Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing for a complimentary early release copy of Love At Second Sight by F.T Lukens.

After reading and absolutely adoring Otherworldly by F.T Lukens I was excited to see they had another new book coming out. I was even more intrigued to find out that the new story would have a mystery/thriller element, which is one of my favorite genres! Love At Second Sight was a fun and entertaining novel to read, the characters feel well thought out, and the mystery elements were perfect. F.T Lukens writes friendship groups beautifully, in both novels that I’ve read from them I’ve been impressed with the characters, story, romance, and friendships. I’m all for the misfit friend vibes in here, I found the friend group to be entertaining to read about, there was never a dull moment around this group!

The psychic visions were also a really neat element in the story, the visions didn’t feel overused/overpowered at all. I like how Cam went about dealing with the visions among other elements in the story. I enjoyed the thrilling aspects of the mystery, the visions, and just how some scenes played out really tickled that thrilling nerve of mine! The only thing that bothered me a bit was the romance felt like it was on the back burner, I was routing for Cam and Mateo but I just wish we would have gotten some more scenes between the two. I lived for the thrills and tense moments between them but I wanted more romance/one on one scenes with them. I definitely will be reading more from F.T Lukens, I have two physical books i’m excited to get into. I know they are going to be excellent reads!

Gosh this was such a fun time! Paranormal is BACK, baby (don't come for me if it has been back... this made me feel like I did reading paranormal romances in high school, but it was more humorous).

This world was so fun! It felt very contemporary but with magical beings in society (faeries, sprites, vampires, werewolves, witches, etc.). Cam's plight realizing he is clairvoyant and having to deal with the initial ramifications of that all on his own was so interesting to read. I loved seeing his friend group form (and also each friend is so distinct?! I want more books about this group!!!). The romance was cute, but more on the back burner than I was expecting (maybe it could be more of a focus in potential future books?? O.o).

This book is about accepting yourself for who you are and coming to terms with cutting out people who don't. I wasn't expecting the message to have such a punch to it, but I was crying near the end. These characters deserve everything. I hope there will be another book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Cozy. Wholesome. Standalone. Found family. LGBTQIA+ inclusive. It has all the things I’ve come to expect from F.T. Lukens’s books. I will say that some plot points, like reuniting with a supposedly missing estranged sibling, feel a little underdeveloped or anticlimatic. This book also felt a bit darker than other Lukens books because of biological family violently rejecting their children. Even though the rejection isn’t based on gender or sexuality, it is something the characters cannot control about themselves, so it’s upsetting for an otherwise cozy, inclusive book. Likeable, but not my favorite F.T. Lukens.

Not my favorite of F.T. Luken's books, but enjoyable nonetheless! I loved the main cast of characters, and the world was magical and immersive. It was missing that distinct spark I'm looking for, though.

While the title is clever, I don't think it represents the book well. While there is a subplot romance, it's very subtle, and the two romancing characters in question go on one date and then they share a kiss at the very end of the book. I don't mind subplot romance at all. In fact, I prefer it. However, this title could be misleading and upset some others.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love that time in the Spring when I get my once yearly hit of joy from F.T. Lukens newest book and Love at Second Sight provided just that. A lovely group of paranormal friends trying to solve a mystery when one of them becomes a clairvoyant and chaos ensues is my idea of a good time. I loved the characters, the mystery kept me mostly engaged, and the details about high school made me laugh.

One of my favorite aspects of this book is that Cam being a clairvoyant and his experiences directly in some cases correlates to the experiences of queer youth. He's basically forced out of the clairvoyant closet with a video. His parents don't see him as normal and want him to be normal. It's new territory and he's unsure about himself and everything. However, for this book, it seems to be a queer normative world, so instead of the conflict being about his gender or sexuality, it's about his powers. He decides to lean into them and finds a group of friends who love and support him. His parent? We're not going to talk about them. It would be a spoiler.

The mystery aspect of this was pretty fun. Trying to piece together a murder and prevent it when you can only see a few glimpses of the future based on who you're touching is not the best method to solve a mystery, but you have to work with the gifts you're given. Cam and his friends do the best they can with their array of powers. I really loved Al and their raven familiar Lenore. They were *chefs kiss*. I also really enjoyed Kaci, Gemma, Reese, and Mateo. If I had one comment, I wish that there was a bit more to Cam and Mateo's romance, but it does make sense in the situation that they are more preoccupied with trying to solve a murder.

Overall, I would recommend this to fans of F.T. Lukens other books. If you like urban fantasy, queer characters, and found family aspects, then you'll be pretty pleased. If you want a jog down memory lane and the square pizza provided by your high school cafeteria, this could give you that. If you're still in high school and reading this well... enjoy! Spell Bound is still probably my favorite F.T. Lukens book, but I can appreciate that this wrapped up in a more cohesive way. I can't wait to read whatever F.T. Lukens has planned next, but I already know that I'm going to have to wait another year. However, for those of you who have this to look forward to: Happy Reading!

This book was so fun and cute, and I had a blast reading it. For starters, I loved our main character and narrator, Cam. He was so caring and brave and lovable. He was a great perspective to be reading from, because as he was learning everything about the supernatural community so was the reader. He also had amazing development, making more friends and growing into his abilities and realizing what kind of person he wants to be in life. I also loved his friends. His relationship with Al was especially wholesome as they were able to fight and make up maturely. And of course his relationship with Mateo was so adorable. Lastly, I love the magical world building and plot. It was so fun seeing so many different magics in the different characters, and Cam’s ability was very well thought out and structured. As for the plot, I liked the mystery aspect a lot, especially with the references to Scooby-Doo. I didn’t love the climax of the plot and the ultimate villains of the story, as it was a bit dark for me. But overall this book was amazing, I enjoyed it and highly recommend.

5/5 stars: This is Lukens' YA 2SLGBTQIA+ Paranormal Mystery Romance stand-alone that follows a human fifteen-year-old who unexpectedly has a psychic glimpse of the future in front of most of the student body, seeing a gruesomely murdered teen girl from the point of view of the killer. Now he has to navigate the supernatural community and their unwanted persistent interest in his gifts and how it all effects his relationship with family and friends. All while working to identify the girl in the vision, find her potential killer and prevent the murder from happening. Or the next murder he sees might be his own. Witty and heartfelt, Lukens' writing and character work are exceptional; the characters are well-rounded, complex and yet remain incredibly likable. Cam's an adorable artsy oddball and I love him to pieces. It's great to see him grow into his new paranormal powers and navigate his relationship with his parents and his old and new friendships and deal with all the attention his clairvoyance has garnered. And oh course there's his sweet romance with his longtime werewolf crush, Mateo. While there are no OPS scenes, the romance is very flirty and swoony. Additionally, Lukens has crafted mystery with plenty of twists and turns. With tact and sensitivity, Lukens touches on some sensitive topics; so take care and CWs. Lukens is a favorite author and this newest book doesn't disappoint; Highly recommend!

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing | Margaret K. McElderry Books in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

LOVE AT SECOND SIGHT gave exactly what I was expecting. It was cute and quick. Very fun snack of a story to read.

really cute romance with some great drama near the end. it felt a bit sudden but it was definitely hinted at throughout! 5 stars. tysm for the arc. would recommend.

