What first stood out to me while reading this book, is that Josh did a ton of research regarding the topic of blindness. There were sections where a lot of medical jargon was thrown around, but as a reader I could understand what was being said. This was only because it was explained so well.
Will was an amazing character. He was extremely witty, and had an amazing take on things. He also had such a great sense of humor it was hard not to laugh along with the things he said. I thought the side characters were solid. I loved that Will's parents were really involved in his life and in the story in general. I could feel his mom's hope and other emotions through Josh's writing, and I just loved that. Cecily was a great side character, she was extremely insecure about her looks, but Will couldn't tell by talking to her, which was a plus.
Overall I loved Josh's writing style and how easily the story flowed. I loved the whole premise of the book mainly because it was a topic I knew little to nothing about. Josh made you feel his characters emotions through his writing and it was simply beautiful. I would highly recommend this book it you are looking for a different kind of contemporary read.

Thank you for the opportunity to read & review this book. Unfortunately, I did not get to download this galley before it was archived. I look forward to working together on future titles!

Love and First Sight by Josh Sundquist was a book that I would have to say grew on me. The dynamic of the book shifts from that of a blind teenager who has gone from interacting primarily with other blind students to making his way in a normal high school and all the issues that come with it (making friends etc.), to a story of seeing for the first time and how that can effect perceptions and relationships. The book ends with a whirlwind adventure of sights, friendship and romance.

The book started off a bit heavy on the stereotypes, both of blind people and high school for me. Once past the beginning, the relationships Will built with his friends and Cecily took over which brought life to the novel and I began to enjoy it more.

I also appreciated how Josh Sundquist displayed significant research into the field of the blind gaining vision (as supported by the Authors Note).

Overall, Love and First Sight was a good, well-paced, and enjoyable read. There are lessons learned about life, appreciation, and friends that this book emphasizes which should not be missed. I happily recommend.

(I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book I received from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my fair and honest review.)

I have a friend who is blind, so I was interested to see how the author handled things with this book. From what I know of it, it seemed pretty accurate, so he obviously did a lot of research. (Of course, each individual experience will be different, each attitude and how they view things. I'm talking about things like how someone without sight might prefer to be guided, or how they typically get from point A to point B.)

What made this book particularly interesting to me was having things described in such a flat dimensional way - because he wouldn't understand things like perspective or how some shapes look different depending on the angle you view them from. It was intriguing to have things explained in such a way that I could "see it" from a non-sight perspective.

Some parts of this book seemed a little orchestrated - and I didn't always believe things would happen the way they happened. Mainly this was concerning Cecily's appearance. It was obvious based on things other characters said and things that happened around him, that there was something they weren't telling him. Yet he never picks up on all these clues. Someone who is blind would probably be *better* at picking up these clues, not worse. Maybe that's just my opinion though.

I enjoyed reading it. It was quick and interesting. I liked how things ended. My appreciation goes to the publisher for sending me an advanced copy for review.

I was pretty excited to see Josh Sunquist diving into YA fiction. Sundquist's <i>We Should Hang Out Sometime</i> was a great, relatable memoir, and seeing a book that might have some of his signature humor and storytelling in fiction form was fun to see. The book isn't perfect, but it ends up being a fairly pleasant read nonetheless.

In this book, Will is a blind student entering a regular school for the first time. He's able to be largely independent, but he makes a series of mistakes that start things off weird, but he quickly settles in with a group of people and ends up falling for a girl. The girl is guarded, but when Josh receives a chance to take part in an experimental treatment that could give him sight, he's forced to confront a lot of what he thinks he knows.

It's an interesting story, for sure, and has a lot of good, basic messages about disability and acceptance that aren't a bludgeon. The writing itself is kind of simple, which is maybe a drawback for some but worked for the story being told, and the end result of a surprising science fiction element of sorts made it even more enjoyable for me, personally. I'm not entirely sure whether this will work for all audiences, but with the rise of disability lit throughout, this definitely deserves to be part of the broader conversation. Absolutely worth a look.

Pleasantly surprised by this book. Having read a Josh Sundquist's memoir, and knowing about his friendship with author John Green, I was fully expecting this book to have a The Fault in Our Stars vibe. But the characters felt very real, and the situations were crafted carefully and with research and attention to detail. I would recommend this book to Young Adults.

