Name: Chime
ISBN: 9780803735521

Franny Billingsley

In the early twentieth century in Swampsea, seventeen-year-old Briony, who can see the spirits that haunt the marshes around their town, feels responsible for her twin sister's horrible injury until a young man enters their lives and exposes secrets that even Briony does not know about.

Chime

In the early 20th century in Swampsea, 17-year-old Briony, who can see the spirits that haunt the marshes around their town, feels responsible for her twin sister's horrible injury until a young man enters their lives and exposes secrets that even Briony does not know about.

Monicap

REALLY GOOD BOOK. It took me over a day to read, which, to anyone who knows me, is going, "WHAT?!?!?!?" cuz during the summer I can read 2-3 books in a day, but this took a while.

we start with the character Briony, who HATES herself because she thinks she's a witch. the story actually starts at the end and then jumps to the beginning, which is something I usually find annoying, but it made sense in this book. Anyway, Briony hates herself and then we meet this dude named Eldric and he she become best friends and such, and then every few pages she's like: 'I must remember to hate myself, and this is why.'

I really wish I knew which century this book was based in, because it's not this century, probably not even the last century, but that's as far as I could narrow it down. 

anyway, as the story goes on she and Eldric develop a relationship that's either they're best friends, or in love, or both, or not both. It's very weird, but it makes sense.

Briony's life consists of her father, whom she hates because three years earlier he distanced himself from her, her sister and her stepmother. her stepmother died a couple months prior to the beginning of the book, and Briony obviously blames herself for it. And her twin sister, Rose, is crazy, which Briony also blames herself for, because of an incident when they were seven having to do with a swing. 

there's also the swamp. All manner of strange creatures called 'Old Ones' lurk in the swamp. There are different types of 'Old Ones' and one type in particular is important to the story.

the title 'Chime' comes from the Chime Child, who's not a child at all but is called such for a reason I could not ascertain. The Chime Child is part Old One, described as having one foot in the world of the Old Ones and one foot in the normal world. the Chime Child is like this becuase she was born at the 'mirk and midnight hour' or at midnight, not on one day or the other, or both. 

as I said, very confusing.

but still good.

to anyone who likes paranormal romance but is sick and tired of vampires and werewolves, I recommend this book.

Vicky  Nuñez 

This book amazed. There is truly nothing out there like it.

The story was sublime & it keeps you on your toes, revealing its intricacies until the end. I only regret how sporadic my time reading it was. It wasn't until only halfway through that did I allowed myself to truly enjoy it. Nevertheless, it was a great read that I hope to reread in the future.

Janice Hopper

While I've liked everything I've read by Franny Billingsley, this is my least favorite. Not that it's bad, mind you. But her work is starting to feel a little... formulaic, maybe? Which would be a great shame, because Ms. Billingsly has a real knack for inventing interesting female characters. 

But they shouldn't ALWAYS need to end up with a handsome husband.

Caterina P.

Franny Billingsley, a debut author, wrote the novel Chime. Chime is set in a time like the Salem witch trials, a wonderful time to set books, if you can do it right. Billingsley did not, by any means do it right. Billingsley's novel Chime is supposed to be a fantasy, mystery, with a dash of horror. The "mystery" was not weather or not the main character, Briony, was a witch but what would happen to her and what the horrors are. I'm sorry but an author cannot terrify me by saying "The horrors are going to get you!" instead they leave me pondering, what are the horrors? what kind of creatures are they? Billingsley never took the time to properly introduce the story, the characters, or the horrors. Franny Billingsley, never even discussed the setting; yes she clarified the names of things in the town but where was the town? Is it in a fictional place or set somewhere in America. I truly hope the novel is set in a fictional land, because if not it only makes it that much worse. It was almost as if she tried to hard. Chime has tremendous potential, I can feel it, but Billingsley published her novel to early. Maybe a few more drafts would have helped. On a scale of Stephenie Meyer to J.K Rowling *scale at bottom* I would have to say Franny Billingsley is between Meg Cabot and Lauren Myracle. Although my review is horrible I truly hope that Billingsley keeps cranking out novels. Through time, her writing will evolve into something great, I can feel it!

