Generally speaking, I’m fully on board with genre-defying/genre-bending works. Is this historical fiction? Steampunk? Mystery? Alternate history? Romance? Yes, sort of, a little, kind of, and yeah, sure. ("It's a taste treat! It's a laxative! Stop--you're BOTH right!")Where I tend to start losing the thread and incur cramping of the cerebellum (which is only slightly less painful than a calf cramp in the middle of the night) is when time travel gets involved. Now, there’s not time travel going o...

All right, all you Sherlock Holmes fangirls, listen up.What would you think of a version where “Sherlock” is a petite clairvoyant Japanese samurai/watchmaker with a Lincolnshire accent? And what if his “Watson” is a twenty-five year old Whitehall telegraph clerk who gave up his musical aspirations due to an acute case of synesthesia? And “Mary Watson” is an Oxford educated scientist with a butch haircut, a penchant for dressing in menswear and a Japanese dandy for a best friend? Think you might

I received this advanced reading copy from the publisher with no requirement of review. All opinions and thoughts are my own.2.5 starsI think this book has so much potential. It follows Nathaniel ("Thaniel") Steepleton who works in the Home Office in London after he mysteriously receives a pocket watch that ends up saving his life. He meets the watchmaker, Mori, as well as precocious, intellectual woman named Grace, and all of their stories come together to *sort of* solve a mystery. I say "sort...

This one started so slowly I really was not sure where it was leading. I quickly became attached to Thaniel who obviously had hidden depths. I loved Mori who also had to be so much more than he appeared.Then the story progressed and the author seemed to gather confidence and it all became very enjoyable, but mostly by the reader who enjoys magic and /or steampunk in their books. I like both so I knew I was in for a good time!Just occasionally the author rambled a bit but all things eventually ca...

In mid-1880s London, both Nathaniel “Thaniel” Steepleton, a 25-year-old lowly clerk and telegraphist first at the Home Office and then at the Foreign Office, and Grace Carrow, opinionated Oxford-trained physicist and daughter of old-fashioned Lord Carrow, both end up with a marvel of a timepiece. Both of these watches were lovingly crafted by a most unusual watchmaker, Keita Mori, related to a Samurai lord and a former assistant to the interior minister of Japan. These days Mori creates the fine...

| | blog | tumblr | ko-fi | |3.75 stars“Under the gas lamps, mist pawed at the windows of the closed shops, which became steadily shabbier nearer home. It was such a smooth ruination that he could have been walking forward through time, watching the same buildings age five years with every step, all still as a museum”.The Watchmaker of Filigree Street mostly takes place during the 1880s in London. One of the main characters is twenty-five year old Thaniel Steepleton who works as a telegraph cl...

First Read: March 2019, Rating: 4/5 starsSecond Read: December 2020, Rating: 4.5/5 starsThis book was a total cover boy, a few years ago, and then I added it to my shelves and never felt the urge to pick it up again. A recent purge of my shelves had me re-evaluating many of the titles there, however, and finally hastened me to give this a read. I am SO glad I did!I had assumed this to be a straight-forward historical mystery but was pleasantly surprised to also find this a whimsical cross-cultur...

Rep: gay mc, Japanese gay li, Japanese side characterssometimes family is a japanese watchmaker, an english foreign office civil servant, and a mechanical octopus

Mph. This was well written and I was really enjoying it. Lovely sense of time, stroppy unlikeable heroine, interesting steampunky 'science' without too much annoying airship bobbins and a great concept. But I do wish there had been a proper plot--it just kind of evaporated towards the end, leaving me with a sense that there's less to this than meets the eye. Also, there are multiple problematic issues with the Japanese elements (and also just stupid ones. A sequence where someone who doesn't spe...

This is a tale that unfolds with the ticking precision of a fine timepiece. It doesn't hurry and it doesn't compromise. It definitely conveyed to me a feeling of a different time and a slightly different world.The hardback itself is a lovely creation, with a keyhole cover, and a lovely font used throughout. The cover feels like suede. I mention this because it harmonizes so well with the atmosphere of the book. It feels as if I've picked up a book from another time and place.In a sense, it could...

DNF @ page 42What’s Morse Code for “Boring”?With its interesting premise and V.C. Andrewslike hole-in-the-cover gimmick, I thought I would be really into this book. Spoiler Alert: I wasn’t.I searched for a plot between the pretentious overdescriptive details of random objects, but sadly there still didn’t seem to be anything actually going on. At 40 pages in, you’d expect to at least be able to remember characters but I couldn’t honestly tell you who they were or why they were there as this was

I pity every booklover who unwittingly falls for the beautiful cover art and enticing story description as I did. The story is written in such a convoluted, amateur fashion, it requires significant work to stay invested while reading. Further, the story itself is incredibly dull and boring; in fact, the book seems void of any plot whatsoever. I tried to plod through the book, eventually resorting to reading one chapter a day, then one chapter a week, but it was a grueling business. Often, I fini...

Perfect and fantastic on every reread. What a book. A forever favourite of mine.

This book was written by a first time author which I was excited about. I usually enjoy reading books by newcomers because I feel as if I'm discovering them, myself, and can tell everyone about them. Their debut novels are often special enough for them to fight to get them published without a proven track record. And this book looked as if it would meet my expectations with its beautiful three dimensional cover and its intriguing premise. The story takes place in Victorian England where Thaniel,...

Absolutely loved this book. An intricate maze of clockwork that spirals out with easy charm until you see the greater picture.Characters are complex, charming yet flawed. And there's a clockwork octopus! (that might have been what convinced me to buy!)Grace who would be the heroine of another book, so clever, held back by her gender, yet she has a Sherlockian disregard of people and lacks romance in her mathamatical soul.Matsumoto, sharp beneath his pretty veneer.Quiet Mori; gentle charm, coils,...

A whimsical, difficult-to-classify, atmospheric, speculative novel of the kind I haven’t read in years but which I was ultimately (surprisingly) pleased was suggested in one of my reading groups. I felt a slight whiff of The Night Circus, a tiny hint of steampunk and the suggestion of inspiration from Philip Pullman. And yet the novel is entirely original.The setting: Victorian London, and Japan.The characters: a young telegrapher called Thaniel, a Japanese watchmaker called Mori, a young Oxfor...

It is 4:45am and I have just finished this astonishingly good novel. I knew nothing about it other than that it had a lovely cover, and that the first page was beautifully written. It's historical fantasy, set in London and Japan. The language is vivid and compelling. The characters are achingly real. I could tell you about the plot, but I think you will like it best if you discover it yourself.Just make sure you have plenty of spare time, because it is very hard to put down.

It’s a shame that such an interesting concept is reduced to a story that’s just boring. There’s a mechanic octopus walking around and I don’t even care.