This is How You Lose the Time War Book Review
That I should die—fine. I signed on to this war to die.
I don’t know if I ever told you that before.
But that you should die. That you should suffer. That they should unmake you.
I love you. I love you. I love you.
Synopsis
Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future.
Except the discovery of their bond would mean death for each of them. There's still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win that war.
REVIEW
This Is How You Lose the Time War is a dazzling, albeit oftentimes overwhelming, masterpiece—a love story that defies time, space, and the very nature of its own existence. Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone craft a tale that is as much a literary experience as it is a science fiction adventure, blending lyrical prose with an achingly tender sapphic romance.
Red and Blue are rivals, agents on opposing sides of a war that plays out across countless timelines. They leave each other letters—at first as taunts, then as something more. What begins as a battle of wits transforms into an intimate connection, a slow, breathtaking unraveling of devotion between two people who should never have met, let alone fallen for each other.
The writing is stunning, a lyrical, poetic unraveling of devotion that demands to be read slowly—savored like a secret not meant for you but left in your hands all the same. It’s brief (under 200 pages!) but lingers long after you turn the final page.
Like I said, at its heart, this is a love story—one of longing, defiance, and the sheer audacity of finding connection in a universe that would rather keep these two apart.
If you love books that feel like poetry, stories that defy genre, and romance that burns impossibly bright, this one is for you.
Thank you to Saga Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, for the free copy for review!
Original publication date was 16 July 2019.
