Farsighted [Kindle Edition]

Life has never been easy for Alex Kosmitoras. He is constantly bullied at school by a bonehead called Brady. He has no friends, and his family struggles financially, while suffocating him emotionally ... but they worry for a good reason, because Alex is blind.

Born blind, Alex has never seen the world as others do. Instead his heightened senses allow him to smell, hear and feel the world around him ... and occasionally, foresee the world too. Because Alex has another `gift' - the power of second sight.

When a lovely new female Indian student called Simmi arrives at Alex's school, life takes a dramatic turn for the better ... until Alex's foresight has him `seeing' Simmi in danger.

With the help of his psychic next-door-neighbour, Alex is determined to turn his second sight into a force for good and save the girl he is kinda-maybe-definitely falling for.

`Farsighted' is the debut YA paranormal novel from Emlyn Chand.

Chand set a difficult task for herself when she decided to write a blind protagonist for her debut YA paranormal. It's no mean feat, cutting readers off from one of their narrator's most crucial sensory perceptions - but Chand, like Alex, compensates. There's a fullness to the story, detailed in Alex's other senses - his heightened smell, touch and hearing mean that for pages and pages you'll forget that you're reading the voice of a blind boy, who is skimming over the most encompassing perception - sight. I was really impressed at how Chand jumped over this difficult hurdle with her precise and flavourful descriptions of everything Alex smells, hears and touches. Not to mention what he foresees ...

Alex is a veritable Cassandra - able to see the future, but not necessarily alter it. I loved this very clever take on `second sight' - a cruel gift when Alex is blind. Alex has never felt more impotent than when his foresight shows him his crush, Simmi, in danger. But he is determined to turn his `curse' into a rescue mission, and do whatever it takes to save his girl.

One thing I really liked in `Farsighted' was Chand's descriptions and focus on bullying. Fair warning, you will want to box the bully, Brady, around the ears (regardless of `violence is not the answer'!). I kind of loved that Alex wasn't written wrapped in cotton wool just because of his being blind. Brady doesn't care or sympathize with Alex, he just attacks him. Bullying is a big issue in itself, but I really commend the way Chand dealt with it in Alex's everyday life.

I really did enjoy this book ... but more the second-half than the first. Chand takes a while to warm the story up - due partly to the fact that she's battling the difficulties of writing in first-person from someone who does not have sight. It's mostly a logistical problem, as Chand works around all that Alex can't tell us, while also establishing this world and setting. But once the story puts the pedal-to-the-metal, there are enough careening twists and turns to keep readers breathless and drooling for more.

I was surprised when got lost in this story, the first time I looked up - I realized a couple of hours had passed and I have gone through 75% of the book (according to my eReader). I found the character of Alex so well written, I could easily imagine his world as if it were my own. I didn't get up and take a break, I just dived back into the book. I read the book in one sitting, only pausing long enough to grab a drink once or twice... the ONLY other time I have done this is when I read the Harry Potter series. The ease of which Emlyn Chand introduced the supernatural into her book was creative, she made it seem like Alex's abilities of "seeing" the future was a natural thing. I forgot briefly from time to time that Alex was in fact blind - the richness of descriptions from his point of view were very engaging.

Every time a read a book with a "mystery" element, like Farsighted, I try to guess what's coming next. Pretty much I try to solve everything before the author spells it out for me. Farsighted is the first time I was completely wrong and no where near what the author took the story. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and as I read the last word I wanted more story...
That was the only fault I found with the story - that it left me hanging. I wanted to know more about Alex's family history, I wanted to know more about Shapri and her mother's contentious relationship and Simmi's other-worldly roots. While not knowing as much as I wanted to know had me a little upset - I think leaving it out was a creative move I can only applaud the writer for, Farsighted is nothing if not a hook to keep you on the line waiting for future books in what is likely to be a very successful series. After you read the book, I challenge you to find all the meanings behind the title - it's been a week since I read the book and still every now and then a new and creative meaning behind the title pops into my head, a special treat from a skilled author I am sure!