Book Review: This Is How You Lose the Time War

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This epistolary novel takes place in the future and follows two women on opposite sides of war who secretly communicate through letters. They call themselves Blue and Red. Their correspondence gradually turns into love, but the secrecy is eventually discovered. Red’s commandant forces her to make a choice, leading her to make a critical mistake by asking Blue to do something she never intended. Later, after Red is tortured, she is given one final letter from Blue, which the commandant had access to. In it, Red learns that there was, in a way, a victory.

I have mixed feelings about this story. While the sci-fi elements were fascinating and I enjoyed the letter-exchange format, the poetic prose felt a bit dense. Surprisingly, Blue and Red felt more like friends than lovers to me, especially since Blue marries and has a child.

That said, the speculative aspects of the story kept me engaged. Red is a soldier, a warrior, while Blue is something else entirely. I can’t remember Blue’s exact role, but she has special abilities, including the power to shapeshift. One of the most memorable moments was when Red was unaware that she was about to be attacked by a creature and Blue transformed into a wolf, killed it, and ate it.

What didn’t make sense was the war itself. It was never clearly explained why it started, how it began, or what was truly at stake. The war simply exists in the background. I would have liked Blue and Red to use their letters to explore this more by sharing what each of them knew about the war and how they felt about it. Instead, much of their correspondence focused on what felt like trivial matters.

Recommend for:

Readers who enjoy epistolary novels and poetic, literary science fiction and who are comfortable with ambiguity. If you are looking for clear worldbuilding, a well-defined war narrative, or a more traditional romance, you might find this frustrating, as the story prioritizes mood and language over explanation.

(Personal reading)


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