#CBR11 Review #15: Timekeeper by Tara Sim


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Timekeeper is a YA novel set in England in the late 1800s, with some historical (mostly, inventions, etc) aspects played with by the author for her version of this world: it has a very steampunk feel to it, and this is only added to by the fact that clocks play a huge role in the story. The clock-towers effectively control and guide the towns around them, and our young protagonist, Danny, is a mechanic of these clocks who can feel the threads of time acutely. He is working towards trying to be a major mechanic at a new clock that is being built to try and save a town who became trapped in time after their clock tower was destroyed. One of the people trapped inside was Danny’s father, adding to his emotions on the project. There are also myths surrounding what happened—and the clocks in general—regarding the spirits of the clocks themselves, and I’m sure you can guess that maybe more comes to light about said spirits which causes complications in Danny’s journey.

What we have here is an intriguing mystery, adventure, and love-story. The different layers come together nicely, if a little predictably; that is, there are definitely clues left lying around as to what happened in the past and what will happen in the future, which is good for the story coming together, but the clues are maybe a bit bigger than they need to be. I wasn’t super surprised by a lot of what happened, but I still enjoyed the story anyways. The writing itself is clear and direct, which is effective if a little stilted at times with telling the story. I did, however, feel like the little added pieces about different myths of time (not integrated into the main story itself but additional short stories) weren’t per say all necessary, or there could have been a different manner to relay them, as I found myself tuning out at those moments.

However, overall Timekeeper was a cute and a fun little read, with some interesting mythology that I haven’t really seen elsewhere before. Apparently this novel is also the first of a series: so the question is, will I keep reading the next instalment? Potentially, if I find I am wanting to read something not super heavy at any point, but there are a few things I want to get into on my to-read list before I dive back in to this world.

[Be sure to visit the Cannonball Read main site!]

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