This one caught me by surprise. It’s intelligent, witty, able to engage with difficult topics with humour and grace. It’s incredibly well written and completely compelling. The main character is an interesting mixture of striving to be true to her own sense of morality and a tangle of personal insecurities, some of which are related to her mixed-race heritage and her struggle to reconcile her desire to be British with her understanding of her family’s background. I just ate this up and was completely immersed, however if you are someone who wants action packed time travel or time travel romance, this may not be for you. It’s instead a deep meditation on ethical dilemmas and where the weight of responsibility truly lies. Nuanced, clever and very readable, this is a bittersweet favourite for 2024.

I really liked this one. I think the combination of time travel, historical reference and thriller like tension made it really compelling. I found the references to what is acceptable now vs in the past also really interesting. A great read I can see appealing to a lot of different readers.

Time travel books are generally not my thing but I had seen a lot of hype around this one and luckily it didn't disappoint. There is A LOT going on in this book so you need to just throw caution to the wind and go with it ! You have to abandon all sense of reality when reading and it ends up being such a fun entertaining ride ! Sometimes we all need to read something out of our comfort zone and far away from reality so if you're after some PURE escapism then go pick this up!

Liked this one. It’s very charming, and a pretty rare bird as a mix of romance novel, grubby spy thriller and near future dystopia. It’s a lot of things all at once, much like the main characters!

The Ministry of Time is an odd book! It starts well, with confident prose and engaging characters that develop nicely, and then things take a turn. A bit of tension is added near the start, then very little happens until the 80% mark, when the plot kicks in. The writing becomes sloppier, with odd turns of phrases that jar, and please please please, never feel obliged to write a sex scene ever again… The ending curiously felt rushed, given how little had happened in the proceeding 60% or so! That said, it's an interesting take on the time travel genre, just don't expect anything revelationary.

Delightful funny time travel based romp with dry (and not so dry) humour with a cast of credible characters against a well built worldscape.. Recommended

I received an advanced reading copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton, and the author Kaliane Bradley.
I really enjoyed this book. Such an interesting premise and as other reviewers have noted, the relationship and banter between the narrator and Commander Gore is beautifully written and heart-warming. Bradley does an incredible job at making the 'expats' seem very vivid and real, interestingly the modern day characters aren't as well-rounded. I also had some laugh out loud moments as a civil servant.
Would really recommend as an entertaining read.

I enjoyed the start of this book, but struggled a little in the middle before it got a bit edgier towards the end. I liked the idea more than the actual book. It never seemed to quite build up to what I was hoping - perhaps too many trips to The Ministry but not enough actual time travel.

A very interesting concept for a novel. A ministry of time. Those who control time travel. Guinea pigs are characters from a bygone era. Interesting results putting them into modern society and their sensual relationships.

I’d you’re looking for something unique, romantic and probing, this is one for you. Or if you just love stunning covers this is a good one to get reeled in by - look at it!

Set in modern day England, we’re launched straight into the action. The British government are conducting secretive time travel experiments, whereby unwitting citizens of various historical eras are brought into our present day. Guiding them through this are translators, employees who, 24/7, aide our displaced ‘expats’ through the transition to modern day England.

This plot often requires a little bit of contemplation. It is a super examination of colonialism, class, sexism, and more beyond. At its heart, this mad sci-fi is really a romance. There’s a lot going on in this book, our central couple include an English translator of Cambodian descent vs an Arctic explorer from the mid 1800s. There’s plenty of dry humour and much to chew over.

I loved it. I thought the ending was inspired. I’d really recommend if you’re looking for something a bit different. Thanks so much to @netgalley for the advance e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

A different tack on time travel

For me this was a novel take on time travel. The characters are drawn together from different periods, and their stories and how they adapt to the 21st century are revealed in the first half of the book. This brings out some interesting threads when their minders have to explain modern life and some of the darker aspects of 20th century history.

The story takes on a more serious hue as the reason for their being drawn together and the risks and aims of the project become clear. Time paradoxes aside I finished the book deep in thinking that prevention is better than cure and wondering how future generations will view our actions.

I was given this book from the author via netgalley only for the pleasure of reading and leaving an honest review should I choose to.

