This is such a beautifully written book.
I would totally recommend this book to family and friends.

A charming and unexpected read about friendship and love.

An interesting concept and some interesting thoughts and perspectives - especially with regards to “the rules”.

A book I’ll be recommending to others due to its originality.

4.5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley, HarperCollins and Joe Heap for my free copy in exchange for an honest review.

A difficult subject, clearly and simply written.
I can often tell how a story is going to turn out, but I had absolutely no idea about this one; Kath and Nova kept me guessing all the way till the end, with their unusual love story.
Such a very interesting book, it made me think a great deal.

The Rules of Seeing tells the story of Kate and Nova. Two women who are both blind in different ways suddenly open their eyes to life around them and then everything changes. Nova was born blind and then her brother, a doctor, hears about a procedure that will return her sight. Kate is married and blind to her own circumstances and what her life has become until she ‘falls’ and has to cope with a severe concussion and then a battle with agoraphobia. The two women meet and as their friendship grows into something more, they both realise the need to be able to see things as they really are.
This beautifully written book had me enthralled from start to finish. The concept of knowing everything then, gaining another sense, and having to relearn everything you thought you knew , was incredible to read. The beautiful layout which allows yountomstep out ofmthe story and into Nova’s thoguhts was truly inspired. What an incredible debut novel

3.5⭐️
Nova has been blind since birth and has the opportunity to have an operation to repair her vision. She is understandably anxious and her anxiety proves to be justified as the journey to sight is a very difficult one. She meets Kate, another neurology patient, a very complex character and they begin a mutually healing and very heartwarming relationship.

Nova’s story is fascinating and the author does an amazing job of ensuring the reader empathises with her. I have never thought so much about ‘seeing’ and how much we take things for granted. However, this was a book of two halves for me – I found at times the narrative was long-winded and the story suffered for it. Kate’s story was dealt with in a sensitive way but somehow didn’t engage me as much as Nova’s
The relationship between Nova and Kate was convincing and sweet but some of their scenes could have been cut to allow other parts of Nova’s story to emerge.

I’m glad I read The Rules of Seeing and think Joe Heap has real talent, this is an impressive debut and I will happily read his next novel. Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for this e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Really enjoyed this novel the story was told in a great way by the author Kate and Nova's characters were so interesting and made this a great read

This is a story of two very different women who meet up and create new lives for themselves - changing completely from their old selves. One woman is facing an abusive and criminal and psycho husband and the other seeing for the first time having been blind from birth. Both these are really great ideas for a story. They meet serendipitously and form a bond that heals them both. The story of their relationship is played out slowly, rather too slowly for me. I found myself longing for the ex husband to actually do something. He was always lurking in the background but so passive. By the end I was flipping pages and almost missed the final and quite short episode - entirely expected. I really warmed to this book initially. I liked both Kate and Nova and was pleased that they got over their early distancing but after a while the relationship conversations were too detailed and Nova's rules of seeing became something that my eyes simply scanned over. If this had been shorter and more tightly written with less intense dialogue I would have loved it.

I'm not quite sure what the main premise of this story was. As a narration about what it must be like to see for the first time having never had any vision at all, I found it fascinating and so insightful bringing up notions which I had never considered such as our concept of depth of field when we view things near by or further away and transparency. This aspect of gaining sight was so well thought through and written about, however the under lying story-line of the marriage (abusive?) was not given enough voice or consideration as for me this niggled away and did not have enough power to drive the book forward. Could be so much stronger a novel with this aspect of the writing resolved.

I was sent a copy of The Rules of Seeing by Joe Heap to read and review by NetGalley.
The thing I liked most about this novel was the description of sight and the way that something so fundamental that most of us take for granted is so very different, confusing and complicated for an adult born blind but with medical intervention is now able to see. The relationship between the protagonists, newly sighted Nova and recent acquaintance Kate, became a little tiresome for me at times and I also thought that the threatening passages with Kate’s husband Tony could have had a little more tension. Overall the story seemed rather too drawn out, though having said that I did enjoy the book, enough for 4 stars, and I’m sure that certain elements will stay with me for quite some time.

Utterly thought provoking! loved it ! This book made me think about the world differently, One everyone should be reading.

It’s taken me a while to review this book as was not sure what to say. There is a lot of content to this book and almost two stories going on at once. I enjoyed the journey of learning to see and definitely made me think differently about something I take for granted. The other story was about relationships. It is worth a read but definitely different

I have really mixed views on this one.
LOVE the cover - this drew me in from the outset. So refreshingly different.
Really enjoyed the first half - meeting Nova and Kate as they both embark on a traumatic journey - Kate in an abusive and unhealthy marriage, and Nova for the first time in her life having sight and vision. What should be a WOW moment for her in the eyes of everyone but her turns out to be a hugely life changing time, and not always for the best.
Nova and Kate meet at the hospital - where Kate is recovering from a brain injury following " a fall" and Nova as she is finding her new sight. They click immediately and embark on a really touching loving friendship.

But Kates troubles at home are likely to derail things - and this is where I started to struggle a bit - as the truth emerges about her husband the tension really started to build, but it never really went anywhere, and I was left a bit disappointed by the final third of the book where it didn't really know if it was a thriller, or a love story.

Although beautifully written and with a unique premise, I found this story ultimately disappointing.

There are some wonderful passages and insights into what it must be like to lose sight, or regain it. These elements are written with a delicacy of hand and mind that make them worth re-reading, there and then. It's when we come to the longer storyline that I start to struggle.

