Berls
Written on Apr 16, 2021
A girl with a clockwork heart makes every second count.When Penny Farthing nearly died, the brilliant surgeon Calvin Warwick managed to implant a brass “Ticker,” transforming her into “the first of the Augmented!” But soon it was discovered that Warwick kidnapped and killed dozens of people striving to perfect another Ticker for Penny. The last day of Warwick’s trial, the Farthing factory is bombed, Warwick disappears, and Penny and her brother, Nic, receive a ransom demand for all of their Augmentation notes if they want to see their parents again. Who is trying to stop their work? Or to control it? Or is the motive more sinister?Determined to solve the mystery and reunite their family, the Farthings recruit their closest friends: fiery baker Violet Nesselrode and gentleman-about-town Sebastian Stirling. Unexpectedly leading the charge is Marcus Kingsley, the young army general who has his own reasons for wanting to lift the veil between this world and the next. Wagers are placed, friends are lost, romance stages an ambush, and time is running out for the girl with the clockwork heart.
- ISBN10 1477825282
- ISBN13 9781477825280
- Publish Date 1 December 2014
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Publisher Amazon Publishing
- Imprint Skyscape
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 280
- Language English
Reviews
Joséphine
Written on Jun 6, 2015
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.
ellieroth
Written on May 15, 2015
Angie
Written on Feb 1, 2015
Ticker has a lot of amazing ideas, but overall, I found the world building quite confusing. There's a lot of terms and names thrown around without much explanation. There are things that are pretty self explanatory given the context, but for many others, I just couldn't figure out how they worked or how they looked. For example, there's these awesome devices known as RiPAs. They're like Steampunk cellphones, except I have no clue what they look like or how they send/receive messages despite Penny always using hers! At first it seemed like she just has it strapped to her garter and it uses something like Morse code, since she always "taps out" a message, and never seems to reach for it when sending/receiving a message. But then there's a larger version of one somewhere which displays text (144 characters to be exact), so I just didn't get it, even though it was a super cool idea! But back to the point, a lot of the people, places, and things aren't described well enough for me to understand the world.
The plot of Ticker was alright. Penny and company are trying to rescue her kidnapped parents and put a stop to the mad doctor, but I never felt any excitement or tension. Stuff is just happening. I was also really annoyed with Penny since she mentions that her heart is going to give out at any moment, and yet she continues to engage in activities that put a strain on her heart until someone is like "Hey, are you okay? Maybe you should stop." Why doesn't she just stop on her own or ask for help? It's not like it's any secret that her clockwork heart is failing. Or she could, ya know, go see the doctor who wants to fix it for her. I know he's crazy, but let him fix it! Incapacitate him, and then take your parents back! Duh!
Ticker just didn't work for me. I wanted to love it, but between the boring plot and confusing terminology for everything, I just couldn't get into it.
Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.
celinenyx
Written on Dec 26, 2014
If you're looking for a quick and fun romp through a steampunk world, Ticker is your book. It's easy to get into, and it's filled to the brim with the most unlikely steam-powered gadgets someone can think up. Some items include augmented body parts, mechanical beetles that crawl into your ear and mind-control a person, a flying army base, boxes that hold cake that open after a certain amount of time so your appetite won't get spoiled, and, weirdly, mechanical butterflies that are collectible. In a way the world is rather shallow. Most of it is shown through name-dropping, and hardly any attention is spend on explaining how something like it would actually work. Ticker has very little science - which is a good thing for people that aren't used to steampunk and just want to read a good story. My only gripe with the world was the fact that there are apparently mechanical butterflies flying around that can be collected. Why? WHY?
Ticker reads like one endless adventure. There is hardly any downtime between plot points, and the downtime that is there, is used for character development. It's very much plot-driven and things just keep happening. It helps that the book is on the short side, so there is no time to get burned out. The plot twists are never too out there that it's hard to keep track of what's happening - many scenes involve fighting, running away, or tracking other leads.
