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cailean_renard's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Incest and Sexual content
Minor: Murder
marina_dee's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
"Was he mad at the end, do you think?"
"The man was a genius," Morton said. "There's a fine line between the two.
No.
This further proves that books should come with trigger warnings for all the themes and topics that you might not want to read about. In this instance, it was incest.
Also summaries lie. When the synopsis says "sometimes siblings, sometimes lovers", what it really means is "most of the times lovers, including when they're siblings", and that's just not cool to sprung that on people when they're already a good 100 pages into the book. And just when you think "oh, okay, maybe that was just this part, we seem to be past that", it comes back again and again, and if I were the kind of person who DNFed books willy-nilly, I would have done it.
That was my PSA, because I'm really confused how no one in the reviews talks about it!
But if that wasn't enough, the effect Allan was going for completely fails. The story is incredibly repetitive, with not enough variations in the stories to really stoke the interest. We conclude each story just as the characters seem to comprehend what each iteration of the watches can do. By the third story, I was growing pretty tired of reading, over and over, about Louis Breguet and his tourbillon. In the end, I think the premise of the book falls flat, and it's incredibly disappointing considering that some stories had appeal.
In conclusion:
First part: excellent.
Last part: pretty good, if not as emotionally engaging.
Everything in between: hard pass.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest