My Rating: 4.5 Stars

Love at Second Sight by F.T. Lukens is a teenage paranormal mystery. The story begins with seemingly normal human Cam beginning his first day at a new high school, which ends up being a day where his whole life begins to change.

The plot mainly focuses on the main character Cam as he makes friends, learns about his newfound clairvoyance and the paranormal world he is now apart of, all while trying to uncover a mysterious plot. The story is easy to read, and the world building and lore flows really well with the story.

Although this is marketed as a romance fantasy, I feel like the romance was more of a side story than the centre. I have read two of Lukens previous novels (In Deeper Waters, So This is EverAfter) which also has a tempering towards the romance, which I believe suits it's YA genre but, in this novel it felt a bit more sidelined than the others.

I have always enjoyed the way Lukens writes his characters that have great dynamics and banter with one another. I feel that has continued into this book. All the characters are teeming with life and have great individual personalities. Their dynamics with each other and how they interact/bounce off each other I quite like. With that being said, I do feel there were too many characters and not enough time on them. I loved the sound of all the characters but we didn't reach too far past the surface level for most of them.

Overall this book was a great read that flowed really naturally. The overarching plot/mystery kept me intrigued and I loved the lore of the world and the characters. I would definitely recommend this and would even reread this again myself.

Thank you Simon & Schuster AU and Netgalley for the ARC!

F T Lukens has a very moreish way of writing that gets me very quickly invested in their stories and characters. There is a classic fanfic feel to some of the writing in this one at times, very “i put my long brown hair up in a messy bun”. Also some extreme millennial vibes at times, (trying to overlook the use of smol specifically).

Despite this, I still was absolutely chewing through this book and very invested in the mystery of it all. There are so many side characters in this book, but somehow Lukens is able to keep them all distinctive from each other. Overall this is a fun, cute read with an engaging mystery and supernatural antics.

Cam is staring at a new school, and he and his best friend Al are finally attending the same school. They plan to embrace their true selves this year; however, Al wants some distance. After running off, Cam gets caught in the middle of a fight, where he has a very public psychic vision that thrusts him into the centre of attention. To make matters worse, his vision is dark and troubling: an unknown girl is going to die. Will Cam and his newfound friends be able to prevent it from happening?

I really enjoyed this book! Gemma is my absolute favourite character, and I loved watching her development throughout the story, as well as the development of other characters. The pacing felt perfect, and the story was engaging. I've already read one of the author’s other books, “In Deeper Waters,” but it was a while ago, and I cannot wait to pick up more books by this author.

This is an amazing supernatural fantasy that is mysterious and tense, with funny moments and just a hint of romance—perfect for those who enjoy LGBTQ fantasy with a mystery twist.