Love Blind

Description

Review Sixteen-year-old Hailey Bosler has what her ophthalmologist calls“old-people eyes” (macular degeneration and glaucoma), two moms, and a position as the lead singer of a girl band. She also has a fear list, a compilation of things that she wants to conquer before she goes completely blind. After her band is interviewed at a local radio station, she bumps into the station’s sound engineer, Kyle. They engage in a mumbling conversation that ends with Kyle shuffling off and Hailey intrigued. The two run into each other a second time at a concert in a bar, where she ends the night puking on his shoes. As an apology, she buys him a new pair and convinces him to start his own fear list, and thus their story begins. Partnering up for this emotionally charged novel, Desir and Perry create a duo readers will identify with and cheer for. As the teens set out to conquer their fears, the sexual tension quickly builds, with both refusing to accept the depth of their mutual attraction. Hailey is confident, stubborn, and funny and isn’t afraid to show her sassy side. Meanwhile, Kyle is shy and awkward. The authors combine perfect pacing with spot-on character development that will leave readers empathizing with the characters from the very beginning. The plot takes several unexpected turns; it hits hard, exploring issues such as depression, loss of virginity, and homosexuality. VERDICT For fans of Sophie Kinsella’s Finding Audrey (Delacorte) and Jennifer Niven’s All the Bright Places (Knopf, both 2015). (School Library Journal March 2016)Knowing she won’t have her vision forever, legally blind teenager Hailey makes a list of her fears—the things she wants to conquer while she can still see. While confronting one of these fears, being on a radio show, she meets Kyle. He’s the mumbling, socially awkward counterpart to the uninhibited, sometimes brash Hailey. In chapters alternating between their POVs, both step outside their comfort zones, taking chances, fumbling in lust, and becoming friends in the process. But will they ever take the ultimate risk, letting their friendship turn into something more? Though the lists don’t frame the plot as directly as in other list-based novels, there is still much to appreciate here, such as frank, realistic dialogue and on-scene parents. As the adopted daughter of lesbian moms, Hailey doesn’t have conflicted feelings about her adoption, something less frequently found in fiction but reflective of the realities of many adopted teens. Readers will root for Kyle and Hailey to come together and admire their personal growth along the way. — Jennifer Barnes (Booklist March 15, 2016) Read more About the Author C. Desir writes dark contemporary fiction for young adults. She lives with her husband, three small children, and overly enthusiastic dog outside of Chicago. She has volunteered as a rape victim activist for more than ten years, including providing direct service as an advocate in hospital ERs. She also works as an editor at Samhain Publishing. Visit her at ChristaDesir.com.Jolene Perry is a middle and high school teacher turned author. She married the guy she kissed on her high school graduation night, lives in the mountains of Alaska, and has spent months sailing in the Caribbean. Her previous novels for young adults include The Summer I Found You and Has to Be Love. Read more Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Love Blind Chapter One: Kyle Joining our high school radio station when I hated to talk was probably one of the worst decisions I’d ever made. Until I met Hailey Bosler. Not that she was responsible for the state of my shitty life, but she certainly wasn’t making it easier. Okay, that wasn’t true. The bubblegum twin radio deejay talents of Lindsey and Lucy Latni weren’t making it easier. It wasn’t Hailey’s fault said deejays were gushing about her band’s arrival as if some pop star had autographed their not-insubstantial chests. It also wasn’t her fault the twins were ordering me around like a lackey, instead of respecting that I was the only one in the room actually certified to use the control board. And it wasn’t her fault my head was pounding not only from girl squeals but also because I’d had a near panic attack earlier, forcing me to skip the minefield of lunch in our cafeteria. Still, my afternoon was being sucked up by these girls, and I couldn’t squelch my crap attitude toward Hailey and the rest of Blinders On. Blinders On. Stupid name. Although I had to admit after hearing their GarageBand mix that as far as local bands went, they didn’t suck like most of the usual talentless hacks the Latni twins frothed over. “They’re here,” Lindsey squealed. Or maybe it was Lucy. “Girl band in the hoooussse.” A strange shimmy dance ensued wherein the twins proved yet again their astounding ability to derail the musical integrity of a band until it was the equivalent of a bowl of glitter-covered kibble. I didn’t say this, of course. Like I didn’t say most things that popped in my head. Too many words. Out loud. I looked down at the control board and bit the inside of my cheek, letting the high-decibel vapidity of the twins drown out my racing thoughts. I took a deep breath and pushed away the anxiety of meeting unknown people. Disappear. Fade into the background. Blend. Then I peeked at Hailey. Holy shit. Worn jeans, soft stretchy shirt, her blond hair pulled into a loose braid. Damn. She was exactly my type: hot in this really normal way, not done up, just casual, either too aware of her own beauty to care or not aware enough to realize the amount of space she filled in the room. Which was considerable. My brain grabbed hold of an image of the two of us alone in the darkened radio studio, me actually being suave for once in my life and her drawn in by all my moves. Then, because it’s my brain, it continued on to play the entire scenario out to its slightly inappropriate conclusion. God, what would that be like? I inched forward in my chair, more than a little aware of the semihard state of my junk. What was wrong with me? Three quick breaths, then I peeked at her again. She eyed the girls dancing around her, brunette ponytails whipping in some sort of coordinated twin ritual, and crossed her arms as if she were observing animals at a zoo. Her nose scrunched and flared enough for me to read a hint of disgust. I hid a smirk when I caught her slight head shake. She was hot and understood irony. I liked her already. Damn. “Hey, guys,” she said in a scratchy, low voice. I loved that kind of voice in girls. Equal parts Avril Lavigne, Elle King, and Melissa Etheridge. Classic. “Thanks for having us in.” “Of course,” a twin chirped. “You all are so amazing.” Then the Latnis clapped their hands and Hailey adjusted her braid as if she was well aware how damn awkward all this fangirling was, and was not in any way impressed. I stared too long at her, barely even noticing the two girls behind her. Emo girls. All black clothes. Too much makeup. Too many piercings. Hailey was a wildflower in the midst of skunk-weed. Sunny and warm and stupid sexy. Completely oblivious to my presence at the board. Which was probably best. I likely would’ve stared even longer, enough to really embarrass myself, but my phone buzzed in my pocket. I jerked it out with so much impatience it half slipped from my grasp before my fingers closed around it. Only two people texted me, and one of them was at soccer practice. Mom: Scrips are ready to pick up. Don’t forget the rest of your to-do list. As if I’d ever forget. My jaw tensed, and I typed a quick reply. Kyle: Got it. I shoved the phone back in my pocket and checked out the girls again. Hailey’s eyes moved back and forth, almost twitching as they searched the room. Beautiful eyes, blue green with big pupils, but something was wrong with them. They moved too much. Like she was on something, but that didn’t match up with the rest of her. She stepped deeper into the control room and scanned the space for a place to sit. Her eyes darted, darted. I sat up half an inch to help her, but then slumped down. What was I doing? The space wasn’t that big. Not much to look at, and maybe a little dark, but she clearly had other people to help. Her eyes landed on me for less than a second. My hands shook a little as I watched her grope for the plastic seat. Not blindly grope, but sort of tipsy-drunk I hope I’m not sitting in vomit grope. She planted herself slightly off center on the chair and laughed as she adjusted her position. “Sorry.” The vulnerability of it all damn near killed me. Those eyes. She was somehow broken. Crap. Crap. Crap. Beautiful, confident, and broken—the girl triple threat. She wasn’t broken like me, but enough that I wanted to know her. I imagined a whole conversation between us. “What’s wrong with your eyes?” “Why don’t you speak?” “I don’t see so well.” “I don’t talk so well.” And then I would ask her if she wanted to be the third person who texted me. One more name in my pathetic contact list. And she wouldn’t even hesitate in saying yes. For a second I allowed my thoughts to linger on the fantasy, our imagined conversation so real in my head I almost spoke. Almost introduced myself. But then, what the hell for? A third person who texted would be a third person I disappointed. Instead, I turned back to the control board and cued up the next song. I let the voices of the twins swirl around me. They pointed Hailey’s friends to the other chairs and started gossiping about the people from their last few interviews. I ignored it, pretended I didn’t care. She was just another girl. High school was full of them, and they were all equally hard to deal with. Equally scary. “Kyle,” Lucy snapped. Or maybe it was Lindsey. “Are you ready?” “Yeah,” I mumbled. “Well, what do we do?” Speak into the microphone and try not to sound like an idiot. I pointed to the two microphones set up in front of them, one for Hailey and her emo backup girls, one for Team Latni. “At the end of the song, start talking.” Lindsey clucked at me. Or maybe it was Lucy. Then she turned back to Hailey. Hailey’s eyes narrowed, and she leaned forward slightly, peering at me. Peering like I wasn’t another part of the equipment in the room. The feeling came back, the ache to connect with her, but just as quickly, panic took over my brain, spinning through the millions of reasons why connecting would be a terrible idea. Nothing to see here. Move along. I didn’t have it in me to get interested in a girl like Hailey, or any girl, really. I was too intrigued by her already and she’d barely said three words. I faded the song and engaged the microphones. Read more