Hello everyone and welcome to my stop on the Farsighted & Open Heart blog tour!
Today I will be sharing my review for the book, OPEN HEART (book #2 in the Farsighted series). Be sure before you leave to enter the giveaway below to win a Nook or Kindle.
Check out my review of Farsighted HERE
Title: Open Heart (Farsighted #2)
Author: Emlyn Chand
Number of Pages: 354
Published: May 25th 2012 by Blue Crown Press
Source: Kindle ebook, author
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Reading Level: Young Adult
Simmi Shergill's life is a mess. Her powers of psychic feeling are on the fritz, and Grandon Township's sudden population boom has brought quite a few unsavory characters to town. She also looks like an over-blown balloon in her size 14 pants, but not even starving herself seems to be helping.
At least she has Alex, the boyfriend who loves her so much he'd do anything for her. Last summer, he even risked his life to protect her from the mysterious boy everyone was convinced wanted to kill her.
Just one problem: she's not so sure she feels the same way. Is Alex really the man of her dreams? Why can't she stop fixating on her would-be killer, Dax? Part of her wants to run screaming in the other direction whenever Dax is around, while the other part longs to run into his embrace, no matter whom she'd hurt or what she'd risk.
Simmi's loyalty is on the line. Whom will she choose—the blind seer who loves her, or the charming telekinetic with "bad idea" written all over him? Emotions run high in the tension-packed book two of the Farsighted series.
Open Heart has been on my TBR list for sometime now so when I was asked to read it I jumped at the opportunity. A while back I read and reviewed Farsighted which is the first book in this series and really enjoyed it. The premise for these books are unique and quite intriguing. With Open Heart I had so many mixed feelings as I was reading that I found myself taking breaks from the book here and there so I could completely understand the story.
If you have not read Farsighted then please be aware there will be a few spoilers in this review.
Book one was soully focused on Alex. Alex is blind but has the rare ability to see the future through visions. Simmi on the other hand can feel and sense emotions of others as well as change a persons emotions at will. Where Farsighted was told from Alex's POV , Open Heart is being told from Simmi's. The book basically starts where Farsighted left off. Alex and Simmi are now dating and both learning how to use and grow their physic gifts. The real challenge Simmi has is dealing with her low to non existed self worth. Even thought she has a great boyfriend and a supporting best friend, Simmi has never truly felt like she is worth much. Simmi sees herself as this fat...no a HUGE blob when really she could maybe loose a few extra pounds. Or course like many teenage girls she goes about loosing the weight the wrong way and a very unsafe way. At first she attempts to stop eating all together only to break down and bing alone in her room. Things are about to get a whole lot worse for her...
She finds herself feeling lost and confused because on one hand she is dating Alex who has been nothing but kind and loving to Simmi but on the other hand she is strangely drawn to Dax who just so happens to be Alex's enemy. If this wasn't enough, Simmi does the unthinkable and takes her eating problem to a whole new level.....a way of coping with her insecurities. NOT. GOOD!!
Simmi's story really dives deep into the mind of a teenage girl with not only her special gift but a really scary and real secret. The mix of paranormal and realistic fiction blew my mind. Although there were some parts in the book I wanted to slap Simmi and ask her why she keep doing these stupid things to herself and others. At the same time I also felt sorry for her, I mean truly downright sorry. She was just so blind not see what she was doing to herself which left me feeling very frustrated with her character. There were some part that I simply had to skip because of how graphic they were but I think this aspect alone is what made me not give a better rating to the book. The readers of Open Heart should be warned of the realism in the story, not to say it was necessarily a bad thing but for me it was hard to read. The one thing that really did interested me about Simmi's story was her relationship with Alex and Dax. I loved how I was able to get to know them both a lot more. The book to me was more about the struggles Simmi was presented with than the obvious paranormal aspects. Which for me was good and bad. Good because it keep the story well entertaining but bad because the "realistic" part seemed to out weight this.
Would I recommend this book to my readers and friends?
YES!
Would I read the next one?
Sure would.
The story itself is really good, REALLY GOOD! I simply think I was somewhat turned off by how Simmi continued to hurt herself and those around her. In the next books I hope to see a lot more of her character. Simmi stills has a long way to go to not only grow and approve in her ability's but to accept and love herself.
Author Emlyn Chand is a born storyteller. She writes from the heart and put so much hardcore emotions in her books. Even through the ups and down in the story I can honestly say this is series is one not to miss!
I liked it a lot. Would recommend.
About The Author: Emlyn Chand
Find Emlyn Chand @
Emlyn Chand emerged from the womb with a fountain pen clutched in her left hand (true story). When she's not writing, she runs a large book club in Ann Arbor and is the president of author PR firm Novel Publicity Best known for her Young Adult novels, she is also developing a small, but devoted, following to her children's book series and is beginning to dabble in other genres as well. Emlyn enjoys connecting with readers and is available via almost every social media site in existence. Visit www.emlynchand.com for more info. Don't forget to say "hi" to her sun conure Ducky!
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Posts
Thank you for the review, I enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteKit3247(at)aol(dot)com
I really enjoyed Farsighted and have had fun following the tour. I wish you every success and joy. Looking forward to reading Open Heart.
ReplyDeletedz59001[at]gmail[dot]com
Wow! Thank you for the amazing review, Beckie. Open Heart was hard for me to write, because Simmi's issues hit so close to home. In fact, I cried so much while writing it that I had to switch to dictation at one point. Shapri's book is shaping up nicely and promises to be a much happier read!
ReplyDeleteEm <3