Caidyn (SEMI-HIATUS; BW Reviews; he/him/his)'s Reviews > This Is How You Lose the Time War

I received an ARC through BookishFirst in exchange for an honest review!

3.5/5

Wow, so, this book. I honestly don't know what to think of it. The book follows two futuristic women who are a part of opposite cultures (that's what I'm calling them) and are supposed to be enemies. Red works for the Agency while Blue works for the Garden. I'll be honest, I never quite got them down until twenty to thirty pages from the end. That was when I got things down. But, Blue leaves a letter for Red and, after that, they keep up a correspondence despite knowing that they shouldn't, falling in love along the way despite never really meeting.

The thing that made the book and killed it (for me) was the prose. It was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. Yet, half of the time, flowery prose makes my eyes glaze over. That meant I could only read a few chapters at a time, which is hard because I fully believe that this book is best experienced reading it in one sitting.

I also never quite got invested in the characters or their relationship. The prose and just the way it was told -- letters and single person perspectives -- kept me too distant. It doesn't help that about 80% of the book is setting the stage for the ending, which is hard because it felt plotless for most of the time.

Yes, I liked it. And I think I'd reread it because it really is a gorgeous book. That's why I think it's going to go over very well with people who are interested in this kind of book. It might be one of those that I might enjoy more on a reread.