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Book Review of Clarity

Clarity
Clarity
Author: Kim Harrington
Genre: Teen & Young Adult
Book Type: Paperback
reviewed on + 380 more book reviews


Clarity by Kim Harrington
Clarity
Product Details

Pub. Date: March 2011

Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Format: Hardcover , 256pp
Sales Rank: 48,497
Age Range: Young Adult

Lexile: HL580L
ISBN-13: 9780545230506
ISBN: 0545230500
Rating ***

Clarity is about a young girl named Clarity (Clare) who has a special ability. Actually, her whole family has special abilities. Her mom can read people's minds, her brother can talk to the dead, and she can tell what has happened to someone by touching an object they have touched. It's almost like she can live part of their lives while she is grasping something that they held. Living in a tourist town, you would think that these would be excellent abilities to have. It's a family business. The problem is, Clare is consistently made fun of and a new person has come to town who claims to be able to tell the future. This coupled with a murder that happened to a tourist in a local hotel has really taken a chunk out of business.

The only good thing is that a detective has come to town, bringing with him a very yummy boy that happens to be around Clare's age. While the case is being worked, Clare begins to be heavily involved with the police and attempts to help to solve who the murderer is. Someone very close to her becomes one of the top suspects and two more murders turn up. What is a psychic to do?

Overall, this was a very fun book to read. The mystery kept me guessing through about ¾ of the book. Then I was pretty sure what was going to happen. I wish there was a little more description of Clare's visions. She is obviously put into these situations because of those visions, but Harrington seems to rush through her visions instead of describing them as thoroughly as the scenes when Clare is being made fun of. As a reader, I would have liked to see more of what she was going through. Also, I would've liked to have a bit more development between Clare and her family. Why are they so important to her, other than they are her family? Was there something that drew them together so closely? It seems like if I had a mother that could read my mind; I would rather spend my time away from her. These aspects didn't take away from the read; they just would have made it more interesting to me. I like stories where the character is bared to me completely, and Clare was just not really like that. I hope that Harrington writes another story with these characters so I can get to know them better.