Can A Book Recommendation Ruin a Friendship? . . . . Maybe?

January Novel: The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (332 pages). D+
Before I dive in, I'll provide a glimpse of what I texted my real good friend about 75% through reading this gem . . .
Abdicating my only book choice for the year for this travesty might just be too much for a five-year friendship to survive....
It takes years to build a good literary reputation, and one bad recommendation makes the whole thing crumble.
There is a certain level of intimacy involved in accepting a book recommendation from another human-being. In fact, this intimacy goes both ways. For the recommender, there is a trust that the recomendee (it's a word, look it up, and then self-reflect on the fact that an Illiterate taught you a word) won't be unnecessarily harsh. The recommender has to expose their inner preferences, the good, the bad, and the ugly, but in so doing, must accept judgement in return. The recommendee on the other hand, has to be willing to dedicate literally hours of their precious existence to something based off of another person's preferences. For someone as illiterate as myself, where a page might take 50% longer than an average reader, the power I hand over to my recommenders is significantly more than an average Joe.
As I tediously clawed through The Ministry of Time all I could think to myself was that one of two situations were happening: (1) I was being punked and this recommendation was really just retaliation of some kind for something horrible I had done in a past life to this friend; or (2) my friend was really really drunk reading this one. Any other alternative leads down a dark path where I have to start doubting my friend's sanity and start considering that it may be time for a commitment of some kind. This all being said, I must ask my friend, why did you do this to me?! Was it worth it?!
SPOILER

Let's get into the meat and potatoes of this one. When reading The Ministry of Time, it's hard not to think that the author had some checklist that they had to check off, good writing be dammed. From the types of characters involved (their sexuality, their gender, their personalities) to the relationships, to the overarching story driving the "good guys and bad guys". I most certainly have no qualms with having a diverse cast, but when it feels scripted, it becomes predictable, boring, and ultimately just bad.
Beyond the checklist . . . let's address the elephant in the room. First, I think I have to say, I'm no climate change denier (really, I'm not). But a story motivated by time traveling assholes set on destroying the past to prevent hell on earth climate change is just . . . lame. Seriously, really, really, lame. Unfortunately, the author decided to hide that the book was about this until about halfway through, before then, it was just an unknown as to what the fuck was the point of this book. But then, it pivoted, hard, and, every page just became a little more lame.
Then, we have the sex scenes. Oh boy, the sex scenes. The author tried so so hard to make the sex scenes hot and steamy, but instead, they read like an inexperienced PG lover who was just kind of guessing as to the feelings involved with sex. Here's a glimpse, after 230 pages of what was supposed to be suppressed needs and desires....
"May I touch you? The way you are—like this—"
"Like—"
"All over."
"Yes. Please"
. . .
"You're worried you won't make me come"
"Good grief"
I mean seriously, if there's anything that can make me less interested in a sex scene, you'll have to point me to it, because this really was a doozy.
A short message to my friend:
Dear Friend:
I forgive you. Our friendship will survive . . .
~The Illiterate
And finally, a message to the Financial Times author who so egregiously said "If you loved Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow . . . this will be right up your street", you clearly are less literate than me . . .
This post felt pretty scattershot but I'm going to stick with it. Some words are better than no words (maybe?).
~The Illiterate