Love story - yes, lovely.
Sight story - brilliant.
Abuse story - weak. This is the element that lacked veracity for me, not because it couldn't happen, but because the writer didn't make me feel any anxiety, any tension or frustration. It was all rather 2D, which in a novel where vision and feeling are closely interwoven, is rather disappointing.

Nova is a police interpreter, blind since birth, who ends up in hospital after having an operation to help her see. Architect Kate is in a just-beginning-to-struggle marriage and ends up in hospital after hitting her head hard. Their paths cross and a friendship forms...

This book was two things for me - first, the developing friendship between Nova and Kate, mixed in with Nova's Rules for Seeing as she adjusts to a brand new world for her - a sort of literary romance; secondly, Tony's growing anger towards Kate and her fear of him - a contemporary suspense.

The former was nice and enjoyable although occasionally frustrating. While I appreciated the silence and peace the women had with each other, and the slow exploration of Kate's feelings (and recognition of them), I found it hard to believe that the women lived together for a month without having any major discussion about what they were. Women talk. A lot!

Also, Nova worries a few times that Kate has too many problems for her to deal with and walks away a couple of times - this is totally reasonable. No one is responsible for another person's issues. But I'm not sure I believed, the further we got into the book, that there was room for Nova to have genuine love or affection for Kate when she so easily left? I did find myself wanting them to always come back together, though. They had real chemistry.

As to the suspense element, I found Tony was in danger of becoming that cliched villain who pops up at every turn. Saying that, I do know there are men out there who behave like this, who kill their wives and loved ones over pretty much nothing at all, or some sense of ownership.

I suppose, once again, I was left feeling that some proper discussion/going to the police sooner, could've resolved the Tony issue quite quickly (he seemed to have the same reputation at work in the police as at home).

So overall, the writing was lovely, Nova in particular was an AMAZING character (a book just about her would be splendid), I was left occasionally with the niggling feeling that some moments where they realistically would've talked/opened up/gone to police were left out to extend the conflict.

I did enjoy the book and it's worth reading for Nova and her Rules alone, but I think some people will get more out of it than me.

A stunning debut novel, somewhat harrowing in places but beautifully written with a tangible sense of hope throughout. An uplifting love story with a dark underbelly.
The Rules of Seeing is literally about seeing; the obvious, the ordinary and the obscure - both physically and psychologically.

A tender, thought-provoking read that made me think about the simple act of seeing in a whole new light.. Although the pacing of this book was slightly unusual it was somehow in-keeping with Kate and Nova's story. I was particularly drawn to Nova - she's such a warm, vibrant character and I enjoyed experiencing/seeing the world through her eyes.

An interesting read but I found it difficult to engage with the main characters and found the story quite difficult to follow as it moves back and forth in time quite often.

I thought from reading the blurb that this would be a book I would enjoy reading. The idea of a book about a blind woman whose sight is restored sounded enlightening – how she learned to interpret what she can see, having been born blind. And I did enjoy that aspect of this book. It does give an excellent insight into Nova’s struggle to cope emotionally with a world she can now see as well as hear and touch, and learning what it all means. And I liked the Rules of Seeing that she compiles from her experiences, although I think they are only loosely linked to the main story.

But, this isn’t just the story of a blind person learning to see and it’s not the main focus of this book which is Kate’s relationship with her husband and with Nova, and I didn’t like Kate’s story; the violence and anger of her husband, Tony was hard to read. If this had been referred to in the blurb I wouldn’t have chosen to read this book. I also found the pace very uneven and by the end of the book I thought it was too drawn out and I just wanted it to end.

One of the drawbacks of reading a review copy prior to publication is that you can’t read the beginning of a book. And if I had read the opening pages I wouldn’t have chosen it. It is in the present tense – there are some books that work well for me in the present tense and it certainly helps if I like the plot, but this isn’t one of them. I didn’t like the constant changes of scene -a bit like watching a drama or film where the action is filmed with a hand-held camera constantly changing focus, zooming in and out. It makes me feel claustrophobic. The use of the present tense in this book made me feel I was watching TV with the audio description turned on, explaining what is happening on screen.

It’s a pity as the basic concept is good and the characters came over as real people. I’m sorry I just couldn’t like it.

Thank you to Harper Collins and NetGalley for my copy of this book for review.

This book was a beautiful story about love and life and I love every single word of it. Of course, I hate bits about it too, but those are the bits that something bad is happening.
The storyline itself, is beautiful. I love how it connects two completely different people and pushes them through happy times and bad time and separate times but they always somehow end up together again or meeting up again.
The main characters are great as well. I love Nova, who as a grown woman can still act so carefree and so excited about everything. Then again, she used to be blind. And then there's Kate who needs help but does not realize it. I love the relationship between them and how they connect so well. I hate Tony and everything he put them through and I really dislike Rebecca, mainly because she just seems like a bitch.
It's been a while since I've read a book that has romance, action, suspense, and other genres included in them and this one just totally works.
I would read this again in a heartbeat and I recommend it to you all!

Nova was born blind but her brother persuades her to have an operation to restore her sight. She meets Kate in hospital after Kate’s abusive husband has knocked her unconscious and the 2 form an unlikely friendship. Part thriller, part romance, part study of the difficulties of being blind and the disorientation of suddenly being able to see things but not know what they are. I found the story dragged a little in places but it was well worth reading for the insight into the problems of suddenly being able to see after you’ve spent your whole, fiercely independent, life coping with not being able to see.