a 2023 favorite right here
"A fugitive becomes a queen or a scientist or, worse, a poet. Or her child does, or a smuggler she trades jackets with in some distant spaceport. And all this blood for nothing."
•
Red and Blue are two rival agents. Red works for Commandant at the agency, while blue is on the side of the garden. Both sides are trying to secure the best future possible, in battle against each other and in a war with time itself. Agents travel downward to the future and upward to the past to change the course of certain events and maintain the peace they believe humanity needs, from each side’s point of view. Red finds a letter from Blue that soon marks their secret correspondence together. The two agents begin communicating through secret letters and soon enough develop some sort of friendship. Later on in the book, the friendship revolves into a relationship between them. Love. Romance. The agency almost uncovers Red’s secret letter to Blue. As a result, Red has to send a ploy letter to Blue. This letter is to be poisoned and lead Blue to her own death. As curious as Blue is, she reads the letter despite Red’s secret warnings regarding the ploy. This leads to Blue’s death. However, it is later revealed at the end of the story that Blue did not really die. Blue survived because a part of her was Red. In the end, Blue and Red find each other again and decide to fight together against both their fractions.
•
"I have been birds and branches. I have been bees and wolves. I have been either flooding the void between stars, tangling their breath into networks of songs. I have been fish and plankton and humus, and all these have been me. But while I’ve been enmeshed in this wholeness—they are not the whole of me."
•
The idea of the time war really intrigued me. I will admit I was confused throughout it all; nonetheless, I was hooked. They used this time system of threads. The idea of time travel was accomplishing by traveling on a thread line. Upward to go to the past, and downward to go to the future. Any action taken in either setting had an influence on the course of the time war itself (the butterfly effect). The agency tried to force the peace by killing and torturing, while the garden prioritized the safety and security of all things natural and tried to maintain the peace using peace itself. Both sides had different views that justified their action.
•
"When I think of you, I want to be alone together. I want to strive against and for. I want to live in contact. I want to be a context for you, and you for me. I love you, and I love you, and I want to find out what that means together."
•
As an enemies of lover queer book, I have to say the idea and concept was depicted perfectly and flawlessly. There was a real reason for them to be enemies, and the romance did not develop very early in the book. The relationship development was steady and not rushed, which I really liked. It also helped seeing the real reason both sides hated each other and rivaled each other. The letter’s Red and Blue wrote portrayed their views on life, their childhoods, and even their feelings in present time.
•
"I’ll write in the waves. In skies. In my heart. You’ll never see, but you will know. I’ll be all the poets, I’ll kill them all and take each one’s place in turn, and every time love’s written in all the strands it will be to you."
•
I have never loved a book that confused me this much. I fell in love with everything about this book: the concept, the characters, the time system, the letters, the love story, all of it. I did however struggle a bit reading it for some reason I could not grasp. When I first picked it up I thought it would be a one day read or so but it took longer. I think the main reason was the confusion made it hard to read for a long period of time, so I had to take pauses in between to go through what I read so far and make sense of it all. Really glad to have started out 2023 with this book and looking forward to reading more amazing book just like it this year.
•
"Love is what we have, against time and death, against all the powers ranged to crush us down. You gave me so much—a history, a future, a calm that lets me write these words though I’m breaking. I hope I’ve given something in return—and I think you would want me to know I have. And what we’ve done will stand, no matter how they weave the world against us. It’s done now, and forever."
•
Red and Blue are two rival agents. Red works for Commandant at the agency, while blue is on the side of the garden. Both sides are trying to secure the best future possible, in battle against each other and in a war with time itself. Agents travel downward to the future and upward to the past to change the course of certain events and maintain the peace they believe humanity needs, from each side’s point of view. Red finds a letter from Blue that soon marks their secret correspondence together. The two agents begin communicating through secret letters and soon enough develop some sort of friendship. Later on in the book, the friendship revolves into a relationship between them. Love. Romance. The agency almost uncovers Red’s secret letter to Blue. As a result, Red has to send a ploy letter to Blue. This letter is to be poisoned and lead Blue to her own death. As curious as Blue is, she reads the letter despite Red’s secret warnings regarding the ploy. This leads to Blue’s death. However, it is later revealed at the end of the story that Blue did not really die. Blue survived because a part of her was Red. In the end, Blue and Red find each other again and decide to fight together against both their fractions.
•
"I have been birds and branches. I have been bees and wolves. I have been either flooding the void between stars, tangling their breath into networks of songs. I have been fish and plankton and humus, and all these have been me. But while I’ve been enmeshed in this wholeness—they are not the whole of me."
•
The idea of the time war really intrigued me. I will admit I was confused throughout it all; nonetheless, I was hooked. They used this time system of threads. The idea of time travel was accomplishing by traveling on a thread line. Upward to go to the past, and downward to go to the future. Any action taken in either setting had an influence on the course of the time war itself (the butterfly effect). The agency tried to force the peace by killing and torturing, while the garden prioritized the safety and security of all things natural and tried to maintain the peace using peace itself. Both sides had different views that justified their action.
•
"When I think of you, I want to be alone together. I want to strive against and for. I want to live in contact. I want to be a context for you, and you for me. I love you, and I love you, and I want to find out what that means together."
•
As an enemies of lover queer book, I have to say the idea and concept was depicted perfectly and flawlessly. There was a real reason for them to be enemies, and the romance did not develop very early in the book. The relationship development was steady and not rushed, which I really liked. It also helped seeing the real reason both sides hated each other and rivaled each other. The letter’s Red and Blue wrote portrayed their views on life, their childhoods, and even their feelings in present time.
•
"I’ll write in the waves. In skies. In my heart. You’ll never see, but you will know. I’ll be all the poets, I’ll kill them all and take each one’s place in turn, and every time love’s written in all the strands it will be to you."
•
I have never loved a book that confused me this much. I fell in love with everything about this book: the concept, the characters, the time system, the letters, the love story, all of it. I did however struggle a bit reading it for some reason I could not grasp. When I first picked it up I thought it would be a one day read or so but it took longer. I think the main reason was the confusion made it hard to read for a long period of time, so I had to take pauses in between to go through what I read so far and make sense of it all. Really glad to have started out 2023 with this book and looking forward to reading more amazing book just like it this year.
•
"Love is what we have, against time and death, against all the powers ranged to crush us down. You gave me so much—a history, a future, a calm that lets me write these words though I’m breaking. I hope I’ve given something in return—and I think you would want me to know I have. And what we’ve done will stand, no matter how they weave the world against us. It’s done now, and forever."