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.
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Other books in the series..
About The Author...
From an early age, Emlyn Chand has counted books among her best friends. She loves to hear and tell stories and emerged from the womb with a fountain pen grasped firmly in her left hand (true story). Her affinity for the written word extends to absolutely every area of her life: she has published three novels and three children’s books with plans for many more of each, leads a classics book group with almost five-hundred members, and, of course, runs the whole shebang at Novel Publicity.
The book that changed Emlyn’s life is Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crocket Johnson. It opened her eyes to the world that could exist if only she was willing to create it—a lesson she has never forgotten. While she enjoys all types of novels, her greatest loves are literary fiction and YA. She’s best known for her Farsighted series and is developing a slow but steady following for the Bird Brain Books. She’s eager to see how her women’s fiction novel, Torn Together, will be received by the reading masses.
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My Thoughts:
It was awesome to "see" without seeing. Let me try to explain. Alex Kosmitoras is the main character. He is blind. Emlyn Chand writes this story in first person point of view. I never really thought about not being able to see. In a book we use all of the descriptive words to show us things. Alex can't describe how people look because he can't see them! I can't possibly explain well enough, how interesting Farsighted was to read.
I enjoyed it. :-) It was a pretty quick read. The characters were believable.
I would have liked to see more romance. There was hardly any in this book. :-(
If you are looking for something different to read, you should give this a try. It might just captivate you as well!
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. I liked it
Would you consider being able to see the future a gift or a curse?
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I'd love to know what you're thinking. Please leave a comment!
I used to read a lot of YA books, but haven't in awhile. This is one series that has caught my attention and made it's way to my TBR list. I think Emlyn has great covers and loved the excerpt I read of the first book Farsighted.
ReplyDeleteAs for the question, seeing the future I would think would NOT be a gift. It is always ever changing due to the multi-billions of choices everyone makes each and every second. Not to mention, knowing something bad and not being able to change it, I would think would be the worse thing in the world. So, No, I would not like to see the future.
I wouldn't want to know the future either. :-)
DeleteI'd consider a gift at first. But then if you think about it I don't think it would be much fun to live a life with no surprises.
ReplyDeleteLiving without surprises I could handle. Knowing something bad would happen that I couldn't change, I wouldn't be able to live with. The guilt would drive me crazy.
Delete+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteI love the premise of this novel, too! A seer who can't see? Sign me up! =D
This post's question is one of those I already have a long, complicated answer to, so let me see if I can be concise without also being confusing . . . When people talk about being able to see the future as a curse, I think they mean visions of things they can't control. If you had a vision of an entire village being swallowed up in an earthquake, for instance, that would be awful. But when the Ancient Greeks foretold the future, it always involved something that could still be changed, inasmuch as it was rooted in human character. And I think a lot of us already have these sorts of "visions of the future," when we see people we know well headed down the wrong paths. But do they listen to us when we warn them? =P Not always!
In short, visions of things totally out of anyone's control? The Final Destination franchise got it right: they are a curse. Visions that are practically common sense, only with far more detail? That happened last Wednesday . . . ;-)
Insightful as usual Enbrethiliel!
DeleteDo share, what happened on Wednesday?
Awesome perspective! Mine is partly the things that are out of control, but in general if you stop to think about it, if the future can be changed by being able to see it prior to happening, that means with each change there are millions of other possible out comes and changes that can be made. It's an infinite loop of possibilities until the time and place has been achieved.
DeleteI get dizzy just thinking about it Josette.
DeleteI'll keep my life the way it is, thank you!
+JMJ+
DeleteBrenda -- The "vision" actually belonged to a friend who was trying to talk a mutual acquaintance into committing to a good man she had been dating. As he put it, "You're 35 years old and this is the best guy you've ever dated. If you hold out for 'better' now, you'll be middle aged, single and childless before you know it!" Not a very cheery prophecy, but I can see why it has a better chance of coming true than our acquaintance's dream of Prince Charming coming along.
Josette -- Thank you! And Brenda's right: that's a dizzying addendum indeed! But I don't think the factors are that infinite but are limited by our own abilities and character. For instance, even if all of us have one scenario in whcih we have access to great sports coaches and facilities from birth, I'm sure that only a few would have "Olympic gold medalist" as one of their possible outcomes. Toss me into Nadia Comaneci's life and that perfect 10 on the uneven bars would never have happened. =P Even the wide array of choices must bend to what we are able (and willing!) to choose.
True, but when you factor in everyone else's choices... for example you have a choice to go to x or go to y, you choose X which now puts you into contact with i, ii, and iii; they have to now make a choice between a, b, and c. Based on their choices you can now choose between ai, bi, or ci, and so it continues. Each "choice" in our lives is affected by a million other factors: the people we meet, their choices, the weather, our own actions, the knowledge we learn each day, etc. Therefore, one outcome becomes an endless loop of possibilities. ;)
Delete+JMJ+
DeleteOkay, now I'm more than slightly dizzy and have to lie down for a bit. ;-P
i think i would see it as a curse because it put a lot of responsabilites on your shoulders. i mean either what you see can't be chnged then it's even harder because you must see all disaters, the people you love dying etc etc and you can't do anything about it.
ReplyDeleteOr you can do something but then imagine how difficult it is, even if you see a natural disater what cna you do? do you think people will just beliebve you and if they don't and die i would feel guilty . also sometimes perhaps we will change something and the result will just be worse....
i wouldn't wish something like for me or any one else
I agree completely. I couldn't live with it, especially if you had no control over what you seen or when.
DeleteI have a feeling this is why in so many stories (past and present) seers end up a bit crazy. My favorite seer character in recent books is Nix in Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series. Nix is a meddler, but those that know about her, always listen! Kresley also states that she can't see the deaths of her sisters -- self preservation of the mind.
DeleteHa! Nix is slightly crazy, you are right. :-)
DeleteI do enjoy books with just a bit of romance. I shall have to try this one.
ReplyDeletedebby236 at gmail dot com
I have this series on my wishlist! Thanks for sharing and the great giveaway!
ReplyDelete-Amber
goodblinknpark(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
This sounds really good. I am very interested in reading this!!
ReplyDeleteI think it would be both a curse and a gift. Of course many would think you're crazy, but if you can help those who believe, then it would be worth it. That is what life should be about -- helping others. :)
ReplyDeletelcminer at windstream dot net
I think it'd be useful, but I think it'd be more of a curse than a gift.
ReplyDeleteoh wow, a story from a blind person's POV sounds awesome! I will have to check this series out! And the covers for all the books are pretty cool
ReplyDeleteThank you for the wonderful review, Brenda. I'm so glad you enjoyed Alex's POV. Trust me when I say, there's A LOT more romance in Open Heart (and Pitch, too). And, oh my, let me apologize for taking so long to get over here to thank you--I've been working feverishly on finishing up book #3 in the series--Shapri's book, Pitch :-D
ReplyDeleteEm
Oooohh, I am even more excited to read Open Heart now!
DeleteNo worries! Life happens. I've already had authors that never did show up. lol!
I'm glad to hear you are busy at work! :D
Wow! What a cool discussion on whether you'd want to know the future or not. In Alex's world, there are two types of prophecies--those that can be changed, and those that will happen no matter what. The real curse is not knowing which is which.
ReplyDeleteYou have a point! Experiencing both and being unable to tell if you could change it or not would be worse than one or the other.
DeleteI think it would seem to be a gift at first however when that future reveals something involving a loved one or yourself that you are unable to change, I think it would be seen more as a curse then. Thanks for the opportunity to win!
ReplyDeleteI agree!
Delete