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3.25 AVERAGE
3.25 AVERAGE
This book was so good! There was a wide spectrum of characters, some I hated, some I loved, some in between, and they all developed nicely!
This was a nice roller coaster thrill ride, with a cute romance, but there was just not enough closure with Tricia's situation.
Also, I went through the whole book not sure if a specific character was a guy or a girl. So that was interesting.
All in all, good book!
This was a nice roller coaster thrill ride, with a cute romance, but there was just not enough closure with Tricia's situation.
Also, I went through the whole book not sure if a specific character was a guy or a girl. So that was interesting.
All in all, good book!
3.5 stars: Not a lot of surprises in this suspense novel. Pretty heavy on the romance and a little too predictable. The protagonists struggle with her disability was well presented. Overall, it was a good, quick read, recommended to teen girls who enjoy a quick paced story.
This book was hard to get into at first, but once I got into I was glued. Took many twists and turns and definitely kept me guessing till the end. Thanks for a great quick read!
I'm just going to come out with it: This book made me angry. Like, throw-the-book-across-the-room-and-glare-at-it angry. But, in an effort to calm myself, I'll start with what I actually liked about Blind Spot.
The main character, Roz, suffers from macular degeneration, leaving her legally blind. She constantly struggles to make up for this deficit as she maneuvers her way through high school, but her eyesight is, unsurprisingly, always on her mind, making her self-conscious and lowering her self-esteem. Constantly frustrated from feeling helpless and out of her element in many situation while still wanting to be able to handle everything herself and without help, Roz has a tendency to jump to conclusions and snap at those around her, even those with the best intentions. This aspect of the novel felt very realistic to me. My younger sister was born with glaucoma and I think she'd identify closely with Roz. I can't say what goes on inside my sister's head, but I do know how she reacted to things when she was in high school and, from my point of view, Roz had similar reactions and thoughts. In the novel, Roz points out that people don't realize how poor her vision is and are constantly asking why she doesn't just get glasses. She can't drive and isn't able to play sports because she's a liability. These are all things my sister struggled with. Also like Roz, my sister could be a bit angry. She didn't like wearing her glasses, which improved her vision but left her feeling dorky and unattractive (which is not fun for anyone, let alone a high school-aged girl), and new situations were extremely stressful because she couldn't see to figure things out.
This is where the similarities between my sister and Roz end, right along with my positive feelings regarding Blind Spot. My biggest issue? I absolutely loathed all of the characters. Okay, that might be a bit dramatic... there were a few secondary characters that weren't mentioned enough to warrant such strong feelings. Still, when I can't stand any of the main characters, it makes it hard to want to keep reading. I just felt like I couldn't escape the negativity! I feel like I'm uniquely qualified to understand and handle Roz and her moodiness, but her self-centeredness and hurtful ways pushed me over the edge. The teachers, the police, Roz's friends, her mother, her boyfriend: all horrible, mean people motivated by self-interest and unwilling to see things from any point of view other than their own. I know it's a strong word, but I was truly disgusted. Realistically, I know that there are people like this in real life, people that let power go to their head, etc, etc, but to have an entire novel populated with them was too much for me. I will say that I actually did enjoy the character Tricia, but she's dead from the first page, so it's hard to tell if my positive feelings would have lasted. Tricia, however, was the only character who, though monumentally messed up, actually seemed to do some genuinely nice, even protective, things for Roz without expecting anything in return.
I have to admit though, I don't really know whether my strong negative feelings were necessarily a bad thing. Yes, I said I was disgusted and unhappy and wanted to stop reading, BUT I didn't. And I keep telling everyone about this book and the messed up characters... So maybe the author, Laura Ellen, meant for her characters to be disliked. Or maybe she didn't mean for it to happen, but it still isn't the worst thing that could have happened. I suppose having no opinion of the characters or easily forgetting them would be even worse than hating them. It's hard for me to accept that, at least in this case, hating a book or characters might actually be a good thing rather than a bad thing.
Despite being very unhappy with pretty much all of the characters, I kept reading because I really wanted to know what happened to Tricia. It really bothered me that the one person who wasn't completely horrible ended up dead and I had to know what happened to her. I finished the final pages feeling pretty unsatisfied and upset, but Blind Spot hasn't been far from my mind since and I'm still trying to sort out my feelings.
