How can there be more when this is done? But it will never end – that’s the answer. There is always us.

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

My Review

Words can wound-but they’re bridges, too. (Like the bridges that are all that Genghis left behind.) Though maybe a bridge can also be a wound? To paraphrase a prophet: Letters are structures, not events. Yours give me a place to live inside.

Oh my stars. I finally read it. I finally read This is How You Lose the Time War. And though it wasn’t the five star – or even four and a half star – read that I was kinda expecting it to be, I still greatly enjoyed it and am very glad I read it.

I’ve been peripherally aware of this novella for years; since sometime in 2020, I believe. But it didn’t quite catch my attention until the Bigolas Dickolas Incident of 2023 on Twitter (sorry “X”). If you know, you know. And like, I actually found out about it on Twitter (not sorry “X”) from the actual Twitter thread it occurred on, as opposed to like an article or YouTube video first. So it’s been on my TBR since this time – it’s just taken me forever to get around to reading it. And I finally did!

Out of all the things about this book, I think the two main characters are probably one of the strongest aspects of the book (we’ll get to the other in a bit). But it would have to be, in order for the book to be this compelling, considering how character focused it is. Which is very, by the way. This is a very character focused story – it’s all about how two characters interact with each other and how this ignites change in both of them.

Words can wound – but they’re bridges, too. (Like the bridges that are all that Genghis left behind.) Though maybe a bridge can also be a wound? To paraphrase a prophet: Letters are structures, not events. Yours give me a place to live inside.

Out of the two of them, I’d probably consider 🍓 Red ❤️ to be the technical main character. She has the most chapters, and a pretty decent chunk of the plot of the This is How You Lose the Time War is her character arc front and center. I also think that I preferred her over the two of them, I loved how long and emotive her letters to Blue were, and loved her personality.

The deuteragonist, 🫐 Blue 💙, was also a pretty fun and interesting character, and I was surprised she wasn’t my favorite considering I prefer the color blue to red in real life. But, I dunno, I guess I just didn’t like her letters as much. Especially at first. But I guess the less emotions in her letters (particularly in her first ones and compared to Red’s) just shows that she’s a bit more reserved about her feelings than Red is, even if Blue was the first to reach out.

Regarding the plot… I’d say that I definitely preferred the characters to it by a pretty good amount. The 📖 plot 📖 just wasn’t as strong, and for almost half the book, feels pretty nonexistent. This changes in the second half of course, and an incident close to the end makes you consider the amount of plot actually happening in the first half in a new way. But it’s still extremely light in the book’s first half. Which is why I was really happy when it did feel like plot was finally happening; in some ways, the beginning of this book was kind of a slog for me to get through.

There’s a kind of time travel in letters, isn’t there? I imagine you laughing at my small joke; I imagine you groaning; I imagine you throwing my words away. Do I have you still? Do I address empty air and the flies that will eat this carcass? You could leave me for five years, you could return never-and I have to write the rest of this not knowing.

I liked the budding🌹 romance 💘 here well enough. Red and Blue had a surprising amount of chemistry for two people who hadn’t properly met. Their letters to each other were also beautiful, though I really had to suspend my disbelief in some of their construction. I also found the pet names to get a little annoying after awhile. However, I thought the varied terms of address in the letters’ salutations to be awesome.

The 🖋️ writing 📃 was actually what I felt to be the strongest part of This is How You Lose the Time War. Yes, the character interaction and development was crucial to this story. But I think the novella’s writing is what actually carries it for me. The 💜 purple prose 💜 here is lyrical and lovely and so intricately written. This is some of the best purple prose I’ve read in a while, actually. I had so much trouble choosing quotes that I liked for this review. There was just too much great writing here.

But maybe this is how we win, Red.

You and me.

This is how we win.

So yeah, even though it wasn’t a perfect hit for me, I still greatly loved this book. And I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone interested, especially to those who like well-written science fiction and romance. Even if you’re not usually into sapphic fiction, I still encourage you to give this one a shot.

As always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

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