Timekeeper

3.9★

i really enjoyed this one! the world building was amazing, and i loved getting to know how time and the clocks worked. the romance was cute, and since the characters get together quite quickly i'm glad it wasn't the main focus of the rest of the book; instead we got to know more about everything else and what is happening both within the group of people in charge of the clocks, and the protestants

while i was reading i guessed most of the "twists", but in no way did that make the reading experience worse, and it really immersed me in the story and in its world (love love love the steampunk vibe btw)

I read many of the 1 star reviews on goodreads, but still listened to it anyway because Gary Furlong.

Listen, Gary Furlong, 5 stars.
TimeKeeper, -4.5 stars
And here we are.

There's this flair in the (i think) shitposting sub called “WARNING: BRAIN DAMAGE”, and it was all I could think about as I listened to this. The setting feels half-baked: it's steampunk but they have talking automatons. Explain it to me please. The characters have room temperature IQs, and really just don't grow over the course of the book. And of course, the central villain is a sex offender. I'll make a list:

1. Colton is so dry. So fucking dry. Danny has more chemistry with his fucking car. His whole shtick is being blond and cute, and self-harming. Yeah, when he wants attention he hurts himself. Then says, every time, “I didn't know.” He was utterly useless in the final fight. I'd have liked to see him have more agency. Which leads to his counterpart.2. Evelyn. Is this how it's spelt? I listened to it. Anyway, EVELYN. She also has zero agency in the book. I mean she leaves the town, then just kinda hides out in Matthias's house for three years. Then at the end it's just like Stockholm syndrome or something. Like can you bash his head in with the chisel please.3. Danny. How does he think he'll get away with stealing Daphne's assignment? At the end, when Evelyn claims she'll kill herself, why not play along. Why immediately question her so Matthias can see she's bluffing? Literally the only redeeming part for me was when he swung that bat at Matthias. Like, FUCK HIM UP, PLEASE.4. Daphne. Why did we even get her POV? I literally don't care. And she steals the cog? WHERE IS BRAIN? What an absolute dumb fuck. Like FUCK HER UP AND TAKE THE COG BACK WTF. 5. Danny's mom. She's not a great mom. Those things she was saying to him at the end, telling him his father would be disappointed in him. What a cunt.6. Danny's dad. So this is who reported Matthias. And who was trapped in the town in the first place because he didn't want to vacation with his family. And then he returns and we're supposed to be happy? Danny needs therapy. His dad is a piece of shit and his mom is flaky as fuck.7. Lucas. Why do we even get a POV? Just for him to die? I thought we were going to get a redemption arc, or he was going to do something, save the town, become the clock spirit. Idk fucking jazz it up. But he literally just dies and his girlfriend (now ex unfortunately) is all like you punched him so this means you killed him. Dumb fucks.8. The setting. Like I mentioned, we get an automaton that speaks. And cars. I don't know what else we have. The worldbuilding is half-baked. Should've just made it historical fantasy if the worldbuilding work wasn't going to be put in.9. Wtf was that Greek mythology nonsense? Bruh. It added zero value, and felt really fucking off when the book is set in fucking steampunk London.10. So Danny ends up in Enfield and everything is temporarily ok. And then some random group just sends him a letter saying, “We're watching.” Like, okay? Ooh I'm so scared.

Garbage. But Gary Furlong is always worth a listen. I honestly will probably listen to the second book. It's bad enough for me to be able to listen to at work without worrying about missing stuff.

Honestly would give this a solid 4.5 stars really instead of 4 but THIS. I do not have any coherent thoughts other than I could not put this book down at all and I became so invested in the characters from really early on.

What started as a recovery read after I finished a much heavier book (The Vegetarian) turned into so much more. I am definitely set on the rest of the series now and will probably check out the author's other books too :)

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.

3.5 stars rounded off to 4.

The concept was amazing but the execution fell flat a little bit. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this story a lot.

