Timekeeper and Chainbreaker by Tara Sim: Review & Sim’s Top Ten Addictions

Today I’m featuring the first two books in Tara Sim’s Timekeeper Series, a romantic magical steampunk adventure series that blew me away with its imaginative concept and its heart.’

My first review will be spoiler-free for the series, but skim past the review of book two if you haven’t picked up Timekeeper yet!

Timekeeper by Tara Sim
Series: Timekeeper #1
Published by Sky Pony Press on November 8th 2016
Genres: Young Adult, Steampunk, LGBTQ+
Pages: 414
Source: The Publisher

I was in an accident. I got out. I’m safe now.

An alternate Victorian world controlled by clock towers, where a damaged clock can fracture time—and a destroyed one can stop it completely.

A prodigy mechanic who can repair not only clockwork but time itself, determined to rescue his father from a Stopped town.

A series of mysterious bombings that could jeopardize all of England.

A boy who would give anything to relive his past, and one who would give anything to live at all.

A romance that will shake the very foundations of time.

You know how sometimes you start reading a book and you just instantly LOVE it? That was me with this book. And it never stopped. Several times while I was reading, I literally just had to stop and say out loud, “I love this book!”

What Fed My Addiction:

• Steampunk adventure with a magical twist. The worldbuilding here is just utterly fantastic. I adored the concept—time is actually controlled by physical clocks in each time zone (it’s actually not as simple as that, but I don’t want to spoil anything so I’ll leave it at that). It makes for a fragile existence sometimes, and mechanics who have a special connection to time’s threads are the only things keeping the world moving smoothly.
• The romance. Again, this book is so hard to talk about without giving details away, so I’m going to be really general here. I will point out that the main character is gay and that people’s struggles to accept that are a part of the story (but not the overall focus of the story). I was incredibly emotionally invested in the romance in this book, and the moments between Danny and Colton made me want to burst at the seams with happiness. And then there was the added difficulty because they are truly star-crossed lovers—Danny and Colton have to balance their feelings for each other against doing what is right, and there are no simple answers. The romance was only one element to a beautifully complex story, but it was the element that drew me in the deepest.
• Guilt and anxiety. Danny’s relationship with his mother is complicated, both because of his sexuality and because he’s dealing with guilt over something that happened with his father just before tragedy struck. He’s also trying to get past anxiety because of an accident that almost killed him. He wants more than anything to go back to the life he loves as a mechanic, but he’s held back by his emotional issues surrounding his job.
• The mystery. Usually in a story like this, the mystery is my least favorite part. In this case, there were so many intricate webs of emotion surrounding the mystery that I found it fascinating. I was kept guessing the whole time I read, and even when I figured out elements of what was going on, there were plenty of surprises

So, in case you didn’t already catch this, I ADORED this book. It’s imaginative and adventurous and full of wonder. 

***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***

Chainbreaker by Tara Sim
Series: Timekeeper #2
Published by Sky Pony Press on January 2nd 2018
Genres: Young Adult, Steampunk, LGBTQ+
Pages: 488
Source: The Publisher

Clock mechanic Danny Hart knows he’s being watched. But by whom, or what, remains a mystery. To make matters worse, clock towers have begun falling in India, though time hasn’t Stopped yet. He’d hoped after reuniting with his father and exploring his relationship with Colton, he’d have some time to settle into his new life. Instead, he’s asked to investigate the attacks.

After inspecting some of the fallen Indian towers, he realizes the British occupation may be sparking more than just attacks. And as Danny and Colton unravel more secrets about their past, they find themselves on a dark and dangerous path–one from which they may never return.

***NOTE: Since this review is for the second book in the series, it will contain some spoilers for the first book. Skip over this review if you haven’t read Timekeeper yet! (And then go read Timekeeper and come back and find out what I thought of book two.)

Chainbreaker brings Sim’s magical steampunk worldbuilding to India, giving us a wider perspective on her imaginative world and sending us on a new and even more complicated adventure!

What Fed My Addiction:

• India. Somehow I started 2018 with two books set in India, a locale I haven’t read much about before. I’ll sadly admit that I knew nothing about India’s history going into this book, so I loved getting some background on the difficult relationship between England and India at that time in history and social norms at the time. (Sim talks in her notes about the historical basis of the book and how she deviates from it for her own alternate steampunk version, which I really appreciated). The book doesn’t delve deeply into this history because that’s not the main thrust of the story, but it’s a great introduction to the subject.
• Conflict that isn’t black and white. Speaking of India, I especially loved how Danny ponders and questions the right and wrong of it all—who are the villains in his life story and who are the heroes? He asks himself this in relation to the rebellion and also in terms of the clock spirits. Danny has had to question his relationship with Colton all along—he knows that they could be putting a town in danger with their love and he has to live with that every day. There are people who are trying to “fix” time (and the situation in India), but are they truly helping? At what cost? Morality is complicated, and Danny has to figure out where he stands.
• Colton’s backstory. We get to learn about Colton’s backstory and origins in this book, and these scenes are fabulous!
• Daphne’s cultural voice. In this second book, we get Daphne’s POV (in addition to Colton and Danny’s). Her biggest struggle is the fact that she feels both connected and disconnected to India. She has a deep curiosity about the country because of her Indian heritage, but she doesn’t feel like she belongs there or that she could be accepted there. Knowing that Tara Sim is, herself, half-Indian makes this aspect of the story all the more engaging an realistic.

Sim set us up for the next book so well that I’m itching to know where it’s all headed!

***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***

About the Author

Tara Sim is the author of the TIMEKEEPER trilogy (Sky Pony Press) and writer of all things magic. She can often be found in the wilds of the Bay Area, California.

When she’s not writing about mischievous boys in clock towers, Tara spends her time drinking tea, wrangling cats, and occasionally singing opera. Despite her bio-luminescent skin, she is half-Indian and eats way too many samosas.

She also sometimes blogs for Quirk Books.

Name pronunciation: “tar-ah” (not “terr-ah”).

 Have you read either of these books? If not, have I convinced you to give them a try? I want to know!