In conclusion, I want to tell you to read this book. And avoid it. I can't decide. I want to know what you all think, but I also don't want you to feel so ripped apart and frustrated by what you'll find inside. I suppose you'll just have to read at your own risk.
The main character, Roz, suffers from macular degeneration, leaving her legally blind. She constantly struggles to make up for this deficit as she maneuvers her way through high school, but her eyesight is, unsurprisingly, always on her mind, making her self-conscious and lowering her self-esteem. Constantly frustrated from feeling helpless and out of her element in many situation while still wanting to be able to handle everything herself and without help, Roz has a tendency to jump to conclusions and snap at those around her, even those with the best intentions. This aspect of the novel felt very realistic to me. My younger sister was born with glaucoma and I think she'd identify closely with Roz. I can't say what goes on inside my sister's head, but I do know how she reacted to things when she was in high school and, from my point of view, Roz had similar reactions and thoughts. In the novel, Roz points out that people don't realize how poor her vision is and are constantly asking why she doesn't just get glasses. She can't drive and isn't able to play sports because she's a liability. These are all things my sister struggled with. Also like Roz, my sister could be a bit angry. She didn't like wearing her glasses, which improved her vision but left her feeling dorky and unattractive (which is not fun for anyone, let alone a high school-aged girl), and new situations were extremely stressful because she couldn't see to figure things out.
This is where the similarities between my sister and Roz end, right along with my positive feelings regarding Blind Spot. My biggest issue? I absolutely loathed all of the characters. Okay, that might be a bit dramatic... there were a few secondary characters that weren't mentioned enough to warrant such strong feelings. Still, when I can't stand any of the main characters, it makes it hard to want to keep reading. I just felt like I couldn't escape the negativity! I feel like I'm uniquely qualified to understand and handle Roz and her moodiness, but her self-centeredness and hurtful ways pushed me over the edge. The teachers, the police, Roz's friends, her mother, her boyfriend: all horrible, mean people motivated by self-interest and unwilling to see things from any point of view other than their own. I know it's a strong word, but I was truly disgusted. Realistically, I know that there are people like this in real life, people that let power go to their head, etc, etc, but to have an entire novel populated with them was too much for me. I will say that I actually did enjoy the character Tricia, but she's dead from the first page, so it's hard to tell if my positive feelings would have lasted. Tricia, however, was the only character who, though monumentally messed up, actually seemed to do some genuinely nice, even protective, things for Roz without expecting anything in return.
I have to admit though, I don't really know whether my strong negative feelings were necessarily a bad thing. Yes, I said I was disgusted and unhappy and wanted to stop reading, BUT I didn't. And I keep telling everyone about this book and the messed up characters... So maybe the author, Laura Ellen, meant for her characters to be disliked. Or maybe she didn't mean for it to happen, but it still isn't the worst thing that could have happened. I suppose having no opinion of the characters or easily forgetting them would be even worse than hating them. It's hard for me to accept that, at least in this case, hating a book or characters might actually be a good thing rather than a bad thing.
Despite being very unhappy with pretty much all of the characters, I kept reading because I really wanted to know what happened to Tricia. It really bothered me that the one person who wasn't completely horrible ended up dead and I had to know what happened to her. I finished the final pages feeling pretty unsatisfied and upset, but Blind Spot hasn't been far from my mind since and I'm still trying to sort out my feelings.
In conclusion, I want to tell you to read this book. And avoid it. I can't decide. I want to know what you all think, but I also don't want you to feel so ripped apart and frustrated by what you'll find inside. I suppose you'll just have to read at your own risk.
This is marketed as a murder-mystery featuring a disabled protagonist. It’s not. It’s a romance. I don’t like romance, so I was pretty strongly put off by that. Overall, I think there are too many stories going on here. Is it about coping with disability, fitting in, romance, or mystery? All of them and none of them, really, and although the book touches on many themes, I did not feel it fully realized any of them besides romance. That’s annoying, since it isn’t marketed as a romance.
