Sunday, March 25, 2012

Chime by Franny Billingsly

Read: March 21-24, 2012
read in 4 days
pages: 361


I give the novel 4 stars for the characters not for the story. The plot line and the story are just odd. There are many aspects of the novel that I don't quite understand and things that are not explained, yet being able to get into the novel and suspend your disbelief and take things as they pertain to the story you can sort of over look those things. Doesn't make it understandable just makes you think okay I'll ignore that and move on. For example I still don't know what the heck a "Brownie" is or what the "Strangers" and "Wykes" are that are found in the swamp, but hey a "Chime child" is someone who is born in the midnight hour making their birth date straddle two days and THAT is what gives them the second sight. The second sight is what makes that particular person able to see the said "Brownie", "Strangers" and the "Old Ones" as well. Oh and a "Dark Muse". That at least was explained. A "Dark Muse" is a woman who "feeds" on the souls of men, and although it was never known before women can be their prey as well. Some witchery was involved too but that is not delved into either. In fact we go through nearly the entire book with Briony believing she is a witch but we never witness her do anything particularly "witchy".

Aside from all that though I think the characters are great. The main character(s) are well developed which is why it is such a shame that the plot line is so lacking. In the end the story really becomes a journey for Briony to learn the truth about herself, that she is in fact a lovable person, and Eldric is a great compliment to her. He is not as fleshed out as Briony, as she is the main character and everything is seen from her point of view, but he is better developed than the other supporting characters. I didn't let the lack of a great story detract from my liking the novel though. It is enough for me at least this time that I enjoyed the characters so much that I can look past the silly plot that makes little sense.

I can't help feeling that there should be a companion book that explains the little mysteries of the "Chime" world and the "Old ones". BUT that doesn't mean I think there should be a sequel. In fact I was glad to see that there isn't at least at this time. Kudos that it is stand alone, but there really should have been more explanation.

As to who may enjoy this book....well I enjoyed it as I said for the characters and the writing style is unique. There is definite lacking in much adventure really, although there are a few scenes that stand out in the swamp, I found myself thinking of the novel The Night Circus. It was beautiful on description and I loved those characters, but there really wasn't a lot going on. So that said this novel, like The Night Circus may not be everyones cup of tea.

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