Witch Eyes, by Scott Tracey

[rachelmanija]

This is the first selection for my permanent floating YA diversity book club.

I apologize for the lateness of this review. I started grad school in October, and the quarter ended this week. I will put up the poll for the December Book club selection today. Please vote!

Braden is a teenager with extremely powerful “witch eyes” that constantly change colors and can see visions, reveal truth, and break and create magic spells. They also give him migraines and psychic nosebleeds. He has little control over their powers, so he always wears sunglasses to prevent their magic from activating. (Not spelled or ruby quartz sunglasses. Regular sunglasses.) Due to his magic abilities, he lives with his uncle, who has home-schooled him.

One day Braden has a vision which tells him that evil magic from a town called Belle Dam is going to come after him and kill his uncle to get to him. Braden, who is well-meaning but not the sharpest knife in the drawer, decides to protect his uncle by… going to Belle Dam.

As soon as Braden arrives, he is flirted with by a hot guy from the bus. Then he is unexpectedly welcomed by a lawyer who puts him up in a hotel and introduces him to his hitherto-unknown father, Jason, who is a town VIP and a powerful witch. On Braden’s first day of high school, he is instantly befriended by two girls and flirted with by a different hot guy. All of these people, who begin relationships with Braden without him having to do anything, exposit at some length to him about how the town is run by Jason and his arch-rival, Catherine Lansing. Catherine Lansing is also the mother of Jade, Braden’s new best friend, and Trey, Braden’s love interest. Oops.

I wanted to like this novel more than I actually did. It has some funny lines and some good moments when it breaks out of its teen paranormal formula to deliver some real emotion. I liked the realistic way that Braden’s sexual orientation was handled – not without angst, but without angsty melodrama. But the prose is often clunky, too much is handed to Braden without him having to work for it, he has unconvincingly good social skills despite having had almost no previous interaction with other teenagers, and the characters, their relationships, and the plot frequently don’t make a whole lot of sense.

I never did figure out whether or not the general population of Belle Dam was aware of magic, exactly how magic worked in this world, why it took Braden to point out to everyone that perhaps it was a tad suspicious that the lawyer hadn’t aged since 1940, and why Braden’s pal Riley thought male witches didn’t exist when most of the witches we meet are male. Many conversations and character interactions were similarly puzzling, with characters taking action for no clear purpose and having reactions with no clear cause.

While Braden’s narration is sometimes nicely snarky, a lot of the prose could have used another pass. There are many sentences with unclear syntax or noticeablely awkward phrasing. For instance, The nausea in my stomach was getting worse, threatening to unleash contents in my stomach that weren’t even there.

I’ve read much worse recent YA novels. But I’ve also read much better ones. While having a gay protagonist in a mainstream YA paranormal is genuinely groundbreaking, nothing else in the novel is. If Braden had been straight, I would have complained that the novel had nothing to distinguish itself from hundreds of similar novels.

But books with minority protagonists shouldn’t have to be staggering works of heartbreaking genius to justify their existence. We don’t demand that every YA with a straight protagonist be wonderful; we accept that some will be, but some will be terrible, and most will be mediocre or average. I can’t wait till the day that I can say that Witch Eyes has nothing to distinguish itself from hundreds of similar YA paranormals with gay protagonists.

As a work of art, Witch Eyes is mediocre-average. But there are readers out there who will love and treasure it, and I wish it stunning success. If it doesn't sound up your alley, it might still make an excellent holiday gift for a kid you know. (There's no sex, a little mild kissing, mild or no swearing, and non-graphic demon-slaying violence. It's probably suitable for ages ten and up.)

Witch Eyes

Feel free to put spoilers in comments.

Comments

[tool-of-satan.livejournal.com]

Many conversations and character interactions were similarly puzzling, with characters taking action for no clear purpose and having reactions with no clear cause.

Yes. I found most of the dialogue painful. Among other things, this doesn't do the romance any good. The scene where Braden and Trey first kiss isn't bad - I can't remember whether there's actually no dialogue in it or just very little - but every interaction they have after that, up until the end of the book[*], I recall as Trey saying "you don't understand" over and over.

[*]In which Trey offers to kill Braden. Fickle.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Trey was a particularly baffling character. For instance, was he aware that his mom had given Braden the magic truth drug? Was he in on it from the get-go? Did he know it would make Braden sick? (Did Catherine know it would make him sick?)

The make-out scenes were not bad at all. As you say, less dialogue, more action.

[tool-of-satan.livejournal.com]

I gave up trying to mentally model the characters midway through, because it seemed pointless.

There were problems with non-dialogue parts, too - e.g., most of Braden's early problems could be solved by wearing wraparound sunglasses with a sports strap to keep them on - but I find those somewhat easier to ignore in passing.

[shveta-thakrar.livejournal.com]

The make-out scenes were not bad at all. As you say, less dialogue, more action.

*grin*

[nagaina-ryuuoh.livejournal.com]

I tend to cut first-time authors a bit more slack in terms of Getting Stuff Right but you are fundamentally correct on all points here -- it was fair-to-average, and I'd like to see sequels, if only to see if the writing improves, because there are some flashes of good ideas here and some very nice turns of phrase.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I really liked the concept of reworking Romeo and Juliet as a gay paranormal romance. But the execution wasn't there. That being said, I will certainly check out the sequel.

[thecityofdis.livejournal.com]

I was especially perplexed by the ending because both Braden and Trey's actions (or would-have-been actions) planted them firmly in the land of Unsympathetic Characters.

