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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
I may end up changing my rating for this book as I let it all sink in a little, however, my gut feeling is that the story could have been so much more.
So, to start, I felt like there was no clear focus on what the story wanted to be. Is it a romance, a steampunk fantasy, a historical fiction, a mystery, or something altogether different?
Personally, I would have preferred more focus on the bombings by Clan na Gael and the mystery around who created the elaborate clockwork timing mechanism. As it was, the book is more about the relationship between a civil servant and a seemingly clairvoyant Japanese watchmaker.
I don't think I'll be rushing the pick up the second book in the trilogy.
So, to start, I felt like there was no clear focus on what the story wanted to be. Is it a romance, a steampunk fantasy, a historical fiction, a mystery, or something altogether different?
Personally, I would have preferred more focus on the bombings by Clan na Gael and the mystery around who created the elaborate clockwork timing mechanism. As it was, the book is more about the relationship between a civil servant and a seemingly clairvoyant Japanese watchmaker.
I don't think I'll be rushing the pick up the second book in the trilogy.
So, just to clarify: Grace blows up Katsu in an attempt to kill Keita, tries to frame Yuki as the bomb-maker, would have killed many people except for the rain storm - and gets a happy ending? This is the second book I've read by this author, and she's 0 for 2 in writing a satisfactory ending.
Slightly difficult to understand but the yearning, quiet gays are enough to keep me happy.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
mysterious
tense
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:
N/A
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a very subtle book. It’s exceptionally well-written on a prose level. I also found it historically accurate (at least in the Japanese sense) and I was tickled to see Ito Hirobumi make an appearance. The attention to detail was what made the story so believable, especially with the clockwork.
The only thing of note is that the author made a little mistake with Japanese language. I’m not “calling out” the author or feel any ill-will toward her, but I would like to clarify this so no one misinterprets Japanese honorifics.
The only thing of note is that the author made a little mistake with Japanese language. I’m not “calling out” the author or feel any ill-will toward her, but I would like to clarify this so no one misinterprets Japanese honorifics.
“‘This is England. You’ll find there are a lot of foreigners here. I think your father was looking for you, Yuki-kun, you’d better find him.’
“‘Yuki-san.’
“ ‘You’re only fifteen. It’s no use growing up too fast; you can’t get away with half as much,’ the watchmaker told him. He had the schoolmaster trick of sounding benign over a warning. It made Thaniel look at him again, because he had assumed he was young, and now he didn’t think so.”
Japanese people would not get offended by being called Yuki-kun or correct their superiors on it. It’s not like I’m English if you call fifteen-year-old Thomas “Little Timmy”. It’s just a fact of life where “kun” is used for younger people or inferiors. Actually my 60-year-old boss calls his 40-year-old coworker Honda-kun, just because he is younger.
So just for reference!
As for the story itself, I enjoyed it, especially up to the ending, though I felt it was a bit of a jump for
As for people who thought the romance came suddenly… I can only lol. Maybe it was because
I liked the vibes of this book but towards the end I had no idea what Grace's motivations were so I was very confused
A Clockwork O...ctopus? Loved this book! It started off a little slow for me but after it picked up I fell in love. Everything is so richly detailed and the characters feel alive, especially Katsu. Read this book. Seriously. Do it.
It was very gripping, but something about this annoyed me immensely. I disliked the lack of women besides Grace who hates other women. I wasn’t especially involved in the characters and and ngl I felt like Thaniel/Mori lacked chemistry by the end, although I think there was potential . I did not understand the plot. I am not sure about the representation of the Japanese characters/Japan, because some elements felt a little Orientalist.
Having said all that it was a pretty compelling book lol (like The Mars House)
Having said all that it was a pretty compelling book lol (like The Mars House)