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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
Very easy read, and not quite what I was expecting. It really carried the lesson that you should never judge a book by it's cover and you should never assume things, or listen to gossip. This seemed to be an ongoing them in this book, and it was fairly surprising how often it still happened over and over, true to life I guess you could say.
I actually want expecting a murder mystery when I picked it up, but where I normally don't go for that kind of thing, that was actually quite intriguing and totally caught my interest.
And of course there was a little bit of romance, even though it was unresolved, which leave me wondering if there will be a sequel. I have to say, I wouldn't be disappointed if there was!
If you like the Blue is for Nightmares collection, or the Wake series, this book might be right up your alley!
I actually want expecting a murder mystery when I picked it up, but where I normally don't go for that kind of thing, that was actually quite intriguing and totally caught my interest.
And of course there was a little bit of romance, even though it was unresolved, which leave me wondering if there will be a sequel. I have to say, I wouldn't be disappointed if there was!
If you like the Blue is for Nightmares collection, or the Wake series, this book might be right up your alley!
I couldn't put it down it was fun! A mystery that was enjoyable! I finished it in one sitting so it's a super fast read, I was down to 2 people of who the murderer was and I was right with 1 of them! It was enjoyable!
I couldn't put it down it was fun! A mystery that was enjoyable! I finished it in one sitting so it's a super fast read, I was down to 2 people for who the murderer could possibly be and I was right with 1 of them! It was enjoyable but not super amazing... There will be a love triangle and it left me completely hanging and wanting to read the 2nd book! So the author achieved her goal in that aspect! Honestly I think the author could've made this one book instead of however many she is going to write.
However, the thing that I had the most difficulty with was how she got involved in the first place. Apparently when there‘s murder in town, who you gonna call? Why, the local 16 year old psychic. Swallowing the pill of authorities actually roping her in to help (albeit secretly,) was a difficult to do. But once done, I found I enjoyed Clarity and the rest of the story. Clare is that fiery/snarky/spunky character that I like in a book.
Language: heavy
Violence: moderate
Sexual Content: moderate
Drugs/Alcohol: moderate
Overall: I'd be careful with who reads this due to the content but it was a fun fast read...
I couldn't put it down it was fun! A mystery that was enjoyable! I finished it in one sitting so it's a super fast read, I was down to 2 people for who the murderer could possibly be and I was right with 1 of them! It was enjoyable but not super amazing... There will be a love triangle and it left me completely hanging and wanting to read the 2nd book! So the author achieved her goal in that aspect! Honestly I think the author could've made this one book instead of however many she is going to write.
However, the thing that I had the most difficulty with was how she got involved in the first place. Apparently when there‘s murder in town, who you gonna call? Why, the local 16 year old psychic. Swallowing the pill of authorities actually roping her in to help (albeit secretly,) was a difficult to do. But once done, I found I enjoyed Clarity and the rest of the story. Clare is that fiery/snarky/spunky character that I like in a book.
Language: heavy
Violence: moderate
Sexual Content: moderate
Drugs/Alcohol: moderate
Overall: I'd be careful with who reads this due to the content but it was a fun fast read...
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I can't say enough how much I enjoyed this book. I'm planning on using this for a book talk on March 12, 2012. I loved all of the characters, especially Clarity (Clare) and her ditzy mom. I'm excited that this will be a series! A great teen mystery book.
I thought this book was a fun little mystery. The romance angle wasn't overbearing, there was some good action, and the plot was entertaining. I'll be happy to follow this up with "perception."
Loved it! Cant wait for the sequel.
Full review to come.
Full review to come.
This is just your typical, formulatic YA. You have your speshul snowflake of a MC that's better than anyone else in this small town with only small-minded people. She has no friends because she's apparently a freak but also because she's above anyone else. Then there's an asshole, but hot, mate, hot love interest that's, you know, just so HOT, like!!11!!! Then we have cheating ex-boyfriend who just wants to get back with MC and MC starts to consider it because he so sweet!!!! Of course, there's also this slut who's like so slutty because she has SEX, OH MY GOD!!! Not to mention that MC actually slut-shames her own brother because he often has sex. No. Just no. I'm sorry I don't know what people see in this. I tried reading it till the end just because of the mystery, but I ended up skipping the last 100 of pages and seeing who did it. And, to be honest, it didn't surprise me, I kind of expected it.
So yeah, this book did nothing to me. I felt as if I've read it hundreds of times already and maybe I am missing something, but this was just painful to me.
So yeah, this book did nothing to me. I felt as if I've read it hundreds of times already and maybe I am missing something, but this was just painful to me.
I was intriqued the moment they introduced Gabriel. I really loved this novel, I loved the mystery and suspense. Gread Find!
