Review: Timekeeper by Tara Sim

Timekeeper is an interesting little story, that occasionally fell flat for me, but wound up being a little gem I mostly enjoyed. It’s about Danny, the youngest clock mechanic in an alternate version of Victorian London. In this steampunk reality, time is controlled by clock towers. If these clock towers are damaged or destroyed, time can be altered or even stopped. Mechanics, like Danny, maintain the clock towers and fix them when they are damaged. Danny’s father was also a mechanic, and he was trapped in a town where time was Stopped. After experiencing a traumatic event, Danny is assigned to the town of Enfield, where the clock mysteriously keeps breaking. His new apprentice is intriguing to him, and he eventually discovers that (1) he is falling in love with the boy and (2) he’s not actually Danny’s apprentice, but is instead an entity he is forbidden to love. Not only is the love story complicated, Danny is also trying to figure out who’s bombing clock towers in order to prevent another Stopped town from happening, and also wants to rescue his father.

I really loved this version of London. I like the concept of steampunk and adore time travel type things, so this book was right up my alley. I did feel like the world could have been built up a little bit more, but I’m just a sucker for those kind of background things. I also realize that this book is the first in a series, so I’m hopeful the world will continue to be built up as it goes on. I also loved the concept of clock spirits, which added a nice touch of fantasy to the story. The story was good, though a bit slow to pick up at times. There were also mythical stories about the God of Time interspersed throughout at random intervals. For me, this was a little bit odd, and I’m really hoping I figure out how they truly tie in during the next book in the series.

My favorite character in the book was Colton. He was mischievous and youthful and entertaining. I really enjoyed the love story as well. Danny grew on me throughout the book, but fell flat for me at first. As the story went on, though, I felt like I knew him and understood him very well, which shows good character development. His mother remained somewhat of a mystery throughout, but other supporting characters were interesting, with hints of great backstories. As a first novel in a series, I felt like this book gave just enough detail to make me want more, and I really look forward to the next book in the series.

Overall, this was a solid first novel for a series. I always feel series take some time to find their footing, and while a few areas fell a little flat for me here, I still ended up enjoying the novel overall. Enough crumbs were also left for me to look forward to see what happens as the world continues to build and the story continues to deepen.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

More Information: Amazon, Goodreads, Author Website

Have you read Timekeeper? What did you think? Will you read it? Let me know in the comments!

Note: I received this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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