Review: Love and First Sight - Josh Sundquist

Love and First Sight 
Josh Sundquist
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Brown Books for Young Readers
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads
Reading Challenge: #ContRom2017, #PopSugarReadingChallenge2017

Excuse me as I wipe the tears

This was such a sweet and beautiful story of love and friendship, as well as, a story to spread awareness. I knew of Josh Sundquist from my daughter showing me his awesome Halloween costumes, and was interested in reading a book about someone with a disability written by a person with a disability (who also happens to be an advocate for amputees, a paralympian, and a motivational speaker).

A photo posted by Sam Kozbial (@kozbisa) on Jan 8, 2017 at 1:14pm PST

When I was in college, my sorority did service for sight, and I had a blind student in my honors chemistry class which required some training with the NJ Commission for the Blind. Therefore, I have some (limited) experience with blind people, and was quite impressed with the information disseminated by Sundquist, and the way he shared the information. I appreciated how he acquainted me with the world of the blind. It did not feel preachy, it felt honest. The interactions between Cecily and Will reminded me of similar interactions I had when being a guide for a person who had never had sight. I totally related to Cecily's struggle to NOT use visuals to describe things, and I adored the way Sundquist had her work that out.

At one point in the story, there is a surgery discussed that could possibly enable Will to see. There is a lot of technical talk when the characters discuss this issue, and I found it all really fascinating. I was so struck by the way Will talked about what it would be like to see for the first first time. How it would be the same as a newborn, but how he could remember it and appreciate it so much more. It's amazing what complicated stuff we passively learn, and I was awed reading about the journey from Will's perspective.

This story is well constructed, and moves along quickly without seeming rushed. I felt like there were no throw-away scenes, but rather, each scene was important in fleshing out the story. The characters were quite authentic and likable. Will was not perfect, but he had so many stellar qualities. Cecily had been bullied her whole life, but was able to find comfort and security in Will's friendship. The quiz team were a great group of friends, who adorably were rooting for Wilecily to happen. Mom and Dad were very present parents (Yay!), and there is this one part with his mom that, heck, I am getting misty thinking about it right now.

Overall: This was a very positive experience with me, which left me appreciating many things and put happy tears in my eyes.

Have you read any great books 
featuring people with disabilities?
Let us know in the comments!