Eric Stone
The inner dust jacket claims this book is perfect for anyone who enjoyed Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. Having read them both at the same time, I can confirm that statement is false. While I found Tomorrow effortless, The Ministry of Time was a challenge.
A significant part of that struggle was the audiobook. The narration was totally immersion-breaking for me; I started the book unable to put it down, but the moment I switched to audio, I lost all momentum. I eventually realized I simply could not listen to it if I wanted to finish the story.
Beyond the format, the story suffered from an unnatural focus on romance. It felt like the author was forcing a love story where it didn't belong. While it’s plausible that two single people of similar ages forced to live together would develop feelings, there was nothing easy about this progression. The protagonist went from intrigued to fully in love in the blink of an eye, causing the emotional stakes to skyrocket far too quickly to feel earned.
The spy thriller elements were solid, and the twist toward the end was genuinely good. Ultimately, it felt like the book was trying to do too much at once, which prevented a good premise from becoming a great novel.
The inner dust jacket claims this book is perfect for anyone who enjoyed Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. Having read them both at the same time, I can confirm that statement is false. While I found Tomorrow effortless, The Ministry of Time was a challenge.
A significant part of that struggle was the audiobook. The narration was totally immersion-breaking for me; I started the book unable to put it down, but the moment I switched to audio, I lost all momentum. I eventually realized I simply could not listen to it if I wanted to finish the story.
Beyond the format, the story suffered from an unnatural focus on romance. It felt like the author was forcing a love story where it didn't belong. While it’s plausible that two single people of similar ages forced to live together would develop feelings, there was nothing easy about this progression. The protagonist went from intrigued to fully in love in the blink of an eye, causing the emotional stakes to skyrocket far too quickly to feel earned.
The spy thriller elements were solid, and the twist toward the end was genuinely good. Ultimately, it felt like the book was trying to do too much at once, which prevented a good premise from becoming a great novel.