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Top reviews from the United States

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A Journey Through Pages

Not that they were bad works, only that I might not enjoy them

Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2016

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Before reading this book I was tentative. C.J. Archer's work had popped up on my recommendations time and time again, but I read reviews that made me wary of her other two series. Not that they were bad works, only that I might not enjoy them. This series however really intrigued me, so I finally bit the bullet and bought the book.

The best thing about this book are the characters. India Steele was a great character to follow around, and I loved Mr. Glass's cousin Willie as well and his Aunt. I even enjoyed Glass himself many a times. The idea behind the story was very intriguing as well. The actual writing style was good too.

What was off for me and why I ranked it so low was how oddly contrived it felt at time. It was almost like Archer had these beats that she was forcing herself to meet, as if she wrote those bits or planned out certain bits first and then forced certain parts of the story around it. There were scenes that felt jarring, some "foreshadowing" that confused me, and the romance made a huge jump from "no sexual tension at all" to "yes take me now" where naturally it felt like the main character would slap Glass or feel creeped out instead. I felt creeped out at least reading it.

It was odd, because if you took the scene out of context, it was very well written, but just the point it was placed in the story, with no proper build up towards it, it just felt weird. It's almost like maybe the book wasn't edited enough, strongly enough, or advise wasn't heeded.

So I found myself torn at how I feel about this first book, yet oddly I'm still planning to read the next one. It might just be that Archer is not the most skilled at initialing character and plots, but very good at continuing them and drawing them out. And yes, the synopsis for the next book as well intrigues me as much as this one has.

Kindle Customer

Only a part of the story

Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2017

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Be aware that this book only sets up the characters and their problems. It moves slowly and never really gets anywhere. The last 30 pages are for a different story. I might get the next two books in the series from the library to finish the story,but I won't purchase them.

Jane Hamilton

Longwinded

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2017

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and boring, occasionally ungrammatical, with an inconclusive ending. I found myself losing patience and skipping chapters.The only thing to admire here is the effort it took to write it—more than I could do, but still. I would not read any other books by this author, but if you want a gentle read with far too many words devoted to too little content, this is for you.

Judy A. Morse

First let me say that I enjoyed the book

Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2016

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First let me say that I enjoyed the book. The characters are quirky yet solid. I cared about them. My main concern was the action. In the first book of this series the characters are searching for the creator of a watch. We reach the end of the book, after many dead-end leads, and the creator of the watch has not been found. Okay, I get that you might want to extend the story into the second book, but when I had read the second book of yet more dead-end searches and the creator still had not been found, I became bored. I do not know if I will purchase the third volume of the series. I really, really wanted to fall in love with this series.

In my opinion

Decently written but with issues

Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2016

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This book was an easy read because the writing was good in terms of grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc.

But I expected more after all the glowing reviews.

What I disliked:

1) Getting dumped immediately into action without any preamble.
2) Poorly developed characters.
3) Not having a clue as to what the primary female character looks like. Usually you get some kind of clue. I don't like characters self-describing themselves, but it's easy enough to get something across.
4) A rather abrupt ending.
5) A kindle book that ends at 83% of completion in order to spend 16% on a preview of another book (that I already read and didn't like all that much). The remaining 1% was the author's "thank yous" to various persons.

Katherine Wood

I was disappointed in this book and will not purchase books by ...

Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2016

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I was disappointed in this book and will not purchase books by this author again. I found the characters to be underdeveloped, situations contrived and the development of attraction between the primary characters was not progressive. The most egregious problem for me was just about the time the book was getting interesting, it abruptly ended with no warning and no resolution of the main mysteries in the book. The ending was followed by a full chapter of a different book, a teaser. My reaction was not polite.

Diane L.

Not great

Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2017

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Plot wasn't sophisticated, characters weren't highly developed. Mostly though I don't think the book knows what it wants to be. The description says it's romance, mystery, magical and other things. The problem is that while it does have a smattering of all these things, it does none of them well. I read the reviews of Book 2, and there's wide agreement that the relationship between India and Matthew doesn't develop further, and that they still haven't found Chronos. Since these are the two major plot lines, then there's absolutely no point in reading Book 2. What a foolish strategy--readers aren't that stupid.

groovygirl

Not a Stand-Alone Book. The search is never resolved.

Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2019

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Not a Stand-Alone Book. The search for the maker of the special watch is never resolved. It's a very slow book, but sweet, old-fashioned, and somewhat interesting. It's set in a time of when women don't have choices and if no men in a woman's family survive or want to take her in, she becomes homeless. This woman was robbed of her birthright by a conniving ex-fiancé. If Mr. Glass doesn't find the maker of the watch, his days on earth are numbered. The whole story is about talking to each of the watchmakers in town with no luck. We basically just meet the characters, read one or two action scenes, then it ends--but without an ending. The main problem that exists throughout then entire story is never resolved in this issue. You have to read the next one to find out if it's ever resolved. These are not stand-alone books. I'm glad I got this one free. I won't be buying anything from this series because I would have to buy every book in the series to discover an actual ending. And from the comments of others, the end is never resolved. I hate that! Two stars for the writing. Zero stars because it's an incomplete story.