I was expecting to be blown away by this but it ended up being much more of a romance book than I was expecting. Some elements were great but overall it didn't live up to the hype for me. I know some people will (and do) absolutely love it though!

tldr: perfect time-travel adjacent book with a side of romance, for those who hate plot-holes and absurd quantum physics explanations

ARC review: i received an ebook for free in exchange for review; thank you to the publisher <3

I requested this after catching up on Loki season 2: time-travel with Miss Minute vibes? Count me in!
I'm generally upset at time-travel novels because they either try to convince me of some quantum physics bullshit, or add so many stupid plot holes we live in a gruyère. Thankfully, Kaliane Bradley has decided to be very light on the sci-fi aspect and focus on her characters instead. It does mean the conspiracy and spying parts of the novel are a bit light, but it gets compensated by interactions between the cast, and the great humor.

I loved seeing all the expats adapt to modern life bit by bit. It gave hilarious situations while meeting modern life, but K. Bradley didn't shy away from talking about more sensitive issues - racism, mental health, homophobia, sexism, ... to cite a few. She did so in a very balanced way, that didn't feel forced or out of place.

The premise sounds great, but the story is lost and rambling, right until the end where it gives you a lecture about the possible future of our world if we don't look after it. The story of the lost Franklin expedition is interesting, however fails to make a real connection with the plot. Some parts read ok, but others are like when a writer tries to write so cleverly and cryptically, but actually fail to make a lot of sense.

Completely brilliant, funny and heartbreaking. Who knew I needed a time-travel spy thriller romance in my life this badly?

A civil servant languages expert has been offered a high level job working with Expats from history she is assigned Commander Graham Gore rescues from certain death on a doomed expedition to discover the North West passage in the frozen wastes of the Arctic. Her job is to explain everything that has happened since 1847 from the concept of germs to the lack of domestic servants and to deal with him taking the toilet apart "to see how it works". We follow his and the other Expats progress, it's an interesting if somewhat bleak read. Highly inventive and not predictable.

A civil servant gets the job of a lifetime- she has been chosen to be a bridge for a time traveller! In the not too distant future, time travel is in its infancy. This experiment is too see how people who have died can be brought forward in time can adjust as well as see if this impacts on the timeline. Our narrator ( it is annoying that I can't think of her name!)is paired with a member of Shackleton's ill-fated voyage.

It is a fascinating concept with humorous, touching events. When our narrator falls in love with her bridge I really wanted there to be a happy ending. This was a wonderful & unusual book. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this super book.

Phew, this book was definitely.. something. The idea and general concept were 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 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). Only afterwards did I find out it was also marketed as Romance and I don't at all see why? I found it rather problematic with both characters somehow fetishizing each other while not really making time to learn each others' cultural and historical backgrounds 😬 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 references to British culture and discussions between Simellia and our protagonist were completely lost on me, of course mainly due to me being not British and having no idea how their ministries (or any tbh) and the hierarchies there work. Thus the whole political intrigue stuff was mainly confusing, also because a lot of things were only alluded to but never spelled out, leaving anyone without pre-existing knowledge outside the metaphorical door.

Regarding the writing style, it wasn't really my cup of tea and I found it often a bit exhausting 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 😊

This is easily my favourite book that I’ll read this year. So touching, effortless, and compelling. I fell in love with the Expats and would do anything for more of them, but a standalone novel is all the better for having an ending, Truly exquisite.

In this intriguing twist on a time travel / espionage tale, we meet our protagonist as she is promoted from a low-level translator for the British government to a “bridge”, i.e., someone looking after one of the numerous people that have been extracted from their own place in time to the present day, for reasons not immediately made clear.

Her relationship with the Graham, the ex-pat Arctic explorer from 1847, starts as a humerous, odd couple-esque story, but quickly develops into a slow burn romance. As the intentions of the government ministry’s experiment become clear, the genre once again shifts to more of a spy novel, with action-packed sequences and some twisty turns.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel. I found the writing really refreshing and fun, and loved both the main characters and the supporting cast. It was not quite like anything I’ve read before, but I think the blending of genres worked really well. I would recommend to any fans of time travel, historical romance and/or spy stories (not a sentence I've ever written before!)

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.