Invisible Touch

INVISIBLE TOUCH
KELLY PARRA
Paranormal YA
MTV Books
ISBN# 978-1-4165-6337-2
279 pages
$9.95
Paperback—Available October 2008

Rating: 5 Enchantments

Kara Martinez is not and will never be normal, not since her father’s death when she was eleven. Instead, Kara hides, letting everyone else think she’s the good girl. She dresses in pink to please her mother and never acts out lest her mom should scrutinize her more than usual and send her back to a therapist. Even Kara’s best friend Danielle is unaware of how the accident when Kara was eleven changed her from normal into a Sign Seer.

As a Sign Seer, Kara has visions pertaining to people’s fates, bits of clues forming a puzzle only Kara can solve, because she’s the only person who knows it’s there. And so Kara has been able to secretly help people avoid disasters. But when Kara sees a gun on a fellow classmate, the stakes are much higher because it’s so much more personal. The two sides of Kara, her secret life and the one her mother wants her to live, start to collide when Kara’s mother’s hold on her becomes increasingly suffocating and Kara’s investigation leads her to an alluringly mysterious guy. But venting on her anonymous blog won’t stop the clock from ticking down the seconds Kara has left to act to piece together this deadly puzzle and her own life.

INVISIBLE TOUCH is a fast-paced novel that combines mystery, romance, and Latino culture with a paranormal twist. Action, suspense, and originality make INVISIBLE TOUCH a definitely thrilling read that will appeal to a wide range of readers. Kara is such an interesting protagonist to read about because of her family problems and the pain she carries around with her. Readers will struggle to piece together the puzzle along with Kara as well as hope she can find some sort of peace. INVISIBLE TOUCH realistically explores familial bonds, among other types, and the effect that tragedy can have in strengthening them or tearing them apart. It’s interesting to watch how Kara deals with her mother, because no matter how horribly each of them acts, it is still apparent that they love each other. INVISIBLE TOUCH is a well written story that will leave the reader hungry for more and with a belief in the impossible.

Kelly Parra has also written GRAFFITI GIRL, another novel exploring Latino culture. She can be visited online at her website: www.kellyparra.com, her blog: http://secretfates.blogspot.com, and her fun YA blog she shares with author Tina Ferraro: http://yafresh.blogspot.com.

Rachael Stein
Enchanting Reviews
January 2009