READING: Perception by Kim Harrington

Perception by Kim Harrington

Publication date: March 1st, 2012
Published by: Scholastic Point
Genre: YA Paranormal, Crime/Murder
Rating: 4/5

When you can see things others can't, what do you do when someone's watching you?

Everybody knows about Clarity "Clare" Fern. She's the psychic girl in school, the one who can place her hands on something and see hidden visions from the past.

Only Clare would rather not be a celebrity. She prefers hanging back, observing. Her gift is not a game to her.

But then someone starts playing with her head . . . and heart. Messages and gifts from a secret admirer crop up everywhere Clare turns. Could they be from Gabriel, the gorgeous boy who gets Clare's pulse racing? Or from Justin, Clare's hopeful ex-boyfriend who'd do anything to win her back?

One thing is certain. Clare needs to solve this mystery, and soon. Because the messages are becoming sinister, and a girl in town has suddenly disappeared.

Perception was a nice, easy crime/murder story, just like Clarity was. This time, a girl in Clare's school goes missing and later wounds up dead, which makes Clare decide to put her powers to good use and find the killer.

Obviously I cannot divulge any more information about the plot. If I tell you who the killer is, then what's the point? Besides, I thought it was really predictable so you'll figure it out if not from the start, then definitely from the first 50-60 pages or so.

As far as the characters are concerned, Clare's brother Perry is still my favorite. In Perception, he is struggling with the events that happened in Clarity, deferring a semester at college and thinking about quitting altogether. He doesn't leave the house, I am guessing because he is afraid of something happening to him, and plays video games all day, refusing to talk to anyone. He is depressed, basically, and I know that Claire is the protagonist and all, but I liked it that Harrington took the time to show the impact summer's incidents had on other characters, instead of just focusing on Claire.

Speaking of Claire, I would have liked her to be more of a sleuth detective and less love-triangle angsty. The two hottest buys in school are all over you (for what reason I still don't get…) and you make out and pine over each of them like you're first testing them to see who suits you best? Nah-uh. Have the balls to choose one and put the other one out of his misery, let him go on with his life, date someone else. This self-torment/angst thing was kinda stupid, considering a girl lay dying not two blocks away. If there wasn't so much romance involved, Harrington could invest in making the plot a little more complex and not so easy to solve, resulting in a less predictable killer.

Overall, Perception was pretty good. Anyone who's up for a very light teenag-y crime solving book, this is the one for you.

Do you guys, and by guys I mean Americans, learn about magnets and magnetism at age 17??? Senior class???? I have no idea how the educational system works in the US, but that's seriously whack. No offense, but it is! I learned about magnetic fields when I was 11-12. I don't mean to be a smartass but wow! If someone could please confirm/deny this, I'd be very grateful.