If you don't know my scale here it is 
J.K Rowling(Being the greatest) 
Christopher Paolini(Exceptionally Good) 
John Green (Really good) 
Meg Cabot (Sloppy but okay) 
Lauren Myracle(I couldn't think of anything and there is no plot. BAD. Really Bad.) 
Stephenie Meyer(ALL AROUND DREADFUL)

Amanda Kordeliski

I listened to the audio version of this book. It is a very unusual book told in a very unusual way. The story of Briony Larkin begins with her asking to be hanged and pleading guilty to...something. The story then flashes back and starts where Briony believes is the "beginning" of the story. Briony is a self-loathing character who is very hard to identify with and become invested in. I was very impatient with the slow pace of the story and of the denseness of the characters. The writing is overly flowery and extraordinarily descriptive.

The story is a unique one and despite the fact I didn't care for Briony I had to keep listening to the tale. This book will work for the students in my library who love the high fantasy and steampunk stories but will only keep the attention of the more patient readers to the end.

Jeni Enjaian

I absolutely loved this book and wished that I'd had a chance to write this review as soon as I'd finished. I read this book as an audiobook and it was fantastic. The narrator did a brilliant job personifying each character. For example, I can't imagine that I would have perceived Rose as clearly as the narrator portrayed her. In fact, it was the narration that kept me hooked into the book when I grew frustrated at Briony's self-hated. Actually, it was the narration and the absolutely brilliant wordplay by Ms. Billingsly that kept me going. The word pictures she created were so beautiful.
The ending (which I will not give away) resolved any lingering issues I had with Briony's self-hatred. It also clarified earlier confusion. I loved this book, a pleasant surprise, and highly recommend it.

Faith Collins

Reviewed for Blue Egg Books.

Guys, this book was INTENSE. Every single bit of it. At first, I had no clue what was going on; I felt pretty left out in terms of the paranormal elements but quickly caught on. This is a must-read for any paranormal fan but I'll be honest, this isn't a happy book. It's not uplifting, it's not a fun summer read but it's gooooddd. 


First things first- Billingsley gets a giant gold star for her incredible writing. Honestly, her words were downright beautiful and lept off the page. I couldn't put this book down for various reasons but her writing was certainly to blame. Let this book be proof that YA books don't have to showcase craptastic writing! 


Writing aside, Billingsley knows how to world-build. The plot was entirely original, the setting was immersive, and there was an awesome plot twist. I'm a sucker for plot twists. The characters were convincing and Eldric was to die for. 


The kinda-sorta romance between Briony and Eldric was perfect. It kept me on my toes; I had no idea what the end of the book would hold for them. In general, I found very little predictable about Chime which is quite refreshing in light of so many other YA books I've read. Cliche, I know, but I was REALLY on the edge of my seat with this book.

What I didn't like about this book was how seriously emotional and intense it was. Remember when "being Emo" was cool? Briony embodies the early 2000s trend and then some. Girl is seriously emotionally unstable. There's a whole slew of self-hatred, emotional troubles going on and, I'll be honest, it kinda got me down. I know her demons are what fueled the book but whew! This book is again not something you can just pick up and expect to just breeze through unscathed. Her mentally challenged sister really got to me at certain points and Briony sometimes needed a good slap. It is a wonderful showcase of emotional abuse and I might even venture to say that some elements could be a trigger for some people.


{Don't worry, Eldric was perfect, ladies.}


Overall, Chime was an incredible piece of YA paranormal/fantasy. Everything was clearly well thought out and explored. The characters were dynamic, the plot had me eager for more, and the writing style was purely incredible. It didn't get the coveted 5 egg ranking simply because it was a little too much for me and I'm not sure how many people would really enjoy this book. 


I would recommend this to serious YA paranormal fans but probably not to your average one. Like I said, this aint no beach read! That said, I'd keep this book in my high school classroom but only recommend it for students who could handle the emotional intensity of it.

Chime

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