Review: Firestarter by Tara Sim

Firestarter by Tara Sim
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received an ARC via Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review.  This will be released on January 15, 2019.

I really loved this series. The clock spirit idea is very unique and I really liked how it was developed.  The mythology element is really nice, though I would have liked a bit more, similar to the myths we got in book 1, but that's just me. I'm a sucker for mythology. In this installment we continue to follow Colton and Danny as they both try to stop the crew of the Prometheus from destroying more clock towers. As they learn what the motivations are behind the crew, they also learn more about how the clock spirits were created and that the crew of the Prometheus may not be the worst entity out there. Danny, Colton, Daphne and the rest of the gang have to devise a plan to protect time itself and escape from the Prometheus unharmed. There is a ton of travel between different cities with clock towers and a good deal of action as the plot unfolds.

I really love Colton and Danny as a couple, Daphne and Akesh too. I could have done without so many love scenes though. I felt like there was too much focus on the romance and I felt like it took away from the plot at times. I really loved the plotline of the series, but the series took a turn and kind of became a romance with fantasy elements at some point instead of a fantasy with a romance.

I highly recommend the series and I feel like this is a great ending. Tara Sim isn't afraid to take you on an emotional roller coaster with characters you've come to care about. You weren't sure what was going to happen in the end and I'm really happy with the ending. I liked the writing, the plot, and the characters.

I think I'm going to use this to fill the prompt on the Popsugar Reading Challenge to read 2 books with the same title.  I'm going to read Firestarter by Stephen King to complete the prompts.

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January TBR

January starts another year which means new reading challenge prompts and new reading goals.  I have a couple of ARCs to read and review in January and February.  I'm participating in the Popsugar Reading Challenge again, and I think I'm going to try out the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge.  Some of the prompts overlap so it shouldn't be too hard.  Bookish also has a 2019 reading challenge that looks pretty interesting if you are looking to expand your reading horizons.

• 2019 Popsugar Reading Challenge
• Bookish’s 2019 Reading Challenge: 52 Ways to #KillYourTBR
Book Riot’s 2019 Read Harder Challenge

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

• White Stag by Kara Barberi
• This is the first book in a new YA Fantasy series.  This has some Norse mythology and deals with goblins.  I love a good mythology centered fantasy and goblins isn't something you see very often.  I started this in December.  I really like it.  So far it is brutal, violent, and well written.
• Freefall by Jessica Barry
• This is a mystery/thriller out on January 8th.  There's a plane crash, and a mother/daughter that are separated and determined to find one another.
• Firestarter by Tara Sim
• This is is a January release and the 3rd book in the Timekeeper series.  I've really enjoyed the series and I'm looking forward to finding out how our Clock Spirit and Clock Mechanic fair in this installment.  This comes out on January 15th.
• Moonlight Scandals by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• I love this series about three intimidating brothers and their super creepy house in New Orleans.  You aren't sure if it is haunted or not but weird stuff happens there all the time.  This book follows Devlin the eldest brother and a sexy ghost hunter names Rosie.  This is a romance so I'm sure it will be steamy and awesome like the other 2 books.  I'm really happy I got an ARC.  This comes out on January 29th.
• The Last Life of Prince Alastor by Alexandra Bracken
• I really loved the first book in the Prosper Redding series.  It is a fun middle grade book about a vengeful spirit that has taken up residence in the body of a young boy.  His family is cursed and he's the lucky one that has to pay for past crimes.  To save his sister, Prosper has to make another deal and hope that betrayal isn't in his future.  This comes out in early February.

Audiobooks

I'm not sure what I'm going to listen to this month.  I have a bunch of stuff on hold.  I have a couple of audiobooks on my phone that I can listen to and a ton of stuff on Hoopla that I want to get to.  We'll see where the month takes me.

December TBR

Most of these are for my reading challenge prompts, so I'll be reading those by the end of the year.  Most of these were on my TBR for November and I just didn't get to them.  I also have a couple of ARCs for books that come out in January, but I'm not sure if I'll get to them in December.  Most of these are fairly long, so we'll see how it goes.

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

• Vicious by Victoria Schwab
• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by by John Tiffany (Adaptation), Jack Thorne, J.K. Rowling 
• I'm reading this for a challenge for a book turned into a screenplay or play.  Perfect fit I think.
• White Stag by Kara Barberi
• This is the first book in a new YA Fantasy series.  This is supposed to be brutal, and have monsters.  Sounds like a fun read.
• Firestarter by Tara Sim
• This is is a January release and the 3rd book in the Timekeeper series.  I've really enjoyed the series and I'm looking forward to finding out how our Clock Spirit and Clock Mechanic fair in this installment.
• Freefall by Jessica Barry
• This is a mystery/thriller out in January.  There's a plane crash, and a mother/daughter that are separated and determined to find one another.

