Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom

Parker Grant is blind, but she doesn’t want your pity. She can do things for herself perfectly fine thank you very much. If you can’t handle her blunt way of talking, then too bad for you–she’s not about to hold your hand and stroke your ego. Parker wasn’t always like this, but when the person closest to her betrayed her, she turned into someone else. Now, he’s back and Parker has to decide how she feels about him and what he did to her.

After reading both this book and All the Light We Cannot See, I feel that I have a better understanding of people who are blind. They’re not as helpless as one would imagine–they are definitely still capable people. I appreciated being given that perspective. That being said, this book was really just okay for me. First off, Parker isn’t actually that likable as a character. I feel like there’s a difference between being blunt and being rude and Parker was often just downright rude to other people. She jumps to conclusions and makes unfair assumptions about people. Her aunt, uncle, and cousins for example. She assumes that they decided to move in with her after her father dies because the house is nicer than the one they had. It’s not an immediate thought that maybe they moved and uprooted their lives for her. To help her out.

The plot of the book was pretty subtle–this book is definitely more character driven. We really get to examine different types of relationships. Parker has three notable friends: one has been her friend forever, one was really good friends with her when they were little but they’ve grown apart now, and one is a new friend. It’s interesting to see the different dynamics between the girls. At the same time, they’re all able to come together and offer different types of support when Parker needs it. I liked that this book portrayed Parker’s female friends as really positive influences instead of having them be catty and stuff like that.

Overall, the book was okay. I just end up feeling kind of “meh” about it and I think a lot of that has to do with me not really caring for Parker as a character.

Overall Rating: 3
Language: Heavy
Violence: Mild. Nothing explicit.
Sexual Content: None
Smoking/Drinking: Mild

Note: I won an early copy of this book from the NOVL Newsletter and also received an ARC copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.