Clarity “Clare” Fern is used to being thought of as a freak. She and her family don’t hide their abilities; in fact it’s the way they make their living. So, living in a small tourist town on Cape Cod means that everyone knows – and not everyone believes.
Her particular skill allows her to see visions connected to objects. All she needs to do is touch it. It doesn’t always work – and usually takes some concentration. But it wasn’t too hard to ruin her seemingly solid relationship with Justin Spellman – and her sudden vision of his drunken night with Tiffany Desposito with one light touch of his jacket.
Yeah, it’s not really fun to be psychic.
But Clare has toughened against the scorn, mocking, and overall exclusion from regular high school society. She’s gotten used to it. Anyway, she has her mom, brother, and brother’s longtime best friend Nate to keep her company. She’s all good.
When a teenage female tourist is murdered, however, she’s suddenly thrust back into the society of someone she’s still furious with: her ex-boyfriend. Justin, who’s always believed in her abilities, wants her help with the case.
If it was just about Justin, she’d probably flip him off – but there is a murdered girl involved here. And the idea of using her gift for more than entertaining tourists appeals to her. So, Clare agrees. She teams up with Gabriel, the smoldering son of the new detective in town, and deals with his skepticism as she faces darker visions than she’s used to.
Will her ability help her solve the case? Or, when her beloved brother becomes the prime suspect, does she even want it to?
Clarity is awesome! And let me just say, before I go any further, that there is a sequel, Perception – thank goodness!!! I am hoping that there are MANY more to come!!!
Okay, onto the details of my opinion…
The tourist town of Eastport can hardly contain the feisty, lively, witty personality of Clare – let alone her and her family’s talents. I loved Clare’s vibe of individuality, toughness, and confidence – she’s funny and real. She has her relatable moments of vulnerability – especially regarding her ex-boyfriend, who is refreshingly not painted as a villain but a good guy that did a really stupid thing – but always maintains a cool sense of self-preservation and sharpness.
Clarity also has an original, revitalizing way of making Clare and her family’s gifts a well-known fact, with varying opinions of their truth, of course. It’s nice to not have her hiding it.
Once you mix in all the awesome dialogue and paranormalcy with a Veronica Mars like murder mystery, I found myself reading an absolutely irresistible novel! This is the kind of book I love down to the core – it’s twisty, complex, hilarious, unpredictable and romantic in a non-mushy way. It sizzles with energy and intellect but provides a truly escapist, fast, fun read.
Plus, for once I had no idea which of the (in my opinion) three eligible guys Clare would end up with – if any! That’s practically unheard of in ANY book, let alone YA! I was even having a hard time picking one as my preferred option!
I was very, very happy – as you can see. I want MORE! Which, as I mentioned earlier, isn’t difficult as there is a recently released sequel called Perception available to my greedy bibliophile hands. But I can’t help but want even more than that! I’m hoping for a full-out series.
Because, I can tell, Clare Fern is going to be a plucky, psychic girl detective to remember!
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By the way, Figment brought me here!