I really enjoyed this book. Reading from Jasper's perspective and how he percieves the world in colour was extremely unique and I found myself searching the colours he was seeing to understand his views. This book had me clinging to the story and desperately wanting to know what was going to happen and if Jasper would be okay. Will definitely recommend at work.

I struggled to get into the first half of this book, but felt obligated to continue given that it was an ARC, so I resorted to skimming. I think it might have been the writing and trying to get used to Jasper’s perspective of reality.

Thankfully, the second half of the book was better and once I got used to Jasper’s narration, it was a lot easier to get through.

I didn’t gel with this book, there wasn’t anything tangible to get me hooked not hold my attention, in either the storyline or the characters, as pretty much all them, except for Jasper, were not very nice people, even Jasper’s own father made me grind my teeth on occasion.

I guess this one just wasn’t my cup of tea. Thank you to HarperCollins Australia and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing me a copy of this book in return for my honest review.

Jasper is a 13 year old boy who has prosopagnasia (face blindness) and synaesthesia (described by the UK Synaesthesia website as a Union of Senses) resulting in Jasper being unable to recognise people he interacts with regularly, including his father; and that he experiences sound as colour. Jasper identifies people in his life through the colours he attributes to them including his mother who was cobalt blue.

The first half of this book is very slow and descriptive. It gradually draws the reader in by introducing characters and the colours that Jasper attributes to each ones voice. I would not have described this book as a thriller as it was mostly slow moving. In fact I was wondering whether I would finish it and Was only encouraged to do so by reading reviews on Amazon and Goodreads which stated that the first 2/3 of the book were slow,but hang in there as the last 1/3 rewards you.

Although I felt the first half of the book could have been reduced, I understand what the author was probably hoping to achieve, by having the reader imagine they were Jasper and getting to know the characters by colour. The author did this well. I also am grateful for the way the book makes us aware of these conditions and gives the opportunity to learn more through links at the end of the book.

The last 1/3 of the book was more like the suggested thriller and tied everything together well. I went from giving this book 2'stars half way through to being happy I finished it with my 4 star rating.

This a fantastic book. Whilst it wasn’t at all what I expected going in, it’s an engaging read with a protagonist that you instinctively root for from page one, before you even really know what’s going on. The language in the book used to describe synathesia was so vivid, it allowed me to feel as though I had some idea of what it must be like, even though I’ve never experienced it myself. Not a book for everyone, but highly recommended