This was a too busy, too ambitious a work.
This was a too busy, too ambitious a work.
Roz may have been the last person to see Tricia alive – but since Roz has a vision problem and is legally blind this is not as helpful as one might think. In addition to the disappearance 6 months ago, other events that happened that night are pretty hazy in Roz’s memory.
A serviceable mystery – but the best thing about this story is learning more about this particular visual disability.
A serviceable mystery – but the best thing about this story is learning more about this particular visual disability.
From my blog:
Blind Spot was by far one of my most anticipated reads of the year. As soon as I read the synopsis I knew I had to read it, it sounded amazing. Such an interesting plot, and the cover is beautiful to boot. I read it almost as soon as I received it, which is unusual as I normally wait a bit but I could not hold off on this one. The entire story I was hooked, I couldn’t put it down-I just needed to find out who killed Tricia and who was involved. In fact, I was approx 20 pages from the end and I thought I knew how it was going to end so I put it down to go to bed. The next day I was telling a friend about it and said, “…I really like it…there’s no way the book can be ruined in 20 pages”. And it was. There will be mild spoilers in this review. Sorry, I really try to post reviews without spoilers but it’s just necessary in this one.
The main character is Roz, she is legally blind as she suffers from Macular Degeneration and her year is started off by being placed in a special education class to help assist in learning necessary life skills. It is now a mandatory class due to a recent suicide of another special education student. Roz is severely pissed off about this as she feels like she doesn’t belong there so she immediately is at odds with the teacher. In Life Skills she meets Tricia, who is a drug addict. Roz and Tricia aren’t exactly the best of friends but they have a sort of mutual understanding and get along so-so. Roz then starts dating the hottest, most popular boy in school and it all goes downhill from there. Tricia and Roz are at a party one night…and then Roz wakes up the next morning and doesn’t remember a thing. And Tricia is missing. Several months later Tricia’s body is discovered and the search for the person involved is started. And Roz is a prime suspect.
Let’s start off with the characters. I have never disliked a main character like I dislike Roz. First of all, she has absolutely no common sense. She dates the most self-obsessed guy in high school and doesn’t even cast a thought that he may be using her? She claims that she is super independent and she doesn’t need any special help with anything but yet when it comes to Jonathan she turns into the neediest, whiniest, clingy human being imaginable. Ugh. Despite that, until the ending was ruined(which I will get to) I still enjoyed the story, which is very rare for me because if I can’t even like the main character normally it’s a DNF. Also, I could not stand that Greg was so sweet and adored her and she was just not having any of it. I loved Greg though, he was so sweet and tried so hard to get Roz to see that he liked her. My favorite character of all, ironically was Tricia. I thought she was interesting and had a really intriguing manner about her. I really wanted to know what happened in her life. And I enjoyed her sassy attitude.
The story starts off before Tricia goes missing, so you do get to experience Tricia’s personality and that’s great. I’m glad the author didn’t start the story off after that night and work backwards. The entire reason that I hated the story is you never really find out how Tricia dies. I honestly thought I was going to scream when it got to the last page and then…nothing. The entire point of the story was trying to figure out how she died and then NOTHING?! So aggravated. The only part of the ending that I enjoyed was at the prom and I won’t spoil that for anyone that wants to read this.
I give it 2 stars because I did like the story until the ending. Unfortunately because I disliked how it finished so much, I can barely remember why I in fact did enjoy it initially. I think a lot of people will enjoy this book, it just wasn’t for me. I really cannot get past the ending and that is unfortunate because I really was on the edge of my seat waiting for it. On the plus side, if I could give an award for best cover… it would probably go to this one
Blind Spot was by far one of my most anticipated reads of the year. As soon as I read the synopsis I knew I had to read it, it sounded amazing. Such an interesting plot, and the cover is beautiful to boot. I read it almost as soon as I received it, which is unusual as I normally wait a bit but I could not hold off on this one. The entire story I was hooked, I couldn’t put it down-I just needed to find out who killed Tricia and who was involved. In fact, I was approx 20 pages from the end and I thought I knew how it was going to end so I put it down to go to bed. The next day I was telling a friend about it and said, “…I really like it…there’s no way the book can be ruined in 20 pages”. And it was. There will be mild spoilers in this review. Sorry, I really try to post reviews without spoilers but it’s just necessary in this one.
