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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
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
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street is a historical fiction blended with fantastical steampunk and time-travel elements. Set in Victorian London, it follows a watchmaker and a Home Office employee amidst a terror-attack-infested London as the characters learn about themselves and others.
The writing style in this book is incredibly charming. All the characters are described in such loving detail that they feel three-dimensional and tangible. I sympathized with all the characters, even the ones I found most insufferable, all their motivations seemed real and understandable. The non-linear storytelling style was also done very well, as it helped reveal information and context at the perfect points during the plot progression, confirming the canon while allowing the reader to figure it out beforehand. I was also charmed by the applied use of science to explain the phenomena of the story, and while sometimes I got a little lost while trying to understand the mythos and logic of the "impossible" within the book, I believe it was explained as best as it could be without sacrificing the core cohesion of the story.
An incredibly unique story, this book is quite unlike any other I've ever read, I would direct any lovers of The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J Klune to this one, as that's how it was recommended to me, and I agree wholeheartedly. Easily one of the most compelling books of its genre, this is a severely underrated gem.
The writing style in this book is incredibly charming. All the characters are described in such loving detail that they feel three-dimensional and tangible. I sympathized with all the characters, even the ones I found most insufferable, all their motivations seemed real and understandable. The non-linear storytelling style was also done very well, as it helped reveal information and context at the perfect points during the plot progression, confirming the canon while allowing the reader to figure it out beforehand. I was also charmed by the applied use of science to explain the phenomena of the story, and while sometimes I got a little lost while trying to understand the mythos and logic of the "impossible" within the book, I believe it was explained as best as it could be without sacrificing the core cohesion of the story.
An incredibly unique story, this book is quite unlike any other I've ever read, I would direct any lovers of The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J Klune to this one, as that's how it was recommended to me, and I agree wholeheartedly. Easily one of the most compelling books of its genre, this is a severely underrated gem.
I honestly picked this book up based on the cover alone, knowing nothing about it when it crossed my path in a used book store. The premise was interesting, so I decided to give it a chance. While the book started out ok, it eventually took me about a month to get through the novel. I’m not sure if it’s because this book just ended up not being for me, or because there were some major inconsistencies with pacing, a lack of suspense or thoughtful character development, etc. All I know is that for me, personally, the book didn’t quite click, though I do commend it for creating a vivid atmosphere and exploring the lives of Japanese immigrants in Victorian London.
Writing: Pulley’s writing had its ups and down for me. On the one hand, I really enjoyed some of the whimsy, as well as descriptions of sounds filtered through Thaniel’s synesthesia (he associates a color with every sound). I also liked how Pulley described the sensations of things (how things sounded or smelled or felt), and there were some nice moments where the prose was almost poetic. On the other, Pulley’s prose noticeably left out things such as what characters were feeling at any given time, so there were long stretches where only actions were described or what things looked like without any emotional impact on the character. There were also times when I wished Pulley have given more background information or explained things more directly so that I could have a better understanding of what was going on or why characters were acting a certain way.
Pulley also wrote her character interactions a bit awkwardly. While some of this awkwardness can be put down to the charm of the book as a whole, there were moments when it was distracting. For example, when Thaniel and Grace meet for the first time, it seems like they go from zero to best friends in the span of an evening, to the point where they decide to marry (a strictly business transaction, not romantic) after knowing each other for maybe 48 hours. Grace also validates Mori’s secret using a method I found odd and frankly, not convincing. Moreover, Thaniel is offered a job with some famous musicians seemingly out of nowhere and with very little justification. Even accounting for Mori’s special ability, for me personally, it stretched the bounds of believability more than the futuristic clockworks or fantastical phenomena.
Finally, for reader who are wary of racism in their books, this novel does have a few characters who are racist towards Asian immigrants. While there isn’t any extreme, graphic violence, white characters speak of them as simplistic, “dirty,” etc. and frequently use the term “chinaman” or “oriental.” I don’t think the author herself is (actively) prejudiced - I think these things are included in the name of “historical accuracy.” But none of the characters are called out or correct their behaviors, so it was a bit irritating.