The idea of time moving because of clock towers and clock spirits was novel. The idea of mechanics who can feel the fibers of time and fix clock malfunctions was equally amazing.
The bad guy was boring / easy to guess, but the conclusion was nicely done. I feel like the sequels might tell a better story if the world building is explored more.

Let me start off by saying my biggest problem with this book is Time. This book gave me the same headache that time travel usually does. How can clocks control how time works? What about the unexplored areas of the world? Do they not have time or are there clocks there randomly? So many questions...
But, if you can just roll with it, put those questions aside and ignore them, then this book is really entertaining.

I really liked Danny, even if he did some things to irk me, but he is a good person, just trying his best. He is also out, which causes some problems since it is only newly legal for people to be lgbt+ or at least in a relationship with the same-sex (I can't exactly recall which it was in the book). His bestie is cool too and I love how they made her a mechanic who is also fighting against the system (i.e. mechanic over looking for a husband).
We also get to see people dealing with grief and trauma in different ways and how it shapes the way people can see them. I think having a main character who potentially has PTSD is really important and helps give people another character to reflect themselves.

There is also Daphne who is a WOC in Victorian England. Her father is Indian during the time when GB is controlling India. I think this shows just how deep this story goes and how complex the setting is. Not because there is a woman of color, but because America has been introduced in one light, we see India in another with characters actively thinking differently about the colonization all while it isn't even part of the main story (yet? I think the sequel is in India, maybe?).

So, the setting, the world-building– I think it was brilliant. Like I said previously, my biggest problem was still not truly understanding the clock situation. Did the Native Americans have clock towers before the British came? How else could their time have moved without the British having to build them a clock which is something they haven't done in a very long time?

I did think the book could be long-winded and I felt bad for Colton all the time :( but I will definitely be reading the second book sooner or later. Another book I will be recommending to people who like Steampunk, don't think too deeply about the concept of time, and are looking for a little adventure in their life.

Actual rating 3.5 stars. So this book is really lovely in so many ways, first and foremost I liked that it had an easy relaxed feel to it, the flow wasn't too rushed but I was drawn in all the same and the premise is just beautiful there were chapters that gave you backstory and mythology and those were my favorites. The romance is cute and very normal, it's just two boys who have found something special and they kiss sometimes. These are great things.

Here are the things I didn't like about it.

It's lacking.

The pace while relaxed and flowy does just that and about 3/4 of the way through the book it gets boring.

Climax? What climax?

The central plot of this book is that Danny's dad is stuck in a town that has “stopped” and he wants to get him back. But where's my conflict? Everything is more or less smooth sailing until the you reach the “plot twist” and even then because of how easy going the rest of the book is you don't feel the punch.

Character development was a little... bland? That's too harsh, they weren't boring, but I felt like they really didn't face any hard choices, nothing REALLY difficult was thrown their way, to make them evolve. They were too likable and their lives too easy.

Yes there is character death but it didn't impact me emotionally in any way, Danny never really has to choose between anything which makes the resolution at the end so flat, no heart flutters or grand cheers because the end was predictable.


So for a nice relaxing read in between more emotionally taxing books this is a good one.

Took me over a month to read, but still a great book. Full review to come.

I read a lot of reviews before picking this one up, and I became very curious about it, because some reviews say that it doesn't focus on the m/m romance much, and others say there is too much focus on the romance. I was happy with the amount of focus on the relationship between Colton and Danny. It's central to the plot, although there are several other key elements also.

The world-building is good; it's set in an 1880s alternate-universe London with steampunk technology, in which there have been a few advancements towards gender equality, and same-sex relationships are mostly acceptable. There are several prominent and interesting female characters, none of whom are either saintly or devilish. All of the major characters and most of the side characters feel multifaceted, with strengths, flaws, etc. It's easy to understand why some of the characters Danny's mother and Matthias have made decisions that have hurt others; there isn't really a pure villain, which I think is a difficult feat for an author to pull off. The main character is developed very well and stays true to who we know him to be throughout the story.

