Open Heart by Emlyn Chand
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 unsavory 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.
Published May 25th 2012 by Blue Crown Press
Genre: YA fantasy
Source: blog tour
Series? Yes. Farsighted is the 1st, Open Heart is the 2nd, Pitch is the 3rd and releases May 21st 2013, 4th is Vertigo and releases May 2014, and Refrain is the 5th and last and releases May 2015
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It was different to see this world from a new set of eyes, as this second book in the Farsighted series is from Simmi's point of view, and the first was from Alex's. Simmi has a different gift, so therefore processes things differently, she of course can see, and she is a girl. So while I ultimately enjoyed her character (even if I despised how she handled certain things) and her voice, it took a bit to get used to the different narration.
She was also pushing away Alex at first, and being harsh with him, but I quickly figured out that was partly due to a self esteem issue. I, of course, had no idea what she looked like, just her smell and personality from Farsighted, so the fact that she is a size 14, a size she thinks is huge, contributes to her insecurities. (I am totally a 12-16 depending on pants, so I get the insecurities and feeling like most everyone is bigger than me.) There were a few other things that I can't really talk about without spoiling that made me doubt her actions, and wonder where she is coming from, because on the surface it is selfish. Maybe it is more because I was in Alex's head for the first book, but I don't know.
It was nice to see the theme of family involvement carried over. I appreciated that Simmi and her parents had dinner together with her little sister, and that they were concerned about her.
The issues of the eating disorder was very realistic. The way she tried to hide it and felt like she had control over something, when she in reality was losing it piece by piece. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and knew that it had to catch up to her. I wasn't really expecting something like this in my fantasy, but the dose of contemporary was unique. I really hope that more healing and understanding about real beauty comes to her as the series goes on.
It was so hard seeing her struggle with her feelings--I guess I should have been prepared from the summary and the end of Farsighted, but it didn't make it any easier. I can definitely see the appeal of Dax but I just think the betrayal is hard. I wish she would have just handled it all differently. I think when she had the first doubts about Alex, she should have backed off and maybe it would have been better. I am also nervous about the turn of events with her gift at the end and really hope that she can learn to control it, and only use for good. I believe she has a good heart, and regardless of some questionable decisions that all teens make at some point, I hope that the negative can't consume her.
As far as Dax goes, I hope that we are in his head really soon, because from the outside I am really liking what I see. He is gentlemanly, and learning to control himself so that no one else gets hurt. I hope that Alex is just jealous and letting that come before forgiveness, and not because he truly still feels or has seen something truly horrible that Dax will do.
Open Hearted is paced well, and I like how the plot continued, although I don't really feel like we are given a true ending to this one. It feels like it just stopped, and I can't wait for the next book.
Bottom line: The Farsighted world from new eyes, dealing with hard hitting emotional issues, and a choice that will hurt someone regardless.
If you had to chose-seeing the future of how it could be or controlling emotions, what would you pick?