The main character is Roz, she is legally blind as she suffers from Macular Degeneration and her year is started off by being placed in a special education class to help assist in learning necessary life skills. It is now a mandatory class due to a recent suicide of another special education student. Roz is severely pissed off about this as she feels like she doesn’t belong there so she immediately is at odds with the teacher. In Life Skills she meets Tricia, who is a drug addict. Roz and Tricia aren’t exactly the best of friends but they have a sort of mutual understanding and get along so-so. Roz then starts dating the hottest, most popular boy in school and it all goes downhill from there. Tricia and Roz are at a party one night…and then Roz wakes up the next morning and doesn’t remember a thing. And Tricia is missing. Several months later Tricia’s body is discovered and the search for the person involved is started. And Roz is a prime suspect.
Let’s start off with the characters. I have never disliked a main character like I dislike Roz. First of all, she has absolutely no common sense. She dates the most self-obsessed guy in high school and doesn’t even cast a thought that he may be using her? She claims that she is super independent and she doesn’t need any special help with anything but yet when it comes to Jonathan she turns into the neediest, whiniest, clingy human being imaginable. Ugh. Despite that, until the ending was ruined(which I will get to) I still enjoyed the story, which is very rare for me because if I can’t even like the main character normally it’s a DNF. Also, I could not stand that Greg was so sweet and adored her and she was just not having any of it. I loved Greg though, he was so sweet and tried so hard to get Roz to see that he liked her. My favorite character of all, ironically was Tricia. I thought she was interesting and had a really intriguing manner about her. I really wanted to know what happened in her life. And I enjoyed her sassy attitude.
The story starts off before Tricia goes missing, so you do get to experience Tricia’s personality and that’s great. I’m glad the author didn’t start the story off after that night and work backwards. The entire reason that I hated the story is you never really find out how Tricia dies. I honestly thought I was going to scream when it got to the last page and then…nothing. The entire point of the story was trying to figure out how she died and then NOTHING?! So aggravated. The only part of the ending that I enjoyed was at the prom and I won’t spoil that for anyone that wants to read this.
I give it 2 stars because I did like the story until the ending. Unfortunately because I disliked how it finished so much, I can barely remember why I in fact did enjoy it initially. I think a lot of people will enjoy this book, it just wasn’t for me. I really cannot get past the ending and that is unfortunate because I really was on the edge of my seat waiting for it. On the plus side, if I could give an award for best cover… it would probably go to this one
*Originally reviewed on Pages Of Forbidden Love
*3.5
Roz is a legally blind teen, she isn’t completely blind but she has spots in her vision that are hard to see around. The last thing she wants is for everyone to know she has the disability and she definitely doesn’t want anyone’s pity or help with anything. Unfortunately for her the school makes it mandatory for all students to take their Life Skills class making it harder for Roz to hide it and turning her world upside down. All of a sudden Roz is doing things she never thought she would and then one night really changes everything, too bad she can’t remember it. After Tricia is found Roz tries her best to remember but really all she has are vague memories and what people tell her. She decides she has to know what happened though and doesn’t quit looking for answers.
I liked how Blind Spot went back to before Tricia was found and then after she was found. I was able to get to know the characters better which helped me make guesses and assumptions of what really happened. I liked how not everything was obvious and I went back and forth questioning what was real just as Roz did. My guesses never changed drastically but as new information came in I would become skeptical. I think Laura Ellen did a good job with that. I think the characters were also well written, even though a majority of them made me mad off and on, they each had distinct personalities. The only characters that didn’t upset me were some of the people Roz meets in her Life Skills class. I really liked them. I felt like Roz was kind of dumb sometimes but other times I still felt bad for her and understood some of the things she did. I sort of loved Greg but unfortunately even he upset me sometimes. Although Tricia was clearly troubled, I really liked her character and wished I could have gotten to know even more about her.
