#cjarcher

My Review: 3/5*

This series has potential. Overall, the revelations on India, Matt's goal(?), the connections from America, all of it has potential. This intro was maybe not the best way to go about it.

India's first introduction was less "woman trying to stand up for herself and get her father's business back" and more "toddler throwing a fit because her favorite toy got taken away". I'm not saying I blame her for wanting to get back at Eddie at all, but there were a lot of other (better?) ways she could have gone about it. India's character had potential but she spent an inordinate amount of time making some super stupid assumptions and not using a single brain cell. I mean, she starts accusing Matt with minimal evidence, only an article with a picture that might have been him and then her own suspicions that he was addicted to opium (because that's a better reason than magic. Opium hidden in a watch in liquid form that's injected into the body through some invisible needle in the watch). Then Dorchester shows up and he clearly can't be a bad guy because he rescued her. I mean, Matt did the same thing and had been through the entire story, so not sure what holiday her logic was on. When she actually applied her logic, India was quite smart. I liked that she finally made the connection on the Dark Rider, and what she used to make said connection.

Matt was intriguing and I want to know more! His reveal on his watch was a little sad but very intriguing, especially when he told the story of how he got it. I liked how he cared for Willie, Duke and Cyclops and even Miss Glass when she showed up. I laughed at him handling Rycroft and Dennison and would have liked to see him knocking Abercrombie down a peg or two. The chemistry between he and India is there but it's still trying to spark; hoping things will get better through the series.

The whole thing with India not being accepted into the Watchmaker's Guild seems like it could have been interesting but it got buried. There's a few hints that there's more going on (people's attitudes shifting after her application, their reaction when she showed up with Matt in the various shops, etc), but we never really got much explanation. Hoping that's more "here's something for future books" than actual plot holes though. While magic was clearly coming into play (especially once you figure out the watch, even if India took a thousand years to do so), I kind of wish we'd gotten a little more than "well it's hidden" for the explanation. Again, hoping for more foreshadowing type things here rather than just throwing something in for the heck of it that's not going to get explanations going forward.

Overall, interesting enough start and I'll try and read the rest of the series, as long as I can get it from the library. 

Read: 3/5/25-3/11/25 Format: NOOK

StoryGraph review

This is the lead-up to that moment when Lincoln and Charlie meet again in the 6th The Ministry of Curiosities book, FROM THE ASHES. What do you think will happen next? Shouting? Kissing? Something else?

PRE-ORDER THE WATCHMAKER’S DAUGHTER

The first book in my new series is now available for pre-order with a release date of June 28th. It will be discounted during the pre-order phase, with the price to rise on release day. So pre-order THE WATCHMAKER'S DAUGHTER now at the lower price from:

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DK93WKW/?tag=cjarcaut-20

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01DK93WKW

iBooks: https://geo.itunes.apple.com/au/book/the-watchmakers-daughter/id1097627055?mt=11&at=10lKjy

B&N Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-watchmakers-daughter-cj-archer/1123600144?ean=2940152945560

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/C_J_Archer_The_Watchmaker_s_Daughter?id=1WnVCwAAQBAJ&hl=en