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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
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)
Sometimes a family can be a man who sees the future, a telegraphist, and a criminal. I hope he builds another octopus
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm really confused!
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
i just hate historical fiction even tho its magical. also racism
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Mild spoilers warning. I loved so much about The Watchmaker of Filigree Street - the narrative style, the imagination behind the world building, the clockwork creations, the simple yet convoluted love story. I found the writing / audiobook narrative to be compulsively readable and I would have liked to stay in that steampunkish magical London for a long, long time.
However, there were some things that made me uncomfortable. I get that racism was part of the historical context and I don’t fault the author for trying to make it an authentic part of various characters’ viewpoints. But at times it seemed too much, and with little or no pushback, especially coming so frequently from one of the main protagonists. All the attention to perceived physical difference between Englishmen and Japanese, likening Japanese characters to children physically, that did not sit well with me. The main character calling his (future?) boyfriend a “xenophobic gnome” was a bit much. One Japanese character is described as “taller than his countrymen,”“having gone to school in England and been raised on an English diet.” But given that he is from a wealthy family, his diet in Japan would hardly have been poor. The implication is that the Japanese diet in general leads to stunted growth.
I didn’t like the character of Grace. Perhaps she wasn’t meant to be likable, and that’s fine, but some of her actions were so illogical they seemed only to serve the plot. Nor did I understand how she and one of the other protagonists, who didn’t know each other, so quickly came to their agreement. As much as I liked the story, most major things seemed to happen because it was necessary for the plot, but decisions seemed abrupt and not organic to the characters. I thought there might be more development of the Irish side of things, rather than just leaving them all be terrorists, but that was just a plot device too. All and all, while I enjoyed the reading process in many ways, certain aspects of the book leave me deeply unsatisfied.