THANK YOU, NetGalley and the publisher!
What incredible character development, relationship building, and not-so distant future technology weaved together to create a really unique and interesting story line! I highly recommend!

Time travel, romance, spy story?!? I was absolutely all in! This is an amazing story about a woman going back in time to be a bridge by the UK's government and living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as “1847” or Commander Graham Gore. The UK is gathering people throughout time (expats) to figure is time travel is possible. This was such a charming story that had me laughing out loud. A millennial meeting a person from the 17th century just cracks me up. Having someone from the past learn of all the new technology was hilarious. I absolutely enjoyed this book!!!

This book is a ride. The premise is fun, the characters endearing and the pacing is propulsive, which kept me turning the pages well past my bedtime. As for the plot, I felt like this book got a little messy toward the end, as the time travel logic started to collapse under its own weight (always a risk with time travel books!), but I liked the characters and the thought experiment so much, I didn’t really care. Plus, time travel! And Arctic explorers! This is lively, thoughtful and charming summer fare.

What a weird and yet delightful book! Never read anything quite like it! Time travel, spies, romance it has everything!!! It does feel like a self indulgent book for the author but she makes it very curious and fun for the audience as well!

THE MINISTRY OF TIME by Kaliane Bradley
Published: May, 7, 2024 by Avid Reader Press
Page Count: 352


An admirable debut novel that transcends the time-travel trope, while evolving into a spy thriller laced with inevitable romance. The British government stumbles upon an open “time door” and decides to study time travel practicality, safety, and possible benefits. They manage to “extract” a cadre of people who were doomed to die … either by war, natural disasters or epidemics. They all arrive in a discombobulated state. … acclimation to the present won’t be easy. They are assigned “bridges” to assist in their integration into present day life. These “expats” will need help in the simplest things, such as: how to dress, speak and behave. Many of modern day devices we take for granted may astound them. The main narrator, is an unnamed female of mixed-race … British father and a Cambodian mother who fled from the horrendous “killing fields” of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. She attained this top-secret job as a “bridge” after extensive interviews regarding her suitability. Her charge will be Lt. Graham Gore, a real-life Victorian naval officer and polar explorer. Extracted from sure death in the frozen tundra of the Canadian Arctic, while his men all perished with their ship trapped in the polar ice, and a dwindling food supply.
Kaliane Bradley proves to be a marvelous storyteller as she weaves together multiple plot lines that demonstrates the wonder of love and friendship developing to aid in the acclimation.
The relationship between Gore and his “bridge” gradually evolves, in spite of their initial reluctance . An element of spy thriller will arise as there is an attempt to murder them. Their banter is a source of inspiration and wonder. This a tale of time, tenderness
and forgiveness. Explored are the themes of evolving feminism and racism.
Thanks to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for providing an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review.

This book wasn't for me, but I can see that some people would really like it. I honestly couldn't connect to the characters enough to be interested in It seemed like a quirky fantasy thriller but I didn't get enough of those vibes to excite me into reading. It just made the whole premise really werid.

I mostly loved this, but (as, I think, with most time travel novels) it got a bit knotted up at the end.

Review copy provided by publisher.

This is an interesting book. It seems to be on every list to read! In this book, they bring people to the present that would have died in their own time. The Ministry then helps them to acclimate to this time and how they can help out now that they are here. They have helpers who help them bridge the gap and help them learn what would have happened to them. This is an interesting premise and was a different type of book that was highly enjoyed.

A big thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was promised time travel, but all I was left with was an existential crisis.

The Ministry of Time by Kaliana Bradley is a science fiction novel that delves into the concept of time travel. In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she’ll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expats” from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time.

She is tasked with working as a “bridge”: living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as “1847” or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as “washing machines,” “Spotify,” and “the collapse of the British Empire.” But with an appetite for discovery, a seven-a-day cigarette habit, and the support of a charming and chaotic cast of fellow expats, he soon adjusts. Over the next year, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a horrifically uncomfortable roommate dynamic, evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry’s project comes to light, the bridge has fallen haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences she never could have imagined. Forced to confront the choices that brought them together, the bridge must finally reckon with how—and whether she believes—what she does next can change the future.

I didn't per say hate this book. Instead I've come to realize that my brain can't fully wrap my head around time travel and all the wibbly wobbly timey wimey bits that go into it. So, I loved all the non-confusing parts of this book.

This was really good!

While sci-fi/fantasy side of it wasn’t prominent, the story is setup upon time travel, and 5 people being extracted from different eras to test the after effects of it. The story focuses on Graham Gore and his bridge (through her POV). I love the fact Graham is actually a real historic figure in arctic expedition.

The romance was also a little subdued but it was good and steady in the background mostly. The dynamic between MCs and their banter was soooo good. I genuinely loved their humor and companionship. Reading Graham smoke THAT much gave me anxiety.

