Book Review: Time Stealers
Original review written 2/19/22
What's it about?
The world is not what it seems, and few know that better then Grant, the owner of an antique clock shop which holds a number of secrets. Arguably, the biggest of them all is the existence of Time Wraiths, shadowy beings that live in clock works that can effect how time effects humans.
Most of these mysterious wraiths are good, kind even, but, as with any species and race, there are some drawn to the dark side. As a Time Keeper, it's one of Grant's and his friends' responsibilities to imprison those not so good.
Then, one day, Charlotte makes her way into the shop and it marks the beginning of life changing events including fantastic discoveries, world dominating aspirations, secretive rooms and a war of mythic proportions.
Favorites:
Favorite Character: Becker comes in on top. Charlotte takes second place. I'm not entirely what it is about Becker that makes me love her, but I do. She's got the strongest personality of the wraiths we meet first. She's strong, affectionate, smart, logical, strategic and a good, kind, effective leader. She's this great warrior that is super effective, but doesn't fall to far on either end of the spectrum and I love it.
Least Favorite Character: Curtis wins this "award. I mean, yes, he's not on the "good" side of things. But he's cruel, selfish and power hungry to an extreme that allows him to actively and purposefully hurt others and that is not okay with me.
Favorite Part: I think I'm going to have to go with the climax scene. I'm going to start getting vague here and I hope you forgive me, but there's a character in that scene that is really cool and has a way of creating entertaining moments.
Other Thoughts:
Let me start of by saying, I really enjoyed this story. It's partially because of that that I have the complaints I have about this book. The premise is awesome. The story is engaging. It's made me start looking at clock differently. But I felt like the catalyst for telling the story fell just an inch short. There's more. There's more to this world and I want to be invited into it!
At first, I thought that this book was written for the juvenile or the lower range of the YA community and, in that community, some of the things that I have complaints about make sense and I could walk away a little annoyed but totally understanding. But it's not. It's listed as just plain Fiction, as in adult fiction which leads me to a collection of "But why?!" questions. Like....
Why, and I know this is going to sound so trivial but I'm starting small, are there two groups of wraiths, the good and the bad, and they just call the bad wraiths "bad boys" or "bad wraiths"? In Star Wars, the bad guys have names (Sith, Empire, ect), in Harry Potter we have the Death Eaters. It sounds petty, but there's just something about witnessing a battle and seeing something like, "The bad wraiths circled Becker and her group" that feels out of place. It feels like something's missing. I feel like we need to have a name for the sides.
The big one encompasses a variety of complaints, so please stay with me here. It's written in a "tell me" not "show me" style. But why? This is a common writing style that often works well for younger readers, but it's not listed as for the younger readers (although it totally could be) and the book isn't long. Plus, the font is pretty big so space isn't an issue. I feel like, in some parts, the "tell me" style works well but then we end up in battles that feel like they should be big, exciting, intense battles and...they aren't. And they aren't not becuase the battle was resolved before it got big, but because it's not described. It's just, things like (and this is not a quote from the book) "Grant looked over and saw the two groups of wraiths huddled together fighting. Becker made a move that looked impressive and Grant was relieved to see it looked like she was winning." Dude! I WANT TO SEE THE FIGHT! WHAT MOVE DID BECKER DO?! I know, at the very least, that those kinds of parts could have been elaborated on. There's plenty of room for expansion in the book.
The other thing that I think is part of this is that most of the characters just kind of felt flat. It was like there was so many details not focused on that it was overly thinned out. I feel like I could have really liked Grant if he had a little more personality, more stories explored from his past, quirks, interests other then clocks and wraiths.
But I liked the story. I liked enough that I read the second one in the series) and I'm keeping the books so that I have them if more books come out in the chronicles. There's something about the premise, the idea of time wraiths that really pulls me in and I kind of love. The story itself is really cool. I just wish, if it's going to be in the adult section, there'd be more to it. As it is, I feel more inclined to recommend these books to a younger audience then the adult readers. It's actually a really confusing to be. I fear that the rating I give it, considering the book as a whole, will be lower then I want to give it. And that really saddens me.
What do I rate this?
I give this book a
5
out of
10 Grandfather Clocks
But that's just what I thought. What did you think? Did you love it just the way it is? Did you hate it? Do you, too hope there is more yet to come to the Time Keeper's Chronicles? Let us know in the in the comments.
