Chime

This book was provided to me as an audiobook by the library, because the library is awesome.Hear me now and know these words I type are true: This. Book. Is. Awesome.The Chosen One. It’s a common device in the world of fantasy books. While it can be a great tool in the hands of a thoughtful author, after a while one wants something different. Chime is something different. Briony Larkin is, without a doubt, something different. Briony is far and away one of the most engaging and relatable characters I have ever read. Her sister Rose and love interest Eldric are right up there with her. I’ve always smirked at girls talking about “book boyfriends”, but I kind of get it now. These characters are in my head and in my heart. The story is enthralling, twisty, and gives away everything and nothing at the same time. The moment I thought I had it all worked out, there was a new element that I never saw coming. So good!The audiobook narration by Susan Duerden, was very well done. Ms. Duerden does an excellent job of conveying the characters’ emotions. The tonal differentiation between the characters was so well done that I knew which character was speaking without any additional explanation. I look forward to listening to any book narrated by Ms. Duerden.I recommend Chime to anyone over the age of 14. Some scenes might be considered scary to more sensitive readers. There is some alcohol consumption, talk of drug use (arsenic), and poisoning (arsenic), but there is only vague mention of sex.

Chime by Franny Billingsley is one of those books I discovered on Goodreads and immediately knew I'd love based on the synopsis (and the gorgeous cover). Briony has a guilty secret - she is a witch. A witch who has destroyed her family: she blames herself for her sister's mental disability, her home being victim to both fire and flood and the death of her stepmother. She only feels at home in the swamp, but before her stepmother died she warned Briony that the swamp only made her powers worse. Then handsome Eldric moves into town and makes Briony question everything.Well, I was so right: I did love this book! I fell in love with it from the first sentence and remained enchanted through the whole story. Briony is one of a kind - her narration was at times angry, sad, eerie, hopeful, scary...but always bewitching. Always interesting. There is no way to see the world through her eyes and not feel drawn to her and wonder about the things she believed she has done. I knew early on that things were not as they seemed - certainly not exactly how Briony saw them - but I definitely did not expect things to unfold the way they did.Eldric is a great character too - I absolutely adored the different ways Briony described him. The descriptive language she uses is very original...but very Briony. I don't remember the last time an author was able to so successfully create someone so complex and layered (not to mention quirky and oddball) and keep the characterization so consistent. Her voice is very distinctive - the blend of wit and irony kept me constantly entertained:"In a proper story, antagonistic sparks would fly between Eldric and me, sparks that would sweeten the inevitable kiss on page 324. But life doesn't work that way. I didn't hate Eldric, which, for me, is about as good as things get."I also loved her descriptions of the other characters:"Father's silence is not merely the absence of sound. It's a creature with a life of its own. It chokes you. It pinches you small as a grain of rice. It twists your gut like a worm.Silence clawed at my throat. It left a taste of burnt matchesNo, our family doesn't talk much."***"She spoke in a dark-river sort of voice, as though her throat were filled with dusk. She was staying in a village not twenty miles off, but her dusky voice made it sound like an island of spicy winds and bursting pineapples. Just the place to be marooned."I really cannot recommend reading this book enough - a constantly compelling fantasy plot, an intriguing and malevolent swamp setting and a set of the most quirky and captivating characters you'll ever come across.

