Love and First Sight

By: Josh Sundquist

Narrated by: Pat Young

Publisher's summary

In his debut novel, YouTube personality and author of We Should Hang Out Sometime Josh Sundquist explores the nature of love, trust, and romantic attraction.

On his first day at a new school, blind 16-year-old Will Porter accidentally groped a girl on the stairs, sat on another student in the cafeteria, and somehow drove a classmate to tears. High school can only go up from here, right?

As Will starts to find his footing, he develops a crush on a charming, quiet girl named Cecily. Then an unprecedented opportunity arises: An experimental surgery that could give Will eyesight for the first time in his life. But learning to see is more difficult than Will ever imagined, and he soon discovers that the sighted world has been keeping secrets. It turns out Cecily doesn't meet traditional definitions of beauty - in fact, everything he'd heard about her appearance was a lie engineered by their so-called friends to get the two of them together. Does it matter what Cecily looks like? No, not really. But then why does Will feel so betrayed? Told with humor and breathtaking poignancy, Love and First Sight is a story about how we relate to each other and the world around us.

©2017 Josh Sundquist (P)2017 Hachette Audio

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Critic reviews

"[Narrator Pat] Young's voicing of the story's cast - Will's hovering mother, his insightful English teacher, the kids on the quiz team - enhances Sundquist's deft characterizations. In the audio format, the accounts of Will's world encourage listeners to reflect on their own sensory awareness. Add the well-developed romantic theme, and this is a perfect listening experience." ( AudioFile)

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5 out of 5 stars

By harley vandiver on 04-29-17

Clever c:

It was a sweet story definitely would and will listen to it again. the prospect of the issues really lighten a new way of thinking.

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5 out of 5 stars

By Daniel on 01-14-17

AMAZING.

This book is amazing. It perfectly expresses how Will feels throughout his entire journey. If you want a book that captures emotions and love perfectly, this book is for you. I can't wait for part 2.

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4 out of 5 stars

By Anonymous User on 09-21-21

Short but sweet I suppose

My daughter recommended this to me. But I was a little put off by the main character. He's 16 and thinks he knows everything because of his blindness. Little to no respect to his parents. I realize the mother us kind of a helicopter parent, but still.

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5 out of 5 stars

By BreAnna on 10-27-17

Great diversity and message. Super cute read!

The story was so fantastic! I loved that the story showcased multiple facets of diversity. It was so cute and the narrator did a good job with it. if I had any complaint about this audio book it would be the weird music at the beginning and end.

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5 out of 5 stars

By Anonymous User on 12-17-20

Amazing, inspiring and moving

This book is amazing. It moved me to tear. I appreciate the auther so much.

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1 out of 5 stars

By Morgan on 01-15-17

Poorly Researched and Insanely Insensitive

This was a waste of a credit and I have returned it.

A bit about the narrator: The Italian doctor sounded like Dracula. His voice just wasn't pleasant to me. This is, of course, totally a matter of preference.

I thought about giving this book a two-star rating because I do like Josh Sundquist and think he's a great YouTuber and has always been pretty good at story telling. Unfortunately, I think he should stick to telling true stories instead of writing fiction.

I took issue with a lot of things in this book. One of the biggest issues I have with the book is that Josh literally stole a character from Harry Potter. There is a character named Hermione, goes by Ion, who has frizzy brown hair and is one of the smartest students in the school. I honestly can't believe that made it past an editor because that's a blatant, unoriginal rip-off. I mean, the least he could do is write his own characters.

The second thing that I took issue with is that I don't think Josh researched the blind community very well. At one point Will mentions that he doesn't know why his cane is called a white cane if the people who use it can't see the color. I think if Josh had done some research, he'd know that there are more than just white canes and that the colors are supposed to signal something to sighted people. Such as a red and white striped cane signifies that this person has both a visual and hearing impairment. I don't believe for one moment that Will would have been ignorant to that fact especially since he went to a school for the blind.

The last thing I took issue with is the overall message of the story. In the last few pages Will says, "Yeah, Independence and self reliance sound nice in theory but in reality they are just synonyms for loneliness." No. No. NO. NO. NO. This is said when Will decides/realizes that he feels like he needs to be dependent on a girl. I think that this signifies to the teenagers who read this book that life is meaningless if they aren't dependent on a boyfriend or girlfriend and that if you are independent and self-reliant that you will be lonely and alone forever. I literally will NEVER RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYBODY JUST BECAUSE OF THIS END OF STORY REVELATION.

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3 out of 5 stars

By Rick & Lynette Malley on 09-19-17

Meh and First Sight

This was a cute story with a tough second act. I wouldn't read it again, but it's an easy and quick listen.

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