At first, it was a little difficult for me to understand the plot and what was going on. As the story went on, the characters definitely grew on me and the prose was beautiful enough for me to keep reading. I could sense the chemistry between the two characters, and everything became clearer by the middle of the book. The story was captivating and required a bit more reflecting and analyzing, but I think it was a good read. The ending was a little confusing for me and I wish it was longer and explored their relationship toward the end a bit more, but "This Is How You Lose the Time War" is definitely a solid four star read. The war worked, the romance worked, the setting worked, the characters worked, the conflict worked—just everything worked for me. However, the writing could put you off in the beginning if you're not used to the writing style but I was open to it after a chapter or two.