What Do You Perceive?

Being someone with the ability to see into the past by touching an object, from a family of people with supernatural gifts, and in a tourist town means high school ain't easy. Instead, it's full of isolation, taunting, and downright mean teens. But when Clarity helped solve a murder that threatened to put her own brother in jail in Clarity, she was lifted out of the perpetual world of the outsider... at least for a little while.

Clare isn't used to her new-found "acceptance" among the students at school, but at least not everything has changed. The Queen Bee, so to speak, still hates her, and her minion still makes life for Clare hell. So it hasn't changed that much. But Clare can't forget that her ex-boyfriend cheated on her, especially since she saw it with her own vision. He keeps sending gifts "from a secret admirer", but she knows it is him. But what has really changed is Perry, Clare's brother. While Perry was once happy go lucky and carefree, he is now haunted by almost going to jail for that girl's murder as a result of his gift. He postponed college and barely leaves the house, but something is about to happen to their sleepy little town that will remind him all too much of the girl who was murdered. 

When a girl goes missing, everyone in town assumes, as an 18 yr old child prodigy, she ran away. But her mother insists something happened to her. When her mother comes to Clare's family for psychic help, they can't get much to help her. But now Clare feels like she has to help this girl. When it becomes clear her gifts and flowers aren't from her ex-boyfriend or Gabriel, the interesting guy who helped her exonerate Perry in the previous murder, she is confused. But as the gifts turn to stalker material, like pictures taken of her trying on Homecoming dresses, she gets nervous. Around her, things are falling apart as her brother grows closer to being a shut in, the girl's disappearance becomes suspicious, and her gifts grow creepier and creepier. But Clare won't back down. She isn't going to let herself be scared. But she should be scared.

While reading this book, I kept thinking there was too much going on. The backlash from the murder in the first book, in particular, what is happening to Perry, seemed to be enough to keep the story going. I felt the disappearance was just unnecessary plot that cluttered the other stuff and was somewhat implausible in this sleepy little tourist town. But as the story continued, it all came together and it all made sense. In the end, I see where it all went, but I still think the story about her brother and the town recovering from the original murder was more important than having Clare solve yet another horrible crime with her gifts. 

These books are good for a mix of young adult students. They are interesting and not overly complex, complete with the twist at the end. The characters are where the most intrigue lies, both with the family's gifts, and the people themselves. This is a pretty good series. I am interested in seeing what Harrington does with another story, though. I want to see what she has coming next.