I love this book!

Will is a wonderfully flawed and believable character. His irritation at the manner with which sighted people describe things to him was spot on. The unfolding of his relationship with Cecily happened so naturally that readers will likely find themselves fully immersed and expecting Will and Cecily to still be together in twenty or thirty years.

One part that irked me was Will's reaction to Cecily's "secret". I felt that his reaction was somewhat unrealistic and more melodramatic than was necessary. As a whole though this was a minor complaint, and I found myself more sympathetic as the book continued.

A beautiful, funny, novel about really learning to see. Will is such an amazingly developed character that you just want to keep reading about him.

Will has been blind since birth. After an incident where he was taken advantage of, his parents sent him to a special school for the blind. But now he's decided that he wants to be independent, and Will believes the best way to prove that he can be independent is to go to a normal school. What Will doesn't expect is to find a group of friends that he feel more like family. And maybe even more.

Cecily is first introduced when she runs out of the classroom crying on Will's first day because he was "staring" at her. Only he wasn't staring...because he can't see. But she didn't know that. Will and Cecily end up becoming friends and feelings start to develop. I really enjoyed seeing how Cecily and Will learned to relate to each other. Cecily trying to describe the things that she sees--a painting, a sunrise, etc. She's a photographer so all things visual are especially meaningful for her. And Will trying to explain to Cecily what he can understand and perceive and what he can't.

What neither one of them expects is for an opportunity to arise for Will to have an experimental surgery that might result in him getting his eyesight. This isn't a spoiler because of the title and because of the description, but Will does get his sight. But things that we take for granted daily are things that his eyes and his brain do not recognize. Shapes. Colors. People. He is starting from scratch. Part of this was frustrating for me because I don't always handle books with an excessive amount of description, but I also found myself fascinated because I did just kind of assume that once his eyes were medically fixed then he could just...well...see (and understand). So it was interesting to watch him learn basically the same things that my one year old daughter is learning (shapes and colors, names for objects etc).

Things aren't all blue skies and rainbows for Will and Cecily though. Cecily has been keeping a secret. I was intrigued by this part of the description. What could be the thing Cecily was keeping from Will? Is she "ugly"? Overweight? And what kind of person is Will that it matters to him? Ultimately, I was okay with how Josh Sundquist worked this part of the story. I was never completely surprised by Cecily's secret. And Will's feelings actually turned out to be fairly understandable.

Favorite quotes:
-"Your inability to see doesn't stop your face from speaking what's on your mind."

-"Are your people maybe sensitive to sunlight?" "I think you are getting us confused with vampires."

-"I always expected yellow would be...quieter."

Love and First Sight was a fun read that kept me hooked into the story. I enjoyed the characters (main and secondary). And I was particularly fascinated by Will's journey in gaining his sight. As an added bonus, this book doesn't have any potty mouth which I really appreciated. Love and First Sight gets 4 Stars. Have you read Love and First Sight? What did you think? Let me know!

I was a bit hesitant in starting LOVE and FIRST SIGHT because I have recently read a few books from this genre that left me disappointed. However, with the blurb I decided to give this one a fair shot and I am SO GLAD I did! LOVE and FIRST SIGHT met my hopeful expectations and more.

Like most YAs, its focus on the challenges students faces in school with the bullying and the need to feel a sense of belonging. LOVE and FIRST SIGHT did all this and splash it with a few more challenges that make you really think hard on how beautiful life really if you just truly feel it and not to take it for granted.

This book explored visual impairment and I have to give all the necessary credit due to the author. Even though it’s a fiction, I couldn’t help but notice how much research was put into writing this book to maintain its authenticity of the challenge that is the core of this book.

After reading this, I found myself doing a little research because I couldn’t stop thinking of how I would have been as a person if I was in Will’s position.

It’s a very touching story that’s narrated in a light humorous tone, which I felt in turn helped balance the heaviness in my heart. It’s definitely an unforgettable story that I hope you all will give a chance.

Great read, lovely story. I am thrilled to have found this new author and will check out future books by him. Thank you!

I was impressed with Josh Sundquist's debut novel. Having never heard of him before, I picked this one up based on the blurb and title alone.
Will is a teen who is visually impared. For some reason, these are my favorite types of YA reads. When the hero or heroine has some sort of thing they are overcoming. I loved Will's character, as well as the other supporting characters in this story.

Parts of this book reminding me of the likes of John Green so I would for sure recommend it to fans of his. If you're looking for a great and fresh YA read that's a bit quirky, fun and heart warming- this is one to read! I give it 4 stars.

Loved the perspective of this book...not your ordinary coming of age book, but something far more unique and powerful.

It's 16-year-old Will Porter's first day at a mainstream high school. He tries his hardest to fit in, and meets a great new group of friends who accept him for who he is perceived to be: the blind kid. He has been blind since birth, and attended a school for the blind up until that point. Will begins to develop a crush on Cecily, one of the girls in his new group of friends. Then Will learns of a rare opportunity for him to have surgery so that he will be able to see, one that he knows will change his life forever, Does he take the chance?

I do wish you could give fractions of stars because this book would get a 4.5/5* from me. I’m familiar with Josh Sundquist via his previous memoir We Should Hang Out Sometime and his YouTube account which I’ve followed for a few years, and so, needless to say, I enjoy his content and was more than a little excited to see what he would bring to the creative table from a fictional perspective.

Perspective…it’s an interesting word — perspective, vision, sight, and the subtle differences between those three words both etymologically and meaning-wise are one of the cores of this novel. Sundquist injects great amount of humour into what could have been a rather maudlin and saccharine tale of Will, a blind teenager, who gets the chance to undergo an experimental procedure in order to “see” for the first time in his life. You would think the novel would then read in two parts: before the surgery and after the surgery. Instead, there are three, maybe even four, as there is, indeed, before Will can see, after he can see, and after he “sees.”

Sight and insight; perspective and vision. Sundquist is taking motifs of classic literature and bringing them a new voice — one that also calls to mind a true bildungsroman and a hero’s journey. There’s even a road trip in the last quarter! (Please note: I’m a sucker for a good road trip story, so I was inordinately excited about this bit.)

Beyond the plethora of well-integrated themes this novel explores, the strength of the story lies in the voice of Will. We’re in his head for the entirety of the novel and he describes the world in a way that is fresh and yet familiar. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to write a story that paints a picture of its world, without truly being able to describe what it “looks” like due to the condition of the protagonist. And after Will undergoes surgery, the descriptions of the world around him become even more interesting because, as it is in life, he cannot suddenly (or magically) see with perfect clarity. I’m no science person (quite the opposite, really), but I think it’s clear that Sundquist did a good deal of research in order to articulate Will’s difficulties post-surgery. It’s fantastic and truly draws you further into Will’s story because it feels more realistic; his frustrations and his pain (emotional and, at times, physical) ring more true than if he had suddenly been able to experience the world as if he had never been blind at all.

If I had to critique anything, I could probably critique the love story a bit, as it certainly is a little on the side of predictable, but, honestly, it’s okay. I’m perfectly find with its predictability because I cared about the characters. I cared about Will and his friends, and I wanted them all to be happy and to find some kind of happiness together.

This is a lovely book, and a wonderful addition to the Young Adult contemporary genre that brings humour and wit to a wholly sincere story.

http://fkrants.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-rest-of-2016-ng-fails.html

This was pretty interesting. If you've never been blind--especially if you weren't born blind--it's really hard to imagine what that would be like. You will be given constant descriptions and comparisons of things that you can't grasp because you've never even known colors or even shapes, for the most part. People may even take advantage of your blindness, even if you're just a kid. It's really hard for me to even imagine.

So, Will was born blind. He's making the transition from a school for the blind to a mainstream school. He makes some great friends--I liked the friends more than I actually liked Will, although I liked him too. Then he gets a chance to undergo surgery to give him sight. Of course, there are all kinds of obstacles--risks with surgery and the chance of a good result going bad, the strangeness of being able to see for the first time (very well described, actually made me dizzy), and the fact that sometimes people hide things from you because they know you can't see.

Overall, this was a good, eye-opening (no pun intended) read.

