The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom

Title: The Time Keeper
Author: Mitch Albom
Pages: 224
Genre: Philosophical, Fantasy, Contemporary, Magical Realism
Book Description:
The inventor of the world's first clock is punished for trying to measure God's greatest gift. He is banished to a cave for centuries and forced to listen to the voices of all who come after him seeking more days, more years. Eventually, with his soul nearly broken, Father Time is granted his freedom, along with a magical hourglass and a mission: a chance to redeem himself by teaching two earthly people the true meaning of time.

He returns to our world - now dominated by the hour-counting he so innocently began - and commences a journey with two unlikely partners: one a teenage girl who is about to give up on life, the other a wealthy old businessman who wants to live forever. To save himself, he must save them both. And stop the world to do so.

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My Opinion:
This novel follows the stories of 3 separate characters that all end up coming together for one reason. Time. We have Sarah, your average teenage nerd who has a huge crush on one of the popular boys in school, Victor who is dying of cancer and Father Time, the man who invented the concept himself.

These characters were the first reason I enjoyed this book so much. They were incredibly well written with vast imagination and I felt so connected to them through out. it was lovely to see them all come together with no intention of meeting just to share their stories and discover the world in a new light.
The only fault I have about the characters is with Sarah. I found her to be very predictable, following closely to the stereotype of nerd in school falls in love with the popular boy. We all know how that goes down.

This novel has a very philosophical concept and many moments in the book I felt myself having to stop and think about what had just been said because it was so abstract and real at the same time. It really has a way of bringing you back to earth and throwing huge themes in your face to remind you of things we do everyday as humans but seem to forget and take for granted, I loved this as I've never read anything following this style nor had such a deep understanding with words on a page.

The story line and the way this was written was insanely good. I enjoyed how the perspectives of the characters switched aimlessly with no pattern, yet it was still clear with speaker was narrating due to the bold font and spaces. At first the story line seemed to follow no order and jumped around between time zones and characters, but soon after a climax occurred after the first 50 pages, everything came together wonderfully. I thought the meeting of the characters was really well crafted and the ending left slightly ambiguously for the reader to decide what happens after.

Overall this was a wonderful novel about unusual concepts and important morals that humans, including myself, take for granted every day. It brought me back to earth with a new insight to time and the world, something not many modern novels offer. Despite Sarah's predictability, the characters were transparent and imaginative, easily connectable and really brought everything amazing from the story together. I would highly recommend this to all readers!

Also, thanks to Jacqui for giving me this book for my birthday. It was insane and I'm so happy to be able to share my love for it with someone who has loved it long before myself!

Favourite Quotes:
(This book is full of thought-provoking quotes so it was so hard to choose a few!)

We all yearn for what we have lost. But sometimes, we forget what we have.

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With endless time, nothing is special. With no loss or sacrifice, we can’t appreciate what we have.

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“Just tell me …” Her voice cracked. “When does it stop hurting?”

“Sometimes never.”

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Knowing something and understanding it were not the same thing.

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A heart weighs more when it splits in two; it crashes in the chest like a broken plane.

Rating ★★★★★

5 out of 5 stars 

 Next book I'm going to review:
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway