this is how you lose the time war (amal el-mohtar and max gladstone): a review

This Is How You Lose the Time War (a review)

rating: ⭐⭐⭐✨

Red is cyborg who is also a secret agent for an organization called the Agency. Blue is not a cyborg, but she is also a secret agent for an organization called the Garden. Throughout this book, they write letters that are at first gloating about how they are better at their jobs, but eventually, they fall in love. It's very sweet. Then their organizations attempt to ruin everything, although this occurs fairly late in the book.

I have complicated feelings on This Is How You Lose the Time War. The title is quite good, although I thought it was going to teach me how to lose a time war, and it didn't. I have other opinions on this book as well.

The writing is great. I liked the way the letters were written; I didn't like as much the way the non-letters were written. It was very pretty, but the writing style reminds me a little of Candide in that you could skip a line and miss an entire plot point. This book took all of my four brain cells working together just to understand what events were taking place. The letters, on the other hand, were spectacular, brilliant, and hilarious. The authors do a really good job of conveying how the characters feel about each other. The letters become more affectionate as their relationship changes. It's very well done. Red and Blue have very similar voices that are sort of hard to distinguish between, so that's not great, but I guess they must be good together if they sound the same. I liked their voices, so I guess I didn't mind that there was twice as much of this voice as there should have been.

There is one letter where Red (I think it was Red) is talking about how, when she was young, she read in a book that Socrates was wondering about something, so he pondered his question all night and came up with an answer in the morning. Young Red decides to do the same thing: she sits on a hill all night pondering. It does not work. She says, "The sun rose. I found no revelation. I'm not Socrates. (I know Socrates. I served with Socrates, and you, senator... But I digress)". THAT'S SO GOOD. I'M DEAD. I WAS READING THAT PART AND I WENT DOWNSTAIRS AND READ IT TO MY PARENTS. I AM NOW RUINING THE JOKE IN A GOODREADS REVIEW. IT'S JUST TOO GOOD. GOOD WORK, AMAL EL-MOHTAR AND MAX GLADSTONE. 

https://abcnews.go.com/Archives/video/lloyd-bentsens-mic-drop-moment-1988-vp-debate-58255800

Anyway. The trouble with this book is that, although it has many positive qualities, it is not about anything and it makes no sense. Like, there is actually not really more detail in the book than there is in my plot summary. This is how the book goes: Red or Blue performs an action that will change time in a way that their organization prefers. They find a letter from the other character written in, like, a bug or a tree or something. They read the letter. Repeat. Besides that, it is not at all clear what is going on. I don't know anything about Red and Blue's respective organizations or how they work. I don't understand the time travel. I don't know how one character manages to write to the other in the rings of a tree. A large majority of this book, I can't explain. No plot. Just vibes.

Although it is wholly incomprehensible, This Is How You Lose the Time War isn't confusing. There are many plot points that I can't explain to you, but I wasn't at any point disoriented or baffled. It's one of those books where you are picking up what the author is putting down, but you couldn't put it down for someone else to pick up. Does that make sense? If you read it, you may very well understand it. But I couldn't possibly explain it. 

The ending is nice. I have heard glowing reviews from people who felt a ton of feelings, and I can't really relate, but the last page did make me smile. I mean, I can't explain what was going on, but I liked it. 

Should you read this book? That depends. Do you read books for the plot or the vibes? How would you feel about the majority of a book being affectionate letters and the rest being nonsense? Do you like time travel? There are a lot of factors. Only you can make the right decision for yourself.