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Blind Spot Laura Ellen Books

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Blind Spot Laura Ellen Books

Sophocles once said:

"Every man can see things far off but is blind to what is near."

I'm going to make a judgement call and say this wasn't a literal statement. Do you agree? I choose to believe he meant this in the metaphorical sense. That sometimes we are blinded by ourselves, that at times...we can't see what is right in front of us because we are too "attached" to it, to "close." We become biased or prejudice depending on the actual situation or the people it involves.

"blind to what is near."

Laura Ellen's novel "Blind Spot" is loaded with quotes. T.S. Eliot: "Winter kept us warm, covering Earth in forgetful snow." George Eliot: "What do we live for; if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?" There was even a quote from the Bible (That I forgot to highlight. Sorry.)

But as wonderful as these snippets of wisdom are, none fit the premise of "Blind Spot" quite like Sophocles' statement about overlooking the things right in front of us.

"There's none so blind as they that won't see.

Seventeen-year-old Tricia Farni's body floated to the surface of Alaska's Birch River six months after the night she disappeared. The night Roz Hart had a fight with her. The night Roz can't remember. Roz, who struggles with macular degeneration, is used to assembling fragments to make sense of the world around her. But this time it's her memory that needs piecing together--to clear her name . . . to find a murderer."

If you are a person that seeks out multiple reviews I'm sure you've notice that this book is getting a lot of heat. And, while I'm nowhere near narcissistic or arrogant enough to think my review is the grand champion of reviews, I do think it's important for reviewers to base their reviews on the book they READ not the book they EXPECTED it to be.

Yes, this book involves a hard to solve murder, but it is also about the people surrounding (or in this instance involved in) the murder. Being a YA novel, that means drama (I would think that's inevitable.) Do I think Ellen could have beefed up the "who done it?" and toned down the "she's such a B" commentary? Yes, probably. But the in your face approach Ellen chose in regards to her characters (I think) only helped to establish the complexity of the mystery, not hinder it.

Hating characters in books is only natural. Hating ALL of the characters? Not so much. But that's not to say it can't be accomplished. (And the reader still enjoy the book.) In "Blind Spot" Ellen opens her novel allowing the audience to be a sympathetic ear (so to speak.) We are introduced to Roz. We learn about her disability. We see that, despite her hindrances she tries like hell to live her life to the fullest and never take no for an answer. Admirable qualities. Several chapters later, she becomes unlovable (or at the very least...unlikable.) She gets snippy with everyone around her. She makes horrible judgement calls and is (in a general sense) rude to everyone.

Roz, however, is not the only bad seed in the book. Her teachers, her friends, her boyfriend...even her mom are deplorable people. And I think this is a great thing.

Why?

Because it causes confusion.

Not once but twice I was fooled into thinking I knew who the murder was. And not once, but twice I was irritated by the fact that I was wrong. But (at the same time) I was impressed. By hating the entire cast, I suspected the entire cast. No one was an easy target, therefore I had to put my thinking cap on. I had to look at the WHOLE picture. I had to analyze each person and REALLY THINK about what was happening. The novel was one big twist inside of itself, and the "twist" was the drama. Without it, the story would have been bland. 5 pages in you would have had a very clear idea as to what was going on and the book (as a whole) would have been a waste of time. Instead, it was a great big cluster F of everyone trying to screw over everyone else.

So do I think the synopsis is a little misleading? Sure. But that doesn't mean it's wrong. So what...it focuses on only one aspect of the story. Who cares!

A girl is found dead. People are suspected. This is the story of what happens BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER that point. Books are not one dimensional the synopsis usually is. It's important to remember that.

In the end I found it to be an entertaining (very quick) read.

One day tops and a surprise ending.

Happy Reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember:

"Just as there are stars in the day sky that you can't see until nightfall, I realized, there were things right there in front of me that I'd missed."


Tags : Amazon.com: Blind Spot (9780547763446): Laura Ellen: Books,Laura Ellen,Blind Spot,HMH Books for Young Readers,0547763441,Mysteries & Detective Stories,High schools;Fiction.,Mystery and detective stories.,Schools;Fiction.,Alaska,Children's Books - Young Adult Fiction,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12),Fiction,Fiction-Mystery & Detective,High schools,JUVENILE,Juvenile Fiction,Juvenile Grades 10-12 Ages 15+,Law & Crime,Mysteries (Young Adult),Mysteries, Espionage, & Detective Stories,Mystery and detective stories,Schools,Social Issues - Special Needs,TEEN'S FICTION MYSTERY & DETECTIVE,Thriller;Suspense;Mystery;Blindness;Murder;Special Needs,United States,YOUNG ADULT FICTION,YOUNG ADULT FICTION General,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Law & Crime,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Mysteries & Detective Stories,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Social Themes General (see also headings under Family)

Blind Spot Laura Ellen Books Reviews

Blind Spot by Laura Ellen managed to captivate me from the very first page. It pulled me in with its fascinating main character. Roz is a straight-A student who just so happens to have a genetic eye disease known as macular degeneration. It causes her center field of vision to to be impaired. Roz has to puzzle the pieces of her vision together with things from her memory to be able to get the whole picture at times. I've never read about anything like that before and found Roz to be, not only interesting, but also extremely inspirational.

Roz not only has to deal with her eye problems, but she also has to deal with ignorant people, maddening teachers, her absentee mother, and her own stubbornness. They all present problems throughout the novel. Mostly Mr. Dellian, Roz's Life Skills teacher who makes her life miserable even though he's supposed to be the one teaching her how to cope with her disability. His actions made me so angry I wanted to throw my against the wall.

Most of the characters in Blind Spot were severely flawed, even to the point of being unlikable, I'd say. But at the same time, I felt for them, even the ones I wanted to punch in the face most of the time. But I don't think it was Ellen's goal to make her characters likable. She wrote them to be flawed and pigheaded jerks. Take the main character, for instance. Roz is dealing with a lot and you feel bad for her. People treat her badly and you want to stick up for her. But she makes some very stupid decisions throughout the novel. Mistakes that are so stupid you almost want to say, "Well, you deserve it!"

Usually I hate that in books, when characters bring their problems on themselves, but I didn't hate it in Blind Spot. Because, for every stupid mistake Roz makes there's a repercussion. That's something I've noticed in most YA novels. No repercussions for being stupid. But when Roz does something dumb the love interest doesn't say, "Well, you're just so beautiful, I forgive you." Her friends don't tell her how pretty and smart she is when she screws up and almost gets them all killed. They get mad, as they should, and she has to feel the pain of the mistake she made. She has to live with her screw up. It made the book feel so much more realistic.

I loved that I never had any idea what was going to happen during the course of Blind Spot. I had theories and guesses--the suspect pool is sort of limited, so you're list of suspects is never very long--but somehow I still didn't see the end coming. I only wished that I had gotten to see more of certain characters, namely Rona and Ethan. At first they seem like throw away characters, but the further into the story you get, the bigger their parts become. Only you never really see Rona, and Ethan doesn't show up until the very end, even though their characters are mentioned on almost every page. I wish they had been flushed out as well as the rest of the secondary characters were, but it's a small complaint. It didn't keep me from enjoying the book.

Blind Spot is a murder mystery at heart, but it's so much more than that. It's a story about growing up, about learning who you are, who you want to be and about discovering the truth, no matter what the risks. The ending was... well, you'll see. But I really enjoyed Blind Spot, and it's ending. I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys contemporary novels or thrillers.
Sophocles once said

"Every man can see things far off but is blind to what is near."

I'm going to make a judgement call and say this wasn't a literal statement. Do you agree? I choose to believe he meant this in the metaphorical sense. That sometimes we are blinded by ourselves, that at times...we can't see what is right in front of us because we are too "attached" to it, to "close." We become biased or prejudice depending on the actual situation or the people it involves.

"blind to what is near."

Laura Ellen's novel "Blind Spot" is loaded with quotes. T.S. Eliot "Winter kept us warm, covering Earth in forgetful snow." George Eliot "What do we live for; if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?" There was even a quote from the Bible (That I forgot to highlight. Sorry.)

But as wonderful as these snippets of wisdom are, none fit the premise of "Blind Spot" quite like Sophocles' statement about overlooking the things right in front of us.

"There's none so blind as they that won't see.

Seventeen-year-old Tricia Farni's body floated to the surface of Alaska's Birch River six months after the night she disappeared. The night Roz Hart had a fight with her. The night Roz can't remember. Roz, who struggles with macular degeneration, is used to assembling fragments to make sense of the world around her. But this time it's her memory that needs piecing together--to clear her name . . . to find a murderer."

If you are a person that seeks out multiple reviews I'm sure you've notice that this book is getting a lot of heat. And, while I'm nowhere near narcissistic or arrogant enough to think my review is the grand champion of reviews, I do think it's important for reviewers to base their reviews on the book they READ not the book they EXPECTED it to be.

Yes, this book involves a hard to solve murder, but it is also about the people surrounding (or in this instance involved in) the murder. Being a YA novel, that means drama (I would think that's inevitable.) Do I think Ellen could have beefed up the "who done it?" and toned down the "she's such a B" commentary? Yes, probably. But the in your face approach Ellen chose in regards to her characters (I think) only helped to establish the complexity of the mystery, not hinder it.

Hating characters in books is only natural. Hating ALL of the characters? Not so much. But that's not to say it can't be accomplished. (And the reader still enjoy the book.) In "Blind Spot" Ellen opens her novel allowing the audience to be a sympathetic ear (so to speak.) We are introduced to Roz. We learn about her disability. We see that, despite her hindrances she tries like hell to live her life to the fullest and never take no for an answer. Admirable qualities. Several chapters later, she becomes unlovable (or at the very least...unlikable.) She gets snippy with everyone around her. She makes horrible judgement calls and is (in a general sense) rude to everyone.

Roz, however, is not the only bad seed in the book. Her teachers, her friends, her boyfriend...even her mom are deplorable people. And I think this is a great thing.

Why?

Because it causes confusion.

Not once but twice I was fooled into thinking I knew who the murder was. And not once, but twice I was irritated by the fact that I was wrong. But (at the same time) I was impressed. By hating the entire cast, I suspected the entire cast. No one was an easy target, therefore I had to put my thinking cap on. I had to look at the WHOLE picture. I had to analyze each person and REALLY THINK about what was happening. The novel was one big twist inside of itself, and the "twist" was the drama. Without it, the story would have been bland. 5 pages in you would have had a very clear idea as to what was going on and the book (as a whole) would have been a waste of time. Instead, it was a great big cluster F of everyone trying to screw over everyone else.

So do I think the synopsis is a little misleading? Sure. But that doesn't mean it's wrong. So what...it focuses on only one aspect of the story. Who cares!

A girl is found dead. People are suspected. This is the story of what happens BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER that point. Books are not one dimensional the synopsis usually is. It's important to remember that.

In the end I found it to be an entertaining (very quick) read.

One day tops and a surprise ending.

Happy Reading my fellow -ites and remember

"Just as there are stars in the day sky that you can't see until nightfall, I realized, there were things right there in front of me that I'd missed."