Thank you to FT Lukens, Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4⭐️

Despite the fact that I physically own two of Lukens’ novels, this was my first time reading one of their works. Love at Second Sight has made me eager to pick up my other novels by them. I found our main character, Cam, to be endearing if not a little annoying at times. The bigger cast of characters (Al, Gemma, Mateo, Kaci, and Reese) were all likable and each served a purpose to further the plot.
Some of the things that didn’t make this a 5-star read for me was Cam’s family, the pacing, and the overall feeling that a lot of this could have been solved much quicker but couldn’t because of ✨plot reasons.✨
Aiden—Cam’s older brother—is MIA for the majority of the book and only comes into play once to be like “omg don’t trust our parents, they’re mad I fell in love with a faery. Also here’s the faeries which will do nothing for the plot except remind you the supernatural are everywhere in this world.” Only for Cam to decide to continue to trust their parents despite the fact they’re the paranormal equivalent of homophobes in this queer-normative world. And believe me, the subtext is not subtle about the fact that being paranormal is the equivalent to being anything but cis-het in our world. “How she’d [Gemma] taken away my chance to reveal my ability on my own terms, to whom I wanted, when I wanted, or whether I wanted to at all.” It’s giving the forced outing from the 2018’s Love, Simon film.
I wanted the storyline with Cam’s parents turning out to be part of an anti-paranormal cult to rid their children of those aspects of society to come quicker, having it all conglomerate at the end messed up the pacing for me as the final chapters felt very rushed as a resolution was trying to be found and completed.
I found the romance between Cam and Mateo to be cute and balance good with the story itself, though from my perspective it did feel like Mateo’s crush on Cam developed somewhat out of nowhere? Maybe that was just me not picking up on the subtext beforehand.
I also feel like this book could have benefitted from a different title—I didn’t see the significance of the current title and also it feels very romance-y when I feel like this is more a coming of age, “murder” mystery story.
Last thing, there were also a couple of instances of Al’s pronouns being wrong (I spotted two times “she” was used over Al’s preferred they/them pronouns) and one instance of “Cam” being put instead of “Aiden” but overall the grammar seemed to be good and the story was well-edited.
I’d definitely still recommend this book even with all the little things I mentioned above.

Love at Second Sight is a love story and a mystery, but most importantly, it's a metaphor for discrimination. I'm the biggest fan of F.T. Lukens' works, from In Deeper Waters to So This is Ever After, and Love at Second Sight definitely didn't disappoint. The friends-to-lovers arc between Cam and Mateo was the cutest. I'm usually a bigger fan of enemies-to-lovers but the way both Cam and Mateo have obviously crushing on each other? I loved the pining. This was teen romance at its finest. I mean, they're 15 years old. If some people think the romance moved too slowly, or too mildly, remember these kids are sophomores in high school. Speaking of, I loved how F.T. wrote their characters. As a high school sophomore myself, they felt startling realistic. All of their insecurities and doubts seemed to be taken straight from my own. They don't act too mature, but they don't act too immature either. F.T. knows their characters and their audience. I can't over-stress how appreciative I am of this. If I feel like characters my age are too unrealistic, I'll drop a book, but F.T. hooked me.
I loved the paranormal elements. The way F.T. represented discrimination in the real world with how many humans saw the paranormal citizens as something to be purged translated into a thoughtful depiction of the reality we live in. This was the most empathetic way to bring awareness to and to help many see a perspective they may not have understood before. I can write an essay on how Love at Second Sight reflects real world problems and I just might. F.T. Lukens is just such a genius.
Thank you to Simon Teen for this ARC! All opinions are my own.

This was cute. I wasn't totally invested at first, but as the story went on I grew to really love it. I think the best part of it by far is the friend group that forms among such an unexpected group of people. That part was very Breakfast Club and I would love to read more of their interactions.

The metaphor of using the paranormal community as a stand in for the queer community was a little overdone, but it might actually reach some readers who don't see a problem with fear and hatred of queer people.

I would have liked a little more time spent on the romance. That part gets shoved to the background a bit with Cam's burgeoning clairvoyant powers and the murder mystery.

I also would have liked more time spent on Aiden and Cam's relationship. As it is Aiden just sort of pops up occasionally but doesn't really do much.

Overall, it's a cute read and one of my favorite FT Lukens books. I enjoy them all, but the friend group in this one is really great.

*Thanks to Margaret K. McElderry Books for providing an early copy for review.

Cam and his friends — an eclectic collection of Cam’s werewolf crush, his human PR agent, his genderqueer witch best friend, a girl who sees ghosts and a jock sprite with plant magic — walk that line between adulthood and childhood. They have curfews, they need older siblings to drive them around, they worry about homework and curfews, and make bad decisions, like not telling a single adult about the potential murder Cam has seen, and instead deciding to solve it, and stop it on their own.

