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4.04.2011

Review: Clarity by Kim Harrington



Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Mystery
Paranormal Element: Psychics
Series: Clarity #1
Order Online:  Amazon.com
Stalk the Author:  Web | Twitter | Facebook
Received from Amazon.com via the Vine program in exchange for an honest review.

PJVs QUICKIE POV:
A breath of fresh air is the only way I can describe CLARITY. The cover image of this book conveys the feeling of this novel so well I have to give huge kudos to the artist. The book had me dreaming of sand between my toes, wind on my face and a dark stalking presence looming behind me. It was fresh, entertaining and a bit creepy. It reminded me of my old loves, Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys - with a touch of paranormal intrigued to keep my current self going. The light writing, combined with the who-done-it mystery and the sugary sweet characters had me devouring this book page by page. Welcome to author-dome, Kim Harrington, your debut was excellent, I can’t wait to read more of your writing.

REVIEW:
Clarity Fern is part of the Fern family, the strangest family in Eastport. Psychics, all three of them posses different talents. Clarity has psychometry, the ability to see visions when touching an object, her brother Perry, a medium who can commune with ghosts. Her mother, telepathy, she can read minds. Ostracized for their oddities, Clare is used to being harassed and disliked in the small community. 
During the Fourth of July weekend, busiest tourist weekend of the year, a woman is murdered, shot in the head in her motel room. The new detective has nothing to go on and the mayor is seeking reelection and has to get this case solved fast. The mayor’s son Justin is the only one who has ever taken Clare seriously and to help his father he asks Clare to help solve the case...maybe if she can touch something and “see” what happens she can point the detectives in the right direction, if the new detective and his smokin’ hot  son will believer her, that is...

I love a good murder mystery! Especially one I don’t figure out by the end of the book. Harrington had me running in circles thinking who it could be the whole time! I never guessed it! Wonderful job. I really enjoyed this book and I’m pretty sure you will to if you give it a try. Her characters were excellent, well rounded and compelling. I really liked Clare and her family and the supporting characters were also three dimensional, Nate, Justin, Stephen and Gabriel. Harrington did a great job putting this book together, she pulled modern Young Adult techniques and paired them with classic YA style of our old favorites and created a fantastic edition to the YA genre.

I did have some tiny issues with the book, mostly because it seemed everyone male seemed to be interested in Clare. On top of that it seemed to move too quickly. There were a few bits of creative leniency which I didn’t think made sense. I can’t really get into it because of spoilers. Then, and I think I’m going to have to give up this hang-up because I can’t find many YA novels without it, the love triangle and the heroine acting like an adult/parent just irks me. Yes, I think I will have to give up this hang-up, because it does what is intended, gives the heroine more leeway to act and then with the triangle sets an emotional stage. I’ll give it up I promise. These are small trappings that didn’t detract from the overall awesomeness of the novel.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Recommended for mystery fans...this is a great transition novel to paranormal since the paranormal element is not in your face. I agree with the grade 9+ rating, there isn’t anything that parents should be wary of, but there is some mentions of sex, cheating and drinking.







4 comments:

Christy @ TheReaderBee said...

Awesome review! I am really looking forward to reading Clarity. It sounds awesome, and now I want to read it even more!

Erika said...

Sounds like a good book, I will add it to my TBR list.

Thanks for the great review,
Erika @ Let's talk about books

Anonymous said...

Great review. I just won a copy of this from the pub- so Im for sure going to check it out...;P

As the Crowe Flies and Reads said...

Like you, the ending certainly had me guessing right up to the big reveal. I also really like the cover and its ethereal qualities, but I'm afraid overall the book just didn't win me over. The author is as sweet as she can be, though (she came to our store for a signing recently), which means I'll probably end up reading the rest of the series.

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