Perception by Kim Harrington

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Scholastic Point

Pages: 288pgs

The Story

When you can see things others can't, 

what do you do when someone's watching you?

Everybody knows about Clarity "Clare" Fern. She's the psychic girl in school, the one who can place her hands on something and see hidden visions from the past.

Only Clare would rather not be a celebrity. She prefers hanging back, observing. Her gift is not a game to her.

But then someone starts playing with her head . . . and heart. Messages and gifts from a secret admirer crop up everywhere Clare turns. Could they be from Gabriel, the gorgeous boy who gets Clare's pulse racing? Or from Justin, Clare's hopeful ex-boyfriend who'd do anything to win her back?

One thing is certain. Clare needs to solve this mystery, and soon. Because the messages are becoming sinister, and a girl in town has suddenly disappeared.

The Review

PERCEPTION is the sequel to Kim Harrington's debut novel Clarity and it picks up soon after the first book had ended at, where the teenage girl - aka the new teenage super sleuth - Clarity 'Clare' Fern uses her psychic abilities to solve murder mysteries and catches the killer in the end. In PERCEPTION however, Clare finds herself no longer outside the social circle and rather being one of the popular girls in high school, mostly this has happened because of her supernatural-like 'abilities', and for once in her life she actually feels like she is being included and is well . . . normal again. But normal can only last for so long since a disappearance in the town occurs (a possible murder is questioned too), and then of course there's sweet these gifts and notes that are being sent to Clare by a crazy "admirer" and whom has obviously been watching her from afar. But Clare has so much more to take under account because she also must choose between two of her boy loves - Justin, the cheating ex-boyfriend and whom saved her life and perhaps wants something more than redemption, and Gabriel, the new boy in town and whom Clare had stolen a few summer kisses from . . . so who will she choose?

There's just something intriguing about Kim Harrington's simplistic writing style. It's fast-paced, it's an exciting page turner, and it always offers a whole bunch of other little surprising things which are blended wonderfully together into this quick, super-sleuth mystery. I admit, I wasn't too thrilled with her first book, Clarity, but surprisingly I thought this new upcoming sequel was a such a vast improvement. When things finally escalate with this missing girl in the book and when other things such as Clare's secret admirer are soon to be revealed, I was pretty much glued to this book from the get-go compared to the first installment, and I love those sort of surprises for a series. For sure, I guessed who was responsible for this whole ordeal of the murder mystery thing, but I didn't care whatever because I enjoyed it so much!

The one character that surprised me the most was probably Clarity 'Clare' Fern herself. She was an alright heroine in the beginning of this series but despite her always hiding behind that feisty, spunky, and insightful personality of hers, I had actually thought she grew up a lot in this book. She had more depth in her and I actually started to take comfort in her accepting her own psychic ability, and what she can do where others can't. It was great meeting that new side of her. I even enjoyed her relationships between her friends, family and her two potential loves interests, they had definitely grounded her more and gave me a chance to know her a little better as well . . . so I appreciated that part of the book.

Like in most YA books lately, there's a love triangle and for Clare she must choose between the two boys, Gabriel and Justin, and really this situation was a no-brainer for me because we already saw this coming one our way from the first book. For Clare in this sequel, it seemed like she was really struggling with whom to choose with the boys which I can completely understand since both boys are great in their own special ways and are so different too. With Justin, she feels so familiar with and he's like her best friend in some respects, but she also feels a little too obligated around him as he saved her life and all in the first book, so he's pretty much someone you don't know whether to trust or not. Then, of course, there's Gabriel, a boy who moved to Clare's town in book one, but he was a bit of mystery to Clare and one she needed to solve. And boy do I like boys like that. Haha.

Personally though, I have to say that I was never a big fan of this particular love triangle because I didn't believe there was one to begin with nor one that would work out well. Except for one relationship. I mean, straight off the bat there's such a strong connection lying between the characters Clare and Gabriel (it's so easy to see what attracts these two together). However, I felt the relationship shared with Clare and Justin was just a past relationship and one that still needed time to heal (one that will probably never be the same again) so when it comes down to it . . . I was all for Team Gabriel in this book. Sorry Justin gals! Though, despite Justin's efforts in getting Clare back, I did feel sorry for the guy (even just a little bit) since we learn a lot more about him in this book and what secrets he still hides. Gosh, he really did try hard to win back Clare. Again poor guy!

Overall, PERCEPTION was a very surprising book. I didn't think I would love this next installment but I did. While the main heroine may do some stupid things here and there, and can 'sometimes' get herself into some sticky and yet dangerous situations that could be easily avoided, but on a whole I thought this was such a fast-paced, action-packed mystery and one I know a lot of readers will enjoy regardless of all the angst going on in the book!

The Rating

4 1/2 / 5 stars