Review: Fabulous!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 19, 2014
I received this novel in exchange for an honest review.15-year-old Kit Cavendish and her 10 year-old-brother, Leighton, are traveling by train to a village in North Wales, while their mother remains in London to help with the war effort. Kit suffers from a physical disability; therefore she spends the majority of her time in a wheelchair. However, Kit has an extraordinary physic gift- she’s able to visit other people’s minds, to feel their emotions, see through their eyes, and even speak to them. One day Kit finds herself inside the mind of a 17-year-old Norwegian boy named Henri. As their bond strengthens, Kit utilizes her physic gifts to help Henri survive World War II. Meanwhile, Kit has to deal with the absence of her mother and father (who has seemingly vanished) her physical disability, and the Ty Gwyn family drama.As Kit and Leigh travel to the Ty Gwyn farm, Officer Lewis assures them: “Oh it’s a lovely village this, you’ll have everything you could ever want in Bryn Eira Bach,” (13). Kit isn’t so sure. “I felt a bitter taste in my mouth, but I smiled back before I looked out the window. Unless this distant village could somehow make me able-bodied again and then give me a handsome young chap to go dancing with, I knew that Lewis’s promises, and my hopes, couldn’t ever come true,” (13).While there are numerous novels which take place in World War II, K.C. Finn’s The Mind’s Eye offers a fresh perspective. An outsider would most likely assume that Kit is fragile; a poor girl confined to a wheelchair. An insider however, quickly realizes how physically and mentally strong Kit really is. In fact, utilizing her physic abilities, she helps numerous people survive the war. It’s interesting to see Kit’s view of the war: “From the top of the dune a row of black figures had appeared as if they had emerged from the night sky itself,” (184).The Mind’s Eye is extremely well written and well executed with colorful characters (bratty Blod and surly Dr.Bickerstaff were two of my favorites) and the perfect amount of romance between Kit and Henri. “It felt like someone had released a flock of birds into my chest; every part of me trembled and fluttered as I firmly decided that this was the best feeling of my life,” (158). Anyone who enjoys historical fiction, paranormal activity, and an unlikely hero, will enjoy this amazing novel.Make sure to check out the cover (which is fabulous) and read K.C. Finn’s ‘Inspiration Behind The Mind’s Eye’ at the end of the novel.