I know, I have seen the bad reviews, but a friend of my girls really liked the books. So, the girls and I are going to see how this really is. I expect to want to want to throw my Kindle across the room, but what the hell, it is already cracked.]

 

Some of you whose reviews I have grown trust hated this. Here we go...

Audiobook rating: 3 stars
Book rating: 2.5 stars

Initial thoughts: You'd think a book about a girl with a clockwork heart would be memorable. Alas, I can't say that is the case for Ticker. Thinking about what happened in the book, my memory's already hazy about the plot, as though I had read it months ago instead of the past couple of days. I attribute this to the technology overload that outweighed the actual plot and character developments. Gadgets peppered the book from back to front to the point that instead of building up the world, I felt they were there merely to remind us that Ticker falls into the steampunk genre. The prose wasn't particularly strong either. It was simply a medium to convey the story; nothing more.

In the end, I'd say Ticker is a bland book. It's fairly entertaining to while away the time, especially with the pleasant narration of the audiobook. Nothing upset me or made me dislike the book while I was reading it. But now that I'm done, I walk away without being impacted in any way. Since I neither like nor hate the book, I'm giving it the middle ground rating of 2.5 stars, simply because I'm indifferent.

 

obviously i love getting books as gifts - whether print or digital or audio. it doesn't matter what format. there is the book and there is the thought of the person's generosity and/or thoughtfulness. 

 

i got one earlier from Jessica (HDB) as part of her May giveaway. 

 

thank you very much again Jessica for the gift and for obliging my request! 

  

 

 

 

 

3.5 stars

A pretty cover and an original idea should be the basis of a great book. Unfortunately, Ticker failed to make my expectations come true.

 

After requesting this title I started to see a flow of negative reviews coming in. However, I was not discouraged by them and hoped that I would enjoy it more, as I usually quite like steam punk. The original idea was indeed really interesting, but I also have some problems with the book. It wasn't one of the best books I've read but neither so bad as the one star ratings the book is receiving.

 

I admit it was quite of a slow start, but I tend never to give up on books and I felt like it became better. You're just completely thrown into the story at the start that I didn't have a clue as what was going on and why, and who are all these characters anyway?

 

Penny has a bad heart. To stop her from dying, surgeon Calvin Warwick invents a mechanical heart for her. At the beginning of the book Warwick is on trial for his life after it has been discovered that he experimented on (and killed several) humans to create this 'Ticker'.

 

It's really weird, but all the while it felt as if I was reading the second or third instalment in a series rather than a standalone. There's so much reference to the events leading to the ticker being installed in Penny that it feels like there's a book about it I should have read. But according to my best knowledge it truly is a standalone novel. (I normally really appreciate if not everything is spit out literally in a story, but this just made me feel lost and was confusing). Probably this was why I didn't connect with any of the characters and the world didn't feel real (or very steampunk for that matter; it was just loads and loads of metal basically).

 

I'd liked to get to know more about the back story, since that seemed really interesting. The story in Ticker was okay but not as special or original as I had hoped. You must be wondering now why I wanted to give this book 2.5 stars, but it's because despite the fact that it obviously has quite some flaws I did for one reason or another enjoy reading it.

 

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!