READING: Clarity (Clarity,#1) by Kim Harrington

Clarity by Kim Harrington

Publication Date: March 1st 2011

Publisher: Scholastic Point

Hardcover, 242 pages

Buy via Book Depository

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?

If someone would ask me to describe Clarity in only three words,that's what pops in my mind immediatelly: Brilliant,Magical and Fascinating!

Clarity by Kim Harrington is easily among the best books I've read this year and among the best YA books I have ever read in general!

It's an extremelly well written book,with a good plot,not that predictable at least for me.Granted I had my suspects narrowed down to 2 but still I kept wondering the whole time until the final revelation...The characters are simply amazing!One would wonder how in such a small book there would be enough character development along with everything else going on,but Harrington managed just fine to progress everything in an amazing way.So,you see Clare's character unfold and develop along with the mystery of the plot throughout the whole book.

Harrington isn't going around the bush.She immediatelly starts her story,she gives you even clues right from the very first page of the story,a fact that made me go back to that first page the whole time...You see I wanted to find the killer before everything and that first page kept calling me the whole time!

I loved Clare!Her perception of the world,how she dealt with her being a psychic and her whole peers mocking at her,the way she tried to do the best for her and her family along with her sense of duty towards society.Clare is your typical teenager,with all the needs and wants and problems a typical teen has but with a special ability to deal with along with everything else.I loved the way she was in terms with hers and her family's abilitities but down to the bottom all she wanted was normalcy.Such a thing shows deep self knowledge and made Clare all the more believable.

I enjoyed her strange mother and her brother.Although,as side characters they weren't in the front line the whole time,I found them equally believable and with a fair share in the progress of the story.

Clarity is a bit unusual as well.Many YA novels (at least the one's I've read and those I'm picking!) have a good amount of romance among their plots,a romance that is touchable from the first pages and a romantic interest or two that are also quite evident.But Clarity is a bit different!Although there is some romance,although you get your romantic interests of the hero,you don't get declarations of undying love,or even a full formed romantic relationship!And despite the fact,to be honest nowadays I really want my books with a fair amount of the romantic element,I just couldn't care about it less!After all,the romantic element is present,just not all the time!And no need to mention that this fact leaves room for all kind of possibilities for the sequel!

As I said from the beggining of this review,Clarity is among the best books I've ever read and as such,I recommend it to anyone!It's a fast paced,beautifully written novel by an author whose work I will check from now on!