I hate to give a rating to This is How You Lose the Time War because it is such a unique book. There are things I absolutely adore aboutt his book -- and things I don't like quite as much. This is definitely a book that will be loved by some and disliked by others. I stand in the middle - seeing so much merit to it, but there was also a lot that didn't compel me to continue with the story like some other books I've read.
Red and Blue are time travelers who are supposed to be enemies. They start to taunt each other (through letters), then mutually respect each other, then grow to love each other. Their bosses begin to suspect, and that's not good. That's about all I can say about the plot.
Onto the good: this book is wickedly smart. There was a line about Mongols (on page 35 of the ARC) that was absolutely brilliant. Blue and Red are constantly finding new clever things to call each other. That being said, the story may go above some people's heads. Blue and Red travel to so many different historical places, and if you're not familiar with them, you may miss a lot. There were several words I had to look up in the dictionary.
How Blue and Red resolve the whole issue with their bosses is ingenious as well. There are clues to the end of the story the whole time, but it's easy to miss.
That being said, there's a lot that's confusing about the book. I had to suspend belief about how they were actually sending messages to each other. I didn't really start to realize what was going on until they had sent a couple of messages back and forth. I didn't have the same need to find out what happens next as I do with some books, until the very end.
Overall, this is a book that you might discover you love for its brilliance, might dislike for its confusion, or you might be in between on. If you're looking for a light read that you can just let wash over you, this isn't it; however, if you're looking for a book that's clever and really makes you think, this might be the book for you.
Red and Blue are time travelers who are supposed to be enemies. They start to taunt each other (through letters), then mutually respect each other, then grow to love each other. Their bosses begin to suspect, and that's not good. That's about all I can say about the plot.
Onto the good: this book is wickedly smart. There was a line about Mongols (on page 35 of the ARC) that was absolutely brilliant. Blue and Red are constantly finding new clever things to call each other. That being said, the story may go above some people's heads. Blue and Red travel to so many different historical places, and if you're not familiar with them, you may miss a lot. There were several words I had to look up in the dictionary.
How Blue and Red resolve the whole issue with their bosses is ingenious as well. There are clues to the end of the story the whole time, but it's easy to miss.
That being said, there's a lot that's confusing about the book. I had to suspend belief about how they were actually sending messages to each other. I didn't really start to realize what was going on until they had sent a couple of messages back and forth. I didn't have the same need to find out what happens next as I do with some books, until the very end.
Overall, this is a book that you might discover you love for its brilliance, might dislike for its confusion, or you might be in between on. If you're looking for a light read that you can just let wash over you, this isn't it; however, if you're looking for a book that's clever and really makes you think, this might be the book for you.