Good pace book that keeps the reading going at a nice speed. Enjoyed the language and characters throughout. I would look up more books by this author.

A really well written book dealing with some serious topics. I really liked the main character and it provided an insight into the struggles of the vision impaired. Recommended.

I have previously read and reviewed this book via my social media. I thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title

I was pleasantly surprised by Not If I See You First – hands up, I downloaded it so long ago that I’d forgotten quite what it was about, so when it turned out to be a unique YA book, I was pretty happy!

Having read quite a bit of YA, it was great to read something that deals with the heavy topics that are such a feature of YA but – great news – more reliance on the power of female friendships than romantic relationships.

Parker is not really a likeable character at first – I’ve seen many reviews saying that this is a bad thing – she is blind and assumes she is ok with it, but the signs are there that she’s kidding herself about that and about her ability to deal with the sudden death of her father. Her father’s death has led to some huge changes in her life, but it’s really interesting to see Parker navigate her life after that point with no consideration that the lives of others have also been rocked – seeing her come to this realisation throughout the course of the book is rewarding, as the book ends on a hopeful note for everyone.

The female friendships in this book are really powerful – even at Parker’s lowest point, her friends are there for her. She doesn’t have to put on a show for them and can be her worst self around them. Maybe that’s ‘being an asshole’ to some, but it seems to me more like a part of learning to be a grown up and knowing who has your back.

Overall, I thought this was a great book. I would be interested to hear about the research that went in to creating a disabled main character, but it was definitely a winner for me…

Not If I See You First follows a girl called Parker Grant, who is blind. Parker has a set of rules that people must follow if they want to be her friend, and if you break one of these rules you’re out. For good.

Parker’s ex-best friend Scott broke one of the rules when they were younger, and she hasn’t spoken to him since. This was helped by the fact that they went to different high schools, but now Scott’s back, and Parker begins wondering whether rules were made to be broken.

I enjoyed so many different aspects of Not If I See You First, but first and foremost I loved Parker. She is a pretty horrible person – snarky, sarcastic, straight-talking to the point of rudeness – but it makes her so interesting. I’m a huge fan of reading unlikable characters, and if Parker had been nice and sweet this would have been a much less compelling story. Parker claims that she’s honest because of her blindness – she can’t see the way people react to her comments, so why should she care? – which makes it interesting to experience things from her viewpoint. Not only does the reader not know how other character’s are reacting, but we only know what the character’s look like based off of Parker’s memories (and the bits of information the other character’s tell us about themselves) which makes for a unique reading experience.

There’s just so many different things that this book handles, and handles well.

Parker’s dad has just died, so there’s an exploration of grief. Parker thinks it’s healthy to bottle everything up and rewards herself with a gold star for getting through each day without crying. However, this doesn’t end up being the healthiest plan, and Eric Lindstrom makes a big point of showing that it’s okay to not know how to grieve, and you can grieve in multiple ways.

This also makes for some interesting dynamics between Parker and her aunt’s family, as they have to uproot their lives to move to her home after her father’s death. There is understandable animosity on both sides, and it was another aspect that was very realistic.

There’s also Parker’s running. Parker runs in the local park every morning, because she loved running before she lost her vision and she refuses to let her blindness take everything from her. This terrifies a lot of the able-bodied people around her, because they think it’s dangerous and it doesn’t fit with their preconceived notions of what a blind girl should be doing, but I think it’s a brilliant way of showing that individuals know their own capabilities and there shouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all approach to disability.

I thought the relationship between Parker and Scott was very realistic. I’m not a huge fan of miscommunication, and a lot of their issues could have been avoided if Parker had just listened to Scott in the first place, but she admits this herself! I also think it’s very easy to tell people to hear someone out, but when you’re in that situation and you’re feeling betrayed then it’s impossible to do it, especially at a young age.

Most YA contemporaries are hyper-focused on the look of the love interest, so it’s refreshing that this story focuses on Scott’s personality instead. That might be why I liked their relationship so much despite having some issues with it (one of which being the fact that Parker still thinks of Scott as her soulmate despite the fact that she’s hated him since she was 13!). Eric Lindstrom left their story open which I loved, but it’s also a very hopeful ending; it brought a tear to my eye, and I don’t often cry while reading.

I’ll admit, Not If I See You First isn’t perfect, but if a book is trying to address so many different things at once and is tackling all of them to a very high standard, I can’t give it lower than a five.

Apologies for not reviewing this book, it was archived before I finished it. Thank you for the copy!