While he was well adjusted on the outside, Graham had insecurities and overwhelmed traveling hundreds of years forward. That was depicted well, I could feel his anxiety through FMC’s eyes. I loved his friendship with Arthur and Margaret. Both were precious. But their bond was truly special.

I loved the plot twists because they were real twists, and good! The slow burn was quite slow until middle or so, and yet it was deliciously built up. I loved how their relationship slowly developed and genuinely became more almost over the course of the year. The ending and twist left me both hurting and speechless.

I loved there were so many good messages in the book, the criticism of colonialism, the trauma of Cambodian genocide and the future of the world with global warming and wars. It was intricately woven into the story.

I loved the messages in the very end so much.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This book started off so strong! The plot already convinced me that I would like this book, and the author’s note cemented that. I also thought it was hilarious- I loved Bradley’s subtle sense of humor. And she wrote such great characters. (Graham, Arthur, and Maggie at least; I got frustrated with the FMC.) However, a bit before halfway in it hit a lull for me, and I had to force myself to finish. I’m definitely glad I did finish, though, because there were a couple of surprises thrown in that I did not predict. So if you read this and experience that same lull, push through because it’s worth it!

I liked the premise of the book, a fun way to interact with a historical figure. Less than half way through the book, all the overt references to how it was going to end badly got a little old. I'm not a huge sci-fi fan and did get a little lost with who the bad guys are. The trauma of being a refugee in time was well done.

I LOVED this book. The plot is nice and juicy, the prose sings with bright ideas and brand new metaphors I've never read before, the romance stole my heart and the ending had me punching the air. Five stars. One of the best I've read this year.

This book defies categorization. I loved it. While the book has time travel, it isn’t really sci-fi - it’s much more character driven. It has a love story but isn’t really a romance. There is history but it’s not historical fiction. Whatever genre it is, I want to read more of it.

The writing is beautiful and I found myself reading sentences over again to take them in. The characters were fully developed and compelling.

This would be a great book for fans of Jodi Taylor or Connie Willis, or those who read and liked Babel.

This was a great debut and I can’t wait to see what Kaliane Bradley does next.

Very unique and engaging. I enjoyed this a lot, most of all for it's weirdness. This is like nothing I've ever read before - which is a huge plus these days, as I often feel like I've seen everything a book can offer.

This book was bold, exciting, and such an immersive read. I had a hard time putting it down, and couldn’t stop thinking about it while I was doing other things. The concept was compelling, the prose was engaging, and the romance was butterfly-inducing. I enjoyed the lack of specificity - we didn’t name our heroine, and I don’t believe we knew exactly what year it was either (unless I missed it!). That left the novel seeming unspecific (in a good way). I liked so much about this book, and I think the author has so much promise, but there were a few things that didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

Positives:
- The characters were fascinating. Even the ones that weren’t given the opportunity to develop much, or for us to get to know them much, they were all quite compelling, and I would read all of their files in depth!

- The romance was sweet and tender and achingly lovely, the slow burn was slow, but the reward was great

- The concept itself was so great, I was hooked by this premise, and I honestly feel like this would make a great TV series, or book series, following bridges and their expats. It would be delightful

- The mix of genres (science fiction, romance, literary, suspense) was great!

- Overall the writing was strong - engaging, full of prose and melody, and very evocative

- I loved that this colourful story was told in so many shades of grey. Everything was messy and complicated, and morally ambiguous, it was DELICIOUS


Room for improvement:
- The pacing was great for so long, but the story kind of fell apart near the end. Not completely, but it did not stand strong on its own, a lot felt rushed, some stuff wasn’t clearly reasoned out, and there were so many twists and turns that panned out via the exposition of conversations that were as finessed as a brick to the head. The conclusion was clunky, and could use some work.

- Our narrator at times would be brilliant and snarky and smart, and delightful, and at other times, she would shakily almost arbitrarily make her way through some sort of self discovery or memory, and it felt like her reflections were almost half-hearted. I especially noticed this whenever we touched on moral and social issues like race and some of the ethics to do with her work. Often it worked - life is confusing and we don’t always have fully formed thoughts, but other times it felt underdeveloped. Our protagonist would at length list microaggressions, and be so painfully self-aware at her own faults and mistakes, but then would make decisions that felt extremely out of character. While I’m all for a complicated and multifaceted main character, didn’t feel intentional, and It just felt a bit inconsistent.

Ultimately, I really, really enjoyed this book. It was electrifying, and smart, and unforgettable. I hope to read more from Bradley soon!

The Ministry of Time merges time travel with a romance and a spy thriller with varying results.

A minor government translator is given a dream job. She is hired to teach a time traveler from the 1840s how modern life works. They will live together for a year. Rent, food and all the trappings are free. She just needs to provide weekly reports on the time traveler’s acclimation to modern society. The job also includes a giant bump in pay. She can’t say no to all of that. However, things get complicated when she finds herself attracted to her charge, Commander Graham Gore. In the meantime, her government agency is beset by challenges from both within and without.

