Timekeeperby Tara Sim
♦publisher: Sky Pony Press
♦release date: November 8th, 2017
♦hardcover, 414 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: Timekeeper, book 1
♦source: from publisher for honest review
Two o’clock was missing.
In an alternate Victorian world controlled by clock towers, a damaged clock can fracture time—and a destroyed one can stop it completely.
It’s a truth that seventeen-year-old clock mechanic Danny Hart knows all too well; his father has been trapped in a Stopped town east of London for three years. Though Danny is a prodigy who can repair not only clockwork, but the very fabric of time, his fixation with staging a rescue is quickly becoming a concern to his superiors.
And so they assign him to Enfield, a town where the tower seems to be forever plagued with problems. Danny’s new apprentice both annoys and intrigues him, and though the boy is eager to work, he maintains a secretive distance. Danny soon discovers why: he is the tower’s clock spirit, a mythical being that oversees Enfield’s time. Though the boys are drawn together by their loneliness, Danny knows falling in love with a clock spirit is forbidden, and means risking everything he’s fought to achieve.
But when a series of bombings at nearby towers threaten to Stop more cities, Danny must race to prevent Enfield from becoming the next target or he’ll not only lose his father, but the boy he loves, forever.
In an alternate Victorian world controlled by clock towers, a damaged clock can fracture time—and a destroyed one can stop it completely.
It’s a truth that seventeen-year-old clock mechanic Danny Hart knows all too well; his father has been trapped in a Stopped town east of London for three years. Though Danny is a prodigy who can repair not only clockwork, but the very fabric of time, his fixation with staging a rescue is quickly becoming a concern to his superiors.
And so they assign him to Enfield, a town where the tower seems to be forever plagued with problems. Danny’s new apprentice both annoys and intrigues him, and though the boy is eager to work, he maintains a secretive distance. Danny soon discovers why: he is the tower’s clock spirit, a mythical being that oversees Enfield’s time. Though the boys are drawn together by their loneliness, Danny knows falling in love with a clock spirit is forbidden, and means risking everything he’s fought to achieve.
But when a series of bombings at nearby towers threaten to Stop more cities, Danny must race to prevent Enfield from becoming the next target or he’ll not only lose his father, but the boy he loves, forever.
Review: This book was an absolute charmer. Even if you're eyeing this book thinking to yourself, 'I don't really like steampunk'---I still think anyone would really enjoy this one. I love steampunk stories, but only when it's not too too longwinded with the mechanical details, then I tend to get bored. But Timekeeper is what I'd call "steampunk-light". :) Just detailed enough that you get a perfect visual of the cool clockwork, plus it actually focuses more on the magical side of things, the spirit of the clock, and how the clocktowers and time are entwined. It was perfect.
Danny is such a fun character to read. He's a perfectly realistic mix of determination, smarts, bumbling Britishness (sort of like very young Colin Firth ;D) and social and emotional insecurity. He's not well liked among his peers but he knows he's good at what he does and he takes a lot of pride in that. Danny's home life is strained since his father went missing, and he also suspects that his mom is not happy about his lifestyle choice. You definitely feel for him and when he meets the clock spirit of Enfield, you just root for him to have that happiness, no matter how forbidden falling in love with a clock spirit was. I loved his best friend, Cassie--a quick-tongued, ingenious auto mechanic---and also several other of the side characters that Danny's story entangles with.
The magic and world-building in this was wonderful and so well thought out. The idea that these clock towers actually control time for each region was such an interesting idea, and although I felt the intermittent chapters telling the backstory of the Gods interrupted the flow of the story a bit, it still added much needed info on how and why the world was the way it was. The plot is full of mystery and wonder and danger and one of the sweetest, swooniest romances I've read in a while. I was completely enchanted from start to finish.
•ABOUT THE AUTHOR•
Tara Sim is the author of Timekeeper (Sky Pony Press, Fall 2016) and writer of all things magic. She can often be found in the wilds of the Bay Area, California.
When she’s not writing about mischievous boys in clock towers, Tara spends her time drinking tea, wrangling cats, and occasionally singing opera. Despite her bio-luminescent skin, she is half-Indian and eats way too many samosas.
Purchase the book: Indiebound • BookDepository • Amazon
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So since I was fortunate enough to be sent a finished copy of this wonderful book that I was planning to buy anyhow, I'm going to order one to send to one lucky winner, anywhere in the world*! :D This books makes me happy and swoony---and that's the kind of thing that needs to be spread around! ♥
Enter below!
Open anywhere BookDepository ships*
Ends 1/28/17
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