Clarity (edition 2011)

This was a quick read. As a teenager, the character of Clarity and her situation would have provided endless daydream fodder, as an adult, the resolution was too pat for me to ignore. I think I would have enjoyed Clarity and her world better in the context of normal teenage drama, without the over the top murders as a distraction. ( )

Needed to suspend disbelief at the fact that the police and mayor allowed kids to get involved in a murder investigation. Also had to skim some lovey, dovey, will they, won't they crap. BUT didn't figure out the killer within the first 2 chapters, YAY! ( )

My kind of book. :D Review to come. ( )

Clarity was kind of like Veronica Mars, if Veronica was raised by her mom instead of her dad, wasn’t actually a trained detective, and was psychic. Which kind of sounds not at all like Veronica Mars, but just bear with me here. They’re both social outcasts, sassy and sarcastic, and solve crimes by tying lots of seemingly insignificant details together (although Veronica uses her razor-sharp intelligence to do this, while Clare mostly uses her psychic powers). And although both have significant trouble fitting in at school, they seem to have absolutely no problems getting all the town’s most eligible bachelors to go gaga over them.

So that said, this book appealed to the part of me that loves (loves) Veronica Mars. I enjoy reading about a sassy teen girl solving crimes, and I even enjoy the far-fetched lovey-dovey angst (normally I am heavily anti-love-triangle, but I felt like it worked in this book, even though I still fail to see how the town outcast gets all the most desirable boys in town swooning over her).

I liked how the mystery was presented. Clues were dropped throughout the narrative, making it possible (but difficult) for me to guess who the killer was, and what their motives were. I had it narrowed down to a couple options by the time the book hit its culmination, and while I can smugly say “I was right,” I was also wrong. And I definitely changed my mind a few times throughout the course of the story. I felt like the story had great pacing and the momentum built nicely all the way through to the climax. And while the ending was certainly open to sequels, it was satisfying.

The characters were enjoyable, and I liked how most of them actually served a purpose. There were very few filler characters, which means if someone was mentioned, it was relevant (at least in a minor way). I really enjoyed Clare’s brother Perry, as well as her mom, even though both characters had major flaws. And although there was a love triangle, it wasn’t terrible, and you could actually see why should would be conflicted over these two guys (as opposed to many books where one choice is obviously wrong).

There were parts of the plot that were far-fetched. For some reason, although Clare can’t seem to make friends to save her life because of her psychic ability, her brother (the medium) is described as being popular. There were times when the police allowed her and her family to do things and go places that I don’t think would ever be allowed by the real police. And as far as I know, “son of a detective” isn’t actually anything, and would not entitle Gabriel to any rights or privileges whatsoever in real life; but in the book, he seems to have been practically deputized. So if it’s going to bother you that stuff happens in this book that would not happen in real life (supernatural abilities aside), then you may want to skip this one. A healthy suspension of disbelief is necessary.

However, as far as I’m concerned, Clarity was a fun, exciting, entertaining read that kept me guessing until the end and left me satisfied once it was over. And that’s really all I wanted, so I was happy. ( )

Charming Clarity

*I received this book via Different Area Codes tours

This book gets a clear 4 gnomes out of 5 gnomes for having an intriguing main character and a complex mystery to solve.

Clare or Clarity Fern has a very unusual family. They all have some kind of psychic powers. Her brother is a medium, her mom is a telepath (which makes it really hard to keep secrets from her) and Clarity has the power of psychometry. I was familiar with psychometry already because of the Simon Canderous books by Anton Strout and so was curious to see how a teenage girl with this power would be portrayed. Clare's way of looking at the world and humor really make the story great. You'll find yourself rooting for her against the bullies and anticipating what she's going to do next.

This story was a lot of fun to read and it's engaging from the very first chapter. Clare and her family may be thought of as freaks by most of the town but being an outcast has made her a stronger person. She's not close to a lot of people and has no girls as friends. Perry her brother is the person she's closest to and her only other friend is her brother's best friend.

Even though Clare has this abnormal ability, her character is easy to relate to. She's a teenager who's stuck in the family business of giving psychic readings to tourists and trying to figure out the world. Being seen as a freak is never easy but then something happens that might just change the way that people approach her.

There are a couple of love interests, Justin the ex-boyfriend and Gabriel the new love interest. These two are quite the pair. The reader can see easily why Clare could fall for either one of these guys. For most of the book though it's more about Clare then them and you're not sure which way she'll go.

Among all the teenage angst, a tourist ends up murdered. A murder in a tourist town is not exactly good for business so it's important to solve the case as soon as possible. After the murder the tension really ratchets up. It seems that everyone could have been the murderer.

The mystery is well done and will leave you questioning everyone right up until the end. This story is full of paranormal goodness but it's also a great look at what lengths characters will go through to protect themselves and their family. ( )