And I agree that it is trope-ridden, and the writing I thought was OK. But for some reason - even though it was NOT AT ALL what I expected (I was thinking more Gangs of New York and less Family Feud) I enjoyed it more than I expected to and look forward to the sequel.

tl;dr I HAVE FEELINGS ABOUT THIS BOOK.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I kind of wanted to have more feelings than I actually did. But I will check out the sequel. A lot of the problems had to do with everything being rushed and underexplained, so maybe some of that will sort itself out now that at least some stuff has already been established.

I wasn't even sure how much I should sympathize with what Braden and Trey were doing toward the end, because I couldn't figure out what they (well, mostly Trey) thought they were trying to accomplish and why. Like, how much did Trey actually know about what his mom was doing, and to what extent was he helping her?

The part where the tropiness actually worked for me was when Drew was suddenly all, "OH HAI I'M A WEREWOLF WOLF-SHIFTER," and I thought, "Of course you are."

[thecityofdis.livejournal.com]

I agree with you; there were a lot of things that were unclear. But I've noticed this is a (pretty new?) trend lately - after reading the first book in a duology or trilogy, regardless of my enjoyment level I still have no idea what the hell is going on (see: THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER. Fairly unoriginal structure/plotting. Fabulous writing. BUT WHY IS EVERYTHING HAPPENING?)

I'm getting less forgiving the more I encounter it, though. There has to be a way to set up sequels without intentionally obfuscating your own debut novel.

Dear Authors: Get out of your own way.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I too have read an increasing number of recent YAs in which very major plot points and character motivations make no sense at all. Just tell us why people are doing what they're doing! It's not forbidden, honest!

[thecityofdis.livejournal.com]

I agree.

Where is Melissa Joan Hart when you need her?

[derien.livejournal.com]

I've read an increasing number of fic by younger writers which make me feel that way, too. I don't know if it's just because they're young or if there's some kind of sea change coming about in society and communications.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I vote for youth re: fic, and lack of editorial guidance re: recent YA novels. Fic by young writers has been incoherent since I first started reading it, and that was nearly 20 years ago.

[shati.livejournal.com]

I remember being annoyed with Maze Runner over this.

[tool-of-satan.livejournal.com]

A lot of the problems had to do with everything being rushed and underexplained, so maybe some of that will sort itself out now that at least some stuff has already been established.

If I had to pick one word to describe the book it would be "perfunctory." Overexplaining is, I think, a common failure mode of new writers, but I think a lot more would have helped here.

[ejmam.livejournal.com]

I didn't want any more *stuff* to be explained -- I thought the main drag were people stopping to explain stuff for no real reason. *People* needed more explanation, but since the whole book was in Braden's voice that would be hard since he remained fairly clueless about other people. So the book needed people to show their motivations through their acts, and that was often flimsy. I didn't get the feeling that characters kept living when Braden wasn't talking to them.

Also, this is petty but I hated his name. Also I can't make my fingers type it correctly.

My thirteen year old had no problems with anyone's motivations, though. He thought it made perfect sense. Maybe we are just all old.

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

This is one of those books where I'm really glad it exists but I tried to read it and after twenty pages I went oh the clunky ouch I can't and fled into the night. Which... I'm kind of glad to hear is not me being wildly oversensitive.

[vom-marlowe.livejournal.com]

No, I had a very similar reaction. I read maybe fifty pages and bailed, because I was bored and frustrated. I found myself poking holes in ideas and then saying 'oh whatever' too many times.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

who begin relationships with Braden without him having to do anything

I have to admit I have had this happen, but it doesn't sound like that was the only problem. :)

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I bet you haven't acquired two platonic best friends, a romance, and a helpful lawyer who provides you with free home and clothing, all within a two-day period!

[tool-of-satan.livejournal.com]

I'll spot Tracey the lawyer, since he was working for Braden's father, but the rest got a bit silly. If they had all also been aware of whose son he was, then it might have made sense. But IIRC none of them knew it at first.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Well, I've never had a lawyer.

[nekonexus.livejournal.com]

I actually enjoyed this and was frustrated by it in equal measures, I think, but was willing to make a lot of allowances because of first novel syndrome, and yay, gay protagonist.

But when they played the "haha trans would be the worst thing ever" card as a joke, I had to put the Kobo down. >.>
(When Braden's testing whether he can lie again after eating the magicked cookie - he says "I'm really a girl" and Trey reacts like it is the most horrific thing ever.)

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Maybe I should put "YA novels with trans protagonists" in the pipeline. I think there's at least four in existence.

[nekonexus.livejournal.com]

I would be curious to see what they're like.

[cpolk.livejournal.com]

I read this book dutifully.

Because it honestly wasn't very good. I didn't like the POV and I didn't like not knowing what the hell was going on. and I didn't like new kid comes to town and is automatically accepted by the popular kids. I didn't like Everyone Knows About The Feud, but no one seems at all interested in sharing the incredibly juicily scandalous details, in complete defiance of human nature. I didn't like Braden has magic powers that are so powerful he's dangerous and never picked up the ability to even consider the consequences of the next minute.

Yay gay protagonist, but I wish -someone- had pointed out how wildly flawed this book was. I got the feeling that it had been written by a teenager who could grow up to be a decent fiction writer someday, but unfortunately his juvenalia got published.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I pointed out how flawed it is! ;)

[cpolk.livejournal.com]

oh, I meant to the author, heh!

[woodburner.livejournal.com]

My abominably late review here.

(All I had to do was repost it! But it was so short, I thought I should expound on it more! ...yeah, I should have known that would never happen.)