A Blind Spot for Boys by Justina Chen • contains 336 pages • published 12. August 2014 • classified as Contemporary, Photography, Romance, Travel, Young Adult • obtained through library • read as hardcover • shelve on Goodreads • shelve on The StoryGraph
Synopsis:
"A great photo knocks your heart open. So give some thought to that. What knocks your heart open."
Sixteen-year-old Shana is officially on a Boy Moratorium. After a devastating breakup, she decides it's time to end the plague of Mr. Wrongs and devote herself to her true passion: photography.Enter Quattro, the undeniably intriguing lacrosse player who slams into Shana one morning in Seattle. Sparks don't simply fly; they ignite--and so does Shana's interest. But just as she's about to rethink her ban on boys, she receives crushing news: Her dad is going blind.
Shana and her parents vow to make the most of the time her father has left to see, so they plan a photo safari to Machu Picchu. But even as Shana travels away from Quattro, she can't get him out of her mind.
Love and loss, humor and heartbreak collide in this new novel from acclaimed author Justina Chen.
My Favourite Book of the Year!
This book is hands down my favourite book of 2014! I can say this with conviction to the highest degree because this is my last book review of the year. And I can already tell the two books I am currently reading will not trump A Blind Spot for Boys.
What I Would Change
Honestly, there are only two things I would change about A Blind Spot for Boys: the book cover and the title. In my opinion, they are most misleading and very nearly cost a reader in me. The reason I picked it up despite my misgivings was that Justina Chen wrote it. Her book, North of Beautiful sucked me back into reading in 2012, after I had become excessively busy with university. Thus Justina Chen has a special place in my reader’s heart.
Why I Loved A Blind Spot for Boys
A Blind Spot for Boys is everything I look for in contemporary books. It’s not some sappy romance as that cover might have you think. It is a book about love, tragedy, pain, hope and acceptance. It truly is.
Hobbies and Photography
Evidently, I love photography (I’m sure my photography feature on the blog makes that very clear) and so I appreciated how much Shana too was into photography. I generally like books where protagonists have their own hobbies, which they pursue with a passion. Shana’s passion for photography burnt right through the pages.
A Believable Protagonist
Shana was going places. Shana also had obstacles to clear on personal, familial and romantic levels. They each were significant in their own rights. They intertwined and diverged the way all our problems do. Each of her problems had their own time and place as well, allowing them to breathe. At the same time, this developed Shana as a holistic character, so it was easy for me to forget that she was fictional.
Tight Plot
A lot happened in A Blind Spot for Boys. It surely was a whirlwind of a book. I loved it. The pace was great. Not too much and not too little happened, yet at the end of the book, I couldn’t believe that so much happened in 336 pages. No book satisfied me this year as much as A Blind Spot for Boys did. This is the only book this year where I rated every single aspect 5 stars out of 5. Would I recommend this book? Absolutely! In fact, I’d shove it down everyone’s throats, if I could.
