Really enjoyed this book - the premise had me intrigued and I was not disappointed! Time travel, intrigue, humour and romance - perfection.

Scary how the subtle climate disaster of this world feels so real and imminent. The book did a great job setting up this near-future world, making it distinct but still very much realistic. The writing style was pensive, making it a melancholic journey I really enjoyed. The set up was interesting and I enjoyed exploring what people from the past would think of the future. I think some of them took to it a little too well, I'd assume it'd be a bigger cultural shock, but still enjoyable. The main character was really interesting and complex and the main relationship felt like a proper slow burn. Overall, this book sets out to answer some big questions about our future, the ways to prevent it and how we might be doomed anyways. Would recommend!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Ended up reading this for my bookclub and it was a bit like marmite for us, but I loved it. A time travelling romantic thriller, with British civil servants! Not perfect but a great debut, I will be eagerly waiting Bradley's next novel! And I'm now obsessed with Commander Gore and the doomed HMS Terror.

DNF at 38%

The concept was fantastic, and I enjoyed the first few chapters but slowly lost interest as nothing seemed to happen plotwise.

Glad to see I'm in the minority.

Have never read anything quite like this! A woman from the year 1665 extracted from the Great Plague of London, a lieutenant from 1645 during the Battle of Naseby, an army captain from the battle of The Somme in 1916, someone from Robespierre’s Paris 1793 and Graham Gore, an English officer of the Royal Navy and polar explorer. All of these characters come to life in this extraordinary tale having being transported through time to the present day. They are monitored and taken care of by their ‘bridges’. Graham Gore’s bridge is a young lady from Cambodia. She has history of her own and the two become entwined as their intriguing relationship in the story unfolds. Loved the characters, their individual life stories, their relationships and found the whole experience absolutely fascinating! I was glad I was reading on my Kindle as there were quite a few words and phrases I needed to look up but it certainly did not detract from my page turning! Lessons were also learned and feel this would be an excellent book for teenagers as well as adults. Not to be missed!

Well, I fell head over heels for this book. Absolutely adored the concept, the characters and the high stakes! What a book!

Very interesting concept that lured me in. Conceptually well done, the focus on the "fish out of water" vibe of historical figures being brought forward to the modern day and their trials and tribulations with regards to adapting to the changes. That would have been enough for me without the additional twist of time travel from the future too. To me that felt a little too rushed and wasn't necessary with such a strong initial concept. I was also not too keen on the romance plot. It was an interesting aspect but just too predictable for me.

The concept of this book is fantastic! Graham was such a funny character and had me genuinely laughing out loud at points which almost never happens when I'm reading. It was joyful, tense, sad and so much more all wrapped up in a great story. I wish we had more - the ending had me so deep into the story I just couldn't let it go yet!

This is an interesting premise and certainly not my usual genre. It’s something of a mix of sci-fi, fantasy, historical fiction, and romance. My interest and enjoyment fluctuated throughout the book and I didn’t really feel the need for all the love scenes. Some of the scenes felt predictable and others surprised me, and I did want to know how it ended. I can see that many readers will love this book, and it is well written.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for a review.

The concept of this book was exactly what drew me in and it was definitely what kept me there. I love time travel with a splash of comedy and I love watching people from other times or places navigate the human world because it often exposes all of its unnecessary, arbitrary rules and customs fantastically. I have no idea whether Kaliane Bradley is autistic but I always think that writers who can write about 'aliens' to our modern world must at least understand the autistic perspective because that is very much akin to how neurodiverse people experience the world. To many neurotypicals, it will come across as comedy and to the neurodiverse, it will also come across as social commentary on how ridiculous everything is.

I had never seen the migrant experience depicted in this way and it was really easy to see the parallels between the time travellers and the migrants that we read about all the time. That internal displacement was so strong and it was fascinating to have it presented through what is essentially a comedy sci-fi. Weirdly, it reminded me of the Netflix Christmas movie The Knight Before Christmas, which despite its insanity never fails to make me laugh.

I wasn't expecting to feel emotional at the end but I did. It's not exactly a sad book but I definitely loved most of the characters and they don't all get happy endings unfortunately. It's an interesting choice for the Women's Prize for Fiction but it's certainly unique and a much better sci-fi inclusion than The Big Beautiful World of last year's list.

Bradley's "Ministry of Time" is an exquisite blend of historical drama and science fiction, crafted with finesse and creativity. The narrative revolves around a secret government agency tasked with guarding the doors of time, ensuring that history remains unaltered by unauthorized time travellers from the past or future.
the main character is Commander Graham Gorefrom the 1840's and a woman known only as the bridge. As their relationship turns from the strictly professional into something more and uneasy truths begin to emerge, they are forced to face the reality of the project that brought them together..

The plot and the characters are well-written and I would recommend this book as an engrossing read.

The Ministry of Time is very good. In the not to distant future a civil servant is chosen as small group tasked with reintegrating people plucked out of their time and transported to the present. They are essentially babysitters guiding their chargers through modern life to see if they can become modern citizens. Commander Graham Gore should have died on a Victorian polar expedition but he was plucked out of his time and given a second chance. So how does a Victorian adventurer deal with washing machines, the internet and world wars? It’s classic fish out of water stuff but Gore is an intelligent, adaptable not to mention hot dude he copes pretty well so when the real goals of the assignment begin to come to light our narrator has an ethical and personal dilemma. I love ethical and personal dilemmas, they are totally my jam. This was a wonderful book executed in an intelligent and entertaining way. It took itself just seriously enough and the characters were really engaging. The ending was more than satisfactory. 👏👏

I was sent a copy of The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley to read and review by NetGalley. I loved this book! I am not at all surprized that it made the Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist. This is a beautifully written novel, interesting and quite compelling. The characters are so well drawn that they are totally believable, as is the premise of the story. While this is classed as Sci-Fi I think that it will appeal to a wide audience, all of whom I feel would enjoy it. A definite 5 stars from me – I hope it reaches the shortlist!

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to The Ministry of Time on Audible.

The story is unique, interesting and engaging. The concept is creative and is executed beautifully. I enjoyed the characters and their stories.

Time, place and character are at the heart of this story but it’s the eloquent writing that ties it all together and kept this reader engaged.

Because I listened to this story I feel it may need to be revisited in print form. As I listened I felt I may enjoy it more. So I’ll be rereading this one at some point

A very unique mix on literary book, but also a very sweet love story. It is incredible to find out this is a debut!
This book has an appeal to a wide audience, while covering difficult topics like colonialism, climate change and facing the historical discourse.

I loved the idea of this book, but found it very difficult to get into and connect with the characters. Fortunately we are all different and other readers may find it easier to read.

I really really loved this book! The premise is great, and hooked me from the very first page, and I thought it was an interesting way to view our own world and ways of perceiving things through a new lens. I was particularly charmed by the friendships between the 'expats' - I'd read an entire book of that if I could. Really recommend!

Loved this book - thought that the plot was really clever and the pace of the book kept me interested throughout the entire read.

I really wanted to love this book and maybe it just wasn't the right timings for me this to. E round. I would like to give this another try at some point in the future as I found the characters really engaging and humorous. I also found the writing style entertaining and appreciated the dry wit and humour.

It wasn’t really my style but I did read it and I can see why it ended up being a top seller! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.