Top reviews from other countries

AJW

Good enough to finish reading it

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 23, 2018

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Oh dear. What promise was offered by so many of the previous reviews and how let down I was to find they'd missed so much. I did actually finish the book, which given my tolerance for poor writing says something.

I reached 49% of my Kindle edition before anything at all happened of interest. The story meandered along without doing much until that point, when finally the hugely irritating Ellie Steele looked as if she might be about to make up her mind about something, but no, she changed it again, and again, and again until the final few pages.
It's a Victorian story so one would have expected Ellie to use Victorian idioms. She uses a few but for a gentle, well-brought-up educated woman Ellie would never, ever, ever have used some of the terms and phrases she used. They grated to the pointed I wanted to throw my Kindle across the room. The author got it wrong, or more unforgivably, didn't know. She hadn't researched the use of Victorian English.
Magic. There's magic in the story but we're told so very little about it. I don't want to wait until the next volume or the one after to get some of the back story.
And I won't find out because i won't be reading any others in the series.

R

Great book!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 14, 2018

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Great book! Interesting characters. Fast paced story line. Really started to care about the characters. Loved the juxtaposition of loud brash American in Victorian England. I thought it was interesting and original and I'm off to buy the next book. The only thing is when they put a chapter of another book at the end I don't read it and don't get that final page where you can go straight to Amazon and buy the next book. Also it messes up how much time is left in the book. Can't fault the actual story.

Dorothy

A magical mystery

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 30, 2019

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It is an interesting book with a supernatural overtone. It is the story of a girl who is denied her inheritance because of laws which do not allow women to join a guild. She is cheated by a former fiancé who deceived her father into leaving his watchmaker’s business to him because he promised to look after his daughter. She meets a mysterious family who take her in and help her to survive. While she suspects that they may have a criminal background, she agrees to help find an illusive watchmaker. Inevitably, she falls in love with the hero and the story has a happy outcome. However, the main issue is not resolved and the importance of the watchmaker is forgotten. It is fairly well written and research into custom and practice of the times is extensive but the story loses momentum at the end.

sjhigbee

Engaging romantic fantasy with a brilliant opening...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 13, 2018

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I really liked India. I found her spiky intelligence and refusal to buckle to the social conventions of the time very endearing. I was rather disappointed to learn later in the book that rather being the very plain, and unattractive person she believes herself to be, she is actually the classically beautiful damsel in distress. At the heart of this book is a life-threatening puzzle that India has to unravel in order to secure her future and save the life of another main character. Running right alongside this puzzle, is a romance.

It is a moot point whether it is the puzzle or the romance that powers the narrative, but because the romance heavily features in this fantasy adventure, the book inevitably falls into certain rhythms and plotpoints. That said, this is a well written, romantic adventure, peopled throughout by strong, well depicted characters into a detailed vivid world. I liked the fact that India is no simpering victim who falls back on her looks in order to establish a future for herself. The story behind the watches is an intriguing one and pulled me along, despite the fact I figured out who had done what to whom fairly early on. In the event, I was completely wrong. Highly recommended for fans of historical romantic fantasy.
8/10

Drof

Promise. But promises broken.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 12, 2020

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It had promise. It had a hell of a good rating. But neither live up to the writing. To start with, if you insist on setting your story in a period and furthermore, you're not a native to the country in which it's set, you need to be spot on with your detail and language. This fell short on several accounts. And I'm sure the word "bollocks" would not have been uttered by a Victorian lady. Especially as in other passages the writer has our heroine virtually blushing from vulgar language that isn't printable. The story meandered and I wasn't sure what the real aim was at times. The premise of India's employment for "knowing all the Watchmakers in London" wore thin as it was clear this wasn't actually a plot device needed for long. The search for the watchmaker almost got lost in the romantic undertones and idiocy of the characters. The trio of Glass' companions are all one dimensional. The cousin Willie is utterly unfathomable. Is she a petulant hormone driven tomboy? A blubbering child? It flips between the two and makes for uncomfortable reading. Can we really believe that a posse of American outlaws can pass for household staff and run a house to the extent that they are "preparing rooms" and serving dinner nightly in such a lavish way? And beneath all this is the undercurrent of magic which, while obvious from early on, is crudely and unbelievably addressed so close to the end of the book as to be an afterthought. We get the watch had powers but to juxtapose fantasy with Victorian England was a weird mix that didn't work. The entire ending is rushed, as if Archer was about to miss her deadline and had her publishers on the phone hurrying her along. I always glance at my percentage to go on my Kindle and at 83% was sure we had some decent ending to wrap up with. But no, a few pages of a scarcely credulous poker game, yet another carriage ride to finish and then an excerpt from another book. That was my remaining 17%. I'm guessing lazy readers are lapping this up, probably American, high on Downton Abbey and loving the quaintness of old England mixed with a sprinkle of their Yankee kind. But I'm sorry. It could have been so much better in the hands of a competent and informed author. I'll skip the others and save my eyes.

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