Thursday 7 March 2013

Book Review: Open Heart by Emlyn Chand - BLOG TOUR


Today I have my review of the second book in this fantastic young adult paranormal fantasy series, Open Heart. Check it out below and the giveaway for a Nook or Kindle at the bottom.

Title: Open Heart
Series: Farsighted #2
Author: Emlyn Chand
Publisher: Blue Crown Press
Release Date: 25th May 2012
Format: eBook
Source: Author via GCReading Blog Tours for an honest review
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 unsavoury 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.


My Review


**please be aware there are spoilers for Farsighted, book 1. **

Open Heart was very different from Farsighted. Being from a teenage girl’s perspective is something that I usually read anyway, but Farsighted was a lot more paranormal fantasy than Open Heart. I did love this book, but for very different reasons than the first book. Emlyn Chand has amazing talent; the differences in books 1 and 2 are amazing. Farsighted was full of intrigue and mystery (and of course from a teenage boy’s perspective) and Open Heart has more love and teenage peer pressure issues.

My first impressions of Open Heart was “what is wrong with Simmi, why is she so depressed and sad”? Simmi is recovering from their adventure on finding Dax and stopping him from killing anybody. Simmi has the ability to feel emotions from people around her and can change a person’s emotion by touching them. She is extremely worried and afraid of her abilities and doesn't want to have that much power. Nobody should have that much power, it is dangerous.

You would think that after their adventure and knowing how much Alex loves Simmi, she would love him in return. But Simmi doesn't know what her feelings are towards Alex and is really confused about Dax. She should hate Dax, but they seem drawn to each other. Simmi is having severe body issues and doesn't think she is good enough for Alex. She believes that if Alex could see, he wouldn't want to be with her. Going through these ideas, Simmi is trying to refrain from eating food and tries not to draw attention to this fact with all the people around her. Being jealous of her peers and having insecurities is turning Simmi into a stranger.

Alex still refuses to accept that Dax isn't the bad guy any more. Dax has been disowned by his parents and is living with Alex’s family. Alex refuses to acknowledge his existence and will not allow Simmi and Dax to even be in the same room. Refusing them to even talk is making Dax and Simmi want to get together even more.

A new housing development is going ahead in the town and with it a lot more people are attending school. The developer has decided to donate and build a new school building to accommodate all the new students. But something seems very off with Mr Franklin and his daughter Veronica. They seem to get their way too often.

Will Simmi and Dax get together? What will happen with Simmi and Alex, can she get over her body image issues and love herself? Can Simmi accept her power and start using them again? Who is this new developer and are there more people in town with powers now?

Loved this book immensely, I definitely need book 3, Pitch, right now. I am addicted to this series and love how each book is on a different character and their life, but still carries on from the previous book. Awesome! Emlyn Chand’s writing style is fantastic, easy to read and the characters lovable. Although in Open Heart I was getting a little frustrated with Simmi. I really recommend this to all YA readers, this series is not just for fantasy/paranormal readers. Bring on Pitch, book 3!


4 GREAT BOOKS

You can read my review of Farsighted HERE.

Other Books in the Series






About the Author

From an early age, Emlyn Chand has counted books among her best friends. She loves to hear and tell stories and emerged from the womb with a fountain pen grasped firmly in her left hand (true story). Her affinity for the written word extends to absolutely every area of her life: she has published three novels and three children’s books with plans for many more of each, leads a classics book group with almost five-hundred members, and, of course, runs the whole shebang at Novel Publicity.

The book that changed Emlyn’s life is Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crocket Johnson. It opened her eyes to the world that could exist if only she was willing to create it—a lesson she has never forgotten. While she enjoys all types of novels, her greatest loves are literary fiction and YA. She’s best known for her Farsighted series and is developing a slow but steady following for the Bird Brain Books. She’s eager to see how her women’s fiction novel, Torn Together, will be received by the reading masses.




Make sure to check out the rest FARSIGHTED & OPEN HEART blog tour kicking off Monday, February 4th! 

Giveaway


GRAND PRIZE: Kindle or Nook -- Winners choice! US ONLY, If international $100 dollar Gift Card to a bookstore.

2 comments:

  1. Excellent review, thank you.

    Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com

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  2. YAY! I love this review, KT. So glad you enjoyed the developments in Open Heart. I've been on lock-down writing Pitch, and I think it will be the best one yet. You probably know by now that Shapri is going to fight for what's rightfully hers!

    Em :-D

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