Imagine (2012)

Imagine

**

This indie film came out in 2012, a French-Polish-Portuguese co-production written and directed by Andrezj Jakimowski. It's about a maverick teacher at an ophthalmology clinic in Portugal who wants to teach the patients there to use echolocation rather than a cane to get around.

Ugh, where to start on this one..... I found watching this film an intensely frustrating experience. On the one hand, the sound design and cinematography are stunning--so beautiful and thoughtful about representing the blind experience. And almost all the secondary characters are played by blind people. But on the other hand, the plot (such as it is) is ludicrously inaccurate and insulting both to blind people and their teachers. And true to the art-house style, nothing much happens. It's unbearably slow and the ending is inconclusive.

A title at the very beginning dedicates the film to Ben Underwood, the teenager who was briefly famous for using echolocation. But it seems Jakimowski did little more than watch a 10 minute TV special on Underwood and created the rest of the story without any sort of research or mundane, boring realism. Yes, echolocation is a real thing and some blind people can do it, even to the extent of not using a cane. Underwood wasn't the only one; there are records of people doing this for hundreds of years. And yes, it probably could be taught more systematically.

But the way it's handled in this film is utterly ridiculous. Rather than a thoughtful look at real issues facing blind people, the plot relies entirely on the hackneyed trope of the crazy, rule breaking teacher who actually wants to help the kids, man, versus the stuffy, hidebound professor who is only interested in safety and breaking the kids' spirits.

And what kind of place is this, anyway? Set in a monastery in Portugal, it's repeatedly referred to as a clinic, not a school, and the kids are called patients, not students. It's a random collection of blind people from very young kids to adults, and from random countries all mixed up for no apparent reason. They aren't given medical treatment or taught anything. They seem to spend most of their time sitting around inside doing nothing, waiting for a doctor who never talks to them, and they are forbidden from going outside the walls without an army of helpers. There are also other random sighted people living there (including a monk). Even the very first schools for the blind in Europe and America over 150 years ago were better set up than this, and had more progressive ideas about education for the blind.

So maverick teacher Ian (Edward Hogg) tries to shake things up, but his lessons mostly consist of sitting around the courtyard outside and sitting around doing nothing inside, only occasionally practicing pouring water into a glass. "It's hard," he intones tragically, as the children spill the water everywhere. Really? I imagine the blind kids in that scene were embarrassed to pretend to be so incompetent on camera, especially the smart-ass British girl. She would have been awesome in Harry Potter, but that's another story.

Of course Ian and his love interest Eva (played by German actress Alexandra Maria Lara) are played by AB actors faking it. And while the students are all played by blind kids, it's telling that almost none of them have names, personalities or back stories. The camera lingers voyeuristically over their faces as they move dramatically from shadow to light (hello cliche!) but ultimately they're just symbols, not real people. The only exception is an older student played by Melchior Derouet, an awesome French actor who is really blind. He is just as talented as the leads, and far more interesting to watch. The film (or parts of it anyway) is worth watching just for him.

The other really insulting thing is the way Ian is so against using a cane. This is inane ableism at its worst, the idea that using a piece of adaptive equipment you actually need makes you a cripple and a target of ridicule, like you're giving in to the disability. I see this in a lot of misinformed novels about SCI, where the main character does everything he can not to "give in" to the wheelchair in a triumph of the spirit. Sorry, real life does not work that way. Yes, there are some blind people who don't use canes, but to have the main theme of the movie that the kids should throw away their canes in order to be free is ridiculous.

The teacher Ian clashes both with the head doctor who thinks his no-cane method is dangerous, and with the students/patients who think he is faking or lying to them. But despite this ready-made conflict, the plot never goes anywhere. At first the atmospheric scenes are nice, but they just meander on forever. None of the characters' motives are clear either; the characterization is as indistinct as the plot.

Now I am the kind of obsessive dev who will watch hours of Orientation and Mobility videos on YouTube, but even I was bored with this movie by about halfway through, and it's only an hour and forty minutes. This was such a wasted opportunity. I'm still waiting for a movie with an actual blind actor in the main role and that is more than just a bundle of centuries old cliches and misconceptions.