My biggest complaint is that I didn't find the main premise interesting or gripping enough to fully get into Ticker. Penny's Ticker is showing signs of doing quits (which would result in her dying), and meanwhile the villain escapes from prison, her parents get kidnapped, she gets betrayed twice, she falls in love with an army guy. Add explosions and motorbike chases, and you have this book. It all seemed rather bombastic to me, and I felt very little for the main character's problems. I can hardly blame the book for having a love interest, but it did make me shake my head. Truly, when all of this is happening, why is she falling in love again? It didn't distract from the plot all that much, it even moved the plot along. I just wish YA books existed where the main character doesn't fall in love.
If you like gadgets, chases, action, combined with some family drama and a smidgen of romance, Ticker might be the perfect book for you.
lizarodz
Written on Dec 11, 2014
It breaks my heart to see so many one-two stars reviews for this book and a whole bunch of DNFs. I think Ticker is just misunderstood. Let me start with this:
According to Wikipedia:
Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction and fantasy literature and art that commonly features some aspect of steam-powered machinery, especially in a setting inspired by industrialized Western civilization during the 19th century. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the 19th century’s British Victorian era or American “Wild West”…
That being said, I happen to love steampunk, in fact is one of my favorite things to read. Jules Verne and more recently, Gail Carriger, Scott Westerfeld and Cassandra Clare are some authors that have delved in this unique genre. I understand that it’s not for everyone, but I found Ticker to be steampunk at its best. Let me count the ways I love thee Ticker:
1. Penny is a great character (the overall characterization is outstanding, by the way.) She has a clockwork heart –thus the “ticker” part – that was a prototype and never intended to pump blood or her forever. Crazy doctor Calvin Warwick went bat crazy after that and she’s running out of time. BUT instead of being a proper lady and expect for death lying down, she does the complete opposite. She’s brave, rash, unexpected, smart, pragmatic, adventurous, and just awesome!
“Life is short, so I’m going to have dessert whenever possible.”
2. The rest of the entourage of characters is equally good. Nic, Penny’s twin brother is the only one in the Farthing family not plagued with a heart condition, he is fiercely loyal and would do anything for his sister. Violet is not only Penny’s best friend and Nic’s girlfriend, but a fearless baker. Sebastian is the sarcastic and business smart friend of the family. Even Warwick with all his craziness makes a great villain.
“Apparently,” I said softly, “all it takes for us to get along is two explosions and a double kidnapping.”
3. Marcus Kingsley is a young general in charge of the biggest private army in the land. He doesn’t necessarily wants to be in that positon, but does the best he cans for the greater good. He’s Penny’s love interest, even when she doesn’t want him to be. It is awesome to see how these two beat around the bush from each other, sparks fly! It’s a battle of wits that is so much fun to watch ;)
“My dearest Miss Farthing, will you do me the unutterable honor of wearing this cheap bit of metal that will most likely turn your finger green, pretending to love and honor me as your husband for the purposes of subterfuge and stratagem?”
4. The plot of the story is really good. It seems like our bad guy is always one step ahead and Penny and company can’t catch up. It is non-stop action, mysteries, kidnappings, poisonings and explosions galore!
5. The setting and world building is outstanding! It seems like we are reading about Victorian England all the time but countries are different. Feminism is a given, men and women are created equal. Women are in the military, have jobs, own property. Mechanical spiders, flying machines, RiPAs, SkyDarts, mediums and more. There is no “paranormal” elements, other than their believe in ghosts.
6. The writing is thought provoking, so funny and unexpected. I swear that Penny gets herself in some strange and hilarious situations for sure. However, all is not fun and games. One of the biggest questions asked of the reader is: how far is too far to go when saving someone’s life? How much of the human being can be replaced by machine and still be called ‘human’?
Overall, Ticker was a great read for me. As I said before, it is a great addition to the steampunk ranks. I loved the mix of old and now, of technology and the lack thereof, I feel in love with the characters and the mystery. I wish Ticker was the first in a series, I could read many more adventures about Penny and company.