The Ministry of Time: The Instant Sunday Times and New York Times Bestseller

Unvergleichbar, Spannend, lustig, traurig

The Ministry of Time ist schwer zu beschreiben ohne zu spoilern. Es ist eine Mischung aus Sci-Fi und Slow burn Romance mit Elementen eines historischem Romans. Wer schon einmal im öffentlichen Dienst gearbeitet hat wird viel aus seinem Alltag wieder finden. Das Buch war sehr kurzweilig, auch wenn es schwere Themen wie Kolonial-Geschichte und modernen Rassismus behandelt. Ich habe mit den Charakteren mitgefiebert wie schon lange nicht mehr. Das Buch ist mit keinem anderen vergleichbar.

Phew, this book as definitely.. something. The idea and general concept was super interesting and the characters were unique, gritty and real. Not necessarily good or relatable (for me) or someone I'd like to befriend, but they were real. The biggest issue for me was the slow pacing and a ton of foreshadowing over the first half of the book, which never really got relieved or explained.. I mean yes, it does pick up the pace and there are a few unexpected twists in towards the end, but in my opinion it doesn't explain the frequent repetition of "if only I had known"... The whole love story also didn't feel relatable for me, because we see so little of it, yet it's supposed to be this great romance that spans time (literally). The interesting parts for me were the adjustments of the "expats" to modern culture. Those scenes were endearing, interesting, eye-opening and I wish there would have been more of them. The whole ministry-jargon and also many of the cultural references or discussions between Simellia and our protagonist were completely lost on my, of course mainly due to me being not British and having no idea how their ministries (or any tbh) work and what the whole business is about. Thus the whole political intrigue stuff was mainly confusing. Regarding the writing style, it wasn't really my cup of tea and I found it often a bit tedious to read (also because Netgalley provided the arc as a PDF which was terrible to read on my phone). The metaphors often fell a little short or were so unusual that I had to think about them, which interrupted my reading flow. Still it's written eloquently, in a distinct style and with gritty details. So overall mixed feelings, mainly just not my cup of tea I think, though the idea was really unique and interesting 😊 Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion 😊

Einerseits hab ich’s geliebt, andererseits war es manchmal etwas wirr und ich hätte mir einen klareren Fokus gewünscht - ich fand es zwar spannend, dass hier mehrere Genres wild durcheinander geworfen wurden, aber das hat mich auch immer wieder rausgebracht