Love In Touch

Love In Touch
by Lucy May Lennox

****

Love In Touch involves a relationship between a woman named Kassie and a deaf/blind man named Jake.  I've never read a book about a person who was blind and deaf before, and I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Lennox's book.  I was actually very skeptical.  I couldn't figure out how there could be a believable romance between an able-bodied woman and a man who can't see or hear.

Well, Lennox has made me a believer.

Jake is not only believable as a love interest for Kassie, he is drop dead sexy.  I'm not even a dev of deaf or blind guys, but I can still attest to several devvy thrills throughout this short, sweet novel.  The romance progresses slowly, but all seems very genuine.  I was really rooting for Jake and Kassie to end up together throughout the many obstacles that come between them.

A novel like this has the potential to get sappy or condescending, but there isn't a trace of that in Lennox's book.  The dialogue is snappy and it's obvious she has a great sense of humor.  Jake is a real person with real flaws, and not just some tragic hero.  It's also clear that Lennox did a lot of research to make the plot realistic.

I guarantee that you have never and will never read another book like this for the rest of your life.

Blind Trail

Blind Trail

by Mark Bannerman

**

Western. Narrated in the first person, the story starts a few months after Raoul Webster has been blinded in the line of duty. On his way to visit a doctor in San Francisco, his stage coach is attacked by bandits and his brother is killed. Vowing to take revenge, Raoul makes several forays into Apache country and then into Mexico. He also encounters Geronimo and stumbles into several real historical incidents along the way.

The writing is competent and there is a wealth of historical detail, but still the story didn't fully grab me. Part of the problem is that because the story takes place so soon after Raoul loses his sight, he isn't able to do much more than tag along as things happen around him. He doesn't really do much until the very last scene. The depiction of his blindness is pretty realistic, which is commendable, since not all authors can pull off a blind narrator believably. Also there was a moment with the doctor when it seemed like a miracle cure was going to happen, but it didn't, so no worries there. But it just wasn't that devvy to me--he's just too passive.

There's also a good bit of romance, but be warned this is a Western, not a romance novel. And the girl he falls for is also so passive as to be almost a non-entity. It's hard to care much about either of them.

Blind Blondie

Blind Blondie

by Scarlet Blackwell

****

Contemporary M-M romance/erotica. Sam is an artist and a heartless player who is not interested in a relationship. One day while he's out cruising in his car, he picks up Kieran, a blind hottie, and allows Kieran to think he's a taxi. Kieran is not amused. They are not off to a good start. Sam has no intention of getting involved with someone with a disability who needs his help. Kieran doesn't want any help, certainly not from Sam. But somehow Sam can't stop thinking about Kieran, and trying to get close to him.

This is more a short story than a novel, but I found it surprisingly enjoyable. Sam is a jerk, but a self-aware jerk, and his journey towards becoming a better person is endearing. Kieran is great, a winning mix of independent and vulnerable. His blindness is depicted fairly realistically, and the author manages to avoid the major cliches of blind characters. The sex scenes were good, sensual without too much purple prose, and there's a good balance of sex vs character development. I just wish it were a little longer, as the ending was a bit rushed.

And it's super devvy! The author really knows what details to include. A fair number of her other books seem to feature injured or disabled guys.

Passion Wears Pearls

Passion Wears Pearls

by Renee Bernard

*

Victorian-era romance. Eleanore Beckett is a prim and proper middle-class young lady fallen on hard times. Josiah Hastings is a frustrated painter, slowly losing his sight. When he runs into Eleanore by accident, he realizes that with her bright red hair, she is the colorful muse he must paint before he goes blind. But being an artist's model is not proper employment for a modest young lady.  How can he convince her his intentions are honorable? And what if she secretly wants him to take liberties with her?

I wanted to like this story, but I just couldn't get into it. If you are looking for a "wounded hero" romance this does not really fit the bill.  Josiah worries a lot about losing his sight, but his worsening vision does not actually impact his activities (except in his mind) until the very end, when he suddenly, with no preparation or training, develops magical blind person skills. He can "do things no sighted man could"! What nonsense. Eleanore catches on to his condition early, in a bit of clunky exposition, but never acts on or thinks about that knowledge until the very end. Even then, her only advice to him is to keep painting, even if he has to put his nose to the canvas to see it. Uh, way to help him adapt. There just wasn't enough character development for either of them dealing with his blindness to make for a satisfying read. Dev factor was almost zero.