I love teen sleuths. I love teens with paranormal powers. So it’s no wonder that I enjoyed this book combining the two. Yes, the blurb is kind of stupid. I can’t see something like “It’s a gift. And a curse” without thinking of Adrian Monk and snickering; I mean, it’s his trademark line! It’s like trying to use “With great power comes great responsibility” without irony. It can’t be done.
Clarity lives in a Cape Cod island town where tourism is big business, and her family makes their living doing psychic readings. Unlike many tourist traps, though, they’re for real: Clarity uses psychometry to read objects, seeing the past of who held them last, while her brother Perry can talk to the dead and her mother can read thoughts. When a young female tourist is murdered, Clarity’s unique skills as a psychic are in demand, but the case becomes more complicated when she learns that Perry was with the girl on the night she died.
Anyway. So, I must mention Veronica Mars. She's THE teen sleuth to end all teen sleuths. Clarity resembles Veronica in her prickly toughness, her snarkiness, and her resourcefulness. Though she’s psychic, her intelligence and inquisitiveness are just as useful in solving this mystery. She just has a little bit of a psychic edge. She’s no professional like Veronica, but she fits well in the long line of dogged, intrepid teen detectives that precede her. But what really strikes me about the similarity is how they are outsiders in their community. Clarity says right away that she doesn’t really have any friends outside of her brother and her brother’s best friend and (once upon a time) Justin, who is now her ex-boyfriend. She tells herself she’s an outsider because of her paranormal powers, and that’s part of it, sure, but it’s also because she’s unforgiving and stand-offish. She’s always armed to the teeth with witty remarks and righteousness and once you’ve wronged her, you don’t get a second chance. I’m not saying she’s totally at fault for her isolation, because the casual bullying from her peers is real, but I got the feeling that she could make some female friends if she wanted to. That really reminds me of Veronica Mars, whose suspicious nature and taste for revenge is legendary for trumping personal relationships. Though Clarity warms up and becomes more forgiving, especially with her ex Justin, it explains a little bit why her brother, who is frequently described as charming and calming and easy-going, has less trouble at school. (There may also be a male-female double standard thing going, but then, when isn't there? I think in this case self-perception has a lot to do with Clarity's unpopularity versus her brother's popularity.)
Of course, while I’m saying that Clarity reminds me of Veronica, that’s where the resemblance ends. (Don’t worry – my essay on Veronica Mars will never see the light of day! You can thank me later.) This is not a dark, twisty thriller where you can’t trust anyone. Even though this is about multiple murders, it has a light tone and I never worried that anything bad was going to happen to the main characters. The story doesn’t take any risks. But what it does, it does well. It presents several viable suspects for the killings and didn’t take the super-easy way out. (I even fell for one of the red herrings!) It’s fast-paced and there’s a sense of rising stakes; the longer it takes Clarity to solve the mystery, the more in danger everyone is (especially when her brother is finally accused of the crime). The opening sets up the tension right away, and if the reveal of who is pointing the gun at Clarity is a little over the top, I still appreciated not being able to immediately guess who it was going to be.
Still, the villain’s monologuing scene is just that: monologuing. Harrington does such a good job making you suspect various people – all we know is that Clarity recognizes the killer – that it’s kind of disappointing how one-note the killer becomes. Not that I don’t buy their motivations, just that I think we should be past the point where the killer waves a gun around smugly explaining everything in one long info-dump. I know what I’m going to do if I ever become a killer with an evil plan: carry it through as efficiently as possible, with minimal time wasted explaining it to people I intend to kill anyway.
The other problem I had was that I didn’t really buy how Clarity ended up working the case in the first place. Not just because it’s ludicrous that the mayor and the police would ask teenagers to investigate, even if the teenagers are a psychic and the son of the new police detective. (Even though it is. Ludicrous, I mean.) What kills me is they don’t recruit the other members of her family, like Perry, who can talk to ghosts, which might be, I don’t know, useful when people are being murdered. And while I like Clarity’s mother, that’s some seriously hands-off parenting. She seems to know what’s going on the whole time, but she never intercedes in her daughter's investigating.
Finally, I enjoyed how chill the love triangle ended up being. I have no problems with love triangles, as long as they don’t become the main focus on the story, and as long as all three characters are equally well-rounded. Justin, the ex-boyfriend who made a drunken mistake, and Gabriel, the son of the new detective, are both good love interests. They both have baggage that affects Clarity without really being about her: Justin cheated on her, but it’s really more like he was taken advantage of while drunk by a scheming girl; and Gabriel hates psychics because of. Unlike some love triangles, right now I don’t care who Clarity ends up with, because I like both of them and was way more interested in the murder mystery. Happily, in this book, I don’t have to care. I don’t think it’s a cliffhanger that the book ended without Clarity choosing one of the guys; the murder mystery was solved, and that’s what’s important.
