The best romance novel of all time is not a romance novel: This is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Do you want a swoon worthy romance? Do you want a relationship to root for? Do you want to become deeply invested in a love story that does not concern you? If so, I would recommend you read This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone.

Yes, you’ve heard me right. For a great romance, I am recommending you read a sci-fi novel.

This is How You Lose the Time War is not the most accessible novel. If you are used to reading contemporary rom-coms, it might not be what you are used to. The novel does not ease you in with a relatable world and quirky characters. Instead, the novel throws you in the deep end. You might say that, it thrusts you into a strand of time. The novel not only starts in the middle of the action, but it also does not have the most traditional characters. In fact, I have no idea what any of the characters in this novel look like and I only have a basic understanding of the wider world the novel takes place in. This might be strange to say as I have read the novel three times and wrote an essay on it. Yet, the joy of the novel is that it makes almost no sense but perfect sense at the same time. You don’t need to understand the ins and outs of the world because the romance is what draws you in.

At its core, This is How You Lose the Time War is an enemies to lovers romance. Red and Blue work for rival time organisations and are working against each other to manipulate the time line. This science fiction element forms the background of the novel. The intricacies of time and politics in the novel are almost unimportant. What matters is that the wider world has forced Red and Blue to be enemies.

Despite working against each other, Red and Blue start to communicate with each other. They leave each other letters which start off goading and full of banter and evolve into the most romantic lines of fiction you will ever read. Alongside this, the characters evolve. My personal favourite part of the novel is watching Red come into herself and embrace her inner thoughts. When you think of science fiction, you will probably think about some of the most famous evolutions or transformations of all fiction. But forget Frankenstein, The Fly, and X-Men. The sci-fi evolutions we should be talking about are in character development.

Because This is How You Lose the Time War is a novel focused so much of characters (both their relationships and their inner selves), it manages to be the perfect romance novel. It is forbidden love done perfectly. I’d say read the novel even if it seems intimidating. This might annoy sci-fi fans, but forget the world and just focus on the romance.

Why I’m Not Watching The Time Traveller’s Wife

I love romance. I love science fiction. I love science fiction romance (About Time is a great film and This Is How You Lose The Time War might be the most romantic book I’ve ever read. So surely you’d think that The Time Travellers Wife would be perfect for me. At least that’s what I thought when I read the book last year. Yet, I was very disappointed.

Mainly because this book is not a romance. It is a metaphorical tale about child abuse and grooming. The premise is literally a man telling a young girl that they are destined to be together and her falling for it until they eventually get married. That is the most problematic plot ever. It is so problematic that it only could have only been published in the early 2000s. It had to be published in the era of toxic fictional relationships. Yet, at least other novels from this period (like everyone’s beloved Twilight) are fun.

I am absolutely baffled how someone could have decided to make an adaption of this story in the post-me-too era. In fact, I feel like what was needed was an anti-Time Traveller’s Wife TV show. Now is the perfect time to explore just how toxic the romances we grew up reading and watching were. Seriously Netflix needs to get onto this concept cause I’m sure it would be a massive hit with the 20plus-year-olds who survived this era.

Wrapping It Up: Books I Read in October 2020

I except the amount I have been reading to slow down a lot as I am now back at university and will become increasingly less inclined to reading.

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

This is a beautiful book. The artwork is beautiful and the messages are similarly impactful. I received this book as a gift from my brother and I think it is a perfect gift for anyone.

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

I really enjoyed The Diviners by Libba Bray and was wanting to continue the series, however, I could only find Beauty Queens on Scribd. The audiobook is honestly amazing. It is by far one of the best audiobooks I have ever listened to. It is narrated by the author, it includes sound affects and the book itself is incredibly funny. The book itself I think I would have enjoyed a lot more when I was younger, but I did really enjoy it now. It is a great book that comments on gender norms, consumer society and the relation between the two.

Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book, but for whatever reason I started to care less as it went on. I don’t know why, it might be a me problem rather than be reflective of the book. However, I do think that as the plot got more action based I started to care less, I liked the small localised setting of the beginning. I really enjoyed the commentary on technology in relation to books and loved the irony of me reading the book on my phone.

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

This book was also alright, apparently I keep picking up books without thinking. I wasn’t expecting to love this one, but I had hopes for it. I wanted an easy audiobook to listen to while at the gym and this is what that was so it fulfilled a purpose, but I do think I need to read much less young adult as it rarely is able to be a favourite at the moment.

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

This is a really interesting essay about what feminism means to the author. It addresses Nigerian culture, social conditioning in relation to gender and celebrating femininity. I would recommend the audiobook. But whether you listen or read it, I think it is an important read.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

I was really excited to read this book. I pre-ordered the book, but I ended up having to wait a while for it to come back in stock which was annoying. So when I finally got around to reading it I was more than excited. I loved the simplicity of this book. That sounds like an insult but I loved how focused, small and local the story was. The low-fantasy of this book really contrasts the high-fantasy of her other books. It is a book which allows for a character study and beautifully complex relationships. I really enjoyed it, I particularly liked the sense of satisfaction felt at the ending. However, for whatever reason I failed to connect as much as I wanted to. For me what makes a favourite book a favourite is something that draws me in completely, makes me feel something and I struggle to stop thinking about it. I kind of expected this book to do this for me, however, it didn’t.

Lock Every Door by Riley Sagar

When I started reading the book I realised that I knew the ending. However, that did not impact my overall enjoyment of the book – in fact it was quite nice being able to pick up on all the clues. Even though I knew how it ended I still felt suspense and was drawn into the plot. I will definitely consider reading other Riley Sagar books in he future.

The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh

This book wasn’t quite what I wanted it to be. I thought it would be more about the fame meaning of the title then the dead one. It follows a character after a famous person has died and focuses more on their life than anything else.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

If you ever feel sad you need to read this book. It is all about perspective and changing the way you view the world. This book is closer to Matt Haig’s nonfiction rather than his previous fiction which was a positive for me. I think this will be a book that will really stick with me for a long time.

Fame by Andy Warhol

These essays were funnier than I expected it to be. Although he does say a lot of offensive things, you get the sense that this is how he views the world and he too is impacted by the negative thinking. I recommend reading it if you think it might be something you like.

This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtah and Max Gladstone

I read this book for my sci-fi course and it is one of the weirder books I have ever read. I really loved the letters in the book but overall the book made me very confused.

Halloween Party by Agatha Christie

This is not my favourite Agatha Christie book. Strangely I have found that her famous books are great but the ones I haven’t heard of are not so good. This one concerns a murdered child and honestly she should not have written about it. Not that writing about a dead child is inherently bad, it was just the language surrounding this specific child. There is a part where Poirot asks if the child was sexy – that was something I had to read with my eyes. There are a few more parts of the book that were equally strange. I would not recommend this one.