The book does have a few flaws, in my opinion. I can see some of the skeleton; the reasons given for characters' actions aren't always completely convincing or believable, and it feels obvious that the plot just needs them to do something at a specific moment. More annoying to me, though, is how whiny Danny is at certain points. I know this is a book about a character moving from misery back into living his life, though.

This is a whine of my own, and just my personal taste, but I'm not a huge fan of the lyrical writing style that is prevalent in YA. Poetic language usually takes me away from the story. It doesn't feel original to me, either, since I keep seeing it in YA, unlike some distinctive styles I've encountered (China Mieville, for example, or Kai Ashante Williams' style in Sorcerer of the Wildeeps), or like it serves much of a purpose. It seems like unnecessary embroidery. I know that many readers disagree with me about this, and I think I would've fallen in love with this style 20 years ago; it's just that these days I'm more interested in stories and characters than in language itself.

Despite all that, this book has a lot of cinematic moments. I can easily imagine it making a great movie.

I see this is marked as book one in a series and I'm having trouble imagining where it will go, but I'm curious to find out. Reading it was definitely a worthwhile experience!

Attempted reread late summer 2023
(started August 2nd gave up 40 pages later on September 22nd)

I imagine that if I had the energy to reread this - and didn't remember so much about it - that I'd still enjoy it just as much the second time around. But I remember too much and it's not a book that I love enough to read just for spending more time with the characters. Will possibly try rereading it again when my memory of it is less vivid, but right now it's just cluttering up my life.


Original Review

Check my blog later in March 2017 for my review.

Brief thoughts? Love the idea of clock towers. Like the wonderfully flawed characters. Want to know why the spirits all kind of look alike. (And if I can have one, too.)

This book was not at all what I expected. I definitely went into this story with certain preconceived ideas and hardly any of them were fulfilled. Pretty much the only one that was had to do with the story being a rather sweet steampunk story.

I picked this book up because I've been craving steampunk and, oddly enough, not reading much this year. I've gotta say, the steampunk, while rather light on the actually gadgets and accessories, was topnotch.

I love the idea of clock towers that kind of control time and spirits that embody the towers. (If anyone else has ever seen the anime D.Gray-Man, this story reminds me a lot of Miranda Lotto's. A lot.) The only slight complaint I have here is that I would have liked to know more.

The world is interesting and intriguing and there is so much about the clock towers and spirits that even the people living in the world don't know - so I'm hoping this gets covered in the sequels.

The characters are all interesting, though perhaps not always the most likable. And, honestly, that's what made me adore them. These are all flawed characters. They make poor decisions, or stupid ones. They're not perfect and because of that, they're interesting, relatable. And, really, the whole hero/villain quote I've got up there illustrates a good deal about this story. In this book there's not really heroes or villains, just people - and I love that.

(And I gotta note, I'm pretty sure that Danny, our main character, has PTSD. Of course it's not called that because back then they didn't have such a thing, but that's sure what he acts like to my very untrained eyes. And I love it. I think the author really took a chance and I love the outcome.)

I would have liked to see more of the story through someone other than Danny's eyes. Except for two small sections, he's the sole narrator. And while he's interesting and I do like him, I kept wanting to know more about the other people. Especially Daphne, who I think might be my favorite character.

The romance was cute - perhaps a little too cute for me at times, and maybe moved a little too fast. But I get why that was, as the romance was actually part of the plot. (Surprisingly enough. And enjoyably enough. It's not often I read a book where the romance and plot are so intertwined.)

While I liked nearly everything about the story and my biggest complaints so far are that I wanted ‘more' - there are a couple notes I need to make.

The first is that the language is on the flowery side. Some people will like that. Me? I prefer a much more straightforward writing style, so I was occasionally impatient with the descriptions.

And, I'll be honest, the book sags in the middle. The first hundred to a hundred-fifty pages were awesome and the last hundred pages were five star material in and of themselves. But that middle section just seemed to languish a little. (And made me really glad that the last hundred pages were so spectacular.)

(Originally posted on my blog: pagesofstarlight.blogspot.com)