Review: Chime (Franny Billingsley)

Chime by Franny Billingsley

Publisher:  Bloomsbury Publishing (2011)
Format:  Hardcover | 361 pages
Genre(s): Young Adult, Historical Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
Synopsis.

Warning: Contains some SPOILERS!

I... don't really know what to write. You know when you read a book and you like it so much you just want to write "I loved this book" and not a detailed opinion on story and character development? Well, that's how I feel right now. I just want to say I really liked this book and be done with it. Write nothing else. Except that wouldn't be very helpful, would it? So I'll try to write something, even if I'm not sure what. Sorry if this review is confusing.

Briony Larkin is a witch. A wicked, powerful and mean witch that wields her magic with great skill and destroys everything around her. She hurts her sister; she hurts her good-natured stepmother; she even burns her library to the ground. Briony knows she deserves to hang, like all witches, but she insists on living. So she keeps quiet about her powers and her wickedness. She only half-lives. Until Eldric arrives.

"Chime" was a great book. I loved most everything about it because the story had that wild, raw enchantment of folklore tales and the characters were... fascinating. Quirky, sure. But fascinating nonetheless. Briony undergoes transformation throughout the book and I think that this, more than the story (which is fairly easy to piece together, especially after Leanne arrives) is what makes this book so intriguing and interesting.

This was definitely a character-driven sort of book and the plot seemed to be there to help the characters evolve. But that didn't stop Billingsley from creating a beautiful and mysterious world where people and the "Old Ones" co-exist together in uneasy harmony. I liked how strange, almost alien, the magical beings were. And while the author is skillful in her world building it's also her writing style that helps create the 'mood' of this book.

It is also the writing that makes it hard to get into "Chime" at first. It is different, not straightforward almost lyrical and sometimes chaotic (especially when it describes twisted emotions, like the ones Briony experiences). It suits the story and the characters but it takes a while for the reader to get used to it. But once you do, you'll find the book wouldn't be half as charming if it weren't written this way. It has to be written this way because the protagonist is ill (and what irony, she doesn't believe in Freud and his theories).

What more can I say? I loved Rose, of course, because who wouldn't? She was a genius in her own way. I even liked Elric because he was the male protagonist and there wasn't a brooding bone in his body! The love story was touching and beautiful.

I felt that the book dragged a bit and Briony took too long to figure some things out, but other than that I loved this book (yes, I said it again).

Overall: "Chime" is a delicious book with well-developed characters and a great story. I wouldn't say it's a page-turner, because it's too intricate for that, but it is an excellent read and I recommend it to everyone who likes some magic in their stories. I'll definitely be looking for Franny Billingsley's other books!

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