Reviews

The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley by Sean Lusk

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darkskybooks's review against another edition

2.0

Firstly, this book is not badly written. The prose is competently put together, but it just was not for me. I failed to engage with the characters, found the plot meandered in ways that just did not work for me and ultimately it all fell a bit flat.

Chess playing automatons in the 18th century seem to have been a bit of a theme in recent historical fantasy stories. I am not sure what to make of this - I presume it is related to an increase in interest in chess recently as it is a somewhat esoteric trend. Anyway, I digress a bit. The main theme of the story follows the story of a clockmaker somewhat beset by tragedy. The earnestness is a bit overbearing and exhausting. The familial relationships are all a bit strained in weird ways, which jarred me somewhat. Ultimately the characters were not ones that I could relate to, their eccentricities very much on the extreme end of the scale. YMMV, but this one was not for me.

4ndysmith's review against another edition

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2.0

Not a book I usually would have read, but the cover was beautiful, and I'm fascinated with classic watchmaking, so I thought I'd try it!

The writing seemed to mimic that of an older, classic style. It reminded me of the TV show Downton Abbey (which I mostly enjoyed). So, I found this book interesting at first, but the novelty wore off around halfway through, which is about when reading it became a chore.

I did finish it, however, so it was interesting enough. I guess it's just that nothing made me particularly eager to continue the story or care about the characters.
And there was not enough watchmaking.

charlotl's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

victoriasaurus's review against another edition

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3.0

The first half of this book was flawless. Abel being kept apart from the son he loved more than life itself was a devastating set up. Because of this, I expected to be awed by the ending, though this did not happen. The main reason behind this is that the story’s whole theme is a father’s love for his son, but the ending instead goes into the romantic. Considering Ibrahim literally said three lines, this was underwhelming. More exploration of the relationship between father and son would have been a lot more powerful.

elfyn's review against another edition

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So many editing issues, which is a shame because I was really interested in the book.
One chapter is suddenly in first person, and as far as I can tell it's the only place in the entire book to do so. It just doesn't make sense and the editing issues meant that I kept being thrown out of the world.

cct80's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

4.0

zaraclah's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Great themes of family, love, identity, and forgiveness. Zachary possesses my favorite characteristic to have in a protagonist, he’s just little weirdo. All around the characters make this such a great read, and I lived to see the queer representation. When I finished it I was so excited to go back and read everything else this author has written, and still can’t believe this is their debut novel.