Audiobooks

• The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison
• Everyone keeps talking about this series.  So I thought I'd give it a try.  It sounds like something I'd like.  I've already started this and while it started out slowly I'm really enjoying it.
• The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan
• This is a challenge prompt book for a book involving a bookstore or a library.  It involves both.  I've started this one as well and its cute, though the main character is infuriating at times because she so ridiculously afraid of everything.
• A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi
• This is a repeat from last month.  I own it so I'll get to it when there is a break in my library holds.
• Don't Put Me in Coach by Mark Titus
• This is a challenge book to for a book involving a sport.  I listened to the intro, and I can tell that this is going to be a difficult listen for me because the writer is a self titled clown.  He doesn't take anything seriously, so we'll see how it goes.  I want to give it a chance.

May Wrap Up

I can't believe May is over already.  I had a pretty good reading month.  I didn't get to everything I planned to, but I read some things I hadn't planned on reading at all, I'll call that a win.  I read 3 ARCs, 3 E-books, 2 physical books, and listened to 8 audiobooks.  I haven't had time to write up reviews for eveyrhting this month.  I'm hoping to get caught up eventually.

Ebooks/ARCS

• Bad Boy Brody by Tijan (ARC)
• Review
• I got an ARC of this to review before it came out but it was pretty good.  Definitely an Adult Romance for the 18+ crowd.  It features two fairly broken main characters who find peace in each other.  
• Furyborn by Claire Legrand
• Review
• I really enjoyed this one.  This features angels, magical powers, action, assassins, what more could you want from a fantasy adventure?  I really liked the mythology Legrand created to go with the world
• Beard Science by Penny Reid
• I'm slowly getting caught up on the Winston Brother Series.  I only have one more to go. I've been dying to read Cletus' story, and it not disappoint.  I loved getting to know Jennifer and Cletus, and I always love seeing the rest of the Winston clan.  
• Moonlight Seduction by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• Review
• This is another ARC I was able to review.  I really enjoyed this.  Is suspenseful, got a good romance, and the characters are interesting.  I love that the de Vincent house is almost a character of its own.  You aren't quite sure what to make of it.  I really enjoy this series.  
• The Oracle Queen and The Young Queens by Kendare Blake
• Review
• I recently read One Dark Throne, the 2nd book in the Three Dark Crowns series and was able to pick up the companion novellas.  I recommend them for fans of the series, neither really spoils anything

Physical Books

I do most of my reading on my kindle because its convenient, but I have lots of physical books.  Most of them I've read already, but I do have a large stack that I need to get to some day.  With baseball and soccer season in full effect now that spring is cooperating, I tend to read actual books this time of year.  I don't have one of those cool kindles that you can read in the sun, so my physical books come out during the spring and summer.

• The Martian by Andy Weir
• I picked this up at my library's annual used book sale.  I started it got a couple of chapters in and put it down.  I just couldn't get into it.  I picked it back up and wasn't able to put it down.  I loved all the science and Mark Watney's humor.  I always wanted to be an astronaut but I'll have to settle for vicariously living through books.  I recently purchased the movie so I can continue my enjoyment of the book, I hope the movie is just as good as the book.
• Oblivion by Kelly Creagh
• I read the first two books in this series quite some time ago, but my libary didn't have the 3rd book.  On a whim I checked to see if they had a physical copy, one of the other branches had it and I was able to get it sent to me.  While it was confusing at times, I think partly because it's been so long since I was in this world, and partly because there is so much going on, its a good ending to Isobel and Varen's story.  I really enjoyed all of the dark world building and Poe references.  Overall I really liked the series.

Audiobooks

I didn't have much on my to listen to list for May, but as usual I still got through a ton of audiobooks.  I just kind of went with whatever was available this month.  I normally have a ton of items on hold or on my wishlist.  May was just kind of adhoc.

• A Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
• Review
• After waiting forever for this audiobook, I was surprised to find out that it was less than 4 hours long.  It is a delightful, strange story about one of the side characters in The Kingkiller Chronicles named Auri.  Auri is a strange character and we meet her in The Name of the Wind, she is odd and her strangeness is explored quite a bit in this short story.  I quite enjoyed it.
• The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare
• I loved this.  Magnus is such a great side character in both The Infernal Devices and the Mortal Instruments, but we only get to know a little about the real Magnus.  I love that this is dedicated to him and we get to see his backstory and his true nature.  Part of this are laugh out loud hilarous and the one liners are great.  I really liked getting to know not only Magnus but we also get to know Raphael better as well as some of the other side characters that make appearances throughout the series but may have only had small mentions or minor parts.
• Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
• It has been a while since delving back into the Shadowhunter universe.  I needed a book with a time of day in the title for my reading challenge and I've been wanting to read this anyway.  It fits right in with the series.  It has the same feel as the Mortal Instruments series, forbidden love, murder, paranormal characters, teen angst.  If you are a fan of the original series you'll enjoy this as I did.  
• The Prophecy by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• I've been waiting for this to come out on audio forever.  The book has been out for a while,but I loved the audio of The Power so much I wanted to finish up the series on audio.  This one focuses heavily on the romance between Seth and Josie, so it is heavily contemporary while still maintaining the mythology plot line with the Titans and the action we've come to love that follows the Army of Awesome.
• The Hooker and the Hermit by L.H. Cosway and Penny Reid
• If you read any of my posts, you know I'm a huge fan of Penny Reid, she co-authors this series with L.H. Cosway.  The 4th book in The Rugby Series comes out in mid-June and I still haven't picked this up.  I have a copy in ebook, but I have more time to listen than I do to read so I grabbed it from Hoopla.  I didn't love this, its not bad, it just doesn't fit my taste.  I am going to use this for another challenge prompt for a book written by 2 authors.
• Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
• I picked this up as a challenge prompt for a book made into a move I've already seen.  The movie was pretty funny, and this is the rare time that I liked the move adaptation better.  I really didn't care for the book at all.  The movie was more of a comedy where this was more gruesome and dark.  I think I was expecting it to be more like the movie and because my expectations were different than what I got it really impacted my enjoyment of the book.  Plus I really don't enjoy most zombie books or movies.  Its just not my preferred genre.
• Chainbreaker by Tara Sim
• This is a continuation of the Timekeeper series.  It follows Danny and Colton on another adventure.  Their romance is a bit more intense in this one, and they both are trying to uncover the secret behind clock towers falling in India.  There is quite a bit more action in this one.  
• Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
• I'm working on this one right now.  Its pretty short so I'm going to count it as completed in May because I'll likely finish it before the month is out.  So far its pretty strange, but I think that is part of the appeal.  I think I'm might be able to use this for another challenge prompt.

April Wrap Up

I set out to read a bunch of stuff in April, you can see my TBR post here if you like.  I did pretty well.  I didn't get to everything, but I got to most of the stuff I intended to, plus a couple of things I didn't plan on reading.  I read or listened to 10 books total and started 2 that were on my list to read.  And I reviewed almost all of them, which is more of an accomplishment than actually reading the books.  Reading is the easy part, finding time to post reviews is the hard part.  I have a few more to review, but I'm almost caught up.  I'll update the links when I'm done.

Ebooks/ARCs I did read, I've put their goodreads links and links to all of my reviews below so you can go check them out:

• Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
• My review
• I finished this and it was fantastic.  I highly recommend it.  I hear the audio version is fantastic as well.  
• Unbreakable by Sara Ella
• My review
• This took me almost a month to finish.  I'm sorry to say I didn't enjoy it as much as the first 2 books.  
• Kissing Tolstoy by Penny Reid
• My review
• This popped up randomly as an auto checkout from my library, which means they bought it on recommendation and I was next in line for it on the holds list.  This was really short and cute and I read it in a couple of hours.
• Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas
• My review
• This was a surprise release by Pen Douglas.  It just came out mid-April, and I was lucky enough to win a copy in a giveaway hosted by The Lovely Books.  I really like her work, and I've read most of her books but I don't think I've reviewed any of them, yet.  I think I read them before I started on this blog journey.  I joined the blog tour so I had to squeeze this in to April's list.

Things I meant to read but will move to May:

• Furyborn by Claire Legrand
• I started this but I haven't finished it.  It is much longer than I anticipated.  It is really good.  There are angels, elemental powers, spies, assassins, prophecies, so there's alot going on.
• Smart but Scattered by Peg Dawson
• I started this, but as I mentioned in my TBR, I didn't plan to finish it in April.  My goal was to start it.  I've read the first few chapters and I've learned quite a bit.  It has already give me some good insights into parenting.  I have 2 very intellegent children, but they both lack what I consider basic human skills.  I'm hoping this book can teach our whole family how work on those things and face the world more effectively.  So far so good.
• Lucky Charm and Charmed by J.A. Armitage
• I need to to get to both of these in May.
• Beard in Mind and Beard Science by Penny Reid
• I know I'm going to love these and I fly through them so they will happen very soon.  The next one in the series is coming out in July and I want to be caught up by then.
• Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi
• I keep extending my hold on this.  I really want to get to it.

Audio Books

I finished all of the books but one.

