New Sight by Jo Schneider

Title: New Sight
Author: Jo Schneider
Genre: Paranormal Young Adult
Series: N/A

Paperback, 310 pages

Publication: April 22, 2014 by Jolly Fish Press 

Source: I received a review copy from the publicist in exchange for a honest review.

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After succumbing to the sudden and terrifying urge to rip people’s eyes out of their sockets, 16-year-old Lysandra Blake finds herself tied down in a psych ward, convinced she’s crazy. The doctors have no answers, and Lys is ready to give up when the mysterious Jeremiah Mason appears, telling Lys that she’s not insane—she’s addicted to a rare and deadly drug that she has no recollection of using. Mr. Mason offers to take her to his facility where he can treat her. Desperate yet suspicious, Lys agrees to go with Mr. Mason to his facility where she meets with a fellow addict, the tall and handsome Kamau. Together they discover that Mr. Mason may not have told them the truth about their condition—they’re thrown headfirst into a world of daunting powers that are not only unbelievable, they are dangerous.

MY THOUGHTS

New Sight is narrated by 16-year-old Lysandra ‘Lys’ Blake. At the start of the book, readers find Lys in a mental institution; everyone thinks she’s crazy because she attacked her mom and then inflicted a self wound. Dr. Mason says Lys is affected by a drug that makes her want to gouge people’s eyes out, and that he’s the only person that can help her. With Lys and her parents’ permission Dr. Mason takes Lys to a private hospital, where she can be with others who are also affected with the same drug. It turns out Dr. Mason is a liar and Lys and the other patients aren’t affected by a drug; they have magical powers!

New Sight was a fresh and unique concept that I’ve never read before. The beginning of the book read like a sci-fi, but a few chapters in the real reasons for Lys and the others’ abilities came to light…they have powers that ties back into our 5 senses: sight, touch, taste, hearing, and smell. Long ago the majority of the people had magic but for the select few who didn’t weren’t happy so they developed technology to even the playing field. The technology eventually grew so powerful that the people’ magic became suppressed then dormant. Readers explored the different abilities/powers and watch as the characters themselves learn how to control it. Each power corresponds to the five senses and within each power there are different stages of mastery: toddler (beginner), adolescent (intermediate), and adult (full mastery). I think the author did a good job at creating an original magic system that was well explained but I still think the world building can use a little work. Everything was easy to understand and straightforward but I felt there was still something lacking…what exactly? I’m still not sure; I felt like something was missing.

While the overall idea of the novel was great, I thought the characters were two dimensional. I didn’t really connect with Lys or any of the other people she met when she escaped the hospital. There was so much happening and action in the book that I never felt like I got to know the characters. I don’t even recall any background information either, maybe just Kamau’s history but none of the others...and one of the more interesting characters died! That was a bummer. I think if the author spent as much time as she did explaining the magic system on characters development, the book would have been better balanced out. There is also a little romance going on in the background between Lys and one of the patients she meets but it is barely developing. I thought the light blossoming romance was sweet and I really enjoyed the pairs’ dialogue. 

Overall New Sight was an enjoyable and well written debut novel by Schneider. The book started out a bit slow but after a couple of chapters things got exciting and lasted that way till the very end. I highly recommend this book to young adult, dystopian, and paranormal fans alike. I think New Sight will appeal to many people because it definitely has a lot to offer.