Reviews with content warning for Grief - Timekeeper

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Timekeeper by Tara Sim

9 reviews

starglitters's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-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? Yes

4.0

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parasolcrafter's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

this is a really solid book and a great start to a series :o i thought the mechanics of the clocktower and how it translated to colton was quite cool and original. i really enjoyed watching danny grow and open up to colton, and i thought all the relationships between characters were realistic and quite sweet, even if his mother was a bit hard to deal with sometimes. i also love that the fairytales danny told colton about in the beginning had running themes through the story and that fate had Such a big role in it overall. i do think the ending was a bit fantastical with his father coming back after the town was no longer Stopped (i would think the people there would be a bit more confused, though i do understand the book wanting to end kind of like a fairytale) but it wasnt enough to take anything away from the story as a whole.

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monniebiloney's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This book definitely made me feel autistic. Like, I understood mostly what the characters doing but sometimes their emotions definitely effected their logical thinking was jarring sometimes.

"how dare you leave your tower, and freeze all the people in time when your forced to be stuck all alone without talking to anyone, with the person you love torn away from you.
Now I can't see the person I livewho has been taken away from me! You are so selfish.

Like, this is so jarring for me. Like, do you not see the parallel s in your situations?

But I'd assume this is how a normal person would interact. Normal people have trouble with empathy.

All in all, I enjoyed the book.
The villain is definitely the organization. They cause all the issues. Like, man, all of this could have been avoided if the origination just had their employees read some books out load to their clocks. Tisk-tsk-tisk.

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zoeelora's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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thebakersbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This was actually a re-read as I'm planning to finish the series now that all three books are out. I enjoyed Timekeeper even more on my second read; I'm sometimes slow to absorb worldbuilding details, and reading this again allowed me to fully appreciate the steampunk setting. It was also nice how the story focused on friendship and family connections at least as much as romance.

I found the story and setting more compelling than the characters, but I liked Daphne a lot and I think she's going to have a bigger role in the sequels, so I'm looking forward to that. Also, I appreciated how the author dealt with PTSD (the main character was in a job-related accident pre-book, and the mental repercussions affect him throughout the story).

As far as tone and content go, I'd consider this 'light' steampunk (at least in Book 1)—if you've read and enjoyed the Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld, you'll likely enjoy this. I recommend Timekeeper to fans of steampunk and historical fantasy, and/or for anyone looking for a unique adventure.

content warnings: accident-related PTSD, grief related to the loss of a parent, emotional neglect by a grieving parent

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jenarae's review

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emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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bluejayreads's review against another edition

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adventurous

Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

The back cover I read put much more emphasis on the steampunk/fantasy elements and the mystery of who’s setting the bombs and played it like the romance was going to be a side thing. If this is the back cover I’d read, this book wouldn’t have ended up on my To Read list, because even though I’ve discovered some romances are fine, it’s usually not what I gravitate towards. So I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t, because this was a perfectly enjoyable book.

Our protagonist is Danny, the youngest clock mechanic to pass the mechanic test. He loves his job repairing and maintaining the clocks that keep time running smoothly, and secretly hoping he can find a way to save his dad, who was a mechanic when something went wrong and the clock broke, trapping him in an area where time completely stopped. He also has lingering trauma from a bomb that tried to destroy another tower while he was working, and conflict with his mother who partially blames him for his father going to the clock tower that broke and trapped him. He wasn’t an incredibly compelling character, but he was likeable enough.

His love interest and the romance between the two was probably my favorite part of the story. Danny meets Colton in the clock tower in the town of Enfield, where he first mistakes him for the apprentice helping him for the day and only later discovers the truth: Colton is a clock spirit, the personification of the clock tower and the force that keeps time running. Colton doesn’t know much about love or the world outside of Enfield, but it was delightful watching his and Danny’s relationship grow.

The romance is not the main plot, though. There’s also Danny trying to rescue his father, protests and counter-protests about a new clock tower being built, a series of bombs targeting clock towers, and internal politics and rivalries in the clock mechanic’s union. None of these were particularly uninteresting, but I definitely cared about the romance the most.

This book does have some problems, mainly in the secondary character department. The reveal of the unexpected antagonist was supposed to feel like a big betrayal, but Danny’s relationship with that character was never built in the book – I was just told that he and this character were close instead of actually seeing it. The reveal that this character was behind so many bad things was definitely surprising, but lacked the emotional impact it wanted to have.

I’m also going to criticize the worldbuilding, but as someone who has read a fair bit of steampunk-type books. I found it limited and lackluster, a basic 1800s London with cars and clock towers that control time slapped on top. It didn’t detract from the story, but knowing what great steampunk/alternate history worldbuilding looks like, I found it uninspired. If those aren’t genres you typically read you probably won’t have an issue with it.

There was only one moment (that could have been cut without problem) that set a hook for book two. Without that one moment, this would have been a perfectly self-contained story with a satisfying ending. It very much felt like a case of “my agent sold this as a trilogy” than the story actually needing to continue. Personally I think there’s enough to explore in this world that a second book could be reasonably interesting, but I was also happy with the ending and I didn’t love this book enough to want to read the rest of the series. It is a perfectly enjoyable book – I just have no desire for more of it.

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wirt's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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jessie_h's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.0

Reread 6/26/2023-It's been six years since I first read this book and what a difference that time makes! I decided to reread this so I can continue and finish the series finally. Some of my thoughts have changed. I will say that I still really enjoyed this book but there were several more plot questions/loose threads I noticed this time around that weren't answered/wrapped up. I have so many questions about still. And while I still enjoyed it. I didn't love it as much the second time around so I'm going to reduce my initial rating from a 5 stars to a 4.

I still love Danny and Cassie's friendship. I still want more Daphne. I love the sunshine/grump pairing! Colton is adorable! The clock towers and clock spirits are still mindblowingly awesome.

The mythology felt more out of place in this reread. I'm hoping more gets explained in the next book. I have so many questions about the clock spirits and towers that I hope get answered.

I ended up rereading this mostly on audiobook and the narration was excellent! It definitely upped the enjoyment factor on the story.

First read 11/28/2016- My original review for this book can be read on the Goldilox and the Three Weres blog. 5/5 Stars

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