Briony knows she's a witch and knows she's done terrible things. She makes sure to remember to hate herself everyday. She also remembers to take care of her twin sister Rose. She does these things, because her stepmother constantly reminded her of how she was terrible because she was a witch. Now though, things are starting to happen and Briony has a new set of things to blame herself for. She's stayed away from the swamp like her stepmother told her to, but circumstances cause her to end up in the swamp again. While she's there, someone is killed and Briony's sure it's her fault. She doesn't want to confess though because they hand witches. Even though Briony hates herself she still quite likes being alive. It doesn't hurt that a stranger has come to town and Briony's taken up with him. Eldric doesn't treat Briony as she expects to be treated, he makes her feel wonderful. The question is though, will he still thinks she's so wonderful once he learns all her dark secrets? Does Briony even know how deep her secrets go?This was quite an enjoyable read. I loved the take on fairies and spirits and witches. It was different and exciting. It was easy to suspect the basis of what was going on, but it was still enjoyable to figure out what exactly what happened. Everything became so twisted in Briony's mind, that it was nice to finally have it all laid out.One thing that really bugged me was how the Old Ones spoke. It was totally fitting, but just made me fidgety. I could only read it in a creepy high pitched old witch voice and it was a bit off-putting. Fitting, yes. Enjoyable, not so much for me.I also feel like this needs a sequel, there are quite a few things that were not concluded. Whatever happened to green girl? Maybe my need for a sequel comes from feeling like I didn't know some of the characters that well. The Chime Child and Briony's father are pretty mysterious and I would love to know more about them.This novel was a lot of fun though. I had a hard time putting it down, because I wanted to know what was going to be unveiled next. I also adored Eldric. He was such a charming man and I just really enjoyed him and Briony together. He off set her sour hateful nature. It was a delight to read about them and solve the mystery of Briony's memory and see all the lovely people that Briony surrounds herself with, save for Cecil and Leanne. Though, in Briony's defense she doesn't really want these people around. Cecil seems like a good enough sort of chap. Things get a bit rough between him and Briony, but I think that's a problem of his instead of a personality trait. Leanne just oozes pure evil. She kind of reminds me of Lindsay Pearce as Harmony on Glee. Just a very big personality with a hint of something you just don't like about her. I don't think I could stand to be in her presence all that long either.Now I'm interested to check out Franny Billingsley's other novels to see if they have that slight twist on how we know things to be. She blends the real world with the magical so seemlessly, that I 'm still waiting for a Brownie to show up and skitter around my feet speaking to me kindly. If you are looking for a supernatural book that's just a bit different in a totally awesome way, grab this one.First Line:"I've confessed to everything and I'd like to be hanged."Favorite Line:"They were soft and wet, just a little wet, but I could drown in them."

A lovely, dark read with an amazing writing style. I love the Victorian feel of the world, I love the subtle horror and I love how Billingsley's created one of the most unique character voices I've ever seen with Briony. Still a favourite five years after I first picked it up.

My daughter had already read this book and loved it so wanted to own it so she could read it again. Good seller as well.

This is a really great story. The plot is second to none. Its original and exciting and has an intriguing twist. However, I found the writing to be slightly rudimentary. There were some spelling mistakes and the language sometimes seemed too young for the supposed intelligence and maturity of the protagonist. Overall, great story but I recommend it for ages 12 to 16

Eine ganz schlaue Leserstimme auf Amazon sagt "Entweder man liebt es, oder man hasst es". Voll ins Schwarze getroffen und ich reihe mich direkt bei Letzterem ein.Vorrangig liegt das definitiv am Schreibstil. Der altmodische Touch liegt mir überhaupt nicht, zumindest nicht auf Englisch, sodass ich das Buch beim besten Willen nicht flüssig lesen konnte.Auch die Stimmung hat mir überhaupt nicht gefallen, war sehr drückend, düster und beklemmend und so gar nicht magisch und prickelnd, wie ich es mir eigentlich gewünscht hätte. Von der Story selber kann ich leider auch kein schönes Liedchen trällern. Keine Spannung, sehr vorhersehbar, ständige Wiederholungen. Extrem zäh und schwammig wie auch der Sumpf, an dem das Ganze spielt.Briony ist eine Hexe. Sie hasst sich selbst dafür, dafür dass sie ihre Schwester und ihre Stiefmutter verletzt hat, als sie wütend und eifersüchtig wurde. Sie betet sich Tag für Tag vor, dass sie böse ist, dass sie keine Gefühle verdient hat, dass sie kalt und herzlos ist. Um keinen Preis darf irgendjemand erfahren, was sie wirklich ist.Doch dann wird ihre Schwester Rose krank und Briony versucht mit den magischen Wesen des Sumpfes einen Handel zu schließen, da sie die Krankheit schicken, um sich an den Menschen dafür zu rächen, dass sie den Sumpf austrocknen. Doch Briony macht alles nur schlimmer und ertrinkt schließlich so in ihrem Selbsthass, dass sie darauf besteht, gehängt zu werden, als ans Licht kommt, dass sie kein normaler Mensch ist.Wie gesagt, alles sehr düster, trotz kleiner Lovestory am Rande. Gerade dadurch, dass das Ende aber so schnell klar ist, kann man nicht wirklich mit Briony mitfühlen und auch die anderen Figuren bleiben extrem unnahbar und nicht zu fassen.Für mich eine Enttäuschung auf ganzer Linie. Ich kann beim besten Willen nichts finden, was mir an dem Buch gefallen hat.