Colorblind - Siera Maley

When young Harper Locklear crosses paths with the new girl in town, Chloe Stephens, Harper’s life is flipped upside down. They’re similar in age, but their outlook on life is poles apart. When Harper’s strange ability to know the ages of people when they die reveals the devastating age of Chloe’s death, it drives a wedge between them and toys with their hearts in more ways than one. Can Harper stop Chloe from her inevitable death in less than three months, or will it all end in shambles, leaving Harper alone once more?

Siera Maley never ceases to amaze me, however, this book definitely isn’t the better read out of the two books I’ve read of hers so far. A few years back I read Taking Flight and that quickly became my favorite novel of the year; and still is in my top ten without a doubt. Her writing was brilliant, every page of that book was realistic and every scene was addictive. Maley’s Colorblind was astonishingly good and just as addictive of a read, but I felt there were some areas within the story that I didn’t love and wanted to change.

My only real big issue with this novel was the dialogue. The girls are 16 and 17 years old, their age was presented well with each page that sped by, but I felt at times there were pieces of dialogue that were too cringey and not very realistic. It sounded both too old for what a girl their age would say, and too cheesy which created an awkward atmosphere that I wish I wasn’t being taken through. Though everything they did together, action wise, felt exactly like something a young teenager of those ages would do. So in that sense, I was able to relate to their enjoyments in life and them as characters in a fictional story.

     It was simply the speech that was a little off putting, which surprised me because in Taking Flight Maley’s dialogue was on point. I didn’t have a single flaw to note about it. And because I’ve read this book, and recently too, I noticed the subtle differences between these books more so than I normally would. It makes for a good comparison essay!

    Furthermore, I thought the story was lovely. So lovely and deeply thought provoking, I took inspiration from Maley’s main ideas and applied them to my own writing. Where she focuses on what life means, I focus on what death means and how to overcome the fear of it as it’s an inevitable part of life which nobody can stop. And Maley did a great job of making that point stand out in Colourblind through the advice and thoughts of girls who her targeted audience can learn from.

    I understood her message, but still don’t quite understand the title. It bothers me very much. Harper isn’t literally colorblind, as far as I’m concerned, she can see everything including numbers imprinted on peoples foreheads indicating their age of death. So I’m not sure where Maley’s title came from, I might do some research into it but it does half annoy me when the title doesn’t click naturally. I love it when they suddenly make sense half way through the book, or at the very end. But unfortunately, it didn’t click for me at all and now i’m ranting about it and it seems a little ridiculous. But title is important and I want to know why she chose Colorblind specifically, it might help me understand her story’s message better. Or maybe I’d understand Harper’s character a lot more than I already do, she does feel a little incomplete having finished the novel entirely now.

     I wish Maley addressed why Harper had this unnatural gift, and perhaps she could explain why her only friend, Robbie, too, could see these numbers on people. I’d like there to be some sort of reason for it, but it wasn’t entirely clear so I’m left guessing and a little clueless. I suppose I’ll just have to accept it for now, and leave all you lovely readers with this: Colorblind is a must read, but it’s not without its flaws so give it a chance.

    I doubt it’ll be everybody’s cup of tea, but it recognizes young queer love, and states ideas surrounding the beauty of life and the fact that it’s a gift, not a life sentence. Whether or not you choose to believe that is up to you, but I’m sure Harper and Chloe will help sway your decision as the novel unfolds. It plucked at my heartstrings, and a novel that moves its reader is always a perk. What’s a story without emotion anyway? A blunt piece of writing that nobody ever finishes because it hasn’t captured its reader at all. It probably only has one or two stars as well, and that’s off putting enough without all the sad sentences and dialogue void of emotion.

    So go and read it, then perhaps you can take a look at Taking Flight and see how you feel about the two and whether or not there’s one you prefer and why? I’d love to know, so drop a comment on my Instagram post related to this novel. In the meantime, I’m on the hunt for her other books, I need to know what they’re like too.

By your copy of the book here: https://amzn.eu/d/f0yIMAk