Book Review: Farsighted by Emlyn Chand + Giveaway

Title: Farsighted (Farsighted #1)
Author: Emlyn Chand
Pages: 260
Publisher: Blue Crown Press
ISBN: 9780983930822
Source: GCReading Blog Tours

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.

PURCHASE LINKS: Kindle | Amazon

Being blind is hard but being blind and has the ability to “see” the future is even trickier.

Alex Kosmitoras is your average teenager who happens to be blind. He is geeky, awkward and bullied. That is his normal life and Alex accept the fact of  being normal and different. Day by day, Alex lives his life to the fullest he is able but he will soon discover a talent that will make his life interesting and complicated.

Farsighted is refreshing. We don’t get the usual hunk/handsome/over-the-top swoon dude that we always read about. We have Alex, who is blind. I am totally excited about that because we don’t usually read these kind of heroines, or I don’t. In addition to that, Chand wrote characters who doesn’t fit your normal mold. The concept of Farsighted is straight cut. We have a blind heroine who has a gift to see the future partnered with characters that makes the story unconventional. My only issue is that I have a love and hate relationship with our heroine, Alex.

Alex was a character that I had the most issue. I sympathize for him with his disability however, there are times that he’s a pity party especially at the latter part of the book. There are times that he comes off as a mature and strong kid but a few times he’s so hard headed, selfish and immature – it can be irritating.

His anger for Dax was off for me. I felt that the story didn’t need the friction HOWEVER I think Alex’s treatment for Dax will be enlightened in the second book, hopefully. But here’s a few examples:

What does Dax do while I’m gone all day? What mind games does he play?

Alex that’s ridiculous. I don’t need you to protect me, and neither does Simmi. Quit looking at Dax as a villain, and give him a chance. He’s a good kid.

And then there’s another scene

“You tried to kill me. You tried to kill Simmi. You killed your sister. Why would I like you?”

“You tried to kill me,” he point out. “I don’t hate you though. Why can’t we be friend?”

In the first place, Alex’s vision was a misunderstanding. Part of it was actually his fault – rushing thing and not thinking right and when everything was explain he still refused to understand. His anger is misplaced and unnecessary. Okay, enough ranting.

Simmi and Shapri are very intriguing I might say. Both ladies are also gifted and the combination of their friendship with Alex was unique but worked. They complemented each other and I can see great things coming by the second novel. I am especially interested on Shapri.

I don’t want to discuss deeper because I might not help myself giving out spoilers so I’ll just tell you my final thoughts. Overall pacing of the story was OK. First few chapters were kind of slow but the story picked up pretty quickly by page 60 or so. I don’t have any issues development wise asides my dislike of Alex at the end. POV was told in first hand so you might need a little adjustment there but Chand can really write so you are in good hands.

REVIEW ★★★★

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AUTHOR BIO

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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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