Book Review: Open Heart by Emlyn Chand

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anorexia, book, book review, book reviews, books, bulimia, bullying, eating disorders, Emlyn Chand, fiction, high school, love, multicultural books, paranormal, paranormal YA, review, reviews, teens, YA, young adult

Open Heart

Farsighted #2

by Emlyn Chand

genre: paranormal, YA

Synopsis from Goodreads

Simmi Shergill’s life is a mess. Her powers of psychic feeling are on the fritz, and Grandon Township’s sudden population boom has brought quite a few unsavory characters to town. She also looks like an over-blown balloon in her size 14 pants, but not even starving herself seems to be working as a diet plan. Well, at least her boyfriend, Alex, loves her so much he’d do anything for her. Last summer he even risked his life to protect her from the mysterious boy everyone was convinced wanted to kill her. The problem is, she’s not so sure she feels the same way. Is Alex really the man of her dreams? And why can’t she stop fixating on her would-be killer, Dax? Whenever he’s around, part of her wants to run screaming in the other direction while the other part longs to run into his embrace, no matter who she’d hurt or what she’d risk. Simmi’s loyalty is on the line. Who will she choose-the blind seer who loves her, or the charming telekinetic with “bad idea” written all over him? Emotions run high as the tension mounts in book two of the Farsighted series.

Release of Open Heart

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blind characters, blind protagonist, body issues, bulimia, Emlyn Chand, Farsighted, Open Heart, paranormal, series, teens, YA, young adult

My good friend and boss at Novel Publicity has recently released book 2 of the Farsighted series.  Her cover art is BEAUTIFUL, and Emlyn does an amazing job writing a first person blind character in Farsighted.  In Open Heart, she tackles the difficult teen issues of bulimia and body image.  There are YA books, and there are books that appeal to YA readers.  I never understood the difference until I was introduced to Farsighted, a YA series filled with teen issues that is captivating for adults as well.

With smart and driven female characters, I enjoyed book 1, and will be starting book 2 in the next few days.  Join me in reading this series!  Following are blurbs and an excerpt should you need extra convincing.

Farsighted Blurb

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 to complicate matters even more, 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.

Unfortunately, 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.

Currently Reading and Coming Soon

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books, Dancing Naked in Dixie, ebooks, Edmund Jorgensen, Emlyn Chand, GoodReads, Justin Ordonez, Lauren Clark, Open Heart, reviews, Speculation, Sykosa

I’m dying to read Catching Fire, but I’ve had a deluge of review requests come in this month (YAY) and those always jump in front of leisure reading.  However, after this batch of author requested reviews, I will be taking a hiatus to read Catching Fire and 50 Shades of Grey before committing to anything else.  This list does not include paperbacks which I read at the same time as my ebooks, but check out what’s coming up in the next two months on Ermiliablog.

Summaries taken from Goodreads

Causing Fate

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books, Destiny, Emlyn Chand, Farsighted, Fate, fiction, Kung Fu Panda 2, Oedipus, paranormal YA, Sophocles, theater, young adult

Oedipus, Farsighted, and Kung Fu Panda 2. What do they have in common? In each, a character brings about their own Fate by acting to avoid it.

Oedipus
Oedipus learns of a prophesy that he will kill his father and marry his mother. What he doesn’t know, is that he’s adopted. He runs away from home, trying to keep the prophesy from coming true. Thinking he is away from his parents, he stabs a stranger on the road and marries an older woman, thinking he has won. As it turns out, the stranger was his father and woman, his mother. By running away from the people he thought were his parents, he brought about the prophesy trying to avoid it.

This post includes spoilers for Kung Fu Panda 2 but none for Farsighted.

Novel Publicity Review: Farsighted by Emlyn Chand

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blind characters, blind protagonist, blog host, blog tour, debut author, Emlyn Chand, Farsighted, fiction, foresight, indie publishing, Novel Publicity, paranormal YA, reviews, self-publishing, young adult

Please note, this review was written before I became a Novel Publicity employee and has not been altered since.  I was not given anything other than an ARC copy of Farsighted for this review.

Farsighted
by Emlyn Chand

genre: paranormal young adult

Review:
Each chapter starts with a rune and a premonition about what the hero will face in that chapter.  Most were obvious given the premise of the story, but it was still a neat way to start each chapter.

I enjoy well read authors who can meld the classics with modern literature, so no one should be surprised that I love Farsighted main character Alex, a blind fortune teller based on Tiresias from Oedipus Rex and Antigone who narrates the story.  Farsighted follows him as he develops his abilities to see with other senses, both in the present and future.

Excerpt from Farsighted by Emlyn Chand

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blind characters, blind protagonist, blog host, blog tour, debut author, Emlyn Chand, excerpt, Farsighted, fiction, foresight, indie publishing, Novel Publicity, paranormal YA, self-publishing, young adult

Tomorrow is Eliabeth’s review of Farsighted  by Emlyn Chand.  Today, we’re posting a related excerpt.  It is a particularly interesting book for us because the narrator is blind.  In this paranormal young adult novel, Alex Kosmitoras can still “see” things others can’t. When his unwanted visions of the future begin to suggest that the girl he likes could be in danger, he has no choice but to take on destiny and demand it reconsider.

an excerpt from Farsighted, chapter 3

I sulk into school the next day, irritated about the way my brain’s been malfunctioning lately and embarrassed by how I’ve been around Simmi. The last thing I need is more problems. I head into first period attempting to disappear. No such luck.

“You better watch yourself, Kosmitoras,” Brady Evans growls. I wasn’t even aware he had entered the class, but now here he is, uncomfortably close to my desk.