Review : Clarity by Kim Harrington

Summary (from Goodreads)

When you can see things others can't, where do you look for the truth?
This paranormal murder mystery will have teens reading on the edge of their seats.
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?

Personal Thoughts

Seeing the cover and reading the back summary I thought I would really like this book, but there was a lot of things that bothered me in this book.

The protagonist, Clarity better known as Clare, is a psychic. She has visions when she touches objects. Clare is asked to investigate a murder case along with Gabriel, the new detective's son. That was the first thing that bothered me. In what country, I ask, are 16 year old teenagers asked to investigate freaking murder cases ??(The mayor asks her to help in the case). Oh and the mother is fine with her daughter being involved with something like that ?
I know this is supposed to be fiction and all, but seriously it was something very hard to believe.

I had issues with Clare. At times, she was manipulative. She basically used her ex-boyfriend and another guy who might have liked her in order to get a few things she needed ( I won't say what because it might be spoilerish ).

Also, she has no friends whatsoever since she's a freak and all except for her brother and her brother's best friend, but she does have enemies. (Mean girls who blonde and beautiful of course)

At one point she says her brother is her best friend. Yet, when Perry, her brother, tells her he slept with the victim shortly before she died, she begins to have doubts about him.
What I'm trying to say here is that she pretty much doesn't really trust her brother which is so weird because they are supposed to be super close or something.

  

Another problem I had was with the love triangle. Why, oh why do nearly all YA books have love triangles ? They didn't bother me much, but now that I'm seeing and reading about them everywhere it's becoming really difficult to feel OK with them.

Onto Gabriel. I think he lacked substance. The author should have given his character a bit more life. I felt like I didn't know much about him, which is probably why I couldn't form an opinion of him.

The same applies to Justin, although the author does describe him a little bit more. I didn't feel anything for either of them.

The plot is very original. There was suspense and some mystery. Plus the whole psychic thing is kind of great as well.

Clarity is a light and fluffy read. If you're looking for something with depth, then I don't recommend this book to you. If you enjoy a book with mystery, suspense with a little bit of romance then I do recommend this book.

Overall, I didn't like the book as much as I wanted to, but that doesn't mean I hated it. I'm not so sure whether I'll be picking up the next book, but we'll see.

Rating

Cover : 4/5

Plot : 3/5

Characters : 2/5

Writing : 3/5