the ministry of time is a lot of things: a sci-fi story with time travel, a comedy about a man trying to learn about current times, a romance about two very different people who are drawn together across all odds, and more. however, as a result, this novel feels more like a jack of all trades instead of something fully realized. this is made apparent in bradley's depiction of the main character's revelations about her own internalized racism as a mixed cambodian-british woman. if as much research was done to write fleshed out characters dealing with racism, misogyny, homophobia, etc. as bradley clearly did in bringing commander gore (a real life figure) into the story, this could've been a masterpiece in the making given how cinematic the reading experience was. i'm not surprised this already has a tv deal as a result and will admit to being swept up by the main romance even though getting there had pacing issues.