altlovesbooks
"Time is an intentional thing. You have to look after it, and it will look after you."
I feel like there's a good book in here, or the good idea of a book, but I wasn't sold on some of the decisions made by the main character for the sake of the plot, and the worldbuilding left a lot to be desired. I really loved the idea of this astral library outside of time housing people's memories, but it seemed under described, under utilized, and kind of a letdown.
Lisavet is a girl out of time. Her father, owner and creator of magical timepieces that allow the user to access a vast library of memories, deposits her there to keep her safe during Kristallnacht, swears he'll come back for her, and never does. She's trapped without a watch of her own to get back, and thus grows up in the stacks of this mysterious library. Other people have access to this library, timekeepers who enter the library to burn books of memories, but Lisavet soon makes it her mission to preserve these memories that others want destroyed. It's through this saving of burning books that she meets Ernest, a timekeeper for the Americans, working under Jack, head of the timekeeping organization. As is the way of these things, the two become lovers, until Lisavet learns some ugly truths about the American timekeepers organization and a miscommunication (ugh) drives the two apart.
So I loved Lisavet and her goals in the beginning of the book, even if the burning of the books of memories aren't well explained. Even Ernest, after Lisavet and him become an item, doesn't seem to be able to explain why the timekeepers do what they do, except some vague notion about nation sovereignty. Preserving memories/books/whatever just appeals to me. But Lisavet's character and motives entirely changes after (major plot spoilers here) she has Amelia. Suddenly she's this ruthless, heartless killer of memories, all in the name of keeping Amelia safe. It just rings hollow late in the book. I know it's supposed to show the lengths she's willing to go to for Amelia, but some of the things she does is downright horrible, and I'm not sold on the abrupt nature of her character shift. It's kind of telling when I was commenting early on in the book about how much I loved Lisavet as a character and how much I hated Moira.
I didn't think the library was all that well explained, and as I've mentioned here already, nothing seemed well explained. The magic/memory system seems handwavy with rules and limitations only when convenient and no real grasp of why the timekeepers were doing what they were doing. Jack as a villain was the most villainest of villains, very flat as a character, which is unusual when the author took such care with Lisavet, Ernest, and Amelia. I did love how the author did dialogue and internal thoughts, very descriptive and moving, but anything external, like a scene or descriptors or anything seemed lacking. The time jumps between characters was also jarring in places, particularly near the end when things started converging. I got really confused as to who/which character was the POV character and when sometimes when listening to the audiobook.
The love story between Ernest and Lisavet was sweet, however, and I did like how they always managed to find each other again. I just wish the rest of the book held up to keep me interested.
"Time is an intentional thing. You have to look after it, and it will look after you."
I feel like there's a good book in here, or the good idea of a book, but I wasn't sold on some of the decisions made by the main character for the sake of the plot, and the worldbuilding left a lot to be desired. I really loved the idea of this astral library outside of time housing people's memories, but it seemed under described, under utilized, and kind of a letdown.
Lisavet is a girl out of time. Her father, owner and creator of magical timepieces that allow the user to access a vast library of memories, deposits her there to keep her safe during Kristallnacht, swears he'll come back for her, and never does. She's trapped without a watch of her own to get back, and thus grows up in the stacks of this mysterious library. Other people have access to this library, timekeepers who enter the library to burn books of memories, but Lisavet soon makes it her mission to preserve these memories that others want destroyed. It's through this saving of burning books that she meets Ernest, a timekeeper for the Americans, working under Jack, head of the timekeeping organization. As is the way of these things, the two become lovers, until Lisavet learns some ugly truths about the American timekeepers organization and a miscommunication (ugh) drives the two apart.
So I loved Lisavet and her goals in the beginning of the book, even if the burning of the books of memories aren't well explained. Even Ernest, after Lisavet and him become an item, doesn't seem to be able to explain why the timekeepers do what they do, except some vague notion about nation sovereignty. Preserving memories/books/whatever just appeals to me. But Lisavet's character and motives entirely changes after (major plot spoilers here) she has Amelia. Suddenly she's this ruthless, heartless killer of memories, all in the name of keeping Amelia safe. It just rings hollow late in the book. I know it's supposed to show the lengths she's willing to go to for Amelia, but some of the things she does is downright horrible, and I'm not sold on the abrupt nature of her character shift. It's kind of telling when I was commenting early on in the book about how much I loved Lisavet as a character and how much I hated Moira.
I didn't think the library was all that well explained, and as I've mentioned here already, nothing seemed well explained. The magic/memory system seems handwavy with rules and limitations only when convenient and no real grasp of why the timekeepers were doing what they were doing. Jack as a villain was the most villainest of villains, very flat as a character, which is unusual when the author took such care with Lisavet, Ernest, and Amelia. I did love how the author did dialogue and internal thoughts, very descriptive and moving, but anything external, like a scene or descriptors or anything seemed lacking. The time jumps between characters was also jarring in places, particularly near the end when things started converging. I got really confused as to who/which character was the POV character and when sometimes when listening to the audiobook.
The love story between Ernest and Lisavet was sweet, however, and I did like how they always managed to find each other again. I just wish the rest of the book held up to keep me interested.