The world building of the universe is excellent. The fact that Commander Gore was a real person is a mind-blowing addition to the meta feel of this book. The translator also reflects a lot about being biracial in Britain and the horribleness of the Cambodian war. There are also many humorous scenes of Graham and his fellow time travelers’ issues with the modern world.

Unfortunately, the middle of this book dragged a bit for me. I struggled to get past it. However, the slam bam thrilling finale of The Ministry of Time was definitely worth the slog. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars!

Thanks to Avid Reader Press and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.

I enjoy a light sci-fi - like a little more fi and a little less sci. Then again, if there is going to be sci, there should be enough to explain the technology in the world a least a little. Basically, I'm a bit of a picky-penny when it comes to the types of sci-fi books that work for me. Throw in time travel and the lane of likability gets even narrower for me. Even still, this book got a ton of early reviews, was a Book of the Month pick, and is mentioned all over my bookish podcasts by people I usually trust for book recommendations, so I decided to give it a try. Overall, it was a fun and easy read, but left me a bit baffled in certain areas.

The blurb made this out to be a time traveling, historical romantic fiction, spy novel. And while there were elements of all of that word salad description, all of them were surface level and never fully developed. Here's a breakdown of my thoughts:

Pros: Not too much super technical sciency stuff. Many of the descriptions and comparisons are very clever and unique. I love the lack of cliches. I also enjoyed the philosophical questions raised by the time travel elements and the idea of taking a person out of their time period. Besides Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, I hadn't read/watched any time travel novels with that aspect of bringing to the future people from the past. (And in Bill and Ted, they eventually return the people back to their time period). I really enjoyed the view of the 21st century through the eyes of past generations and how would the values of their time period fit in/contrast with the social norms of ours. Can you imagine a man from the 1600s being exposed to the Kardashians? This author did.

Cons: The start was a bit slow. In fact, the pacing was a bit odd. It was slow to start with lots of foreshadow for what is to come. We know pretty early that the speaker (the unnamed main character told in first person) is telling this story in retrospect/flashback. The speaker seemingly breaks the fourth wall by using "you" and telling this story to someone, at the beginning presumably the reader. This can be overdone, but it didn't bother me and we find out later that there is a reason for this. ANYWAY - the pace is slow in the beginning - all about the speaker's rise in the Ministry of Time and the detox of the ex-pats (those people they steal from other timelines). It isn't until after the 50% mark that we start to get any sort of answers to all the foreshadowing.
The attempt at old dialogue from the different time periods were stilted and forced. Like the author researched common vocab of the time period and tried to put it all in. I honestly skimmed most of it.
The majority of the book was world building and explaining the ex-pat information. The actual plot, when it does actually start to pick up, seems rushed and little glossed over.
Overall, the writing style is a little inconsistent. The author is clearly intelligent and has a big vocabulary. But it didn't feel like the narrator should be. The syntax doesn't always match the diction and I could feel the author's hand in the writing. In other words, the author is using words to show off her intelligence and to try to elevate the book instead of me actually believing that the character would use the words herself. I think this type of elevated diction works better in 3rd person like The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russel instead of first person.
The time travel elements always add some loop/plot holes and this was no exception. The ending was ambiguous and a bit unresolved but did end on a note of hope.
Don't get me started on the "romance." Just - no.

Overall, my initial reaction was meh with a side of could have been better or more evenly paced. Loved the premise and the clever descriptions but I guess, given the description, I just expected more to happen. Not a lot happened... and not a lot was ever really explained to satisfaction in the end...

I seriously don’t know how to describe this book - I don’t think I can even properly describe what genre it is. 😂 Basically, our nameless narrator is a half-Cambodian British woman in the not too far future, who gets assigned to a new role in a new division. Why? Because 5 people from different eras of history have somehow been fetched through time travel to modern day Britain, and she’s assigned to one of them as his “bridge” or essentially handler as he transitions into the modern day. There’s also some intrigue, some romance, but surprisingly not much science fiction-y elements til towards the end of the book.

Oh, and the person she is assigned to handle, Captain Graham Gore, is an actual figure (an Arctic explorer from 1847), and the author says in a note up front that she basically started this as sort of fab-fiction vignettes to entertain her and her friends during Covid. So yeah, this book is kind of weird.

It’s for sure extremely unique and also funny. The only thing I can think of to even compare it to is The Eyre Affair by Jasper Forde which also has a strange and funny sensibility and genre mash up. But for me, it sort of fell apart a little bit towards the end. But it was interesting, and I really would love to discuss it with someone. Just wish it had stuck the landing more.

I struggled to rate it, but I think I’m going with 3.75 stars.

This moved so slowly and so never got my true interest. It was so interesting a premise with a very dry delivery that left me feeling empty.