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Farsighted:
Alex Kosmitoras may
be blind, but he can still "see" things others can't. When his
unwanted visions of the future begin to suggest that the girl he likes could be
in danger, he has no choice but to take on destiny and demand it reconsider.
Alex Kosmitoras's life has never been easy. The only other
student who will talk to him is the school bully, his parents are dead-broke
and insanely overprotective, and to complicate matters even more, he's blind.
Just when he thinks he'll never have a shot at a normal life, a new girl from
India moves into town. Simmi is smart, nice, and actually wants to be friends
with Alex. Plus she smells like an Almond Joy bar. Yes, sophomore year might
not be so bad after all.
Unfortunately, Alex is in store for another new arrival--an
unexpected and often embarrassing ability to "see" the future. Try as
he may, Alex is unable to ignore his visions, especially when they begin to
suggest that Simmi is in danger. With the help of the mysterious psychic next
door and new friends who come bearing gifts of their own, Alex must embark on a
journey to change his future.
Review:
Right from the opening of this story, you can tell Alex Kosmitoras is not an ordinary kid. His deep perception of the smells and sounds surrounding him are amazing, and this author does a fabulous job of using those sensory explanations to tell us about the world surrounding Alex. Typically, a character can see the beautiful faces around him, or see what's coming ahead. But since Alex is blind, this proved to be a bit of a hardship.
Alex must learn to use his ability to see the future to help save his friend, Simmi. Ms. Chand does a good job of weaving troubles and humor into the story to keep us turning the pages. And a page turner it is. I was a little disappointed in the quick ending, but she did leave it open for a next book. I'll be letting my tween read this one and expanding her world beyond vampires for once.
Excerpt:
“Did Dad tell you? A new tenant
moved into the old pharmacy next door.”
“Really?” I ask, not letting on
I already know. If I feign ignorance, Mom’ll divulge all the details. “What is
it?”
“It’s a psychic shop,” Her voice
crackles with excitement like a fire that’s just beginning to burn. “The
All-Seeing Miss Teak. Isn’t that cute? Miss Teak, Mystic. Ha, I wonder if
that’s her real name.”
I laugh. “That is funny. Never
had a psychic in town before. What’s she like?”
“Oh, she’s very friendly. Why
don’t you go over and say ‘hi.’ I’m sure
she’d like to meet you.”
“Okay, I think I will.” I’m
incredibly intrigued, because first off, it’s a psychic shop—how weird is
that?—and second, its presence made Dad super uncomfortable—also very cool. I
waste no time heading next door to check out the scene.
As I step cautiously into the
new shop, a recording of soft, instrumental music greets me. I can make out
chimes and a string instrument I don’t recognize but for some reason reminds me
of snake charmers. The smell of incense fills my nostrils, which explains the
burning I detected earlier.
“Hello?” I call out into the
otherwise quiet room.
Nobody answers. I walk in
deeper, sweeping my cane out in front of me in a metronome fashion. This place
is new to me, so I need to be especially careful while moving around.
Thump! Despite my precautions, I stub my toe on something hard,
big, and made of wood. Just my luck to stub the same toe twice in one day. I
reach down to press my fingers into my throbbing foot to alleviate some of the
pain. Something teeters before rolling off of the chest and across the floor;
the sound it makes indicates a curved path. Suddenly, the object stops.
Somebody’s stopped it.
“Hello?” I call again.
“Hello,” a deep, feminine voice
responds, placing more emphasis on the first syllable than the second.
“I- I’m sorry I knocked that
thing over. I didn’t mean to…” I hope she’s not angry. Probably not a good idea
to get on a psychic’s bad side.
“That wasn’t just a thing, it’s a crystal ball,” she says as
she walks over, sending my blood pulsing through my veins. I sense her looking
at me for a moment before she places the ball back on top of the chest.
“Can it see the future?” I ask,
allowing my curiosity to outweigh my uneasiness.
“No.” After a pause lasting
several beats, she continues. “But I can see the future sometimes when I look
into it.”
“Oh, okay.” I tighten my hand
around my cane and turn to leave. It may not be the most polite thing to do,
but all of this hocus-pocus stuff is freaking me out more than I would’ve
guessed.
The psychic lady speaks again, stopping
me cold. “Don’t run away, Alex Kosmitoras.” She must’ve spoken to Mom earlier
today. That must be how she knows my name.
“I’m not running away,” I say
meekly. “I’m just going back over to Sweet Blossoms.”
“Don’t run away,” she
repeats—this time she speaks louder and with more energy. “Don’t run away from
your abilities. They are gifts.”
“What?” I ask in confusion. What
abilities is she talking about?
“You already know. Watch.
Listen. Be open to your gifts.”
I turn to face Miss Teak, but
find she’s already gone, returning to wherever she was before I got there.
Is it safe to leave? I trail my fingers across the
wooden box I ran into earlier; a thick coat of dust clings to the tips as I
pull away. If this shop just opened, why is it already so dirty? I wipe my
hands over my shirt to get the gritty substance off. Shivers rock my whole body.
Something about this place is wrong, and I’m not sticking around to figure out
what. Tapping my cane along the floor, I’m able to find the exit without knocking
into anything else.
Buy Links:
Smashwords
- http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/91611
About the Author:
Emlyn Chand has always
loved to hear and tell stories, having emerged from the womb with a fountain
pen grasped firmly 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. Emlyn
loves to connect with readers and is available throughout the social media
interweb.
1 comment:
Hi Lindsay,
Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed my story. Thank you for the compliments in your review. It's always nice to hear when a reader connects with a book--I mean, what could be better? I know the story ends on a cliff-hanger, it just felt more fun and paranormal. If you'd like to receive an ARC of book #2, Open Heart, you can sign-up on my website www.emlynchand.com. Those should be ready in a few months. Oh, and the fact that you'd give this to your tween to read makes me all warm and bubbly in side :-D
And I have a favor to ask: would you be so kind as to cross-post this lovely review to Amazon and GoodReads? It really helps a newbie author like me get her name out there.
Thanks a mil,
Emlyn
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