Reviews

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley

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championreads's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

ivyboyd's review

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2.0

Sad, because their story in The Haunting Season with the same characters was so good. There was too much going on at once with no real motives, and no character was truly likeable. I liked Grace, but despite her knowing that this wasn’t a relationship at all, it was an arrangement, freaked out because Thaniel didn’t want to be with her after knowing him for 2 pages sums up how quickly everything in the book moved.

This is also the first book I’ve read where they didn’t manage to make me imagine or feel immersed the time period I was in, I couldn’t stop imagining the characters in ordinary modern settings.

curlyhairedbooklover's review

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Absolutely loved it! The characters were all so fascinating and I found that I could not put it down for the last section of the book I simply Needed to know what would happen!!

theavidreaderandbibliophile's review

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2.0

The Watchmaker on Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley is a Victorian steampunk mystery novel. Nathaniel “Thaniel” Steepleton is a telegraph operator at Whitehall (government). He has held the position for the last four years. Thaniel prefers playing the piano, but it did not pay enough to support himself and his widowed sister, Annabel (who lives in Edinburgh with her two sons). The government have been receiving threats of bombs from Clan na Gael. Everyone is on alert and preparing for the worst.

One night Thaniel arrives home to his room at the boarding house to find the door open, the dishes done and put away (not by the landlady). Thaniel then spies a gift box with his name on it. Inside is a beautiful pocket watch. It does not open and he cannot hear it working. Two months later it starts working and saves Thaniel. A loud noise comes from the watch making him go outside and saves him from a bomb. Thaniel goes looking for the creator of the watch.

Grace Carrow is at the end of her fourth and final year at Oxford. She has a beautiful watch with filigree that looks like swallows flying. Grace inherited a house from her aunt, but she cannot have it unless she marries (it is being held in trust by her father). Grace loves science. She wants to do research and to teach. Her mother, Lady Carrow is determined Grace will marry and make a good match. Grace has money, a house, and needs a husband who will allow her experiments. Thaniel and Grace are destined to meet for good or for bad?

Keita Moiri makes items out of clockworks. He made the watch for Thaniel and Grace. He has many beautiful items in his shop. There is also a clockwork octopus named Katsu. Katsu likes to live in a dresser drawer and steal socks. Keita has a special talent. Thaniel is not sure what to make of Keita when he first meets him. He thinks Keita might be behind the bombings (the maker of the bombs). Thaniel is tasked with keeping an eye on Keita and to get evidence. Keita has a room to rent and Thaniel moves in (Katsu really likes Thaniel’s dresser). Thaniel really gets to know Keita and finds out about his talent (and innocence). Thaniel now has to save Keita from the police (who are determined to pin the bombings on him) and find the real culprit.

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street is a complicated novel. I have only given you a small snippet of what happens in the novel. It is an interesting book, but there are too many ideas shoved into one story (hard to keep track of all the characters and everything that is going on). There are also a lot of technical, scientific terms and explanations that will give you a headache. The book gets better towards the end (if you get that far) and the identity of the bomb maker is easily figured out. What Grace does, though, is definitely a shock and unexpected (sorry, spoiler)! I give The Watchmaker of Filigree Street 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I received a complimentary copy of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The review and opinions expressed are my own.

http://bibliophileandavidreader.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-watchmaker-of-filigree-street.html

speakyourfears's review

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mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

rouyourboat's review

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I loved the first two halves. I actually found mori’s character to be endearing. Some say he is arrogant. I don’t see this. I see him as someone with a complex brain who has learned to adapt to it. Sometimes characters that seem arrogant are functioning on a different wavelength than you and those around them. For me, I related to this with autism.
Grace was a little confusing and sadly, the fall of the book. I believe if she had more development the ending would have been more impactful, making it closer to 5 stars.