Clarity by Kim Harrington

• ARC received for review
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic; 1 edition (7 Jun 2012)
• Language English
• ISBN-10: 1407130854
• ISBN-13: 978-1407130859

Clarity “Clare” Fern sees things. Things no one else can see. Things like stolen kisses and long-buried secrets. All she has to do is touch a certain object, and the visions come to her. It’s a gift.

And a curse.

When a teenage girl is found murdered, Clare’s ex-boyfriend wants her to help solve the case—but Clare is still furious at the cheating jerk. Then Clare’s brother—who has supernatural gifts of his own—becomes the prime suspect, and Clare can no longer look away. Teaming up with Gabriel, the smoldering son of the new detective, Clare must venture into the depths of fear, revenge, and lust in order to track the killer. But will her sight fail her just when she needs it most?

Cover: I much prefer the UK cover.  I know that I am in the minority in this but I feel the US cover was too 'light' for the plot of the book- plus it kinda freaked me out.  The UK cover is much more representative of the book and the girl much more suited to our protagonist Clare.

I had heard many mixed things about Clarity -bother rave reviews and the not so positive but I was intrigued and wanted to check it out myself.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  It was so fast paced- I read it in just a day.

The premise of a psychic family, a murder mystery and some romance really worked.

When a tourist is murdered the town is thrown into chaos and Clare is roped in to use her 'gift' of psychometry to try and solve the case before the body count rises.

The mystery was great, kept me guessing right up until the end- I was constantly changing my guesses as to who the killer was.

The romance was not so great- this is my reason for rating Clarity 4/5 stars.  We see an emerging love triangle- and as you guys are aware, I'm not keen on these.  And to make matters worse I wasn't overly fond of either love interest.  Justin is Clare's ex- she broke up with him when he cheated so I was instantly hostile towards him and couldn't warm to him despite his remorse and numerous qualities.  And Gabriel, the detective's son acts like a jerk through 95%  of the book.  I warmed to him when we find out why he distrusts psychics.  

At the end of the book Clare has mixed feelings towards both of them and I was screaming WHY?!?!  For me, her decision is a no brainer.

I have to award points imaginative and original character names- Clarity 'Clare' Fern and her brother Perriwinkle.  This definitely helped the book stand out for me.

Over all I definitely recommend picking this one up- the mystery was on point, Clare was an interesting and sometimes humorous character, and the supernatural element of psychic abilities made this a refreshing YA read.

A lot has been set up for book 2 Perception which I can't wait to devour.