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A review by stevi1991
Timepiece by Richard Paul Evans
3.0
I picked up Timepiece for its first and last pages–for the passage above and the last passage. I also picked it up for its cover, its elegant interior, and because of my insatiable fascination with clocks and time. I love books that address the menace of time–and even better if they have foreboding clocks. Timepiece is a prequel to The Christmas Box, which I’d heard about but never read and wasn’t terribly interested in reading. But hey, prequels can stand alone, and this book looked interesting in its own right.
The first half of this book was fantastic. Clever, crackling, appropriately archaic dialogue between romantic but amusing characters. MaryAnne’s lofty snark and self-respect endeared me to her, and David’s awkward, well-meaning attempts to get to know her were enjoyable. I’m not usually one for feel-good (or in this case, feel-good-then-break-your-heart) love stories, but David and MaryAnne were realistic and their dialogue always hooked me. Thus was the first half of the book.
The second half of this book is where things started to go awry. The dialogue fell out–and for good reason, in some cases. Tragedy struck. But instead of the characters handling it realistically, instead of them coping together, instead of me seeing them struggle and cry, and instead the menace of time being highlighted in moments of grave clarity, the book descended into melodrama. I felt like half-way through, someone told the author he had to pull on the heart strings, and I feel like maybe the characters weren’t ready for that yet. The lively personalities of David and MaryAnne fell flat in the end, making the tragedy less than heartwrenching. By the end, I felt like someone was trying to manipulate me into crying, even though I had lost interest as soon as the characters fell out. Disappointing.
What makes it especially sad is that Richard Paul Evans is one hell of a writer. He can turn a phrase with fantastic and powerful precision–that stark attention to detail and succinct gravity is what initially interested me in this book. But even that seemed to fade near the end. In summary, Timepiece had a great setup, but the delivery fell flat. I do want to read more Richard Paul Evans. But this book just frustrated me in the end.
However, as always, what can be learned as a writer from this experience?
1. Being precise, succinct, and powerful with your words is a great way to hook readers. When I read that first passage, I was immediately excited. What a brief but intriguing bit of writing. What a fantastic setup for conflict! I can forgive many things if the writing gives me chills of delight.
2. No matter how cliche the situation, if your characters are well-developed, the story is still interesting. So, I’ve heard the love story of David and MaryAnne a dozen times over in other books–but that never bothered me, because David and MaryAnne were so distinct as characters. For that first half, their banter was fresh, their actions authentic and enjoyable. Characters make everything!
3. Whatever you do, don’t force the story into places where characters fall flat! If your characters aren’t having any of the drama, recalibrate your course. The worst possible thing that can happen to ruin a book (in my opinion) is to have your characters fall out! Without that, plots quickly become dry, cliche, forced, and often melodramatic. Wherever the story goes, make sure the characters go with it, and don’t draw out tears at the expense of those characters.
The first half of this book was fantastic. Clever, crackling, appropriately archaic dialogue between romantic but amusing characters. MaryAnne’s lofty snark and self-respect endeared me to her, and David’s awkward, well-meaning attempts to get to know her were enjoyable. I’m not usually one for feel-good (or in this case, feel-good-then-break-your-heart) love stories, but David and MaryAnne were realistic and their dialogue always hooked me. Thus was the first half of the book.
The second half of this book is where things started to go awry. The dialogue fell out–and for good reason, in some cases. Tragedy struck. But instead of the characters handling it realistically, instead of them coping together, instead of me seeing them struggle and cry, and instead the menace of time being highlighted in moments of grave clarity, the book descended into melodrama. I felt like half-way through, someone told the author he had to pull on the heart strings, and I feel like maybe the characters weren’t ready for that yet. The lively personalities of David and MaryAnne fell flat in the end, making the tragedy less than heartwrenching. By the end, I felt like someone was trying to manipulate me into crying, even though I had lost interest as soon as the characters fell out. Disappointing.
What makes it especially sad is that Richard Paul Evans is one hell of a writer. He can turn a phrase with fantastic and powerful precision–that stark attention to detail and succinct gravity is what initially interested me in this book. But even that seemed to fade near the end. In summary, Timepiece had a great setup, but the delivery fell flat. I do want to read more Richard Paul Evans. But this book just frustrated me in the end.
However, as always, what can be learned as a writer from this experience?
1. Being precise, succinct, and powerful with your words is a great way to hook readers. When I read that first passage, I was immediately excited. What a brief but intriguing bit of writing. What a fantastic setup for conflict! I can forgive many things if the writing gives me chills of delight.
2. No matter how cliche the situation, if your characters are well-developed, the story is still interesting. So, I’ve heard the love story of David and MaryAnne a dozen times over in other books–but that never bothered me, because David and MaryAnne were so distinct as characters. For that first half, their banter was fresh, their actions authentic and enjoyable. Characters make everything!
3. Whatever you do, don’t force the story into places where characters fall flat! If your characters aren’t having any of the drama, recalibrate your course. The worst possible thing that can happen to ruin a book (in my opinion) is to have your characters fall out! Without that, plots quickly become dry, cliche, forced, and often melodramatic. Wherever the story goes, make sure the characters go with it, and don’t draw out tears at the expense of those characters.