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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
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:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail
A weird but wonderful tale about clockwork and time-bending in Victorian London. Including understated romance and quirky elements like a mechanical octopus.
5 stars because I adored it in spite of Grace, who is a monster, and in spite of wishing that the author had found a way to pick out Grace's thread of the story even at risk of leaving the plot spineless. Perhaps the author likes Grace or perhaps Grace wandered in from a novel the author hasn't yet written. I don't care because she remains a monster (at worst) or a plot device (at best). I plan to skip her chapters on re-read. However, I loved the rest of it too much to downgrade my rating. I admired the flat, detached, evenness of the prose, and the author's determination to avoid period dialogue (although there were moments when a startling modernism or two crept in). I loved the slightly disconnected-from-the-real-world London that made it seem as if the characters were walking in and out of my dreams. I fell hard for Mori and Katsu and Thaniel. And best of all? The subtlety. Certain other writers in this genre whom I've read in the past year could take a lesson in subtlety from Pulley. There was one line in particular.... I wonder how many readers missed it?
A perfect little gem of a novel which moves as delicately as the clockworks.
Thought it might be as meh as Bedlam Stacks (which I couldn't even finish), but you got me at clockwork octopus that steals socks.
Thaniel and Mori are delightful.
The ending was frustrating until I discovered there will be more, which for me gives this a full five stars instead of the four I was considering.
Look forward to the next instalment!
Thaniel and Mori are delightful.
The ending was frustrating until I discovered there will be more, which for me gives this a full five stars instead of the four I was considering.
Look forward to the next instalment!
Interesting book, it was hard not to flip to the last pages to see how it ended.
Great writing, drew me in, I was invested in the main characters and loved the steampunk, historical, magick, detective style storyline. Lots going on here.
I’m torn between delight and frustration after reading this book. Conceptually the story is spot on and I really enjoyed the setting, characters and plot, however I continually wrestled with the writing style and was frequently baffled about who was saying what. At one point the author writes: “He struggled to find the thread of what had been said.” This sums up my experience to a T.
mysterious
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:
No
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes