Blind Sight (Through The Eyes of Leocardo Reyes), Ermisenda Alvarez - The Review

The Concept 

Here's this normal ordinary guy, Leocardo, at home with his normal ordinary blind sister on a normal ordinary day.

Blind sister, Odette, starts to act strange, and next thing you know, Leo and Odette are installed in a new apartment, as the newest reluctant immigrants on a picturesque, magical island nation, Edaion, on which you may only use your magic in the winter - when all the tourists are gone. 

No Leo, you are no tourist, you can't leave. Yes Leo, this is where you belong, nobody not even your parents remember you in your former existence. Focus Leo, your sisters' gifts may have put her in peril of her life, you must protect her. What now Leo, you like the princess?! She may be with the bad guys, you know? 

So magic, got it. Intrigue, check. A pseudo-kidnap, got it. Romance, check. Add in the philosophical question of whether (and if yes why?) history repeats itself and top it off with a race against time and circumstance to save the lives of a number of strangers and as well as the beloved Odette's. 

The Writing 

It didn't go down as easy as it should have. 

There didn't seem to be much wrong with the writing though, so I figure it had more to do with the often-times strange usage of language. Chalked it down to English not being the author's first language. 

The Story 

Leocardo Reyes and his sister Odette are transported by what can only be magic, from their home in Barcelona, to a beautiful and strangely alive land, minutes after the blind Odette had drawn that land to exquisite detail and immediately after they'd both been captivated by the flashing of the name of an island nation, Edaion, on TV. 

Leocardo does his best to settle them in Edaion while carrying on an inner battle with the magic of Edaion, to remain in charge of his desire to go back home. 

Thoughts of escape soon give way, to the more pressing matters of whether Odette's unique gifts place her in the center of a historical political intrigue which would cost her, her life, and what the right thing to do to save her is.  

The Resolution 

When the end comes, many of the key questions still remain unresolved. There is the big build-up, the fire, and the collaborative heroics, but it didn't feel like an appropriate end, if only because the link to Odette's recovery is imo a bit tenuous. 

The Verdict 

I couldn't really get into it. 

It's a good story and even with the sometimes not so familiar English language, it is well written. 

So much as I hate to admit that my like or dislike for a main character greatly influences my take on a book, my feelings about Leocardo, (I saw a whiny, gay, twelve year old bitch! - he was none of these things of course but that was my impression of him), may have had a bit to do with my inability to really like the book. 

This post is part of the Blind Sight Blog Tour. Blind Sight is an urban fantasy novel written in two volumes, each telling the story through a different character's perspective.