A BLIND SPOT FOR BOYS
by Justina Chen
Sixteen-year-old photographer Shana, a secondary character from Chen’s previous novel, Return to Me (2013), takes center stage in this stand-alone companion romance.
Shana has decided to call it quits on love after the disastrous end of her last relationship. Then she meets Quattro, a mysterious boy with questionable fashion sense and a penchant for bacon-maple bars. But before she can investigate this new development further, her father discovers he has a genetic disease that will cause him to lose his sight in six months. Shana’s adventure-seeking parents push up some of their planned excursions to take advantage of this short window, taking Shana with them on a trip to Machu Picchu. Quattro and his father are coincidently on a parallel tour for sensitive reasons of their own. When a mudslide threatens to end their expedition almost before it’s begun, Shana finds her resolve to steer clear of romance tested when Quattro selflessly devotes himself to watching out for her and her family. Though the author doesn’t take full advantage of her exotic Machu Picchu setting, and the relentlessly positive homilies voiced by several of the characters occasionally carry this teen romance into self-help territory, fans of Jenny Han and Sarah Dessen will be willing to overlook these flaws as they swoon over Shana and Quattro’s will-they-won’t-they relationship.
A mostly satisfying ’round-the-world romance. (Romance. 14-18)