Timekeeper Kindle Edition

I didn’t really know what to expect when I started Timekeeper by Tara Sim. The book has gotten a lot of hype leading up to the release, but I didn’t really know what the book was about. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I enjoyed this book a lot.The book is set in Victorian England where life in cities around the world are controlled by clock towers. The concept of Stopped time, where a city with a damaged clock tower could remain trapped within the same time forever, reminds me a little of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. Where in Miss Peregrine’s, the people repeat the same day over and over, the townspeople in Timekeeper can’t escape the moment that all time stopped. These people can’t escape the bubble of Stopped time they’ve been trapped under. Well, enter the main protagonist, Danny Hart, who is the youngest clock mechanic who hasn’t seen in father for three years because his clock mechanic father has been trapped inside a Stopped town.Prior to the start of the story in Timekeeper, Danny has undergone a stressful event and now fears working with clocks, but still wants find a way to save his father. He longs to be assigned to the clock tower that’s being built near the same area his father is currently trapped. However, the Lead, a man who oversees all the clock mechanics in London, decides to test the waters and assigns Danny to a relatively easier job first. He’s been assigned to Enfield where he meets a mysterious boy, Colton, the town’s clock spirit.Danny and Colton are seriously the cutest. Tara Sim manages to incorporate a light-hearted loving feel into the text that reminds me of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. You can’t help but love them and ship them practically from the first moment they meet. However, we soon learn that humans can’t just fall in love with a clock spirit and thus, it is sadly a forbidden love.The characters are wonderful and there’s a mystery sort of element to this story because there’s someone, or someones, who are planting bombs and destroying the clock towers. Now, there’s romance and mystery in this book and it’s fun trying to guess the perpetrator(s).Danny’s story is heartbreaking at times. He’s lonely and lost at the beginning of the book and his only friends are Cassie, a car mechanic, and Matthias, his father’s friend who was once a clock mechanic. He doesn’t see or speak much with his mother, and hasn’t since his father got trapped inside a Stopped town. All the dynamics between the characters have a lovely depth to them that makes them feel so real. Danny and his mother have some gut-wrenching moments, but I can also see where they’re coming from.The setting manages to incorporate Victorian England with a magical wisp of storytelling that brings the story to life. The clock towers are the literal force that keeps the world running. Without them, the world would go into chaos with time skipping, stopping, or any other number of things that could go wrong. This is such a fascinating concept to me, and I loved reading this book’s take on this. I also love Danny and Colton’s story not just as a love story, but the fact that it’s so nice to have a story set in 1875 and have LGBTQ characters be happy and, for the most part, accepted by their peers.There’s an endless amount of time jokes in Timekeeper and I find them corny, but absolutely hilarious. It adds some light-hearted levity to the very serious nature that there’s the clock towers are being bombed, and could result in Stopping the towns.I really enjoyed Timekeeper. There’s nothing about this book that would suggest this is Tara Sim’s debut novel, because it’s just so well done. There’s so many quotable parts and the ending most certainly took me by surprise. I can’t wait to read the next book to find out what happens next to Danny!There comes a moment when time seems to slip faster, running long then short, shadows shrinking as the sun climbs. It’s the moment, he decided, when you’re no longer a child. When the concept of time and the need for more of it come together and make you powerless. Make you yearn for the longer days, the lazy days, before you knew what time passing actually meant.***Thanks to Skyhorse Publishing for providing me an ARC through NetGalley***

