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Cover of This Is How You Lose the Time War (Deluxe Edition)

This Is How You Lose the Time War (Deluxe Edition)

Amal El-Mohtar;Max Gladstone (2025-11-18)

Subgenre
Age groupAdult 18+
Content ratingPG-13
Pages208 (Quick Read (<250))
Setting
CSM age16

Content levels

ViolenceMild
Sexual contentMild
LanguageMild

Trigger warnings

WarViolenceDeath

Synopsis

Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future. Except the discovery of their bond would mean death for each of them. There's still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win that war. That's how war works. Right? Cowritten by two beloved and award-winning sci-fi writers, This Is How You Lose the Time War is an epic love story spanning time and space.

Tags

EpistolaryLiterary FictionSci-Fi Romance

Is This Is How You Lose the Time War (Deluxe Edition) appropriate for my child?

Suitable for most readers 16 and up.

This literary sci-fi romance features rival time-traveling agents who fall in love through letters across warring timelines. Contains war-related violence, complex themes about loyalty and identity, and romantic tension with closed-door intimacy.

What to know going in

This book has mild violence, mild sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include death, war, and violence.

Who'll love this

Teens who love poetic, mind-bending sci-fi and slow-burn romances will be captivated by this unique love story told through letters across time.