Title: The Watchmaker of Filigree Street
Author: Natasha Pulley
Pages: 318
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy
Source: Free ARC via NetGalley
Rating: C
Note: As stated under the Source (above), I received this book for free via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review (and trust me, honest is always what you’ll get).
Review: Honestly, I don’t really know how to summarize this book. It’s strange. Odd, maybe? Unusual. And normally, I would totally go for that, but there was definitely something missing here.
I didn’t hate Watchmaker and I didn’t love it. I loved Thaniel and Mori. Loved. Their relationship, their individual character, everything about them. But the story itself, while very imaginative and interesting, was also a bit…clunky. All of the bits didn’t meld together particularly well and while the writing overall was well and good, I came across nonsensical sentences too often for my own liking. There was a ton of promise, but somehow all of the loose threads didn’t come together in a very satisfactory way.
I suspect it was a case of trying to do too much at once. In an attempt to not give away too much too soon, the story became more complex than was necessary and the end result was confusion and dissatisfaction.
Again, I didn’t hate it, I don’t feel reading it was a waste of time, if for no other reason than having developed especially tender feelings for Thaniel and Mori. And it had a whimsical and magical bent that I found appealing. Intriguing, really. But did I enjoy it? It was simply too slow and drawn out for me, and the plot was burdened by unnecessary complexity. There were parts that were a pleasure, but the overall product isn’t something I’d necessarily recommend except to someone who has a particular affinity for literary oddities and a great deal of patience.
P.S. I love the cover. It is odd and whimsical and imaginative.