Book Review: The Starlight Watchmaker

Hi Everyone and Happy Friday Eve!

I hope you’re ready for this week to end. I sure am! With all the meds and pain from surgery lingering, I just want some down time where I don’t have to worry about anything.

In the meantime, I have another book review!

This time I read The Starlight Watchmaker by Lauren James.

I’ve owned this book for about a year, and I decided to read this first due to how short it was. Sometimes you just need a quick read, right?

I didn’t really know anything about this book other than the blurb, and like usual I just jumped right in! On to the review!

Blurb:

Wealthy students from across the galaxy come to learn at the prestigious academy where Hugo toils as a watchmaker. But he is one of the lucky ones. Many androids like him are jobless and homeless. Someone like Dorian could never understand their struggle – or so Hugo thinks when the pompous duke comes banging at his door. But when Dorian’s broken time-travel watch leads them to discover a sinister scheme, the pair must reconcile their differences if they are to find the culprit in time.

GoodReads

The Review:

I gave this book five stars!

Man oh man did I love this book! I didn’t know what to expect having never read anything by Lauren James, but I was seriously impressed.

In a nutshell, this book centralizes on the life of an android named Hugo, who works as a watchmaker/repairer on a university campus on a distant planet. When a student brings a time-travelling watch to be repaired, it sets forth a journey of self discovery that will forever change Hugo’s life.

How do I love this book? Let me count the ways.

Obviously the star of this book is Hugo. Oh, Hugo, you amazing android spirit. I sympathized with Hugo from the get go. This guy’s had a tough life and is just scraping by. Alone, Hugo does what he knows best, watchmaking. His story reminded me of the Velveteen Rabbit and in spots really tugged at my heart strings. Hugo isn’t used to the waking world and has suffered abandonment in the past, so I was rooting for him the entire time. Great character progression.

I also enjoyed Dorian and how he progressed throughout. Ada gets the vote as a solid support character.

The plot was pretty simple in concept. Dorian brings Hugo a broken time-travelling watch and the plot thickens from there. At first I thought this would be a simple adventure, a whodunit, but it turned out to be so much more. The plot got deeper and plucked at my heartstrings. I was totally surprised at the reveals that happened along the way.

The writing was simple and easy to follow, and I appreciated that. The KISS method works, people!

But ultimately it is the tenderheartedness of this story that really impacted me. It left a warm feeling in my heart, and I definitely won’t forget it in the years to come. I highly recommend checking this book out. You’ll be glad you did!

 

That’s a Wrap!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy reading!

Have you read this book before? What did you think? Do you have a book recommendation similar to this one? Feel free to share in the comments!

If you’d like to see other reviews of mine, feel free to check out the book review section of my blog or my GoodReads. You can also follow my GoodReads reviews here. There are some great binge-worthy books on there!

Have a great day!

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2 Comments »

  1. This book sounds like a good read and great way to spend some time recuperating. I really like books that go deep emotionally and have me rooting for a character. The plot sounds interesting as well as the reveals. Tantalizing review, Jonny. Thanks for the recommendation!

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