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In a world much like our own in the late 1800s, but just a bit different, Briony is a teenager trying to keep herself quiet. She's convinced that she's an awful person, and it's only over the course of the entire novel that she starts to believe differently. As well-written as her journey is, I wish it had been just a little shorter, since I'd figured out all the twists about who really did what or had particular powers from very early on in the novel, and pretending it was any kind of mystery w
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The ending of this book is fantastic, let me just say. But I struggled with the highly poetic, stylized writing. It kept me from feeling any real sympathy for Briony or anyone else until the very end. I was impatient with the endlessly clever ways Briony described everyone, and I am extremely turned off by self-loathing teenage girls in literature. Since there was an actual reason for the self-loathing (as opposed to most teenage girls in books, who just hate themselves for no reason), that part
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Chime is not a book that every reader is going to love. I spent the first 150 pages trying to decide whether or not I even liked Billingsley’s novel, but kept reading because I’d heard it was good and my book club was reading it. While it took me a while to adjust to Briony’s novel, Chime turned out to be a well-plotted and lyrically written novel.
The world of Chime is an intoxicating mix of enchanting and dangerous. Billingsley’s setting had an ambiance that was both historical and magical. I w ...more
The world of Chime is an intoxicating mix of enchanting and dangerous. Billingsley’s setting had an ambiance that was both historical and magical. I w ...more
The plot as I could figure: Briony is a witch. She lives on the edge of the swamp with her twin, Rose, and their pastor father, ever since Briony called up a swamp spirit to flood the house and injured her stepmother. When Eldrich moves into town, Briony is a bit smitten, but Eldrich likes Leanne, who makes Briony feel weird. Then Rose gets the swamp cough, a fatal disease brought on by another of the swamp spirits, and Briony will have to reveal that she is a witch to get the spirit to make her
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Has a somewhat unreliable narrator who I really enjoyed. Also a double subversion of a certain trope that completely fooled me. (view spoiler) I liked Briony even when she seems a little sociopathic, which may say uncomfortable things about me, but so it goes. I adored her sister, Rose. And (forgive the rhyme) there were some excellent pieces of prose.
If I re-read this I might not like it as much, because you could argue that the ending was a li ...more
If I re-read this I might not like it as much, because you could argue that the ending was a li ...more
Yet another argument for a 4.5 rating!
Chime takes place during turn-of-the-last-century England in a town surrounded by the Swampsea and inhabited by Old Ones, including a Bogey Mun, Muckey Face, a Brownie, Dark Muses and other fantastic creatures. Many trials include participation by the Chime Child, someone born at midnight with a foot in both worlds, so that the Old Ones get legal representation and justice. Briony is a witch, holder of dark secrets and able to see these Old Ones. Rose, her ...more
Chime takes place during turn-of-the-last-century England in a town surrounded by the Swampsea and inhabited by Old Ones, including a Bogey Mun, Muckey Face, a Brownie, Dark Muses and other fantastic creatures. Many trials include participation by the Chime Child, someone born at midnight with a foot in both worlds, so that the Old Ones get legal representation and justice. Briony is a witch, holder of dark secrets and able to see these Old Ones. Rose, her ...more
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Hmmmm. I didn't know if I really liked this one or not until I got about halfway in. It was really hard to get into--the language was very odd and the main character prickly and unlikeable. It wasn't until later that I realized she was supposed to be unreliable. I did end up guessing some of the mystery early on but I kept with it just to see the full resolution.
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This was a very odd book. I wanted to love it after hearing raves about it from lots of people, but just didn't really care for it. I spent 3/4 of the book trying to figure out if this book was a "for real" fantasy or if the main character was simply psychotic.
edited to add that my 8th grader really liked this book a lot, FWIW. ...more
edited to add that my 8th grader really liked this book a lot, FWIW. ...more
This one was hard for me to rate. I thought it started off kind of slow -- I couldn't get invested in the characters and the writing seemed a little stilted. About half way through, though, more of the story is revealed and it drew me in to an amazing ending. Read this if you want a twist on a typical fairy tale/fantasy and stick with it if you find the first part slow going.
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It took me a bit to get into the truly unique writing style and "voice" but once I did, I zoomed right through this book. Very creative and surprising. Just when you think you know what is going on, there will be another clue dropped in front of you and off you go into a new direction. Highly enjoyable!
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Really, really hate it when they edit grammatical mistakes into my reviews, but here it is anyway: http://teenreads.com/reviews/97808037...
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Dec 25, 2010
Lisa
marked it as to-read
Mar 10, 2011
CLM
marked it as to-read
Jun 16, 2011
Sharon
marked it as b-list
Oct 11, 2011
Holly
marked it as to-read
Mar 27, 2013
Morgan
marked it as to-read
Sep 04, 2013
karen
marked it as to-get-from-liberry
Jan 08, 2014
Brandie
marked it as to-read
