The Seeing by Diana Hendry
The Blurb On The Back:
”I’ve told you. Philip can see. He can see inside people. He can see the swastikas on their hearts.”
1956. When wild, dangerous Natalie arrives in the quiet town of Norton, thirteen-year-old Lizzie is drawn irresistibly to the girl from the wrong side of the tracks.
As the girls grow close, Natalie and her eerie younger brother, Philip, reveal a shocking secret. Philip has second sight, and sees evil all around - ‘left over Nazis’ lying in wait until the time is right for revenge. Natalie and Philip believe it’s up to them to root these people out of Norton.
Lizzie is swept up in what starts as a thrilling game - but the consequences of Philip’s ‘gift’ quickly spiral into disaster.
It’s summer 1956. 13-year-old Lizzie lives in the sleepy seaside town of Norton, hanging around with her best friends Alice and Dottie and preparing for her sister Lal’s marriage to Paul. Her life is turned upside down though when the tough and wild Natalie joins her class. Natalie’s just moved to the nearby council estate with her mum and younger brother Philip (who has a stammer and thick glasses and is known to be a little strange) and Lizzie is instantly drawn to her.
When Lizzie saves Philip’s life at the local swimming pool, the two girls become fast friends and it isn’t long before Natalie reveals that Philip has second sight and can identify Nazis living secretly in Britain and Natalie’s on a mission to chase those Nazis out of Norton. At first Lizzie treats it as a game but as Philip identifies people she’s known her whole life and Natalie’s campaigns become increasingly darker, the girls find themselves on a collision course that can only end in disaster …
Diana Hendry’s YA novel is a strange mix of history and psychological thriller with supernatural overtones, which has some tense scenes but doesn’t quite come together into a satisfying read. Part of the issue is that Lizzie is too innocent and passive - I didn’t buy into her instant draw to Natalie (and wanted more to be made of the almost sexual nature of that attraction) or her willingness to ditch her friends for her and I definitely didn’t think enough was made of the consequences of their quite terrifying and nasty campaigns against innocent people. Natalie’s better drawn, but I wasn’t quite sure what exactly was driving her actions and her descent into revenge became a little too soap opera for me. I enjoyed the interaction between Lizzie, Philip, Natalie and Hugo the artist who’s desperate to paint them but the split narration (using Lizzie’s first person narration, Natalie’s diary entries and Hugo’s letters to his sister) tried to do too much and I didn’t need some of the explanation that it offered to the scenes. The supernatural overtones are nicely played with Hendry leaving it open on whether Philip really had the sight or not and the ending is shocking (albeit not quite believable). Ultimately, this is an okay read but while it never really sparked into life for me, I would definitely check out Hendry’s other work.
The Verdict:
Diana Hendry’s YA novel is a strange mix of history and psychological thriller with supernatural overtones, which has some tense scenes but doesn’t quite come together into a satisfying read. Part of the issue is that Lizzie is too innocent and passive - I didn’t buy into her instant draw to Natalie (and wanted more to be made of the almost sexual nature of that attraction) or her willingness to ditch her friends for her and I definitely didn’t think enough was made of the consequences of their quite terrifying and nasty campaigns against innocent people. Natalie’s better drawn, but I wasn’t quite sure what exactly was driving her actions and her descent into revenge became a little too soap opera for me. I enjoyed the interaction between Lizzie, Philip, Natalie and Hugo the artist who’s desperate to paint them but the split narration (using Lizzie’s first person narration, Natalie’s diary entries and Hugo’s letters to his sister) tried to do too much and I didn’t need some of the explanation that it offered to the scenes. The supernatural overtones are nicely played with Hendry leaving it open on whether Philip really had the sight or not and the ending is shocking (albeit not quite believable). Ultimately, this is an okay read but while it never really sparked into life for me, I would definitely check out Hendry’s other work.
Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
”I’ve told you. Philip can see. He can see inside people. He can see the swastikas on their hearts.”
1956. When wild, dangerous Natalie arrives in the quiet town of Norton, thirteen-year-old Lizzie is drawn irresistibly to the girl from the wrong side of the tracks.
As the girls grow close, Natalie and her eerie younger brother, Philip, reveal a shocking secret. Philip has second sight, and sees evil all around - ‘left over Nazis’ lying in wait until the time is right for revenge. Natalie and Philip believe it’s up to them to root these people out of Norton.
Lizzie is swept up in what starts as a thrilling game - but the consequences of Philip’s ‘gift’ quickly spiral into disaster.
It’s summer 1956. 13-year-old Lizzie lives in the sleepy seaside town of Norton, hanging around with her best friends Alice and Dottie and preparing for her sister Lal’s marriage to Paul. Her life is turned upside down though when the tough and wild Natalie joins her class. Natalie’s just moved to the nearby council estate with her mum and younger brother Philip (who has a stammer and thick glasses and is known to be a little strange) and Lizzie is instantly drawn to her.
When Lizzie saves Philip’s life at the local swimming pool, the two girls become fast friends and it isn’t long before Natalie reveals that Philip has second sight and can identify Nazis living secretly in Britain and Natalie’s on a mission to chase those Nazis out of Norton. At first Lizzie treats it as a game but as Philip identifies people she’s known her whole life and Natalie’s campaigns become increasingly darker, the girls find themselves on a collision course that can only end in disaster …
Diana Hendry’s YA novel is a strange mix of history and psychological thriller with supernatural overtones, which has some tense scenes but doesn’t quite come together into a satisfying read. Part of the issue is that Lizzie is too innocent and passive - I didn’t buy into her instant draw to Natalie (and wanted more to be made of the almost sexual nature of that attraction) or her willingness to ditch her friends for her and I definitely didn’t think enough was made of the consequences of their quite terrifying and nasty campaigns against innocent people. Natalie’s better drawn, but I wasn’t quite sure what exactly was driving her actions and her descent into revenge became a little too soap opera for me. I enjoyed the interaction between Lizzie, Philip, Natalie and Hugo the artist who’s desperate to paint them but the split narration (using Lizzie’s first person narration, Natalie’s diary entries and Hugo’s letters to his sister) tried to do too much and I didn’t need some of the explanation that it offered to the scenes. The supernatural overtones are nicely played with Hendry leaving it open on whether Philip really had the sight or not and the ending is shocking (albeit not quite believable). Ultimately, this is an okay read but while it never really sparked into life for me, I would definitely check out Hendry’s other work.
The Verdict:
Diana Hendry’s YA novel is a strange mix of history and psychological thriller with supernatural overtones, which has some tense scenes but doesn’t quite come together into a satisfying read. Part of the issue is that Lizzie is too innocent and passive - I didn’t buy into her instant draw to Natalie (and wanted more to be made of the almost sexual nature of that attraction) or her willingness to ditch her friends for her and I definitely didn’t think enough was made of the consequences of their quite terrifying and nasty campaigns against innocent people. Natalie’s better drawn, but I wasn’t quite sure what exactly was driving her actions and her descent into revenge became a little too soap opera for me. I enjoyed the interaction between Lizzie, Philip, Natalie and Hugo the artist who’s desperate to paint them but the split narration (using Lizzie’s first person narration, Natalie’s diary entries and Hugo’s letters to his sister) tried to do too much and I didn’t need some of the explanation that it offered to the scenes. The supernatural overtones are nicely played with Hendry leaving it open on whether Philip really had the sight or not and the ending is shocking (albeit not quite believable). Ultimately, this is an okay read but while it never really sparked into life for me, I would definitely check out Hendry’s other work.
Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.