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A review by blenchbooks
The Girl with a Clock for a Heart by Peter Swanson
4.0
The Girl with a Clock for a Heart is a novel that I have been wanting to read for a while. Some of this was because I was under the false pretense that this was a speculative fiction novel (we’ll come back to this later). Anyway, I found this book for sale and decided to buy it, and I do not regret that decision. Although the book title is slightly deceptive and doesn’t really have much to do with the book, I do actually enjoy mystery thriller novels and the plot of this one was intriguing and gripping.
The first thing that I want to talk about with this novel is (not surprisingly) it's unrelated title. Although there are a few mentions of the exact phrase used for the title within the novel and Liana can certainly be seen to be heartless, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. I understand that these novels can be hard to name because there often isn’t one concrete theme but in this case, I do think there are other options that better fit the story.
Secondly, I found that the flashbacks (which seem to be commonplace in most of the books I read) were well placed and integrated. They mixed well with the main story and didn’t give anything away too much but it also participated in the story. These flashbacks were important to give a background to both George and Liana’s mindsets and their past. I don’t think the story would have worked well without them.
The plot in this novel was good and complex but towards the end I found it to be a little bit confusing and almost stationary in terms of twists until the very end which seemed rather rushed and though it were an afterthought plot element. The ending of this novel is also quite unfinished and abrupt, it seems as though there should be more but there isn’t.
Lastly, I found myself getting rather annoyed by George’s naiveté and obsession with Liana. He seems unable to accept that she is an untrustworthy person. This is made worse by seeing modern and past George both being duped by her at the same time. Even right at the very end, he seems unable to accept that she is gone and is convinced that she loves him. To me this just seems ridiculously idiotic, particularly seeing as she has nearly had him killed a number of times.
Overall, this was a good novel, and I would definitely recommend it. Readers, however, should be aware that it can be quite frustrating.
To read the discussion part of this review, please visit www.fictionally.uk
The first thing that I want to talk about with this novel is (not surprisingly) it's unrelated title. Although there are a few mentions of the exact phrase used for the title within the novel and Liana can certainly be seen to be heartless, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. I understand that these novels can be hard to name because there often isn’t one concrete theme but in this case, I do think there are other options that better fit the story.
Secondly, I found that the flashbacks (which seem to be commonplace in most of the books I read) were well placed and integrated. They mixed well with the main story and didn’t give anything away too much but it also participated in the story. These flashbacks were important to give a background to both George and Liana’s mindsets and their past. I don’t think the story would have worked well without them.
The plot in this novel was good and complex but towards the end I found it to be a little bit confusing and almost stationary in terms of twists until the very end which seemed rather rushed and though it were an afterthought plot element. The ending of this novel is also quite unfinished and abrupt, it seems as though there should be more but there isn’t.
Lastly, I found myself getting rather annoyed by George’s naiveté and obsession with Liana. He seems unable to accept that she is an untrustworthy person. This is made worse by seeing modern and past George both being duped by her at the same time. Even right at the very end, he seems unable to accept that she is gone and is convinced that she loves him. To me this just seems ridiculously idiotic, particularly seeing as she has nearly had him killed a number of times.
Overall, this was a good novel, and I would definitely recommend it. Readers, however, should be aware that it can be quite frustrating.
To read the discussion part of this review, please visit www.fictionally.uk