Review – The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Historical Fiction
Length: 240 pages
Publisher: Hachette Books
Release Date: September 4, 2012
ISBN-13: 978-1401322786
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Gift
Rating: 3/5 stars

“In Mitch Albom’s exceptional work of fiction, 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.”

This was a quick and okay read. The concept behind this was interesting. I enjoyed the story of how Father Time was created. The majority of the book follows two people: an old wealthy man with cancer who is trying to figure out how to be immortal and a young girl with a crush that’s not returned who wants to die. Father Time is sent to the present time to help both them and himself.

This is a very straight-forward and easy read. There are a lot underlying messages about how society is structured around time and how much that has changed things. Additionally, there is a lot of discussion about how people view that time and what they do with it.

I personally thought the story was heavy handed, especially towards the end. When you find out why this old man and young girl are so important it was just too much. I actually rolled my eyes; I mean come on…you can’t get much more predictable than that.

Overall this was an okay read. It’s an easy and quick read but I didn’t find the ideas explored here to be all that new or exciting. I did like the history of Father Time. The story ended up being a bit too heavy handed and predictable for me. In the end, for me, it was a fairly forgettable read.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Goodreads Reading Challenge
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge