Five Reasons Why This Book is the One }} NOT IF I SEE YOU FIRST by Eric Lindstrom

Review by Jackie

NOT IF I SEE YOUR FIRST
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Poppy (December 1, 2015)
Language: English
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The Rules:

Don't deceive me. Ever. Especially using my blindness. Especially in public.

Don't help me unless I ask. Otherwise you're just getting in my way or bothering me.

Don't be weird. Seriously, other than having my eyes closed all the time, I'm just like you only smarter.

Parker Grant doesn't need 20/20 vision to see right through you. That's why she created the Rules: Don't treat her any differently just because she's blind, and never take advantage. There will be no second chances. Just ask Scott Kilpatrick, the boy who broke her heart.

When Scott suddenly reappears in her life after being gone for years, Parker knows there's only one way to react-shun him so hard it hurts. She has enough on her mind already, like trying out for the track team (that's right, her eyes don't work but her legs still do), doling out tough-love advice to her painfully naive classmates, and giving herself gold stars for every day she hasn't cried since her dad's death three months ago. But avoiding her past quickly proves impossible, and the more Parker learns about what really happened--both with Scott, and her dad--the more she starts to question if things are always as they seem. Maybe, just maybe, some Rules are meant to be broken.

FIVE REASONS WHY THIS BOOK IS THE ONE

The one what, you might ask. Well, the one that makes all the other books jealous, of course!

1. Never have I ever read a book that has a character with such genuine character growth. I’ve never realized that all the other growths are, in fact, Sort Of Growths. Growing hidden behind love. NOT IF I SEE YOU FIRST is compelling. Parker Grant has Rules. These are a huge part of what makes her who she is. Especially Rule Infinity. This book shows her growth though, over, and around her own rules. All while figuring out her place in the world and what it means to trust.


2. THAT COVER IS JUST YES. The whole design is just yes. I mean there is brail design all over this thing. And the colors are sooooooo pretty. Love. Love. Love.


3. FRIENDSHIP. The don’t abandon, can’t be without, you are my Actual Soul Mate, forgiving friendship. I can’t even. This is what every person wants in a friendship. There is no Parker without Sarah. There’s Molly. There’s Faith. There’s even D.B., whose name is actually Kent. There’s Scott. These characters are dynamic and real and they have flaws. They don’t wear their flaws like there’s something wrong with being imperfect, but instead they allow themselves to be friends with others because of their flaws. Because what is one person’s weakness is the other’s strength. One is the eyes. The other is the ears. Sarah and Parker.


4. I thought I would have issues with the romance but I SO DIDN’T. I mean, they were together in eighth grade. However, Parker knew the apparent strangeness was of finding The One that young. I don’t know why I wasn’t annoyed by it, but I wasn’t. I loved it. I loved that they were just stupid kids, dumb and in love, making stupid kid mistakes over stupid ideals. I loved that they weren’t perfect. And that the whole issue-TRUST- wasn’t placed on a single person. The romance was something I wasn’t expecting to love. And it came slowly. It built until I couldn’t help loving it something fierce.


5. It's so unique. I love this book, if you can’t tell. It deals with so many issues without being all like shove-all-problems-into-YA. Suicide, death, failing friendship, distrust, blindness, insecurity, fear, not dealing with your emotions in a healthy way, abandonment, divorce. Lindstrom deals with everything. He leaves nothing out. I’m in complete awe.

Okay so the moral of this story is . . . read this story.