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

5.0

I am a husk after reading this. Who knew that a book that is less than 200 pages would utterly destroy me and then gently place me all back together again while still taking something out during the rebuild.

Let me first warn anyone that is not willing to go with the flow of nonsense and lack of background story telling that you will not find this book rewarding in the full way. This book was not meant to focus on the why the war was started, or the beginning or even the full descriptions of the species of Blue and Red. The main point of this book is the love that builds between these characters and how with love you can build a bridge of hate and misunderstanding.
We all effect each other in some part, "we are a mosaic" and I have never felt a book more accurately represent that than in here. 

I will put on the record that in my own personal opinion that this was the better love story than Song Of Achilles, there were moments when I was literally shaking my book and DREADING scenes that my mind was filling in at what could be the worst possible outcomes. I was brought to almost tears as I was reading through these letters, and felt physical blows to my heart and lungs at how bare and raw these characters were to one another.

Again, if you are not someone who does well with poetic writing or a story that doesn't quite make sense and is more atmospheric then this might not be the book for you. But I can say that in the end I will love this book until I die. It truly was a brilliant piece of "how do you communicate with someone in secrets, but also with the passing of time/future" prompt.