I feel like I need to re-read this to see what all the hype is about and why it's won so many awards. It took me several starts and I just couldn't get into the book even as I was reading it. I just found I kept waiting for something to happen and I don't feel I got full explanations. It's great writing though and descriptions are good. ( )

A uniquely fascinating book. Still thinking about it after a week. The writing style was difficult to get used to and I wasn't sure I really liked the book at first. The language is beautiful, descriptions vivid, and characters interesting, but it took me about half the book to really feel connected to them. It was worth the effort. Everything pulls together at the end and the twists and turns are unpredictable. ( )

This one took some getting into -- the language is eccentric and the story line a bit wandering. On the whole, I liked it, although it is uncomfortable to read a character who loathes herself so much. ( )

Hmmmm. I didn't know if I really liked this one or not until I got about halfway in. It was really hard to get into--the language was very odd and the main character prickly and unlikeable. It wasn't until later that I realized she was supposed to be unreliable. I did end up guessing some of the mystery early on but I kept with it just to see the full resolution. ( )

Briony is not like other girls, the things she has done, the secrets she is hiding. Her sister Rose also has her fair share of secrets despite what people may think of her. Rose is special, different, people may look at her and think her simple, but they don't know her. They don't know that underneath she is perceptive and bright, they don't know that there is a reason Rose is the way she is and that reason is Briony.

Briony has done things, wicked things, things she is not proud of but being a witch wicked things will happen. When a flood swept through her home, when a fire destroyed her library it was all her doing, as is what comes next. Even though in some ways Briony's life has changed, including the arrival of Eldric, nothing can save Briony from being what she is, a murderess and a witch.

Chime Child offers the only hope of saving Briony from the gallows, but a witch has no chance of survival. Briony is a girl lost in who she believes she is and who she wants to be, as she struggles with her identity she also struggles to find a place where she belongs. This is a story of a girl that subtly blends Old Ones, danger and love in an engrossing tale of mysteries, memories and murder. A uniquely memorable and thoroughly enjoyable tale that is a must read. ( )