• The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
• I just checked this out today, so it is next up.
• Timekeeper by Tara Sim
• My review
• I really enjoyed this one.  I was expecting it to be about time travel, but there is no time travel involved.  Time control perhaps, but no travelling.  This has an LGBT male main character who fixes clocks and can feel and see time unlike us regular people.  I liked the premise and I'm anxious to continue.  My library just purchased Chainbreaker, and I'm currently listening to it now.
• One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake
• My review
• This was another random checkout.  I forgot all about this series until I saw the cover in the available now section and I grabbed it.  I really liked the first book, but you know how it goes waiting a year for the next book to come out.  The 2nd book was a great follow up to Three Dark Crowns and I loved being back in the world and getting to know the Queens better.  I put the 2 novellas on hold as soon as I finished but it looks like I'll be waiting a while until we find out what happens to the sisters.
• Every Little Thing by Samantha Young
• My review
• Sam is one of my favorites, but this isn't my favorite book.  I haven't loved her books on audio.  I think I prefer to read them on the page.  It was still good, but the romance in this lost some thing for me in the translation.  I think I'll stick to reading her books in print.  This is still a good hate to love romance, and still recommend it.
•   Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
• My review
• This isn't my normal type of book but I really did enjoy it.  It hits on just about every problem facing today's society.  I was surprised how much I enjoyed it.  
• Walk on Earth a Stranger, Like a River Glorious, and Into the Bright Unknown by Rae Carson
• My review
• I picked this up randomly because I heard Regan from Peruse Project talk about it and she said it was good.  I needed a new audio book an this was available so I took a chance.  I really ended up liking it and checked out the next 2 books.  The books aren't terribly long, but I really liked the Oregon Trail vibe.  The series follows Leah a girl who can sense gold during the California gold rush.  I really enjoyed the series.

Review: Timekeeper by Tara Sim

Timekeeper by Tara Sim
Narrated by Gary Furlong
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I picked this up because I thought I might be able to use it for my Popsugar reading challenge prompt for a book involving time travel.  It does not in fact involve time travel, but I enjoyed it anyway.  You could use it for the LGBT prompt, as the main character is gay and it does involve a cute male male romance.

Timekeeper is set in alternate Victorian London and follows timekeeper Danny Hart. Danny is a clock mechanic who doesn’t just fix broken clocks he can also see and fix broken threads of time. Time in this version of London is controlled by the clocks in and around London. If a clock is broken time doesn’t flow correctly, and in some cases entire towns have been frozen because the town clock has stopped.

Danny finds himself in Enfield repairing the clock when he meets his new apprentice Brandon. Brandon turns out to be Enfield’s clock spirit Colton. Colton finds Danny interesting and he continues to “injure” himself so Danny will come back and fix him. Colton is lonely and as a clock spirit doesn’t get to interact with humans or know much about them. I really enjoyed the mythology aspect of the book. You don’t see the Titans very much, and it was a nice touch to have several chapters dedicated to the actual mythology. I would have liked more on it, however there was enough to understand what was going on and how everything worked. Some of the magic you just have to accept though.

Danny, being very comfortable as a gay young man finds himself attracted to Colton, and as their friendship develops so do their feeling for each other. Their romance is sweet and cute. They can’t do much more than kiss though.

Meanwhile, the timekeepers are trying to build a new clock to unfreeze a local town where Danny’s own father is trapped, they are dealing with local bombing of several clock towers, and the local townsfolk feeling that the timekeepers have too much power. Most people respect the clocks and the work the timekeepers do, but they are often misunderstood and while they can see and repair time, some feel that they can actually control time, which isn’t really the case. Danny is desperate to help save his father, but as a victim of a recent bombing himself he is just getting back to work himself. He has a lot to deal with. Fortunately he has his best friend Cassie, his real apprentice Brandon, and Colton to help him figure things out. Danny is certain that he can figure out who is behind the bombings, but he also wants to spend time working on the Enfield clock so he can spend time with Colton. He also wants to work on the new clock that will hopefully save his father, when that job doesn’t come through he gets pretty upset. What he does find is that the person behind the bombings is the last person he would expect. Danny is pretty emotional, he makes decisions based on his feelings and doesn’t think things through many times. This often gets him in trouble, but given his situation at home and work it is understandable that he has a short fuse sometimes. He is flawed, but he always owned his actions, and we see him grow and find his inner strength to stand up to the unlikely villain and become the hero in the end.

I felt that the plot was pretty good and the characters and relationships were developed well. There was a lot going on in this book, but I never felt overwhelmed or lost. There was a bit of a resistance against the clock mechanics, a mystery, a romance, friendships, foul play, mythology, but I always knew what was going on. The world building could have been better, but considering most of the story is set in a clock or a small apartment there isn’t much world to see. I am very much looking forward to Chainbreaker the next book in the series.


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