I found the hero and heroine rather flat. Eleanore's big conflict is whether to give up propriety and give in to her desire for Josiah. But since it is a foregone conclusion that she will, it doesn't add much tension to the plot to have her agonize over this for pages and pages.

The quality of the writing is average for a romance novel, and the plot is strictly by the numbers. The historical details are pretty good, although there are several jarring lapses into modern language. There is a LOT of sex, so much so that it seemed more like erotica than a romance, as character development and forward momentum of the plot were often sacrificed to long sex scenes in purplish prose. All in all, I found it rather dull.

Reprobate: Amsterdam Assassin Series

Reprobate: A Katla Novel
Book one in the Amsterdam Assassin Series

by Martyn V. Halm

****








Katla is a professional assassin for hire, specializing in hits that can't be traced. When the novel begins, she is taking out the owner of a shop selling antique Japanese swords, with his own merchandise, when she is interrupted by a blind man who has come to pick up his order. Katla has a firm policy of not allowing witnesses to her hits to live, but Bram is blind, and totally sexy. She lets him go, but can't seem to stay away from him. So begins an unlikely but fascinating partnership. How will a cold-blooded killer and a pacifist musician find any common ground?

Meanwhile, American DEA agents are brought to Amsterdam to help IPOL break up a drug ring run by a local gang. Katla is unwittingly drawn in to a law enforcement sting operation by a double-crossing client. There is some gory violence as Katla carries out her hits, but the emphasis is firmly on procedure: descriptions of guns and knives, techniques, and the autopsies and forensics afterward.

But of course, Devo Girl was way more interested in Bram. He is a terrific character, very realistic and SUPER devvy. He's well-adjusted and capable, but not superhuman. He plays the saxophone, practices shiatsu on the local yakuza, and studies aikido. He's just the right combination of strong and vulnerable, and it's oh so sexy. And Katla pursues him with the single-minded obsession of a dev. His blindness and the scars on his face and eyes make him more sexy to her. It's awesome.

There is also a second blind character who shows up in a small but great scene. And another character who is a DAK amputee, but that is very minor.

I also like that Katla is a tough, strong woman who doesn't have trauma or abuse in her past. She's just good at what she does. It's quite a trick to get the audience to root for the killer and the police equally, but the author pulls it off. The Dutch setting is also unusual and interesting. I'm looking forward to the next books in the series.

ETA: The sequel, Pecadillo, is even better than the first volume. A lot more Bram, too!

Read my interview with author Martyn Halm on Ruth Madison's blog.

In The Eye of the Beholder by Beverly Cialone

NO STARS

I really didn't like this book. The female mc was very insipid and weak. She was a thirty year old virgin who considered herself as unattractive. Her actions seem contradictory to the personality the writer had shared with us. In that she is very insecure and self-analytical but yet has confidence to wonder over to a doctor and introduce herself. That just doesn't fit with the rest of her personality.

My main objection is with the male mc. The story opens with him reading a book and leading her around, he is fairly sweet but as the synopsis on the "cover" tells us he is going to be blind so when he drops his "bombshell" we aren't that shocked. But I was shocked as to how completely implausible this character was portrayed. He moved around his environment without any assistance, he managed to read books in the conventional way without any braille or speech apparatus, and carried a pager around with requires sight to read the message.

I wish the author had either just made this a tale about a doctor falling for an ugly duckling or had made far more concessions to the character's disability. I do really hope that, with this book being electronic, she may revisit it at some time and make adjustments to his character.

I could not recommend this to anyone because of the failings of the portrayal of disability being completely inconsequential to a persons life that it is only paid lip service. I sincerely hope that should Beverly Cialone tackle another character with disability, she does research and writes it with more realism.