Plot: I don’t intend this to be mean, but I can’t remember many events that happened in this book. The overall plot seems to present a lot of things that are good on their own, but somewhat disjointed when strung together to make a narrative. In other words, this book seemed to me to lack overall shape. I understand that the novel is supposed to be a “slow burn” mystery, but I think “slow burn” is best when things are shown to gradually build on one another, and while some parts of this book did that, some didn’t. Not much work work is done at the novel’s outset to make the reader invested in the mysterious appearance of the watch or the fallout after the bomb. While I got the sense that this book was supposed to be finding out who the culprit is (is it Mori? Irish nationalists?), I wish Pulley had done more work at the beginning to create some suspense or a more compelling mystery, because there weren’t really any personal stakes for Thaniel, nor did I care much for the characters at Scotland Yard or about the politics between England and Ireland, or even England and Japan, because they just didn’t have enough of a presence to be felt. Honestly, I don’t even think the focus should have been on the bombing the whole time - I think, given the book’s structure as it is, the focus should have shifted (and to some extend, it does) to the relationship between Mori and Thaniel, perhaps becoming less a story about the bombing itself and more about Thaniel’s growing attachment to his friend and how that creates conflict in his life. I think the book was trying to do that, and the relationship between Thaniel and Mori was well done in that it made me not want Mori to be accused of the bombing, but too often, it seemed like the mystery took a backseat and there wasn’t enough tension in the story to make me feel like Thaniel was being torn between his friend and his job (or his friend and his country). Or being torn as to how to deal with the revelation that Mori has special abilities.
Characters: Pulley’s main characters are themselves very interesting on paper. Thaniel is a telegraphist who wanted to be a musician, but works a job to help support his widowed sister. Grace is a female physicist, headstrong and opinionated, not afraid to bend the rules in order to pursue her desires. You’d think that with such wonderful archetypes, they’d be fun to follow throughout a narrative, but unfortunately for me, it was extremely difficult to become invested in them, since their motives and feelings were so often obscured. I never quite got the sense that I understood why they did certain things or what they were feeling at a given time; all of that had to be largely inferred. I also didn’t get the sense that their goals were major parts of their lives - Grace probably had the most high-stakes goal in that she desperately wanted to continue her research, but it seemed like Thaniel forgot about his sister for large stretches of time and didn’t have much of an attachment to his job or country to warrant it being a huge influence on his life.
I also had a hard time connecting to Grace initially because she gives off very strong “I’m not like other girls” vibes. One of the first things we see her do is go to a suffragette meeting, and she’s not shy about expressing her disdain for women who are interested in domestic work or express opinions on appearances, voicing aloud that she’s atypical because she’s educated (”properly” educated, mind you - she also looks down on women who are going to college to study the classics). She started to grow on me over time, but then she treated her maid horribly by pretending to threaten her job, and just like that, I was irritated by her again. I did enjoy her dynamic with the character Matsumoto - that was well done, but again, I found Grace herself hard to like.
Mori is probably the character I was most invested in, simply because I didn’t want him to be arrested by the police. His relationship with Thaniel was probably the most well done in the book; I liked that Mori was kind but firm with Thaniel, as well as with everyone else around him, and that he was portrayed as a mechanical genius. In fact, I did appreciate that there were multiple Japanese characters in this book, blowing through the popular claim that there were few people of color in England before a certain date. I also liked how many of these characters varied in personality and avoided the worst Asian stereotypes.
Atmosphere: For all the complaining I’ve just done, I do think this novel does a good job of creating a Victorian atmosphere. The sights and sounds of 19th century London are quite vivid and immersed me in the setting quite easily. The clockwork elements were also well-incorporated in that it gave the novel a steampunk feeling without an overabundance of mechs or airships. It was a good balance of history and fantasy, leaning more heavily on the history to keep the fantastical elements rooted in something that felt real.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in clockworks, steampunk, Victorian England, and Japanese culture (particularly immigrant culture).
Writing: Pulley’s writing had its ups and down for me. On the one hand, I really enjoyed some of the whimsy, as well as descriptions of sounds filtered through Thaniel’s synesthesia (he associates a color with every sound). I also liked how Pulley described the sensations of things (how things sounded or smelled or felt), and there were some nice moments where the prose was almost poetic. On the other, Pulley’s prose noticeably left out things such as what characters were feeling at any given time, so there were long stretches where only actions were described or what things looked like without any emotional impact on the character. There were also times when I wished Pulley have given more background information or explained things more directly so that I could have a better understanding of what was going on or why characters were acting a certain way.
Pulley also wrote her character interactions a bit awkwardly. While some of this awkwardness can be put down to the charm of the book as a whole, there were moments when it was distracting. For example, when Thaniel and Grace meet for the first time, it seems like they go from zero to best friends in the span of an evening, to the point where they decide to marry (a strictly business transaction, not romantic) after knowing each other for maybe 48 hours. Grace also validates Mori’s secret using a method I found odd and frankly, not convincing. Moreover, Thaniel is offered a job with some famous musicians seemingly out of nowhere and with very little justification. Even accounting for Mori’s special ability, for me personally, it stretched the bounds of believability more than the futuristic clockworks or fantastical phenomena.
Finally, for reader who are wary of racism in their books, this novel does have a few characters who are racist towards Asian immigrants. While there isn’t any extreme, graphic violence, white characters speak of them as simplistic, “dirty,” etc. and frequently use the term “chinaman” or “oriental.” I don’t think the author herself is (actively) prejudiced - I think these things are included in the name of “historical accuracy.” But none of the characters are called out or correct their behaviors, so it was a bit irritating.
Plot: I don’t intend this to be mean, but I can’t remember many events that happened in this book. The overall plot seems to present a lot of things that are good on their own, but somewhat disjointed when strung together to make a narrative. In other words, this book seemed to me to lack overall shape. I understand that the novel is supposed to be a “slow burn” mystery, but I think “slow burn” is best when things are shown to gradually build on one another, and while some parts of this book did that, some didn’t. Not much work work is done at the novel’s outset to make the reader invested in the mysterious appearance of the watch or the fallout after the bomb. While I got the sense that this book was supposed to be finding out who the culprit is (is it Mori? Irish nationalists?), I wish Pulley had done more work at the beginning to create some suspense or a more compelling mystery, because there weren’t really any personal stakes for Thaniel, nor did I care much for the characters at Scotland Yard or about the politics between England and Ireland, or even England and Japan, because they just didn’t have enough of a presence to be felt. Honestly, I don’t even think the focus should have been on the bombing the whole time - I think, given the book’s structure as it is, the focus should have shifted (and to some extend, it does) to the relationship between Mori and Thaniel, perhaps becoming less a story about the bombing itself and more about Thaniel’s growing attachment to his friend and how that creates conflict in his life. I think the book was trying to do that, and the relationship between Thaniel and Mori was well done in that it made me not want Mori to be accused of the bombing, but too often, it seemed like the mystery took a backseat and there wasn’t enough tension in the story to make me feel like Thaniel was being torn between his friend and his job (or his friend and his country). Or being torn as to how to deal with the revelation that Mori has special abilities.
Characters: Pulley’s main characters are themselves very interesting on paper. Thaniel is a telegraphist who wanted to be a musician, but works a job to help support his widowed sister. Grace is a female physicist, headstrong and opinionated, not afraid to bend the rules in order to pursue her desires. You’d think that with such wonderful archetypes, they’d be fun to follow throughout a narrative, but unfortunately for me, it was extremely difficult to become invested in them, since their motives and feelings were so often obscured. I never quite got the sense that I understood why they did certain things or what they were feeling at a given time; all of that had to be largely inferred. I also didn’t get the sense that their goals were major parts of their lives - Grace probably had the most high-stakes goal in that she desperately wanted to continue her research, but it seemed like Thaniel forgot about his sister for large stretches of time and didn’t have much of an attachment to his job or country to warrant it being a huge influence on his life.
I also had a hard time connecting to Grace initially because she gives off very strong “I’m not like other girls” vibes. One of the first things we see her do is go to a suffragette meeting, and she’s not shy about expressing her disdain for women who are interested in domestic work or express opinions on appearances, voicing aloud that she’s atypical because she’s educated (”properly” educated, mind you - she also looks down on women who are going to college to study the classics). She started to grow on me over time, but then she treated her maid horribly by pretending to threaten her job, and just like that, I was irritated by her again. I did enjoy her dynamic with the character Matsumoto - that was well done, but again, I found Grace herself hard to like.
Mori is probably the character I was most invested in, simply because I didn’t want him to be arrested by the police. His relationship with Thaniel was probably the most well done in the book; I liked that Mori was kind but firm with Thaniel, as well as with everyone else around him, and that he was portrayed as a mechanical genius. In fact, I did appreciate that there were multiple Japanese characters in this book, blowing through the popular claim that there were few people of color in England before a certain date. I also liked how many of these characters varied in personality and avoided the worst Asian stereotypes.
Atmosphere: For all the complaining I’ve just done, I do think this novel does a good job of creating a Victorian atmosphere. The sights and sounds of 19th century London are quite vivid and immersed me in the setting quite easily. The clockwork elements were also well-incorporated in that it gave the novel a steampunk feeling without an overabundance of mechs or airships. It was a good balance of history and fantasy, leaning more heavily on the history to keep the fantastical elements rooted in something that felt real.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in clockworks, steampunk, Victorian England, and Japanese culture (particularly immigrant culture).
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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:
No
This was a recommendation from my wife, who normally has very good taste in what I might like to read out of her book collection, and it was an excellent one. The book is not perfect - it suffers from a lot of first novel issues, and some of the historical bits included were a bit too standard - but as a steampunk urban fantasy it was a lovely bit of work. Pulley's sentence level work was exceptionally good and the plot was peculiar enough to not be formulaic, which is always nice. I'll certainly be looking for more by her in the future.
"A man could have a character independent of his nation. His thoughts were starting to take on a strange ring: they had shrunk from their usual size and now the ordinary attic that was his ordinary mind looked like a cathedral at night, with endless galleries and rafters lost in the dart and nothing but the echoes to show where they were" (p 45).
This first book by Natasha Pulley is mysteriously enticing as its title. Mechanisms. Motion. Soft curves. Old-fashioned ambiance. Strange secrets.
Victorian steampunk, while not the perfect description, does hold the ambiance evoked by the story. Alternating chapters between Victorian London and Japan begin to weave an intricate interplay of events in the lives of three main characters: Steepleton, a British civil servant, Mori, a Japanese watchmaker, and Grace, a rebellious scientist. Helene Wecker writes a healthy review (giving an abundance of detail -so, beware!), for anyone who want to know exactly what she is in for!
For my part, I will tell you there are beautifully crafted sentences – highly descriptive of the setting so that you can absorb effortlessly the atmosphere Pulley creates. While the historical backdrops of the late 1880s are accurately familiar, the fantasy fits seamlessly into the history, as if it were there all the time – just not recorded. These settings allow for the slow development of relationships among these three; you grow to understand their rational and emotional motivations enough to carry empathy for all, simultaneously. Oddly, though, I find that it is the fourth character at the center of this tale – Katsu, a life-like mechanical creature – who I care for most deeply and who I think about long after I have closed the covers on this book.
Quite a writer; quite a story.
A clockwork fantasy
A beautifully written story about friends, possibility, and different cultures. I won't comment on the plot as that would give too much away however the main characters are engaging, the pacing excellent and the plot is well thought out. The main aspect of the book is fantastical and brilliantly and slowly revealed. I recommend you read it!!!
A beautifully written story about friends, possibility, and different cultures. I won't comment on the plot as that would give too much away however the main characters are engaging, the pacing excellent and the plot is well thought out. The main aspect of the book is fantastical and brilliantly and slowly revealed. I recommend you read it!!!