Love and First Sight tells the story of a 16 year old boy, Will, blind from birth, who attempts to integrate into a typical public school. He falls in with a group of friends and experiences his first time love. Unfortunately I had some problems with this book. For one, it was distracting to me that as a reader I obviously knew Cecily had some sort of facial deformity, condition, or what have you, but it wasn't until 75% of the way through that it was actually confirmed. And when it was revealed, it was written like a twist. It was distracting and I wish it would have just been addressed right at the beginning. Along those same lines, the melodramatic way that Will responded to this revelation was just unnecessary and immature. Sure, he had every right to be hurt that his friends didn't entirely trust him, but the depiction of the aftermath was too over the top. As far as character development goes, generally they were pretty good, but I didn't like Will's mom. She felt underdeveloped and....not real. She seemed clueless about how Will experiences his blindness, which makes no sense....considering she's been his mom for 16 years. The writing itself wasn't impressive, but it was perfectly fine. I was able to get through the entire thing pretty quickly and without too much effort (which is nice in a YA contemporary).

I will say that I find the amount of obvious research into operations like these and the outcomes experienced by the patients is impressive. His experiences feel pretty real (to me, anyway, which might not be saying a lot). I'm glad that Will didn't get his operation and BAM had perfect vision, wow, look how amazing, he can see and be a sighted person overnight! I would have completely jumped the ship were that the case. I love the ending scenes....the road trip was beautifully told and the imagery was spot on. However, I didn't buy that his mom would have sold their Tesla to fund the kids' three day cross country road trip just so Will could have a conversation with Cecily....I mean, she was coming back after all, I still don't know why they felt the need to take the trip in the first place. That's a big trip for a few high schoolers.

Lastly, I wish the book maintained its vague ending, I think that the scene on the beach was perfectly fine. I could have done without the extra scene at the end entirely, it felt superfluous.

Interesting to take the POV of a blind teenager, but the novelty of the premise is wasted with such a corny romance plot and ultimately does not ring true in my heart.

Quick summary: Meet Will Porter, blind new kid with newfound friends in the academic quiz team and a disfigured girl named Cecily. Cue a cheesy romance and add in a scheme to get Will a new set of eyes, and you've got teenage angst when Will finds out that Cecily has been keeping her disfigurement a secret from him. Follow that with a realization that Cecily is the only one for him after all and an across-the-country chase after a girl, to end with what's supposed to be a heartwarming kiss scene between the couple.

Even without reading his author's note, it is evident from Sundquist's writing that he has done extensive research on the subject of blindness, and he does an eye-opening portrayal of the point of view of a blind teenager, so much that I can no longer call it a point of <i>view</i> per se, but rather a point of hearing, touch, and smell instead. Sundquist calls to attention ways of thinking that "sighted people" take for granted: the concept of colors, of shapes, of our vision-centered language, of what is considered beautiful. The change in perspective is quite fascinating, as I often find perspectives so different from my own to be.

However, the fascinating premise is ultimately overshadowed, in my eyes, by the budding romance between Will and Cecily. The match between them is too good to be true--a blind boy falls in love with a girl cursed with some sort of ugly birthmark, which of course he cannot see until he gains a new pair of eyes. But despite the betrayal that he at first feels after discovering the truth of her appearance, ultimately they end up happy together, claiming that inward goodness is infinitely better than outward beauty. Although I have no qualms with that ultimate message, it is the approach that Sundquist uses that offends me so greatly.

Will's blindness in the end seems to be used as more of a tool to get readers to accept the moral of the story, and so I can't help thinking that blindness is sensationalized in this book. Will becomes the embodiment of blindness in this story and nothing more; other than his lackluster interest in journalism, there is little that distinguishes him enough to become someone who is <i>more</i> than just a blind boy. I trust that the visually impaired may think differently from the "sighted," but his blindness so consumes Will's every thought that his character rings false to me. Are the blind not people too, who think about matters other than their own blindness?

There were other matters that irked me as well, like the falseness of the other characters, particularly Will's parents and his academic quiz team friends, and the cringe-worthy ending. Sundquist's writing, however, was overall pleasant and easy to read.

And so I must conclude that I was disappointed by this story, for although I believe that Sundquist successfully demonstrated how different the blind are from the sighted in thinking, he failed to show that nevertheless they are still whole and complex people as well. By introducing a predictable romance, he simplified blindness far too much for my liking.

Source: eARC received from Netgalley for review