They Say Love Is Blind

By Pepper Pace
Dev Rating (The first half **** the second  ***)

I really enjoyed this book.  Victoria is an anti heroine, she is overweight, insecure, low self confidence in other words a real woman and not a barbie doll.  She is plodding through her average life, going to work, slobbing in her pj's and trying to shed her unwanted pounds.  On a clumsy bus journey she spots Lee and it is lust at first sight.


Lee was everything I like in a romantic lead.  Hunky, funny, kind and very sexy.  Victoria watches from afar, never believing that he'd ever be remotely attracted to her.... But sparks fly.


Pepper Pace faces Lee's disability head on, with a positivity that brightens up the story.  A couple of places I felt her research was a little too forced fed to the reader and rather than have Tory ask loads of questions we could have had a bit more show not tell.  But saying that I did find it interesting to learn what computer programme he used and was surprised at the cause of his blindness, so much so I had to have a google session.  I really like the discovery of his blindness, to me it was plausible.  I also got a zing out of the early dating sections and after an incident which made him lose confidence but he seemed to recover rather quickly from that.

There were enough story plots to keep me turning the page.  So all in all a very enjoyable read!

The Art of Blindness

 The Art of Blindness

by J. L. Williams

***

Abandoned in a magical forest as a baby, Sendjuit learns to fend for himself like a wild animal, until he is  eventually adopted by Helio, prince of Abram, and trained to be his bodyguard and companion. Even after he is blinded in an accident, Sendjuit still manages to become a fearsome warrior, defending Helio and facing threats from the forest and the enemy kingdom of Dorcas. In many ways this is a classic hero's journey, with a big dose of romance toward the end.

While the writing is not quite up to professional grade, this is still a satisfying read. There's a lot of misuse of language, and the medieval-ish fantasy world is not 100% internally consistent. The characters all talk and behave like young teens, which is great when they are young, but not as convincing when they are adults. There's a very high school feel to many of the interactions, especially with the few female characters. And the ending is repeated twice, kind of like two drafts of the same scenes. It really reads like something written by a precocious child.

However, it is much better written than the average fantasy on fictionpress, and well worth paying for. The story is completely original, with a lot of fast-paced action and suspense. The romance is very touching.

Sendjuit is an appealing character--although he wild and kind of bratty in the beginning, he develops into a loyal and surprisingly tender young man. The depiction of his blindness is ok but not totally realistic. He relies on a supernatural sense of smell, which I guess is linked to a curse that makes him part wolf, but he develops that power before the curse, so again, not fully consistent. However, it didn't bother me too much. And it's not just the blindness, there's a lot of "wounded hero" stuff all through the book. From the moment Send loses two fingers as a young child, he keeps getting injured over and over. I found the dev factor pretty high despite all the magic. And there's no magical cure, which is probably a first for a for a blind character in a fantasy setting. The narration is from Send's point of view, also not something authors attempt often, and it's done pretty well.

Despite its flaws, I still enjoyed reading this a lot. I've never read anything quite like it. The writer has a lot of raw talent, but really needs a professional editor.

Blind Impulse

Blind Impulse

by Kathryn Loch

***

Medieval romance.

Garin Swein returns from fighting in the Crusades to England, just in time to marry his childhood betrothed, Alyna and take over as baron of Kirkoswald. But just after returning, he is struck with a fever that leaves him blind. Everyone expects him to cancel the marriage and step down, allowing his sister Julia and her fiance to inherit the barony. Alyna, inspired by her blind uncle, is convinced she can teach Garin to cope. But the threat that he could be stripped of his title is real--will Alyna be able to help him? And will that be enough to satisfy the authorities and his grasping sister?

The writing is pretty good for a romance. Garin and Alyna are appealing characters, and the depiction of his blindness is fairly realistic. There is some good action at the end too, but through the middle it moved kind of slowly. Garin spends way too long agonizing over things that should have already been resolved, like his doubts that Alyna is only helping him for selfish reasons. Also there's a big subplot with Julia. It paid off in the end but for a long time it felt like a distraction.

The number of anachronisms really bugged me. Everything is just too dainty for a medieval setting. The characters all read and write fluently, even the women, and people exchange letters and notes as if paper were readily available. They have carpets on the floors, glass in the windows, and napkins at the table. The characters all behave in a very modern way too. It's a shame because many of the details are good, like the clothing and armor. The middle ages is a hard setting to get right because it is so distant from us. As a romance this book is pretty good, but as historical fiction, not so much.

Afflicted

Afflicted

by Brandon Shire

****

Contemporary gay romance/erotica.

After reading so many terrible romances with blind characters completely removed from reality, I was so happy to finally find one where the author took the time to do research and really get the details right. Hunter is a great character: tough but vulnerable, smart and sarcastic, but secretly sweet. He's independent and fully adjusted to his life. The problems he has, sometimes acting like a jerk to cover for feeling foolish or dependent, felt very true to life.

I also loved the attention to detail. The setting feels real, as do all the characters. Even the secondary characters are detailed. No one's just a cardboard cutout, and there's no neglect of the plot in favor of sex scenes, which is usually the case in erotica. And the characters act like real men, ie, they don't sit around talking about their feelings, even when they really should. This is definitely real gay man fiction, not slash written by and for women.

The writing is excellent, a very cerebral and writerly style, also unusual for erotica. Although there are quite a few typos towards the end, including one hilarious instance of confusing genteel and gentile.

I only had two complaints: 1. the ending relies on a coincidence so huge it defies belief and 2. the story clearly is not over at the end. I dislike the current trend in e-publishing to take one novel and split it in two to double profits. I would gladly pay more for a longer book, but I'd like to know up front what I am getting. Anyway I still recommend this one, just be warned, it's not a complete novel, only the first half.

To Hear You Smile

To Hear You Smile by Gina Rossi

(The title is so hard to read on the cover! Plus you hardly get any idea at all what the book is about. Bad design, if you ask me).

Dev Rating: **
(As a book, 4/5)

I like the writing style in this one a lot. The author is clearly a pro. It's sweet, endearing, romantic, and fun. It seriously makes me want to pack up and move to a quiet English village.

The only problem is that the blurb is left intentionally vague about the disability because (DevoGirl, look away!), the heroine meets the blind hero and doesn't realize that he's blind. Yes, this is one of DG's top complaints about books with blind characters.

It was difficult for me to keep reading because I found that idea so silly. Oliva meets Zac three or four times, and even has a lengthy date with him, without ever figuring out that he's blind. There are little hints all over the place (and in the title, of course), but it's half way through the novella before Oliva finds out (and I guess it's supposed to be a surprise for the reader too?)

If you are able to see past that conceit, the story is really charming and I would recommend it. The dev factor was lessened for me because I found the confusion about him being blind to be really irritating. If I wasn't so distracted by that I would have found it significantly more devy.

I'm looking forward to trying more stories from this author.

See a longer review on my website: www.ruthmadison.com

Sydney Harbour Hospital: Tom's Redemption

Sydney Harbour Hospital: Tom's Redemption by Fiona Lowe
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hayley Grey is a Resident at Sydney Harbour Hospital, she is one exam away from being a qualified Surgeon. She is scared of the dark but other than that a good kick ass female main character. Tom Jordon, a Surgeon, has returned to Sydney from Perth where he had been recuperating for two years following an accident; a car banged into him when he was cycling.

We learn that Tom is gorgeous, a serious person whose focus has been 100% on his carear which is now not an option for him. So he is at the stage in his life where he is looking for what he wants to do now.

Enter Hayley into his life. They develop a friendship which grows to more...

This book is a fast read. I didn't really feel involved in the story which I think was mainly due to the length of the book not giving the author or reader time to really engaged in the story. Likewise, these two fairly interesting characters didn't get room to grow. Their bumps in their relationship seemed to be solved before you got a chance to fret for them.

The medical referencing was just enough to convince me they knew what they were doing without flowing the pages with terminology.

I enjoyed the book but it was just ok.

Vittorio's Woman

Vittorio's Woman
by Kinberley Reeves

Dev Rating: *

Lilly is a physical therapist, but she doesn't do it for money, she just really likes helping people. She gets a call from the sister of a man she saw once at a party and developed a huge crush on, Simon Vittorio. The sister says that Simon's had an accident and he's in despair. He needs a tough physical therapist to pull him from his depression and get him inspired to walk again. Simon has also been blinded by this accident, the characters hope temporarily. Little does Lilly know, Simon remembers her and has also been longing for her as much as she has for him. But he's driven away other psychical therapists and he's going to do the same to her by making her super uncomfortable sexually. (???)

The writing is fine. No glaring errors, nothing really wrong with it, but the book definitely left me feeling "meh." 

But oh my God, the cliches. Every single one of the romance genre seems to be present here:

-She's cute when she's angry. Whenever she's upset, Simon has to stifle the urge to laugh.
-She's so special that a man-whore who has been sleeping with any girl who breathes for the last twenty years or so instantly falls so in love with her that he'll never want anyone else ever again.
-She's secretly a virgin (and secretly rich)
-Outrageous and ridiculous misunderstandings abound when a simple conversation would make everything clear

(Okay, at least there isn't a secret baby)

And Simon's big plan to drive Lilly away? To kiss her. Seriously? The plot is convoluted, strange, and hard to make any sense out of. 

I didn't find anything sexy about Simon personally. He is rich and Italian and passionate and (apparently) madly in love with the heroine (for no discernible reason). That's probably plenty of people's fantasy, but I found him foppish and irritating. The laughing at Lilly whenever she was upset and telling her how adorable she is when she's mad was so patronizing it kind of made me hate him. If he had felt real enough to hate, anyway.

It's pretty clear from the start that a cure is likely. I don't think I can call it a "miracle cure," since his prognosis from the start is that he's going to recover. This is more of a nurse-back-to-health fantasy than a dev fantasy. But then, why is he driving away physical therapists and being bitter when he's likely to recover if he just puts in a tiny bit of effort...? I have no idea.

The cover is a weird choice too. Sexy image (would be better with a wheelchair!) but you can't even read the title at all. The lack of contrast is a very unprofessional choice.

Longer review here: www.ruthmadison.com/monday-book-review-vittorios-woman

Doctor in Petticoats

Doctor in Petticoats

***

by Paty Jager

Late nineteenth century Western romance. For a romance with a blind hero, it's pretty good. The novel starts with Clay Halsey, recently blinded in an explosion, starting out at a school for the blind. There he falls in love with the lady doctor, Rachel Tarkiel. Rachel is an independent career woman who throws herself into her medical work because she believes no man will ever love her--she has a big scar on her face form a childhood accident. But Clay and Rachel fall for each other right away. The tension comes first from her disapproving family, then from whether she will be satisfied living with Clay in a small mining town, being a wife and mother.

Clay and Rachel are appealing characters. He is quite sweet, not angry or bitter, thank god. The bit about Rachel's scar is such a cliche for a blind hero romance, though, I cringed every time it came up. She is such a strong character, the book would have been better without it. On the other hand, I really liked how she was a career woman, and deeply conflicted about pursuing marriage or career. It was a satisfying and believable way to present a strong female character in a historical setting.

The historical details are good. The author clearly did a lot of research, and there's a real sense of place in the Oregon setting. The author depicted Clay's blindness pretty well too. The blind school was similarly well researched, although I was a little disappointed the action shifted away from the school so quickly. After two months, Clay decides he's rehabilitated enough, even though he has barely started learning Braille, never mind anything else. However, a lot of the scenes, particularly in the beginning, are narrated from his point of view, and it's done really well. There's a lot more realism here than in most romances, which I appreciated.

This book is part of a series. I didn't read the other books, but while this mostly stands alone, there are some things that are not fully explained from the other books. I did feel a little like I was missing something.

The biggest problem, though, is that the author never stops TELLING when she should be showing. In every single scene, the narrator lays out baldly what the main conflict is, over and over. It's such a drag, even more so because the dialog and descriptions are actually pretty good, and could easily have carried the novel without all the boring exposition. As it is, though, the over-explaining really weighs it down.

Love Story

Love Story **
Janine Boissard (Author)
Marilyn Achiron (Translator)

Claudio Roman is a world-famous tenor and perhaps even more well known lothario. His life is the envy of men in all walks of life, until a fateful random attack leaves him a shell of his former self.
Now, three years later and no longer performing opera, he is still a singer in very high demand—but he knows he can’t be too careful about his security. Women still fawn over him too, so it is hard to understand why, when in need of a new aide and publicist to travel and be with him night and day, he would hire a small, average-looking woman who he will later compare to a sparrow.
Laura is surprised the morning after her twenty-sixth birthday party when she is called into the boss’s office and offered the job of accompanying Claudio Roman on his singing engagement—effective immediately. Hesitant at first, she accepts the opportunity and throws herself into it with all the professionalism she can bring. Soon becoming the only one Claudio requests from the agency, her dedication to making sure that Claudio has everything he needs at all times endears her to the singer. She takes her position so seriously, in fact, that she sees the opportunity to play her sincerity against his cynicism and bring him the hope he gave up long ago. As Laura desperately searches for ways to restore his confidence and stature as a premiere opera performer, she awakens feelings in Claudio he thought were lost forever.

I am left feeling like yes this is a really nice love story but it lacks a bit of meat on its bones.

The female lead character is a well written, rounded character, deep, insecure, can be easily identified with.

It is a nice classic love story, beautifully written, I think this is because this piece is translated from French so descriptions have a different angle/point of view than originally English works.

Loved the fact that the book was divided into Her, Him and then Him and Her. - I actually preferred his angst section best but then it wouldn't have worked as well without her section.

The story was missing something. Perhaps it is supposed to be a light love story but I would have liked more of something I cannot put my finger on. Perhaps it was missing more about how he was coping with his blindness. How she adapts to working with his demands.

When reading dev books I do turn down the corners of pages that I really like and although I thought it didn't really spark too much of my dev feelings, looking back after the book had been read there was quite a few ear dogged pages.

*spoiler* He does improve but only in one eye and that is still only usable with thick glasses.

Good holiday read, a posh version of Mills and Boons.

Touch and Go

Touch and Go

by Thad Nodine

****

Kevin, the narrator, has been blind since an accident as a young child. Now 27, he's a recovering junkie just laid off from his part-time job as a reporter. He lives in LA with Isa and Patrick, who are 10 years older. They're also ex-junkies who all met in rehab. Kevin has had a crush on Isa since he met her, but she married Patrick instead, a macho, bragging con artist. In an attempt to start a family, Isa recently took in two foster kids: Devon, 16 and Ray, 10. But Isa is a huge flake, and Patrick is a jerk, so Kevin takes it on himself to help take care of the kids. At the start of the novel, they all set out on a road trip to Florida to visit Isa's dying father. But they each have their own agendas on the trip, which take them far off course. And then there's the date, which you may not notice at first, 2005, maybe not the best time to be driving through the Gulf.

A brief description of the plot nearly put me off this book--ex-junkies, road trip, foster kids, Hurricane Katrina, ugh, sounds so depressing. But I'm so glad I read it anyway, because it is amazing, and not depressing at all. There's no wallowing in misery just for its own sake, and there's plenty of humor. And the dev factor for me was HUGE. It's not a romance, but Kevin does get some action, don't worry!

The writing is top-notch. All the characters are original, not stereotypes, and yet seem very true to life, like people you might have met. The dialog is breezy and natural, but it's really Kevin who steals the show. His narration is great--lots of interesting turns of phrase, and insights into himself and the other characters, even when he doesn't quite realize it at the time. It's kind of a late coming of age story, as he figures out how to be a responsible adult, even with, or because of, all the dysfunction around him.

This is an amazing book. There are so few writers who even attempt to write from the perspective of a blind person. On the other hand, there are tons of books with blind characters that are totally unrealistic, or that just use them as a plot device. Not so here. Kevin is a fully alive and deeply sympathetic character, and also completely believable. The author clearly did a lot of research, because he totally nailed it. It's so refreshing to read about a blind character who is not bitter or angry all the time, but just kind of gets on with his life the best he can. And where I'm not constantly brought out of the story by stupid little mistakes.

This book was a PD book club selection for July/August 2012. Discussion is here.

Blind- A Novella

Blind

by V. R. Christensen

*

Devo Girl was SO excited to find this one--a blind man AND a deafblind man as main characters, a Victorian setting, period language, a great cover, all so promising. But it turned out to be a huge disappointment.

Arthur has been blind since birth, and lives as an angry, bitter shut-in. Zachary Goodfellow (get it?) is also blind, kind of, and poor, but cheerful. As a result of a beating, he lost his hearing but regained some of his sight. Rebecca is a do-gooder who wants to help Arthur by hiring Zachary to be a companion to him, but Arthur's hateful attitude won't let him accept her help.

The treatment of blindness and deafness is not at all realistic. Zachary seems to get along with nothing more than a positive attitude. It's so unrealistic that he hardly seems disabled at all. The bitter, angry blind man who shuts himself off from society is such a cliche. Rebecca has a big scar on her face, and thinks only a blind man could love her for who she is on the inside, also a huge cliche. And she has magic powers that allow the men to see and hear when she touches them. So their blindness and deafness is basically dispensed with in the crucial moments of the plot. HATE HATE HATE. Why can't authors come up with something better than this when writing about blind characters?

Although the author is a pretty good prose stylist, she goes a bit overboard in taking on the Victorian moralizing as well as the ornate language. Arthur is BAD and Zachary is GOOD, and there's never any doubt as to where the story is going. In demonstrating the rewards of virtue and meekness in the face of adversity, the characters come across as completely flat. The setting is also quite thin. Is the the US or England? Why in a seemingly small village do people not know each other? And like a Dickens novel, it all ends with the discovery of secret family bonds. Ugh!

Elven Journals

Elven Journals: Unseen Paths

by Scarlet Hyacinth


***


Gay elven erotica--if you're looking for a fantasy slash story, it's not bad. The quality of the writing is ok for erotica, but still a bit thin in places, and I wished it were just a bit better. The fake medieval setting was very hastily sketched, and the magic barely explained. I also found it really jarring that the characters all spoke in modern American slang. I guess it's moderately better for the characters to call each other "baby" than "thee" and "thou" but it still took me out of the fantasy.


The story is set in the elven palace at the end of a war against the demons that brought the elves and the dark elves together (again, only hastily explained). Jan'ke (how do you pronounce that?) is the tough, manly dark elf hero of the wars, who is closed off from his emotions after the war. Alix is the sensitive elf singer who is socially outcast because he is blind. But he's not that girly, despite his blindness, he is also a veteran of the demon wars, and is nearly as tall and strong as Jan'ke. The romance between them is nice but I wish there was more build-up showing them connecting emotionally. Then some secrets of Alix's past are revealed that changes his character a lot, and the story kind of went off the rails.





Each chapter alternates between Jan'ke and Alix's points of view, but it means that we get every scene narrated twice, and in the first half it's a huge drag. It takes the story forever to get moving.

Alix's blindness is caused by magic, so you know where this is going, hello, magic cure. If you're looking for a realistic treatment of a blind hero, this isn't it. Also there are a LOT of torture scenes in the second half which some readers might find disturbing.  Dev factor was pretty good in the beginning but low by the second half.

Shot in the Dark

Shot in the Dark

by Spiral Razor

****

Supernatural Western with a blind hero. This is the first in a planned series, self-published by a dev author. For those of you who love a blind hero, this is for you. Killian McBride is a supernaturally enhanced vigilante, dispensing justice in the Old West with his two swords, and oh so sexy. He's also fleeing a tortured past, but no spoilers. Jesse is great as his mechanically inclined, sarcastic sidekick. The dynamic between the two of them drives the best scenes.

So much of Killian's past, and his abilities, are surprises as the story goes along, it feels wrong to get into too much detail. His blindness and his fighting skills have a supernatural element, but it's all handled believably, and there is no miracle cure, thank goodness. Even better, his abilities don't give him magical sight--when he's not fighting, he's just a regular blind guy. There are lots of great devvy moments.

Be warned, though, it's not a love story, and it is the beginning of a series, so the ending is not that conclusive.  But it's great fun, especially if you're a Daredevil fan.

ETA: Ruth Madison reviewed this on her blog, and she loves it too!