Farsighted (Farsighted 1) (Farsighted)

by Emlyn Chand

[violetpeanut]

I was really excited to read this book. The whole idea of the main character being blind was original and I couldn't wait to see how the author would pull it off. I was also interested in seeing how all of these "powers" would come into play. After the onslaught of vampires, fairies and witches in YA lit recently, it was nice to read something different in the paranormal genre. There was a lot that I really loved about this book, but there were some things that I didn't really like.

The book is written in first-person from the point of view of the main character, Alex. He just so happens to be blind. He attends a regular high school where he is an outcast and at home he has a mom who is loving and means well but is a little bit clueless and a dad who is distant. I was immediately drawn in to Alex's world. What would it be like to experience the world without your sight? All of Alex's other senses are heightened. Especially his sense of smell. We are introduced to the world through Alex's senses. We know what each character smells like. We know how certain people sound when they walk. We learn how to gauge a person's reaction by subtle clues in their movement and body language. We really have no idea what any of the characters look like, but we know what they each smell like. I loved that looks really had nothing to do with any of Alex's interactions and relationships. It was a fascinating way to experience the story and I loved it.

The general storyline kept me interested and wanting to know more. I wasn't totally riveted and didn't feel compelled to finish in one sitting but I did enjoy it. Alex begins to develop a "gift" where he sees glimpses of the future - and they all involve the horrific death of his friend (or maybe more?), Simmi. His other new friends develop powers as well and they start on a quest to stop Simmi's death from happening. Although this general storyline is not altogether original, it was fun to read. There were a couple of points during the story where I felt things could have been explained better.

My issues with the story really come with the character interactions and the character development. I didn't think all of the dialogue was entirely believable, and in some cases was downright silly. Alex's parents in particular didn't come off as authentic. His dad almost has a split personality between the first and second halves of the book. Although the plot attempts to explain this, I wasn't really satisfied with how that all worked out. His mom seems completely clueless and comes off as an airhead until the end when she all-of-a-sudden knows everything. What? That definitely didn't seem realistic to me. I also didn't feel like any of the characters developed beyond what they were in the beginning of the story. Powers develop, relationships develop, but the characters themselves seemed a little bit two-dimensional to me. Part of that may be because we are experiencing the story entirely through Alex with no insight into the thoughts or feelings of the other characters. Future books in the series are written from the POV of other characters so we'll see how they all develop as the series continues.

Overall, I enjoyed this one. I would recommend this one to fans of paranormal who are looking for something other than vampires, werewolves and fairies. It's clean and there are some sweet teenage moments. There are also some cool powers and while I wasn't completely blown away, I was entertained and look forward to reading the next book in the series, Open Heart.