Review: Through Her Eyes

Author: Jennifer Archer
Pages: 384
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Library
Synopsis: 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.


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I was pleasantly surprised that Through Her Eyes didn't turn out exactly the way I guessed it would. When you hear "paranormal romance", "ghost" and "new girl in town" you automatically expect the girl to fall in love with the ghost but both girl and boy need to let go. She'll make some friends but not too many and maybe there is another guy in the picture that is the reason why she's still living. Well, yes, Through Her Eyes did have some of those aspects but there were some cool differences.

For example, the ghost never appears to Tansy in her world directly. She sees Henry through photographs or objects he left behind which take her back to his time. Tansy only ever interacts with Henry during memories of when he was alive and still not directly. I liked the creepiness of this method. As Tansy spends more time in Henry's world, her own starts to fade away. I guessed what would happen in the end but it was still creepy thinking about everything fading. Tansy's reaction to that was also believable.

Tansy herself didn't strike me as a completely memorable character. She was nice enough, had an interest in hats and photography, judged people too easily but nothing really stood out about her. I liked her and supported her but she wasn't my kind of character. Her relationships were sweet though, especially the one with her grandfather. Tansy really cared about him. Her relationship with her mom was realistic. They loved each other but had a hard time communicating.

Now we have the love interest: Tate. Cute, sweet, slightly damaged and writes poetry. I liked Tate early on;I expect everyone will. What's not to like? Tansy's on again off again relationship with him wasn't exactly what I wished would happen but due to the nature of these two characters it fit them. I would have liked more of them though.

The problem with Through Her Eyes was that I thought the story was a bit slow. Not very much happened and the conclusion wasn't thrilling enough for me. I was never on the edge of my seat; the story didn't hook me in. It's a nice story with fantastic mood and setting but is 400 pages really needed to tell it? I would have enjoyed more happening. But remember, adrenaline junkie here.

Overall, Through Her Eyes was a good read with an interesting story. 3.5 stars.

*** & 1/2 *