Clarity (Clarity Novel) [Hardcover]

Clarity 'Clare' Fern has psychic abilities, as does the rest of her family. Living in a small town on the Cape, Clare, her mother and brother make a living during the summer giving readings to tourists. So naturally the townies think Clare is a freak. But Clare doesn't give into the locals... because she knows her abilities are real. And those abilities are about to come in handy when a young woman is murdered and Clare's brother becomes the prime suspect.

What can I say? Veronica Mars meets Harper Connelly. Love it!

Plot - well paced, exciting, clever, engrossing. All good adjectives. I read this in a couple of hours and considering I picked up four books I just couldn't get into before I picked this up (yeah, I was in one of those annoying restless moods) I was amazed how quickly I was drawn into the story. As well as the murder mystery there are subplots involving Clare's complicated romantic entanglements and I loved how real and emotional it was; there was nothing contrived about it, which is always excellent. Even better, this was an actual murder mystery that kept you guessing. I think I suspected everybody at some point in the novel.

Character - I absolutely love Clare's voice. She's someone who knows herself and believes in herself. She's got backbone and spunk, and isn't afraid to stand up for herself. Some of her comebacks had me laughing out loud. What was particularly interesting for me was her character development as she races against time to prove her brother's innocence - she starts off as such a principled young woman and quickly realises how easy it is to forget those principles when someone you love needs you. Great stuff.
The other characters are brilliant as well, they all have a wonderful back story and Harrington does such a good job of making her characters three dimensional that you even find yourself rooting for people you might not normally.

Clarity leaves us with an open ending so I'm guessing there is more to come from Clare and I for one am hugely excited to have a book equivalent (with a paranormal twist) of my favourite show, Veronica Mars, that was unjustly cut short. Cannot wait for the next novel!

Five massive Stars

Clarity' by Kim Harrington is like a modern-day Nancy Drew mystery but with a twist. Clarity "Clare" Fern is actually a psychic who only has to touch an object to see imprints and visions. The story focuses on her search for a young girl's killer, whilst also trying to prove the innocence of her own brother Perry.

The opening scene is quite shocking and grabbed my interest immediately. Chapter two takes place nine days earlier and shows how events unfold up to the moment that Clare's life is on the line. This definitely hooks the reader in and got me trying to guess who couldn't be trusted throughout the story.

I really liked the paranormal element of the story and the fact that it's not something which has to be concealed or kept secret. Clare is very open and honest about her gift, even though she is ostracised by many of the other teenagers at her school. As psychic talents run in her family however, she always has the support of her mother and brother.

There's a love triangle between Clare, her ex-boyfriend Justin and hot new guy in town, Gabriel. They have equal good points but I think Justin was my favourite because although he's made mistakes where Clare is concerned, he still cares about her and wants to do the right thing. Although I did really like both boys, I have to admit that I'm getting a little bit tired of the love triangle dynamic in so many young-adult books. Sometimes it can work brilliantly but at other times it can feel a bit formulaic.

Kim Harrington's debut novel is an enjoyable read with plenty of mystery and romance along the way. This book is a fantastic start to the series and the sequel, `Perception' is due to be published in 2013.

Clarity (or Clare as she prefers to be known) comes from a family of psychic abilities - she can read the history of objects that she touches, her mother is a telepath who can read people's minds and her brother Perry is a medium who can speak to ghosts. Clare is forced to spend the majority of her summers helping her family give readings to tourists, she'd rather be spending time at the beach but doesn't have much choice because they need the money. When a teenage girl is murdered and her brother becomes the prime suspect Clare is determined to use her ability to prove his innocence. First she has to convince the town's new detective (and his son Gabriel) that her abilities are real and she isn't the freak that everyone seems to think she is.

I have to say I really enjoyed reading Clarity and it has definitely made me want to read more from Kim Harrington. The story was such a quick and easy read and I really enjoyed guessing at who was behind the murder - I think I suspected pretty much everyone at some point during the book! Clare was a fab main character, she is so spunky and despite the fact that she is teased and bullied by other students at her school she gives just as good as she gets. She doesn't sit back and take abuse from anyone and was always ready with a witty comeback for anyone who insulted her. You have to admire someone who stands up to bullies - it is something I wish I'd been able to do when I was at school.

Clare has two rivals vying for her attention and it was hard to pick who would be the better bet. I think I was less suspicious of her ex-boyfriend Justin, he has proved that he will always be there for her and he has stood up for her in the past. However, I don't think I'd be able to forgive him for the thing that lead to his break up with Clare. I'm not going to go into detail so I'll just say I don't think there is any excuse for what happened and if I was Clare there would be no going back for me. I might be able to be friends but there is no way I'd want to get back into a relationship with him. Gabriel is new to the area and there is definitely an instant attraction between him and Clare. I liked him but I was a bit suspicious of him and I wasn't impressed with his attitude towards Clare when he learnt about her abilities. There was a reason for that though and once it had been explained I was more sympathetic towards his character. It will be very interesting to see how things play out for Clare and who she ends up with by the end of the series.

I loved the fact that this story has paranormal elements because of humans with psychic abilities rather than being another vampire or shapeshifter story. Don't get me wrong I like my supernatural creatures but I've read so many books about them that this made a nice change. I've always been fascinated by the idea of psychic abilities and found that side of the story really interesting. Overall this is definitely a story I would recommend to anyone who is looking for something a bit different but still with a supernatural feel to it. If you enjoy a good mystery story and a strong heroine then I'm sure you'll love Clarity!