Honestly though I am very confused as to how I feel about this book. I am not sure how many times I have gone back and forth deciding how many hearts to give it. When I read the summary I was really excited to read it. It sounded like it would be an exciting book full of suspense that would really keep me on my toes. Although it did keep me curious and not sure about the ending it just wasn’t filled with all the excitement I thought it would have. I won’t lie I did find it enjoyable many times but it just wasn’t exactly what I expected. I wanted more out of it. The thing that has me the most confused about my feeling though is the ending. I have this thing with endings. I can love a majority of a book but if I don’t like the ending it ruins the whole thing for me. I wouldn’t say I hated the ending but I was disappointed with it. It wasn’t at all what I expected and although most of the time that would be a good thing it just wasn’t right for me. Overall, I thought it was a pretty okay/good book though and I am curious to see what Laura Ellen writes next.
*3.5
Roz is a legally blind teen, she isn’t completely blind but she has spots in her vision that are hard to see around. The last thing she wants is for everyone to know she has the disability and she definitely doesn’t want anyone’s pity or help with anything. Unfortunately for her the school makes it mandatory for all students to take their Life Skills class making it harder for Roz to hide it and turning her world upside down. All of a sudden Roz is doing things she never thought she would and then one night really changes everything, too bad she can’t remember it. After Tricia is found Roz tries her best to remember but really all she has are vague memories and what people tell her. She decides she has to know what happened though and doesn’t quit looking for answers.
I liked how Blind Spot went back to before Tricia was found and then after she was found. I was able to get to know the characters better which helped me make guesses and assumptions of what really happened. I liked how not everything was obvious and I went back and forth questioning what was real just as Roz did. My guesses never changed drastically but as new information came in I would become skeptical. I think Laura Ellen did a good job with that. I think the characters were also well written, even though a majority of them made me mad off and on, they each had distinct personalities. The only characters that didn’t upset me were some of the people Roz meets in her Life Skills class. I really liked them. I felt like Roz was kind of dumb sometimes but other times I still felt bad for her and understood some of the things she did. I sort of loved Greg but unfortunately even he upset me sometimes. Although Tricia was clearly troubled, I really liked her character and wished I could have gotten to know even more about her.
Honestly though I am very confused as to how I feel about this book. I am not sure how many times I have gone back and forth deciding how many hearts to give it. When I read the summary I was really excited to read it. It sounded like it would be an exciting book full of suspense that would really keep me on my toes. Although it did keep me curious and not sure about the ending it just wasn’t filled with all the excitement I thought it would have. I won’t lie I did find it enjoyable many times but it just wasn’t exactly what I expected. I wanted more out of it. The thing that has me the most confused about my feeling though is the ending. I have this thing with endings. I can love a majority of a book but if I don’t like the ending it ruins the whole thing for me. I wouldn’t say I hated the ending but I was disappointed with it. It wasn’t at all what I expected and although most of the time that would be a good thing it just wasn’t right for me. Overall, I thought it was a pretty okay/good book though and I am curious to see what Laura Ellen writes next.
Roz Hart has macular degeneration, but she’s worked hard to not let it take over her life. She’s always been an honors student, so when she gets put in the special ed “Life Skills” class, she’s pretty pissed. To make matters worse, her partner in that class is the drug-addled Tricia, who is super annoying but also seems to latch onto Roz. When Tricia disappears and her body shows up in the river six months later, Roz is upset. She argued with Tricia the night she disappeared, but she doesn’t remember why. In fact, there are a lot of gaps in her memory of that night. Did she have something to do with Tricia’s disappearance? And was Tricia murdered?
Readers expecting a straight-up murder mystery should look elsewhere. Laura Ellen’s twisty suspense novel offers up tons of different issues for readers to sink their teeth into, and does so with varying degrees of success...
Full review can be found at: http://earlynerdspecial.wordpress.com/2013/11/18/book-review-blind-spot-by-laura-ellen/
Readers expecting a straight-up murder mystery should look elsewhere. Laura Ellen’s twisty suspense novel offers up tons of different issues for readers to sink their teeth into, and does so with varying degrees of success...
Full review can be found at: http://earlynerdspecial.wordpress.com/2013/11/18/book-review-blind-spot-by-laura-ellen/