REVIEW - Through Her Eyes by Jennifer Archer

Review

THROUGH HER EYES

By Jennifer Archer

What the back cover says: Every ghost has a story to tell.
The last place Tansy Piper wants to be is stuck in Cedar Canyon, Texas, in the middle of nowhere, with a bunch of small-town kids. But when her mother decides to move to the desolate West Texas town, Tansy has no choice but to go along. Once there, Tansy is immediately drawn to the turret of their rickety old house, a place she soon learns has a disturbing history. But it's the strange artifacts she finds in the cellar—a pocket watch, a journal of poetry, and a tiny crystal—that have the most chilling impact on her.
Tansy soon finds that through the lens of her camera, she can become part of a surreal black-and-white world where her life is intertwined with that of mysterious, troubled Henry, who lived in the same house and died decades earlier. It seems their lives are linked by fate and the artifacts she found, but as Tansy begins spending more and more time in the past, her present world starts to fade away. Tansy must untangle herself from Henry's dangerous reality—before she loses touch with her own life forever.

My Thoughts: Ugh. I don’t know if I’m just being harsh lately – but all the books that I’m reading are just not living up to my expectations. When I began THROUGH HER EYES I thought maybe, just maybe this would be the book to break the slump. Well, for the first 330 pages it was just that…and then the ending just ruined it. It felt so rushed and like there was no thought put into it at all.

Tansy’s character is likeable enough. It’s easy to feel her frustration, anger, and sadness throughout the whole book. The overall feel of the book is very dark and disturbed which is a welcomed change from the fluffy young adult romance books out there filling the shelves of the bookstores. Tansy has two main objectives throughout the course of the book; to give her grandfather, Papa Dan, peace as well as to find herself.

Archer’s storytelling is well formed and at first you get the impression that you’re getting a “2-for-1” deal…not only do you get Tansy’s story but Henry Petersen’s as well.

The way that Tansy enters Henry’s world is very unique on Archer’s part. Crystals are known to “record” memories which I believe is how Tansy is able to access the photographs to “enter” Henry’s world. And since the crystal belonged to Isabel, Tansy is seeing things “Through her eyes”.

The whole story builds-sometimes slowly-to the end where you expect everything to be sorted out and find out all the questions that you had throughout the whole book. However, it’s so rushed how Archer chooses to end the story. It’s never fully explained how Tansy enters the photos – but leaves it with her thinking she’s crazy or dreaming or made it all up, which Tate agrees with. I don’t feel that Tate fully allowed Tansy to express herself of believed her about the whole situation. Luckily Tansy finds strength in her mother and is able to confide in her and finally strengthen the bond between them by opening up to her.

The hardest part of the story is when Papa Dan dies – which I feel is inevitable from the beginning. The story is sweet how Tansy’s able to help give Papa Dan peace of mind but I still feel like the whole big secret and reason Papa Dan doesn’t feel at peace is a big letdown. I wanted Henry’s secret to be something big, huge, and juicy! And it so wasn’t. Not at all.

My Rating: 3 STARS