Sight [Hardcover]

Adrienne Maria Vrettos (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 23, 2007

Fifteen-year-old Dylan has horrific visions of the last moments of a child's life -- a child who has been abducted, kidnapped, or worse. Dylan gives the police valuable clues that help them to find children's bodies, but she keeps the most personal information about these young victims to herself. Dylan has become used to withholding her sight abilities -- even from her best friend, Pilar -- but the weight of that secret is becoming almost more than she can bear.

Then Cate moves into Dylan's mountain town. Enthusiastic and friendly, Cate seems genuinely interested in Dylan, who begins to reveal a bit about herself. But is Cate all that she seems to be? It's not entirely clear...and it takes the disappearance of Pilar's little sister to finally open Dylan's eyes. In a race against time to save a life, and desperate to focus her abilities so that she herself can survive, Dylan is forced to see more clearly than she ever has before.

Sight is a powerful and haunting story from the author of the highly acclaimed debut novel Skin. It will open the eyes of readers everywhere.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Smooth, compelling writing lifts this mixture of suspense and melodrama a shade above pulp. Sixteen-year-old Dylan has a terrible psychic gift: she can see the last moments of murdered children’s lives. The sight doesn’t come to her until it’s too late to rescue the victims, and she has never shared her creepy “talent” with any of her friends. Then a new girl appears on the scene, just as a dangerous individual known as the Drifter comes back to the neighborhood. Vrettos creates a credible setting for Dylan: her close-knit mountain community includes former hippies and present-day ranchers, along with unwanted “flat landers” who want to remake the place to suit their suburban tastes. The finale reveals more secrets than any 250-page book should ever hold, but the teen characters are well drawn, and the plotting is watertight. Just right for readers looking for a quick, satisfying thrill. Grades 8-10. --Francisca Goldsmith

Review

"* On Skin the Bookseller said 'An absorbing account and one to be recommended'; Books for Keeps said 'An unusually intelligent and perceptive book written in a confident and engaging style'; Kirkus Reviews said 'A marvellous debut featuring an unforgettable character'." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books (October 23, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416906576
• ISBN-13: 978-1416906575
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,301,547 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm Adrienne Maria Vrettos, author of Burnout, The Exile of Gigi Lane, Sight, and Skin. I live in Brooklyn with my family.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book!, November 9, 2007

By 

Happiest When Reading (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sight (Hardcover)

I raced through this book last week and now can't it out of my head. The story had me on the edge of my seat. But as thrilling (to me) were the characters, who were real in a way that seems totally original. The intensity of the kids' friendships, the humor and history they share, their individual quirks and circumstances, were all woven together in way that is just like life, only better. I also loved the atmosphere -- a great combination of dark and light -- and the mountain community where the story takes place. You really felt its history and complexity and why the characters feel so connected to it. In fact I would totally want to move there (except for the scary parts). This is really a wonderful book that can be enjoyed on many levels.

4.0 out of 5 stars Different, but good., November 2, 2009

By 

Arielle "from BAM Book Reviews" (Midwest, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sight (Paperback)

This book was definitely not what I was expecting. The cover was the reason I bought the book in the first place. It has a cool picture of an eye, that is a very cool color, and its white. I'm sure you see the picture some where on this review. So that is the reason I bought it, I didn't read the synopsis or even have it recommended by a friend, which was probably a good thing. It wasn't a bad book at all, hence the B- rating, it was just very different.

This story involves a girl, Dylan, who is fifteen and psychic. She has visions of young children being kidnapped, hurt by people and then left to die in some remote place. The visions are haunting and they come at her at the most random times. Her first vision was when she was five, and they haven't gotten better since. Her mom is the only one that knows of her "problem". Her father left her and her mother after he found out she was psychic, he didn't want to deal with it, and that hurt Dylan.

When Cate arrives in her small town, Dylan and her become friends quickly. And Dylan tells Cate her dark secret. Cate is automatically intrigued and wants to learn more, but Dylan is less enthusiastic about it and wishes she had never told Cate. Her relationships with her other friends is falling and she doesn't know who to turn to when she needs help the most.

Dylan may not have been able to save the kids she has had visions about over the last ten years, but this time, when it happens to her best friends little sister, she is determined to find a way to save her.

This is a pretty scary book, mostly because child abductions and kidnapping happen ever day without anyone knowing, and they are usually done by those who you would never suspect. This is an interesting book, and a fairly quick read.

3.0 out of 5 stars Enchanting Review: Sight, October 23, 2008

By 

Enchanting Reviews "Lisa" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sight (Paperback)

SIGHT
ADRIENNE MARIA VRETTOS

Rating: 3 Enchantments

Dylan is a psychic. She has visions of missing children that can help the police. Unfortunately, she usually sees the last moments of a child's life, so when the child is found, he or she is dead. These haunting visions scare Dylan and emotionally scar her, so she doesn't think about them unless she absolutely has to; not even her best friend Pilar is aware of Dylan's psychic abilities.

Then Cate arrives in town, and Dylan finds herself revealing more of her secrets than she has ever before. But there's something off about Cate that Dylan can't place and probably doesn't want to figure out. Cate is overeager to be accepted in Dylan's hometown but her ways of going about doing this are undeniably odd. Dylan's new friendship with Cate causes a rift in her long-standing friendship with Pilar, especially because of each friend's unrevealed yet lurking secrets. But when Pilar's little secret Grace disappears, Dylan realizes she has to embrace her sight to clear up all the mystery and save little Gracie's life.

SIGHT starts off promisingly with an intriguing mystery and psychic visions to accompany it. However, the plot slows down after that and ends weakly; I was especially disappointed by the lukewarm climax. From the way the story started, I was expecting more dangerous encounters and frightening visions than I got. I'm not saying that the plot was bad; it just could've been written much better. There wasn't much characterization, and I would've appreciated more development of Dylan's character. It was difficult for me to connect with any of the characters, and I sometimes felt frustrated with them when I realized an important connection or clue long before they did. There was also a certain air of unreality about this story. It wasn't Dylan's psychic visions that caused this because those were actually one of the more plausibly aspects of this story. It was a mixture of the characters' slowness in piecing together the mystery and the villain's lack of motive. I couldn't understand why many of the characters did what they did, and this confusion greatly diminished my enjoyment of the story. There might've been a deeper message in this story, but if there was, it was buried so deep I couldn't find it. Overall, SIGHT was interesting but it didn't live up to its full potential.

[...]

Rachael Stein
Enchanting Reviews
October 2008