Review: Beautiful prose but too short
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 20, 2012
Reviewed for Love At First Sight Blog Tour"I would rather have eyes that cannot see; ears that cannot hear; lips that cannot speak, than a heart that cannot love"- by Robert Tizon -3.5 stars. I rounded up to 4 stars since the prose is really beautiful.<...>I could see Margo in imagination, the way I remembered her. I would listen for the sound of her breathing, and the beating of her heart. I would try and remember the way it was for us before the war. And get this: seeing was never as kind to me as I thought. Until I lost the ability to count on my eyes I didn't know how nice touching could really be. I never listened to Margo before. Never listened for her short rapid breaths, never truly smelled her hair, never really touched her tender skin. I never took the time to notice. Never took the time to feel.<...>While on patrol, Nick suddenly became blinded. The doctors couldn't figure out exactly what happened to his head. The blindness came and went of its own free will. So did the coma-like symptoms. His MRIs all proved negative for brain tumors or possible aneurisms. He was normal, but not normal. They thought a relaxing vacation might do him some good. That's why Nick and Margo are spending some time in Venice and are supposed to be getting re-acquainted after his tour in the Middle East.Margo's trying to help Nick, at the same time she's struggling with his blindness. She is not sure if she can accept his handicap and she's feeling despondent. It's difficult for her and she needs time to process everything because she doesn't know what he's feeling and what he's seeing inside his head.Nick hears lots of things these days since he began going in and out of blindness. Being blind is not so much having lost his vision as it is learning to see things in other ways. He has to rely on touching, smelling, listening. Nick has to learn how to feel all over again. He has not lost his memory, though. He ordered the airstrike on a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan and a dead toddler is haunting him. Yes, the memory can be cruel.His war is over now and he has to get to know the man he has become. Nick and Margo learn because that is all they have together and they have a long way to go.The best aspect of Love at First Sight is the author's prose. The novella is beautifully written! Love at First Sight is a very silent story. While reading it I got a good insight in Nick's mind and what he's feeling and thinking. Reading that novella is a rather good way to spend a cold winter evening curled up on your couch. You should light a few candles and reminisce a little bit. What is really important in life? Be grateful for what you have and make the best out of your life with what you've got!My censure:Even for a novella Love at First Sight is way too short. I can't really claim that I know Margo very well since the story is told from Nick's point of view in first person. Understandably everything revolves around Nick's state of mind, then again I wanted to know more about Margo's character. She wasn't developed enough for my liking. Of course the story was just too short to pull that off.Love at First Sight was kindly provided by Bri Clark in behalf of the author Vincent ZandriNext tour stop1/23/2012  Feature and Interview with Vincent Zandri  sarahballance.wordpress.com[...]