A review by madgec
This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar

adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

This book is beautifully written, poetic, but it's not quite enough. It's kind of... Esoteric? I enjoyed it, the imagery and everything was beautiful, but it just wasn't....... I just can't give it 5 stars, it felt like something was missing. 

edit: downgraded the rating a little more, added the following:

it was beautiful  but i didn't get the fuss. it felt like one of those really pretty cakes you see that's in the shape of a  sparrow or something but you eat it and it just tastes okay

I didn't feel hooked on anything, particularly intruiged by the setting, etc. I enjoyed each and every chapter and each and every little flowery word, but it didn't.... affect me?

My first instinct would be to say the book didn't have a soul, but nothing could be less true than that.  I think the problem was that the book was all soul, so it didn't have a body, didn't have a physical presence I could bite down on?