A story that keeps you hanging till the end! I could not wait to see the outcome for Danny and his clock. The legend of the creation of time is also very nicely created. I do believe this is a story that well deserves at least 4 stars – in my humble opinion. The narration was great as well. I could feel Danny ’s hesitations, his fears, his guilt throughout Gary Furlong’s voice.

The story is quite captivating, as it combines bits of history, with legends and an unconventional love. While Danny is doing his best to fill in for his father and carry the guilt of his captivity in a city beyond time, he falls for the subject of his work – the clock tower spirit. There are twists and turns, there are decisions that need to be taken, there are emotional struggles. So from plot perspective, I believe it has all that can be requested. Though I must admit I would have wanted a more spectacular ending.

Danny and Colton develop a relationship beyond friendship. However, I had the impression that maybe he takes advantage of Colton’s naivety, taking into account he has not had many visitors and does not know much about love. While one learns how to take advantage of his skills as a mechanic, the other learns about the world, life, love.

Not only our main characters are well developed, but as well the other figures present in the book. All have complex issues and daemons to face, but in the same time, all act to the best of their abilities. Here we can clearly see the weaker side of humanity, but as well the strengths.

The bits and pieces of legend, about time creation and gods have captured me as well. They have flaws and demons of their own, which brings them closer to humanity.

As I was mentioning, the narration was great! I loved the calm voice, the accent, the way Gary Furlong expressed even the exasperation that the characters feel at times. I cannot imagine a better voice for Danny, really! With a clear pronunciation, this audiobook can be listen to very easily. And did I mention the English accent?

All in all, I did enjoy it very much and I cannot wait for the next book in the series! Hopefully, also narrated by the same person!
( )

Very Charming with Some Serious Issues

For the most part this is a genuinely lovely young adult alternative history fantasy romp with a fascinating approach to time that is both amusing and sad. I do wish it had explored this a little more and made more of a connection between the whimsical introduction of the strangeness of time and the more central aspects of time and the clock towers.

There is an absolutely gorgeous little Queer story here that brought me a lot of joy, but the decision to set this in alternative historic England with some right on, but largely handwavy comments on homophobia and colonialism were very clunky. If these weren't things that the book didn't really want to acknowledge or deal with appropriately, simply porting Big Ben into a fictional setting or making the world significantly different, beyond low steampunk and time oddity, as in the Oxford and beyond of His Dark Materials.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the narration was wonderful (putting me in mind of a more well-behaved Tim Key), but with the above, the thoughtless acceptance of prison as a solution (prison abolition now, ACAB), and the way it ends with a character self-harming to get attention from their lover, something already addressed as not being OK in the book, played off as actually rather charming and cute, rather than incredibly abusive and indicative of someone needing serious mental health support, meant that an enjoyable read ended rather sourly and I don't think I will continue the series. ( )

Timekeeper is a blend of steampunk and urban fantasy. The Victorian-ish world that Sim created is unique with its premise that clocks control time in the vicinity of the clock tower. If a clock is damaged, time behaves erratically. If a clock is destroyed, time stops in the vicinity, and the area is cut off from its surroundings. Timekeepers are those rare individuals who can feel time and thus fix the clock towers.

The characters are well-drawn. I feel that the mental and emotional issues are handled well for the most part. PTSD, grief, loss, and fear are integral to the story. I dinged the book by half a star because self-hurting to get attention is more serious than the book indicated, and falling instantly in love is usually far more along the lines of falling instantly in lust. Love takes time to grow.

I highly recommend this book for fans of steampunk. I bought the sequel already. ( )

Rating: 4.7/5 Stars
Title: Timekeeper
Author: Tara Sim

Synopsis:
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.

Initial thoughts:
To be honest, one of the reasons I started reading this book was because it was recommended to me through Amazon because I had read Victoria Schwab’s books. Gotta say I was really excited to read this one because the synopsis sounded really interesting to me. It is a steampunk lgbt romance that takes place in london. It really was my aesthetic all around. Plus the cover is simply gorgeous (Chainbreaker and Firestarter also have amazing covers). I am writing this review now that I have read it for a second time and I am about to begin Chainbreaker for a second time before Firestarter comes out.