This review was originally posted at the Goldilox and the Three Weres blog.Have you ever read a book that you loved so much that you can't articulate why you love it when asked? Tara Sim's debut book, Timekeeper, was one of those books for me. I adore it so much! But I haven't been able to write a review for it since I first read it in November of last year no matter how hard I've tried. I've even reread it via the audiobook and I still can't coherently explain my love for it. But I can give you five reasons why you should pick it up.1. The MythologyI adored this world ruled by clocks and clock towers! I found the mythology that hinted at the origin of the clock towers fascinating! The story of the old gods was perfectly intertwined with the "present day" narrative of the characters. Not all of my questions were answered in this book and I need the next ones in my hands. I can't wait to learn more about the towers and the clock spirits.2. The RomanceI'm not going to say much about the romance between Danny and Colton other than it was absolutely adorable! I was totally shipping them by their third meeting with each other. I would recommend this book for the romance alone.3. The Representation of Grief, Loss, Trauma and PTSDThe characters in this book have not had easy times and some of them have been through multiple traumas. "I was in an accident. I got out. I'm safe now."From the first time Danny said his mantra to keep himself from breaking down, I actually gasped. I knew this was something important because I *knew* what was happening here. I knew what had to have happened to him.Sometimes you don't get out. Sometimes you do and that's only the beginning. It's going to be hard. Even years later, you might not feel safe. Sometimes trauma means you live with the scars. Sometimes you deal with them in ways that damage yourself or others. But reading books like this, that show such trauma and healing (even slow, disjointed, and derailed) with rawness and honesty... it helps. Danny, his mother, Matthias, and his best friend, Cassie, have all been through horrible things and they all responded in different and exceedingly realistic ways. People respond to trauma differently and all of those responses are valid. It was so nice to see these topics handled so well.4. Danny and Cassie's FriendshipOne of my favorite things about this book was Danny and Cassie's friendship. Their friendship was everything! They cared for each other and you can tell that they will have each other's backs no matter what. I loved their interactions so much! It was also refreshing to see a friendship between a guy and a girl that was free from romantic pining. I seriously want to see more of these kinds of friendships in YA.5. The Family InteractionsDanny's family isn't perfect. In fact, they are about as far from from perfect as you can get. They're drowning in grief and stressed out about finances and that colors their interactions. But I loved that so much of this book was focused on Danny's interactions with his mom, his worry about his dad, and the comfort he drew from his godfather. There was also themes of found family throughout the book and it was glorious. I love this recent trend in YA where the main character's family is actually present and accounted for in their life even if they don't know how to interact with each other like Danny and his mother.This book blew my mind! It was a breath of fresh air in the world of YA books and I can't help but sing its praises. I loved this world of clock mechanics and clock spirits and I ship the romance so hard! Also, the audiobook narrator was absolutely fantastic if audiobooks are your thing. I seriously can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the books in this series. Tara Sim has earned herself a permanent spot on my autobuy list.

This is a really hard novel to review as this book is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. I truly loved reading it, yet I have to admit that it was far from perfect.To start with the positive, I simply adored the concept. I love the idea of a world where clock towers control time rather than measure it. It's a tremendous idea and I really wish that I'd thought of it! The concept also fits the Victorian setting very well and did a great job of blending steampunk, science fiction and fantasy, giving the novel the overall feeling of a faerie tale.I also loved the protagonists. Danny is a sympathetic character and felt very genuine. I loved him for his imperfections - his awkward relationship with his mother, his sense of guilt and inadequacy, his short temper. Colton made the perfect romantic counterpart for him, bringing light and innocence to counteract Danny's grief. The romance was very well handled and the scenes where Danny and Colton drew closer to each other were by far the best in the novel.Yet the plot of the story felt awkward. It was incredibly slow moving and felt really narrow in scope. Beyond the focus on Danny's love life, the novel never felt as though it reached its full potential. The anti-clock protests never felt threatening enough and the eventual "twist" felt tacked on. The villain (as far as they could be called such) had a very weak plan and the way that they went about it felt very impractical and unrealistic. The novel also wrapped up too neatly, ending with a sting to tie in a sequel but otherwise tying up all loose ends far too quickly.I also wish more time had been spent fleshing out the secondary cast as they didn't get a lot of time to shine. Both Daphne and Cassie have their roles to play in the climax but never weighed to heavily on the plot. The character who received the most focus was probably Brandon yet, again, ultimately he didn't play much of a role in the climax.All in all, I actually really enjoyed this novel and will definitely read the sequel. However, I don't think this is one for everyone as beyond the excellent concept and protagonist, it doesn't have a lot of substance.

This book has a great concept. Time is embodied in an ethereal shaped person and is central to how each town lives. If time breaks, so too does the town. I found the book to be slow for the most part, although it was an easy read which made it enjoyable. That said, it was pretty predictable, nothing really surprised me and I kind of hoped it would. I loved the fact that the protagonist was LGBT, it's lovely to read something more diverse. I wasn't overly taken with any of the characters, I just didn't connect with them and failed to be invested in their journey. It was a buddy read though, and many of the group I read with enjoyed it far more than me. So I think it's personal taste.

I was a little dubious about getting this book as it had some negative reviews and was more than 99p - my 'try it and see' level! However, I was pleasantly surprised when I got into the book, and ended up loving it and looking forward to the sequels.I thought the author had some great ideas, unlike so many books today. I had been worried that I would be annoyed by a US author writing about England, as so often they get phrases or places wrong, but I have to say I was not at all irritated and if I had not known better, would have thought the author was English.The only annoying thing, really, is that if your kindle is set to load to the beginning, you miss out the map, and so I didn't know there was one until the credits at the end.

This is a delight of a book: a truly original idea, an utterly fabulous gay love story, an intrigue, a passionate defence of right and wrong... and a magical evocation of time. I fell across it by chance, but I’ll be exploring anything and everything Tara Sim writes. Thank you.

Timekeeper has the heart of a great story, with a rich world and intriguing lore, but it falls short with jarring prose, contrived plot, and an underdeveloped cast. There is potential however, and enough sweet and fluffy story to put aside the problems. Despite my rating, I'm really excited about the sequels!