Ticker Hardcover – December 1, 2014

"Ticker" had so much promise. Just look at that gorgeous cover and the synopsis?! Hello, it screamed at me "PICK ME! READ ME! YOU'LL LOVE ME!" Well, books don't actually talk, except in my head so I guess technically it didn't lie to me.... but...but I really just didn't like this one as much as I thought I would. I went in with my expectations too high. Does that mean I hated it? No, but it could have been so much better.First, the MC was a let down.I really didn't like our main character Penny Farthing, like at all! She's a bit heartless (pun intended) at times. Here's this girl who has a clockwork heart, she's basically beaten and survived against all odds yet she doesn't seem to appreciate it. In fact, I feel like it is totally wasted on her. She lives her life in that whole "carpe diem" style. I don't fault her that, however she takes risks that no sane person would take, let alone a person with failing health! She has a bit of survivor's guilt going on too. The genetic defect only affects the girls of the family, can strike at any time and usually it kills you. Penny lives, her two other sisters are dead, leaving her family in a broken, mourning type state. Penny seems to think she would've been better off dead too.Nic, her twin brother, will do anything, and I do mean ANYTHING to save his sister. He's a bit on the crazy over-protective side and drives her insane. I feel sorry for him because he doesn't understand why Penny can't just act like a normal girl, or at the very least not be a daredevil.Then there's Marcus, the love interest and head of the private army. He's smart and has this brooding sensitivity thing down pat. His character is very at odds with his profession. Don't get me wrong he makes a good general, but it's not him. He's a thinker.And then they all ran in circles.In the first 5-10% of the book, the Farthing's company explodes, the parents are kidnapped, Warwick (the bad guy) escapes from prison, and Nic and Penny receive a ransom letter demanding all their parents' Augmentation (this is what they called people with clockwork upgrades on their person) research. Penny doesn't know who is behind it all and decides to trust no one. However this blows up in her face pretty quickly as she is a girl with a clockwork heart that is on the fritz.Basically all I can tell you without any spoilers is this: Warwick is a crazy lunatic with good intentions gone awry. All he wants is to fix Penny's heart, no matter the cost. I didn't understand his motivation and it isn't revealed until nearly the end of the book so I won't say it here. Although I will say that I think it would've contributed to the story and actually led to me connecting to the characters if it would've been given sooner, like at the beginning. It really wouldn't have ruined the story or taken away from the crazy plot.I had a really hard time connecting with the characters and determining where the book was going due to all the technical jargon and world-building that is thrown in. Personally I like a bit of slow immersion into a world where things are explained as you are introduced to them. If you don't need to know what it is leave it out. However in this book, the first several chapters are inundated with (made-up, at least I'm pretty sure they were) words that I can't pronounce about things I could only dream of. Yes it adds to the dystopian society Penny lives in but it also distracted me from the overall story.But the ending was epic!The final showdown in this book saved it for me. Honestly I was ready to sit this book down at around 40% but I decided to push through it and by 75% I'm glad I did. The story started coming together better for me. The characters were making sense. I even began to connect with Penny on some level.Overall, the writing and world-building were excellent. I may have struggled a bit in the beginning, but the author and characters won me over in the end. If you enjoy young adult, steampunk, science fiction, give this book a go.

When I came across Ticker on Amazon and I was given the chance to participate on the Kindle First program. I am happy I did because Ticker was a lot of fun to read. Ticker is a YA Steampunk filled with adventure, science and witty characters.I enjoyed reading Ticker, the story was fun and entertaining. Penny Farthing is smart, beautiful and hardheaded. Her love for life usually put her in situations not always desired, her heart may be weak but her spirit is strong. The Farthing family suffers from a condition that threatens the women to die at a young age, after Penny's older sister die suddenly during her eighteen birthday Penny knew it was just time before death claimed her too.Penny's way to mourn put her in a precarious situation when her selfish behavior caused her to have an accident and as a consequence her heart gave up. This accident started to unfold a chain of events that would put Penny's life and those around her in great danger. The author gives us a great story, beautifully written and filled with fascinating description of old London. She also portrays the madness behind a scientist and his desire and need to evade and cheat death. His heart once broken by the death of his beloved Dimitria and a promise that would one day bring pain to those he once loved.Mad scientist usually make great villains, that's exactly the case of Calvin Warwick, a scientist whose grieve was deep and maddening enough to send him into a rampage of crime and murder all in the name of science. The action was non-stop, I liked how well and nicely paced the scenes were. The intensity of some of them quite graphic and thrilling. I enjoyed every aspect of this story. The romance though it wasn't greatly developed it was paced nicely. It was not intense or the main focus, but it played an important part on bringing some of the characters together. The characters were well rounded and smart, their interaction and dialog greatly developed and their connection beautifully exploit. The technology and science was nicely explored giving this story a unique and interesting twist. Ticker has all the needed ingredients to make the story interesting, it gives us human interaction, friendship, romance, deceit & forgiveness. All of this makes Ticker a fun and sweet holiday day that you would like to share.Overall, Ticker is a great YA Steampunk that would keep readers entertained. Fans of Kady Cross may find themselves enticed to read Ticker. If you chose to do so, you will not be disappointed.

I like the way th author throws you headlong into a strange world without any explanation . You are expected to learn about this world as you go along. A mechanical world as you may expect from the title. You hurtle , at breakneck speed, straight into the drama with no idea who are the good guys or the bad. This is good . But there comes a point when a big moral dilemma appears. The plot becomes inevitable ; there is only one possible end. The dilemma is not explored in favour of the race to the end and that is a mistake. Factoring in the doubts would have created a tension that is non-existent. Shame.A good read all the same..

I really enjoyed this book. The setting which at first appeared Victorian, then became futuristic. I liked the way the author used the idea of augmentation to create fear. She brought the idea of interfacing man made body parts with living bodies, bringing in this developing area of biomedical engineering into her story.

A highly unusual tale with a almost unique idea at the heart of it. Mechanical machinery and biological human melded, a good man that does bad things or a bad man that does good things and a race against time. I enjoyed reading this book and found it quite different to anything that i had read before. I docked one star only becasue I felt that the end was rushed somewhat. I would be very interested in reading more is if this was the first of a series set in this delightful alternate universe.

An excellent read, my only complaint is that it was too short!It took me less than a day to read, but once started I couldn't put it down. It hurttled along as fast as Penny's bike. Don't let the cover put you off, it's a steam punk novel that actually works and that wasn't bogged down by endless descriptions of mechanical stuff that doesn't exist outside the author's imagination. The balance of information and story was just right.Well worth a read but not sure if I'd pay for a book quite so short.

Wow what a breathtakingly fresh novel! A kind of Heath Robinson-esque world but where modern technology exists - but with a twist! The plot doesn't let up and I could not put it down - more please and soon. I don't know about anyone else, but, throughout my reading of this superb book, I kept seeing the movie of this book starring, in my head, Jonny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Jim Carrey, Cameron Diaz and a cast of other stars. I thought I might need a new heart after I read it - I wonder... tick tick tick tick