Review: Chainbreaker

Chainbreaker by Tara Sim
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The middle entry of Tara Sim's Timekeeper Trilogy takes the reader to India, an India still under British colonial rule, and also under the auspices of the clock towers...except the clock towers there are being attacked too, and strangely, there's no side effect of time Stopping in the process. So, naturally, Danny is sent to investigate, along with Daphne, who's white-passing biracial English-Indian (thus making this book #ownvoices for Sim) and very much caught between worlds. And back in England, Colton has to leave his tower behind after it gets destroyed, and he makes his way to the only one he can trust to help: Danny's dad. So, between those two storylines, this is a brick of a book, almost 500 pages. There's at least some more clues about the nature of the clock towers and spirits and the magic thereof, but it's still kept all rather more vague than I'd like. What's best developed in this book, though, is the historical gaze, critical of colonialism as expected, but also shining its light on flaws in India as well - namely, their own low tolerance of gayness, which strikes pretty close to home for Danny. (That said, though, unlike in the first book, here nobody actually delivers any anti-gay attacks against Danny or anyone else.)

One thing I will highlight, though:

The cliffhanger. It's downright Riordan-grade, prompting an apology from Sim herself in the acknowledgments. And positively Aveyardian, making me angry like I just finished Glass Sword for the first time all over again.

Only one more book in this trilogy, Firestarter. But seriously, where can Sim take us from here? I'm very, very scared for all my faves now!

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