Book Review: Clarity

Author: Kim Harrington
Publisher: Scholastic Point
Series: Clarity #1
Release Date: March 1, 2011
Pages: 242
Read it in: 1 day

Summary: When you can see things others can't, where do you look for the truth?

Clarity "Clare" Fern sees things. Things no one else can see. Things like stolen kisses and long-buried secrets. All she has to do is touch a certain object, and the visions come to her. It's a gift. And a curse.

When a teenage girl is found murdered, Clare's ex-boyfriend wants her to help solve the case - but Clare is still furious at the cheating jerk. Then Clare's brother - who has supernatural gifts of his own - becomes the prime suspect, and Clare can no longer look away. Teaming up with Gabriel, the smoldering son of the new detective, Clare must venture into the depths of fear, revenge, and lust in order to track the killer. But will her sight fail her just when she needs it most?

LC's Take:

Holy Moly, I absolutely adored this book! In fact, it is one of those rare books that I finished in one day, which for me is a milestone because I am a super slllloooowwww reader. If you are looking for something totally irresistible, filled with tons of snarky humor that'll have you laughing out loud and a murder mystery plot that you can't put down, well then this is SO the book for you!

Clare "Clarity" Fern lives with her mom and older brother Perri in a small tourist town in Cape Cod. Summer is turning out to be just as boring as usual until a girl turns up murdered in a local hotel room. Before she knows it, Clare is being sucked into the murder investigation thanks to her supernatural ability to see memories and flashbacks of other people just by holding objects that they once touched.

To make things even more complicated, Clare is working on the case with two guys-- her cheating ex-boyfriend Justin and the mysterious (and hott) new guy in town, Gabriel, who Clair isn't sure whether to be attracted to or suspect.

OK guys, so Clare? AWESOME character, I absolutely LOVED her! She had so much personality she practically jumped off the pages. The story is told from her very lively perspective and seriously I was laughing throughout the entire book due to her witty sarcasm and snarky humor. Clare definitely became one of the best female protags I have read about in a long time-- she just made the story so gosh-darned entertaining!

The murder mystery plot was great too, very addicting, and it kept me guessing pretty much the entire way through the story. And did I mention that I could NOT put this book down to save my life because every single chapter ended with a huge cliff-hanger that just begged me to keep reading? I love it when books do that, and I flew through this one thanks to the fast pacing and the author's amazing ability to tell a completely engrossing story.

Honestly, I had not been planning on reading this book to begin with, and it was only after I picked it up randomly off the library shelf a couple weeks ago and read the synopsis that I finally decided to give it a try. I am so incredibly glad that I did! I highly recommend this book to my readers, because the humor will have you rolling on the floor laughing and the awesome storyline will keep you on the edge of your seat till the last page. Altogether, Clarity was a wonderful surprise and I cannot wait to get my hands on the second book, Perception, when it comes out this March!

~Cover Talk~

Well I have to be honest, I do like this cover, but I'm definitely not in love with it. In fact, it was because of the cover that I didn't pick this book up sooner (Ugh, I know, how superficial am I?!) I think it has something to do with the colors-- for some reason, I'm never really attracted to white book covers, and this one with the white and pale blue just seems sort of washed-out to me. So when I saw it on the shelf next to all those other irresistible rainbow-colored YA books, I just passed it by! Which is totally a shame because this book rocked! Maybe that's just me? What do you guys think of the cover for Clarity?

LC's Rating:

This book was beyond awesome and I am SO glad that I finally got around to reading it. The murder mystery plot was not only impossible to put down; it was also totally hilarious thanks to the snarky main character. I definitely recommend picking up Clarity-- trust me, you won't regret it!