There’s a sincerity to Cam, an earnestness of a kid who misses his older brother, who still wants his parents to approve of him, who wants so desperately to be liked. He’s kind, generous, and goes from being overlooked and all-too unimportant to having one of the rarest magical powers in the world. He makes mistakes, he shows off, and doesn’t pay enough attention to what his best friend, Al, is going through, to what all of his new friends are going through.

Each of the friend group is struggling with their powers: Mateo can’t shift at will; Al struggles to cast spells; Kaci can’t stop seeing ghosts and isn’t able to hear them or make them listen to her; Reed is embarrassed by his magic and Gemma, the lone non-magical person, is trying so hard to be useful so that the others won’t leave her behind. And Cam … is oblivious to it, caught up in his own drama. He doesn’t mean to ignore them, he’s just trying to keep the vision of a murder from driving him mad.

The romance between Cam and Mateo is there, with Cam’s crush turning out to be a nice guy who cares about his friends, but with all of the investigations going on there isn’t much time for them to really come together as a couple. It’s a little expected and a little underdeveloped, but there’s so much going on in this book and, with the characters being on the younger side — Mateo will soon be turning 16, and is the oldest of the group — I don’t personally have an issue with it. I would have liked to see just a bit more time spent with the gang as friends, but the focus of the book is the murder mystery, not the afterschool hangouts.

The plotting in this book is very strong, with everything nicely foreshadowed, and in the end, all of the strings tie up into a nice and convenient bow. Every character has a moment to showcase their skills, and the found family dynamic between them is very well done. This book would make an excellent series, in my opinion, and a selfish part of me hopes the author continues on with Cam and his friends.

Thank you so very much to Net Galley and the publisher for letting me have an ARC of this book!

This was a fun story with lots of twists and a good mystery at the center. I was expecting a little more focus on the romance given that "love" is literally in the title, but the main plot was still interesting. I especially loved all the characters and their little found family.

4.5 stars rounded up

I have enjoyed all of F.T. Lukens books thus far, but Love at Second Sight might just be my new favorite! I loved everything about it: the storyline, the characters, the school full of magical creatures, Cam and Miguel’s romance, and the mystery surrounding Cam’s sudden visions. Everything about it kept me entertained and on the edge of my seat from start to finish.

Cam is human. He just wants to get through high school (maybe get a boyfriend) and continue being friends with his best friend Al. Cam is content being one of the few humans in his school of magical creatures, that is until he suddenly starts having psychic visions of the future; an ultra-rare and sought after ability in the paranormal community. Now everyone wants a piece of Cam and it is beginning to be difficult to tell who cares about him for him, and not for what he can do for people. With his rag-tag group of new and old friends (and long-time crush Miguel) Cam attempts to decipher the mysteries around his vision: Who is the girl he witnesses being murdered and can he prevent it?

I loved this story from start to finish. I cannot wait for Lukens’ next book, they are always a treat to read!

3.5 ⭐️

This was an entertaining fast-paced read with nice queer representation and supernatural elements. The main character Cam, lived in a world where humans live alongside supernatural people such as werewolves, witches, psychics, fairies, and sprites which were all cool to read about. The lore created in this book world was really nice.

The supernatural beings were treated a lot like how queer people are treated these days; with some extremists out there. Cam’s parents being a bit strange throughout the book, showing through their comments about him finding “normal” (non-supernatural) friends because he was best friends with a witch… Let’s just say it was nice to see some of the characters get their karma. The found family really helped make this a lighter read, bringing in some comfort especially with the drama near the end.

Having said that, I usually really like this author’s work but this one kinda fell flat for me at the 21% mark. I just struggled to get into it and the miscommunication was really frustrating to me. The overall tone of the book felt rushed and kinda like it was lacking in depth a bit at some parts. It was a good read but not necessarily a memorable one like I had hoped.

