Book Tour, Review & Giveaway: Farsighted



Farsighted by Emily Chand
March 15, 2012
Blue Crown Press
Source: Kindle Purchase

Goodreads Summary:

Alex Kosmitoras's life has never been easy. The only other student who will talk to him is the school bully, his parents are dead broke and insanely overprotective, and... oh yeah, he's blind.

Just when he thinks he'll never have a shot at a normal life, an enticing new girl comes to their small Midwest town all the way from India. Simmi is smart, nice, and actually wants to be friends with Alex. Plus she smells like an Almond Joy bar. Sophomore year might not be so bad after all.

Alex is in store for another new arrival—an unexpected and often embarrassing ability to "see" the future. Try as he may, Alex is unable to ignore his visions, especially when they suggest Simmi is in mortal danger.

With the help of the mysterious psychic next door and friends who come bearing gifts of their own, Alex embarks on his journey to change the future.

My Review:

This book really intrigued me with its premise to follow the main POV of Alex, a blind high school sophomore boy. I love a good male POV book, so I enjoyed being in Alex's head, hearing his thoughts and internal struggles. But I also liked that he was blind, yet with special abilities, so everything we "saw" was through his experience and interpretation, combining his blindness with his special "gifts." I loved seeing through his smells and other senses.

Another nice aspect of this book is the ethnic and cultural diversity of its characters. Even though Alex can't "see" his friends, we are still able to interpret how they may look, and get a sense of their backgrounds through the dialogue and Alex's descriptions of smells and sounds. Simmi and Shapri are great integrations into the story, bringing their own unique personalities. I love that we will be getting to know them even more in future books.

Through the story we not only get to know what this "gift" is that Alex has, but also how this "gift" plays out with those around him and what their "gifts" are. Ms. Chand did a good job pacing the book and revealing things to the reader to keep us interested in the story and wanting to read more, but not revealing everything too quickly. She kept my interest until the very end, holding her cards close, and keeping me guessing.

While I enjoyed the character interactions throughout the novel, I also found that Alex got on my nerves at times. But I think that probably has something to do with what will happen with him in future books. Thus, I appreciate that he's not a perfect character - actually, none of them are. The teenagers act like, well, teenagers. They don't act perfectly, and they are not perfect looking. I liked the realism about them, despite the extraordinary abilities that they have. Farsighted is a great start to what feels like a fascinating series so far. I look forward to continuing on with Open Heart.

4 STARS

 

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About the Author:

 

Emlyn Chand emerged from the womb with a fountain pen clutched in her left hand (true story). When she's not writing, she runs a large book club in Ann Arbor and is the president of author PR firm Novel Publicity Best known for her Young Adult novels, she is also developing a small, but devoted, following to her children's book series and is beginning to dabble in other genres as well. Emlyn enjoys connecting with readers and is available via almost every social media site in existence. Visit www.emlynchand.com for more info. Don't forget to say "hi" to her sun conure Ducky!