't even triggering my, “But, how?!” time travel gripes. Maybe it's the florid prose and delicate surrealism in every chapter, or the subtle shift from mocking flirtation to the vulnerability of love, but it felt more like poetry than prose most of the time. You could read the whole book in an afternoon and then want to read it again. Reviews kept saying that is has a “strong emotional core,” and yeah, that's one way to put. The other is that this is SF romance at its finest. It won my book club's annual March Madness tournament, and I'm really happy it did. If you enjoy grown-up love stories and elaborate language, you should read this even if you aren't a genre fan.
I will begin by saying that I listened to this as an audiobook, which in hindsight was not a good choice. The language of this book is beautiful and poetic, but it is hard to follow on audio. The narrators are great, but the action is just too hard to understand in this format. The beauty of this writing needs to be read slowly so the reader can relish it.
The language is the best part of this book, but the relationship between the two main characters, Red and Blue, is also a highlight. The connection they form and the things they do for each other are beautiful. Their letters to each other are the enjoyable part of the book.
All of that said, I do not like the science fiction plot line. The story is too hard to follow. It begins in the middle of a time war that is not explained well. I was extremely confused about the roles of the two women through much of the book. I could not get a true grasp of the two opposing forces and why they were in a time war to begin with. The authors needed to provide more background from the beginning.
Overall, I recognize the beauty of this book, but it was just too confusing for me.
so much of this book invokes similar feelings as Song of Achilles. This is the highest praise.
Examples:
-now i believe in love again
-i am emotionally compromised by the ending
-gay love can and will save us all
Well, this was unlike anything I had ever read before!
As a side note, I started this on audio and whoooo, it was not working for me. The language was too...flowery? You would be thrown into this cool world, and by the time my mind accepted what was going on it would switch to the letter and...
yeah. I ended up picking up a print copy. So much better! I was able to read and reread sentences, take a slower pace and actually process what was being said.
I really enjoyed this.
I thought I would enjoy this more than I did. Maybe I need to read it in print or ebook to appreciate the poetic language and imagery more. I just wanted more plot, and maybe that's a limitation of the epistolary form. As much as I love time travel and science fiction, I do think I will give this another chance in print or ebook instead of listening to it.
These are some quotes I liked a lot:
“PS. The keyboard's coated with slow-acting contact poison. You'll be dead in an hour. PPS. Just kidding! Or . . . am I? PPPS. I'm just screwing with you. But postscripts sure are fun!”
“The decision forms like a jewel in her stomach. Hope may be a dream. But she will fight to make it real.”
“Books are letters in bottles, cast into the waves of time, from one person trying to save the world to another. Keep reading. Keep writing. Keep fighting. We're all still here.”
Wow. This is such a beautiful way to give new life to time travel. It is one of those stories that I want to reread to see what I might've missed on the first go around. Also those letters?!
I liked this one so much! Beautiful, poetic, tragic and hilarious. It's probably not for everyone but this was the perfect book for me.
5 * for the gorgeous language alone. It was fascinating to experience Red and Blue falling in love through their letters across those myriad strands of time.
This was a delight of a book that I started reading, stupidly, just before bedtime on a workday. I blame my bleary-eyed shit show of a workday that followed on being unable to put it down once I'd started. The prose is lucid, sensuous, and so rich you can almost taste it. If that wasn't enough, the references to everything from late 90s electropop to collosal crimson celestial anomalies that pepper the exchanged letters will seed a panoply of rabbit holes to dive down and appreciate on subsequent rereadings. I am unapologetically, unabashedly overjoyed with this book.
A delight and a devastation from the first word to the last. Best time travel romance since [b:The Time Traveler's Wife 18619684 The Time Traveler's Wife Audrey Niffenegger https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1380660571l/18619684.SX50.jpg 2153746].
I was bored and confused. Perhaps the poetic writing style wasn't for me. I might reread this in the future to give it another chance because I can totally see the potential of this book to be a 4 or a 5 star read.