It feels a little like fanfic (though, fanfic for a real guy who we know almost nothing about) and I mean that more or less in a positive way, where the author clearly loves her characters so much that she needs to write about them until they're out.

Did the writer actually come out of AMC Terror fandom? [edit] Yes, which makes me want to find the original vignettes on AO3.

The result is that you have, from an objective point of view, the titular Ministry being Bad, Actually, but also the people fighting back are also bad, and the only good and pure thing is (heterosexual, kinda) love.

I can see how that hiccups. Would it have done better with multiple viewpoints?

(Which kind of kinda? Can think of several options and have not read book.)