This has definite series potential.
Clarity lives in a Cape Cod island town where tourism is big business, and her family makes their living doing psychic readings. Unlike many tourist traps, though, they’re for real: Clarity uses psychometry to read objects, seeing the past of who held them last, while her brother Perry can talk to the dead and her mother can read thoughts. When a young female tourist is murdered, Clarity’s unique skills as a psychic are in demand, but the case becomes more complicated when she learns that Perry was with the girl on the night she died.
Anyway. So, I must mention Veronica Mars. She's THE teen sleuth to end all teen sleuths. Clarity resembles Veronica in her prickly toughness, her snarkiness, and her resourcefulness. Though she’s psychic, her intelligence and inquisitiveness are just as useful in solving this mystery. She just has a little bit of a psychic edge. She’s no professional like Veronica, but she fits well in the long line of dogged, intrepid teen detectives that precede her. But what really strikes me about the similarity is how they are outsiders in their community. Clarity says right away that she doesn’t really have any friends outside of her brother and her brother’s best friend and (once upon a time) Justin, who is now her ex-boyfriend. She tells herself she’s an outsider because of her paranormal powers, and that’s part of it, sure, but it’s also because she’s unforgiving and stand-offish. She’s always armed to the teeth with witty remarks and righteousness and once you’ve wronged her, you don’t get a second chance. I’m not saying she’s totally at fault for her isolation, because the casual bullying from her peers is real, but I got the feeling that she could make some female friends if she wanted to. That really reminds me of Veronica Mars, whose suspicious nature and taste for revenge is legendary for trumping personal relationships. Though Clarity warms up and becomes more forgiving, especially with her ex Justin, it explains a little bit why her brother, who is frequently described as charming and calming and easy-going, has less trouble at school. (There may also be a male-female double standard thing going, but then, when isn't there? I think in this case self-perception has a lot to do with Clarity's unpopularity versus her brother's popularity.)
Of course, while I’m saying that Clarity reminds me of Veronica, that’s where the resemblance ends. (Don’t worry – my essay on Veronica Mars will never see the light of day! You can thank me later.) This is not a dark, twisty thriller where you can’t trust anyone. Even though this is about multiple murders, it has a light tone and I never worried that anything bad was going to happen to the main characters. The story doesn’t take any risks. But what it does, it does well. It presents several viable suspects for the killings and didn’t take the super-easy way out. (I even fell for one of the red herrings!) It’s fast-paced and there’s a sense of rising stakes; the longer it takes Clarity to solve the mystery, the more in danger everyone is (especially when her brother is finally accused of the crime). The opening sets up the tension right away, and if the reveal of who is pointing the gun at Clarity is a little over the top, I still appreciated not being able to immediately guess who it was going to be.
Still, the villain’s monologuing scene is just that: monologuing. Harrington does such a good job making you suspect various people – all we know is that Clarity recognizes the killer – that it’s kind of disappointing how one-note the killer becomes. Not that I don’t buy their motivations, just that I think we should be past the point where the killer waves a gun around smugly explaining everything in one long info-dump. I know what I’m going to do if I ever become a killer with an evil plan: carry it through as efficiently as possible, with minimal time wasted explaining it to people I intend to kill anyway.
The other problem I had was that I didn’t really buy how Clarity ended up working the case in the first place. Not just because it’s ludicrous that the mayor and the police would ask teenagers to investigate, even if the teenagers are a psychic and the son of the new police detective. (Even though it is. Ludicrous, I mean.) What kills me is they don’t recruit the other members of her family, like Perry, who can talk to ghosts, which might be, I don’t know, useful when people are being murdered. And while I like Clarity’s mother, that’s some seriously hands-off parenting. She seems to know what’s going on the whole time, but she never intercedes in her daughter's investigating.
Finally, I enjoyed how chill the love triangle ended up being. I have no problems with love triangles, as long as they don’t become the main focus on the story, and as long as all three characters are equally well-rounded. Justin, the ex-boyfriend who made a drunken mistake, and Gabriel, the son of the new detective, are both good love interests. They both have baggage that affects Clarity without really being about her: Justin cheated on her, but it’s really more like he was taken advantage of while drunk by a scheming girl; and Gabriel hates psychics because of
Spoiler
something that happened in the investigation of his missing sister (yeah, I think that’ll come back in the next book)This has definite series potential.
Good effort on a debut novel. I like strong snarky female main characters so I hope the follow up flows better and that Clare doesn't act like such a whore.