Chime - Franny Billingsey

Review: Chime

Author: Franny Billingsey

Rating: 5/5

Genre: Fantasy, historical-fiction

Recommend To: Fans of A Great and Terrible Beauty

Wow, what a magical, mysterious setting. I’m blown away. By everything. The plot, the characters, the mystery, the wording. It was all surreal as I was reading it, and yet it was all very tangible. I’ll explain.

The Plot: Confusing at first, but the plot is centered on Briony and her struggle to save her twin Rose from the dangerous swamp cough. They are returning to Swampsea, a 20^th century town complete with motorcars, but still with a tinge of the Victorian era and of course haunted by ancient things that roam in the wild swamp. It’s hard to find the actual villain at first because Briony is so hell-bent on the fact that the villain is herself, but that just serves to add more twists and turns. The entire book has a really dark sort of feel to it, mysterious and on the verge on confusing.  Toss in there a bit of sunshine and humor (there were parts I laughed out loud actually) known as Eldric and we really have ourselves a brilliant novel.

The Characters: This is what I wanted to talk about the entire time. It’s not really the plot that keeps the book moving, it’s the characters. Or Briony herself I guess. It’s strange to find a female protagonist not whining about how ugly and unlovable she is, but about how she is pretty on the outside, and wicked and evil on the inside. She doesn’t spend time mooning over some arrogant jerk, complaining how he’ll never love her back, but instead she focuses on how she deserves to hang and to never be loved. It’s quite a flip. But you find yourself still liking her. Even though she can ramble about her wickedness, and you want to shake her, she is still pretty powerful, which made me like her even more. Eldric was the complete opposite, which made him perfect for Briony. They completed each other. He was the light in the story. I laughed over their “bad-boy” Latin and their boxing lessons. It was perfect. And then there is Rose, who is absolutely adorable, and Tiddy Rex who reminds me of a puppy. And Leanne and Cecil (both of whom I would’ve loved to punch in the face). But it’s lovely to have characters that inspire such feeling in the reader.

The Romance: Slower than other books. No insta-love. No love-triangles, (no real ones at least.) Like I said, Eldric and Briony are perfect for each other. They belong together and neither of them cares about the others flaws. They learn about each other before professing undying love for each other. They become real friends, learning about love, loyalty, and trust, before lust (even though they learn about that too). It was sweet and touching.

The Style: Gorgeous. Lush. Deep. Sumptuous. Mysterious. Verdant. Cryptic. Arcane. Opulent. All great words. The poetry, the descriptions, the Latin (you’ll understand when you read it), the emotions. You could sink into them and never return. It was astonishingly rich and worth reading it for the setting alone.

Overall: See above. Or just go read the book. Take your pick. If the choice is the former, you still go read it.