Plot:
What I liked:
The premise of this book was simply fantastic. I loved the ideas of the clocks and how they kept time moving properly in specific areas of the world. It was very original to me and had me wondering exactly how the towers worked and where they actually came from. The characters were anything but flat. They had a lot of heart and layers to them that made me feeling for each and every one of them. Tara Sim was a master at illustrating PTSD and trauma in this book. I swear, I was amazed by how she showed and handled it in this book. Another things that I really loved about this book was the romance. I am not going to go into too much depth about their relationship with one another, but it seriously made my heart warm when they were together.

What I didn't like:
There were really only a few things that I found myself questioning the antagonist in the book. Things seemed a little forced in that aspect, but I did find myself wanting to see where Tara was going with the plot line in the book. I also found that the way Colton was getting attention to be a little toxic in the sense that he would hurt himself so that Danny would come back to repair his clock tower. It was pushed aside as harmless in a sense when self-harm for the attention of a loved one should never be seen as anything but serious.


Characters:
Danny Hart: I wanted to just hug him and tell him that he was doing a good job and that deserved better. He was a bit quick to jump to conclusions as well and quick to act, but that was something that made him more relatable.
Brandon: I loved how supportive he was. He was a good kid who was working hard to provide for his family.
Leila Hart: Seeing her through Danny’s eyes kind of made her hard to like. I wanted to see things from her perspective a little bit.
Colton: A precious angel who needs to stop hurting himself for attention. I love this golden boy though.
Cassie: She is seriously super amazing! She was kind and cared about her friend so much and just wanted to make sure he was happy and safe.
Matthis: He was a very complicated character. I wished that things would have turned out differently with him.
Daphne Richards: She was intelligent, talented, and fighting in a man’s world where women are looked down upon. I applaud her and think she is an amazing character.

Overall:
This book is probably one of my favorite LGBT reads in a while. I found myself happy to return to it with such beautifully crafted book. It has a magical element merging with the steampunk and I was captivated by the creativity and originality of it. I need to read the last book in this series! It seriously cannot wait for it to come out. ( )

It’s definitely more of a 3.5.

This book has been on my radar for almost 2 years now I think and I always thought I’ll read it someday, but never actually picked it up. Finally I couldn’t avoid anymore when our Stars and Sorcery Book club chose this as our first BOTM of 2020 and I’m happy I finally got the chance to dive into this world.

The best part of this book is definitely the world building. It’s not always fully explained but I just loved the idea of clock towers and spirits and time being so interconnected to the cities, and the whole mythology behind it. It felt pretty unique and it’s nice to be surprised. I also loved the alternative historical London of the late 19th century, old in some ways, but modern and more industrialized in many others. What faltered for me was the overall pacing of the book. While I have really come to appreciate slow paced books which give the characters the time to breathe, it just made me feel a bit disconnected here, atleast for the first third of the book. Once the plot picked up a little and more events started to occur, then the book felt much more fascinating and I didn’t wanna put it down. The ending felt a tad bit too convenient but I hope it’s explored more in the rest of the trilogy.

I thought the author depicted Danny’s character very well - his melancholy about his dad, his panic attacks due to his own accident and just the effort it takes to go through life day to day feeling so lonely - I could totally feel his despair and kudos to Tara Sim for that. Colton’s character suffers from a different kind of loneliness, being almost immortal and stuck in a place and while I could empathize with him too, we didn’t get enough of his POV for me to feel really connected to him. Their relationship is almost instalove but considering the kind of lives they were living, I thought their relationship development felt realistic. The separations really heightened their emotions and I could really feel their desperate need to be together whenever they could. There were also some amazingly sweet moments between them, especially in the beginning of their friendship and it was just nice to see them smile and talk and not feel so alone.

Cassie is a great side character and best friend to have and I loved how much she cared for Danny, but showed her worries only by always asking about fixing his auto. She is also immensely supportive of him and I was glad he had her in his life. On the other hand, Danny’s mom felt very disconnected from life in general which pissed me off in the beginning but I slowly came to realize how debilitating her grief must be. Brandon and Daphne were interesting additions to the cast as well and I hope we’ll get to see more of them in the future.

At the end, I can say this was an interesting beginning to a different kind of fantasy which didn’t completely blow my mind, but kept me engaged enough to continue. It has great world building, a lovely cast of characters, a cute but forbidden romance and a fascinating mystery that’ll keep you guessing. I might not be rushing to pick up the next book yet, but I’m very interested to continue the series - particularly because the sequel takes place in a British occupied India and I really want to know how the author weaves India’s colonization into this story. ( )