A review by maddithemoodi
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley

mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

2.75

I’m not completely sure how I feel about this book. I liked the concept and I like Mori (the watchmaker) as a character. I really disliked Grace and the distasteful/bigoted things she’d say or think that went unchallenged by the narrative (weird anti-Asian stuff, being misogynistic towards suffragists). Thaniel felt very undeveloped until the end of the book.

I felt uncomfortable with some of the (probably period-appropriate) racism and East-Asian tokenizing that went unchallenged by the narrative. It was written/referenced/implied constantly that Asian people are smaller than white people. It was so often that it felt like it bordered on fetishizing — Thaniel was constantly thinking about how small Mori (and other Asian characters) was compared to him. 

The writing itself was fine, if not a little slow with slightly under-developed characters — though both elements picked up a lot in the last quarter or so. I might read another book from this author, but I’m really hesitant considering a lot of the troubling perspectives or politics that went unchallenged — it just made it frustrating to read. 

I had guessed for latter half of the book that a relationship would develop between Thaniel and Mori (there are only a few characters and the book is tagged LGBTQ+). While I could see evidence of those feelings from Mori, I dont really feel like I saw them develop in Thaniel (which may admittedly be because I’m autistic). I think it might’ve also helped if Mori’s and Thaniel’s ages were clearer in the text. I pictured Thaniel in his mid-/late-twenties and Mori in at least his late-forties if not older — I expected found family at first (but then Thaniel seems to think Mori will be dead be the time Thaniel is 50?).
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