Not my cup of tea.
It's all about the ambience, and I didn't care that much for the ambience.

It's a bit of a genre-blend, but more fantasy than SF. ( )

I have to say that The Time Roads by Beth Bernobich is a DNF book for me. It's my nomination for the Worst Book of the Year award. I forced myself through 50 pages before I moved on to my next review book.
The first thing that annoyed me was the use of names that have so many letters and accent marks they were nearly impossible to pronounce. They seem Celtic in origin, but I'm not sure. Regardless, it jars the reader every time a name is stumbled over.

I was further annoyed at the repetition of a character's whole name every time he was mentioned, even when the main character was thinking about him. I understand why she used his whole name in their interactions since she is the Queen, and he's her bodyguard. However, we're supposed to believe that she's enamored by him (more about that next), so why the whole name in her thoughts? If you do decide to read this book, make it more interesting by taking a drink every time you read "Aidrean Ó Deághaidh". You might get drunk enough to enjoy the book.

Next, the "love interests". Yes, there is more than one. First, she falls in love with her bodyguard. It's not explained other than as time passed he was loyally at her side, and she's suddenly in love with him. However, she couldn't possibly take him as a lover because he's a servant. This happens over approximately 2 pages. Even if I could get past the "forbidden love" trope, I could never get over the vagueness and absence of a reason for falling in love. The second love interest happens even more suddenly with even less explanation. One moment she's talking to her scientist about his experiments, and the next they're ferociously making out in his laboratory in front of his assistants. I was so stunned that I went back a couple pages to reread because I thought surely I had missed something. No, I didn't miss anything, not even a look of longing or a flirtatious comment from either one of them.

Somehow I continued to read, in the hopes that it would just as suddenly get better, but no joy. I can't recommend this book to anyone. I've read trashy paperback romances better than this book.
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I adored the world-building, the steampunk aspects, the math, and the kingdom of Eire. The braided stories were interesting, and I did like the ending that tied everything together, but I also felt that just as I was truly enjoying something the scene/time/place would totally change. (Provided by publisher) ( )

A different kind of "Steampunk" novel, incorporating alternate history, romance, time travel, and an Irish Empire ruled by a young queen. The time period covered is 1896-1914, so this is basically a different perspective on the run-up of events prior to World War I. It is an interesting novel, with strong characters, especially the lead female protagonist, but a bit on the predictable side. Even so, it is an enjoyable novel. ( )

Throughout reading this book , I had the impression that it was a debut novel, and came away with the impression that, for all its clunkiness, it showed promise. I initially slid up from my 'more-like-2.5-stars' impression to 3. However, I've just noticed that it is not a debut; the author has half-a-dozen other books to her name... so I'm sliding back down to 2.

The novel is in three distinct sections. (Technically, four, but the middle two 'felt' like one, to me.) The first is quite short, and is from the perspective of the young, soon-to-be-Queen of the Empire of Éire, Áine Devereaux. The set-up feels like that of a typical romance, introducing a love triangle. Áine meets and is instantly attracted to a dashing blond inventor, Breandan Ó Cuilinn, who seeks royal patronage for his research into time fractures; but she also soon has sparks flying with her dark and handsome personal bodyguard Aidrean Ó Deághaidh. [I have to admit, I found myself reading the names as Ann, Brendan, and Adrian O'Day.]
My initial reaction was, "Oh, I didn't realize this was a romance."

Well, it's not. Soon enough, a science-experiment-related accident has taken Brendan out of the picture, and the narrative focus switches mostly over to O'Day. He's been re-assigned by Queen Ann (ok, it's actually pronounced 'Anya') to investigate the serial murders of several brilliant college students - many of whose field of expertise seems to relate in some way to the 'time roads' and 'time fractures' that Brendan was working on, before his disappearance. There may also be a connection to terrorist plots having to do with 'The Matter of Anglia' (yes, here England is the disgruntled colony, not Ireland). Things start exploding...both literally and figuratively.

In this section, I think many fans of alternate history would get very frustrated. A politically complex Europe is introduced here, but we don't get any of the background into why and how this timeline got to where they are. Why does the Queen of Eire have a French (or 'Frankonian') name, for example? How did Ireland come to ascendance at all? Why do the various countries bear grudges against the empire? It's hard to enjoy unraveling a mystery and a plot when elements are just introduced randomly: "Oh, well, it could be the Anatolian terrorists!" (What Anatolian terrorists? Never heard of them before!)

In addition, the time experiments seem to have introduced 'fractures' into this timeline, which is an interesting idea, but in practice makes for a further element of confusion. Characters start "remembering" events that didn't happen... or did they? Or are they insane? Did certain murders happen at all? Even at the end of the book, it hasn't all been fully clarified...

The third section brings us back to the Queen, and the main plot points do all get wrapped up. Thankfully, the Queen has definitely matured over time. The reader doesn't actually see it happening, but she's become a believable leader, rather than a moony-eyed teenager.

Overall, there's definitely some fun adventure here, some colorful, appealing characters.. but the worldbuilding and pacing needed some work, in my opinion.

Copy provided by NetGalley - many thanks for the opportunity to read. As always (and obviously) my opinion is my own, and unaffected by the source.
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