Love and First Sight

De: Josh Sundquist

Narrado por: Pat Young

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 sixteen-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.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Sensitively explores disability and its influence on identity...The juxtaposition of blindness with (not) judging by appearances is common, but the author gives depth to the trope by highlighting the betrayal Will feels at the exploitation of his blindness. Thought-provoking and insightful."—Kirkus Reviews

"Unique...will encourage young adults to think about their own biases related to physical attractiveness and body image. Readers will enjoy the humor and romance of the story while gaining a better understanding of life with a visual disability...A highly recommended and engaging story for most YA collections."—SLJ

"Sundquist writes eloquently about what it might be like for someone who was born blind to be given sight. He explores the physical, emotional, and psychological ramifications of Will's change in a thoughtful and evocative manner, providing readers with a fresh perspective on how humans interact with each other and the world around them."—Publishers Weekly

"Rich in sensory detail, this novel pulls readers into Will's world. Sundquist deftly shows the difference between the act of seeing and truly seeing. This fresh and funny coming-of-age story presents an opportunity for readers who take certain abilities for granted to take stock of challenges facing peers."—Booklist

"Sundquist does a nice job of getting inside the head of a person who has absolutely no visual frames of reference...without it feeling intrusive or overly clinical. For budding scientists and future doctors, these details offer new thoughts as well as context for understanding the real stories of people gaining eyesight after blindness and then wishing they hadn't; even readers who just came for the romance will find themselves understanding the "tyranny of the visual" in new ways."—BCCB

"In his debut novel, memoirist Josh Sundquist proves he's as adept at making up new stories as he is at recounting his old ones as he explores overcoming adversity, seeing the world through fresh eyes (literally), and keeping a sense of humor in the midst of life's tribulations. An exciting new voice in the world of YA fiction."—Tommy Wallach, New York Times bestselling author of We All Looked Up

"Is love blind? Should it be? With an intricate, intimate fiction debut, Josh Sundquist aims to find out."—Barry Lyga, New York Times bestselling author

Praise for We Should Hang Out Sometime:An Amazon.ca Best Books of December 2014 for Children and Teens SelectionA YALSA 2015 Teens Top Ten Nominee2015 Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee"You should read this book sometime. I loved it so much!"—Justine Ezarik, New York Times bestselling author of I, Justine: An Analog Memoir

"[A] laugh-out-loud memoir..."—SLJ

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.

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.

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.

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.

Amazing, inspiring and moving

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

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.

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.