Plot: 4/10
Pace: 4/10
Ending: 8/10
Characters: 9/10
Enjoyability: 8/10
Writing Style: 6/10
Would I Recommend? Maybe
Favorite Character: Mateo

Favorite Quote: ❝ And I didn't need psychic powers to see that my future was bright. ❞

This was very, very good, but the ending was just not quite great to me. I think it'll hit just right for others though.

An unusual content warning/CW I want to point out: sibling estrangement and family triangulation.

What I loved: I adored our main and side characters, as I always do with Lukens's characters. I think this book felt a little crowded with names, but I loved all of them so much and I would happily pick up a sequel in this same world or from any of these characters in a heartbeat. Cam was a great character to follow, in particular. He’s realistically fifteen, but also thoughtful, scared, brave, earnest, honest, and just so over his embarrassing parents. Lukens also did a superb job of writing a modern world with magical elements, not tipping too far into world building grandiosity and instead keeping the story small and focused on Cam.

I also liked the overall plot—it felt well-suited to these characters, it complemented the internal storylines very well, and Lukens did a great job of tying all the little details together.

What didn’t work for me, but might for you: It got darker than I was expecting. The allegory of in-world magical bigotry/real-world homophobia was clearly laid out, but I wasn’t expecting how far they took it. it wasn’t tasteless or extreme, just darker than their previous books and not what I was in the mood for and a little too-easily resolved, in my opinion.

As I said before, I also think there were too many named and recurring characters. I read this pretty quickly, so I didn’t lose track of anyone too badly, but I definitely mixed up a few of them.

Recommended for:
- Fans of Lukens’ previous works, obviously
- Anyone wanting the classic paranormal mystery/adventure vibe
- Someone looking for a cozy romance—the romantic plotline in this book was particularly smooth and linear
- If you want fantastic friendships/found family, especially about making unusual friends in high school and working to keep them
- When you just want to read from a MC’s POV who doesn’t settle for less than all of himself

Content warnings: general bigotry (in-world it’s about magical abilities, allegorically it’s about queerness), bigotry from family members (the parents), sibling estrangement/abandonment, family triangulation and manipulation, infantilizing (from the parents), blood/injured person (described repeatedly)

** spoiler alert ** This is my first book by FT Lukens and I am grateful for the opportunity to be an ARC reader through Netgalley. I have to say I really enjoyed all the characters, each was fun in their own way and I really enjoyed this world that they lived in. I mean, humans and the paranormal, what's not to love?? The first paragraph into the book had me sucked in already. I was hooked! The descriptions of these characters, had me chuckling because it so accurately describes someone you probably knew/know in High School. And I don’t mean like a werewolf haha! Also I think Cam is hilarious, and enjoyed his internal thoughts. Im a grown woman and I wish I were Cam living in Shady Hallow. Right off the bat, you're immersed into a modern magical world with the normalcy of going to school for Algebra II, school events like basketball and social media. I really do enjoy first person POV and find that this book was really easy to read through and all the characters minor and major were meaningful. The relationships didn’t feel forced and came naturally. The friendships I really enjoyed and loved. The twist and turns, left and right, up and down. I had some choice word, moments. All the above. Read this – you wont be disappointed. The end. *claps-hands*

FT Lukens books are always a joy! Love at Second Sight was such a fun and gripping read. I often found myself reaching for this book numerous times throughout the day.

The whodunnit mystery that unfolds had me on the edge of my seat with each new clue, and the characters were all well-fleshed out, giving me the chance to fully appreciate and enjoy every addition to Cam’s gang of crime stoppers. No characters felt misplaced or ignored and each person provided a lovely puzzle piece for their friend group making every interaction heart-warming or hilarious.

Overall, this book was thoroughly engaging and left me wanting more stories involving these characters and their world.

DNF. Unfortunately I'm stopping this one where I am with it, because if I continue, it's going to ruin it for me, as I lose interest further and the plot remains much of the same. Miscommunication is one of my least favorite things in YA novels and it bugged me for so long in this one. Characters and plot felt really underdeveloped and flat past the 15-20% mark of the novel. I've had wins with FT Lukens and that this was not one of them makes my heart hurt.