"The Ministry of Time" by Kaliane Bradley - 4/5 stars. I picked up this book because I'm a nerd for all things time travel, but I was delighted to discover I'd been tricked. While it sounds like a scifi story on the surface, it's actually a thoughtful, slow-burn romance, slice-of-life thought experiment where a modern British-Cambodian woman and a 19th-century Commander from the British Empire become flatmates and spend their time smoking and going on bike rides. The book took its time to explore a range of topics - colonialism, subservience, sexuality - before the gripping spy drama finale full of twists and turns. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199798179-the-ministry-of-time #books