This story was about a very determined, blind teenager who wasn't going to let anyone get her down. An interesting subject for a story , possibly a bit over the top with all the angst.

For some reason I just didn’t connect with this story and didn’t find the characters likeable or empathetic.

Unfotuantely I am unable to read this book and wish it all the best in the future. If I get to it I will re-review on my blog, goodreads and amaozn

Not if See you first by Eric Lindstrom.
The rules.
Never ever deceive me.
Especially in public.
I never want help only if I ask for it.
Don't be weird. I'm like you only smarter.
Don't treat Parker Grant any different just because she is blind.
An absolutely fantastic Read. I couldn't put it down.
I liked parker. She was sassy. A moving read. 4*. Netgalley and harper collins uk, children's.

I loved this book! The main character is instantly engaging, and Lindstrom's writing is strong enough to make me feel both sorry for her and impressed by her. Parker is a blind orphan who is navigating friendships, new family relationships and a reunion with her first love. This could have been overly emotional, or even mawkish, as YA often can be, but there is enough humour and realism to carry the sadder moments.

I particularly liked the way Lindstrom presents Parker as a girl facing challenges, but one who in no way a victim. Her strength is one of the book's main strengths, and I look forward to recommending this book to my students.

I'll have to admit, this book took me by surprise in more ways than one. Mostly because, I actually started off not liking it but by the end felt VERY differently. When going into this, like a lot of people, I was expecting a romance and not unlike those seen in books such as 'The Fault In Our Stars' or 'All The Bright Places'. These two reads were great in their own right, but contained overly-philosophical, deep-thinking teenagers and a love story that almost romanticised topics such as terminal illness or suicide in an unhealthy way. I thought Lindstrom was going to do the same for Parker, the blind MC of the book. Thank goodness, he didn't.

I'll start with my original thoughts, and the reasons that I didn't enjoy this book as much as other reads of it's kind. Parker was not a likeable MC. In some ways it worked in her favour because her development over time is wonderful to watch and not everyone loves a Mary Sue who can do no wrong (myself included, ugh). But I sat through the first chapters rolling my eyes and frowning at her bitter, cynical attitude towards EVERYTHING. Why DID she have to be such a bitch? Still, I persevered and it paid off. Parker changes over time and admits to her mistakes. I think that's something I can get on board with. At times, the plot felt a little over-dramatised for what it was, that is to say, not all that much. Typical high school problems that were made to feel like life-or-death situations with an often cheesy solution. But at face value, this book is not about the story. It's about how people learn from their mistakes and why they behave as they do. Lindstrom's writing was captivating despite this as well.

I liked the fact that romance wasn't the focus (it usually is in Contemporary YA and while I like it in doses, I love reading about friendship, which this book had by the bucket-load, a whole lot more). Watching the characters interact with each other was happiness enough for me, as they all developed and grew as a result. Molly, Sarah & Faith were GREAT examples of friends 'done right' and I loved the very minor 'D.B.' plot arc. Sheila was interesting too, and Scott was a great example of a typical YA love interest who still managed to surprise you. The diversity in this book was great: different body types, sexuality, and obviously disabilities all made an appearance and it was yet another book that reminded me of my own sixth form despite it's American setting.

Found this book really enjoyable. It was very interesting reading from the perspective of a blind character and I think Lindstrom has written this really well. I really like the relationships between Parker and all of her friends; the friendships we see are very different, but they are all really supportive and great friends to Parker at the end of the day. I've read reviews saying that Parker is an unlikeable character, but I actually really liked her. She was honest (brutally) and the fact she isn't perfect makes her so much more relatable and realistic. Furthermore, it really highlights how far Parker has come since the beginning of the novel.

Due to it often being a large theme in young adult contemporary novels, I also wanted to point out that I appreciated that the book wasn't relationship driven. Parker does go on a date, and there are themes of romance, but it was not the main aspect of the book and it focuses a lot more of friendships. I really enjoyed this because it felt a bit more refreshing and mixed things up amongst all the book I read.

I was really happy with how the book ended. However, on the negative side, the book did leave me feeling a little underwhelmed. I don't know, it's four hundred pages and while I did fly through it pretty quickly, it didn't feel the most eventful, or perhaps it was just that while I liked all of the characters, I wasn't attached to them, I didn't really feel for them when they went through hard times. As a result, I have rated this 4*.

This slow burn of a book really work its way under my skin and I loved it very much. We will be stocking it in the library where I work as part of our diversity display