Franny Billingsley

Flowery writing can be wonderful or terrible. I went back and forth on Franny Billingsley, but clearly some important people were into this, as it was dramatically shortlisted for the National Book Award. Though the subject matter is completely different, I'd say if you were into [b:The Underneath|2768169|The Underneath|Kathi Appelt|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255797559s/2768169.jpg|2793892], there's a good chance you'll also enjoy Chime.

There's more mystery to Chime than I anticipated. Briony, our unreliable narrator, lives in a world of self-hate and metaphorical mask-wearing. But I could tell early on that her version of events was off in some way. You don't really put it all together until the end, and it's a pretty good payoff. So points for a nicely untangled plot.

And if you like to read creepy stuff around Halloween, this will definitely work for you (if you don't mind teenage romance mixed in). There's this dead hand thing that really freaked me out.

In the end, I can't say I loved Chime because I prefer more straightforward storytelling. While evocative and lyrical, Briony's voice also came across as stilted, which I found mildly annoying at times. Fans of the book will probably say it's stilted like Shakespeare is stilted (nobody really talks like that either, right?), and that's a good point. But on top of the highly embellished style, the text was also repetitive (again, like [a:Kathi Applet]) which tends to make me roll my eyes while I'm listening (maybe not if I'd read it instead of listening to the audiobook--but the narrator was good).… (more)

Throughout most of this book, I kept thinking, "This better end well." The reason: It was hard getting through the dialogue and interior monologue of the main character, Briony. She was so depressing. (If you think Bella is self-deprecating you will probably not like Briony.) It also took me a while to realize the setting and get a feel for the time period (turn of the 20th c. England). Sometimes I thought I was in a high fantasy and sometimes a dystopian story.
If it had not ended well, I would have given it 1 star just for putting me through all that. It's not until you get to the end, that you realize why Briony is so down on herself. Also, the love interest, Eldric (who is 22), seems too immature and a bit unrealistic to fall in love with a young girl of 17 who seems more mature. Plus, Eldric having had some college education and his father (also seemingly an educated man), don't seem to have any trouble accepting this world where creatures such as Old Ones, the Boggy Man, and witches exist.
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