Loretta Lost

Fiercely independent Helen Winters was born completely blind, but she vowed never to let her disability keep her down. She did not expect a traumatic event to devastate her life and force her to drop out of college. Disillusioned by the cruelty of people, Helen retreated from society to live by herself as a reclusive writer in the woods—where no one could ever hurt her again. When a brilliant young doctor shows up on her doorstep, promising her that his new research can give her the ability to see for the first time, Helen stubbornly refuses. She has learned not to trust anyone, and to rely only on herself. But Dr. Liam Larson will not take no for an answer. He makes it his personal mission to rescue Helen from her loneliness, and bring joy into her world once more—the joy she has denied herself for so long. When Helen's demons come racing back into her life, threatening to rip her apart and destroy the strength she has carefully rebuilt, Liam is the only one who might be able to save her. Can he reach the broken girl in time, helping her to heal and see the world in a different light? Or will Helen's grief send her spiraling out of control, lost to him forever?

Clarity

Daniela V.

Thanks to Loretta Lost for sending me the whole series to review.

Clarity is a young adult book, but different from the ones I am accustomed to. Helen Winters is a blind girl traumatized by a terrible event in her past. After this event, she abandoned the city in which her family lives. She spent three years living in a cabin in New Hampshire, all alone, with a new name, writing books until two doctors came asking if she would like to participate in some trials.

I liked Helen as a character and it's unusual for me to like a girl from a young adult book. Her personality as Winter Rose is completely believable. She suspects everyone, she doesn't want to be in contact with people because society failed her in the past and she is afraid it might happen again.

"(...) I tried to be like everyone else, and ignore my disability; but they could not ignore it. They were all either too kind and condescending or too sadistic and brutal-there never was anything in between. Why would I want to subject myself to that again?..."

The thematic is quite grim, but the author managed to add humour into the book through a very funny character named Owen. He is one of the doctor I've talked about and he is hilarious.

The romance was good! Not much happens in this book and that's a great thing. I'm tired of instalove and instalust.
The main problem is that the revelation at the end is very, very obvious. I saw it coming from miles away.

Anyway, I'm eager to see how everything unfolds and I warn you: if you don't have the second book with you, don't start reading, because Clarity is super fast-paced and you'll want to know what happens next immediately after you finish the first book.

A great start for what seems to be a really nice trilogy.

Helen Winters was living a lonely existence when the charming Dr. Liam Larson coaxed her out of solitude with the promise of healing her sightless eyes. She was hopeful at the prospect of gaining vision for the first time and being reunited with her family. She was also growing somewhat fond of the persuasive young doctor. For the first time in years, she was being magnetically drawn to a new friend…Then everything came crashing down. Plunged into a hellish nightmare, Helen is forced to face the same evils she ran away to escape so long ago. She is unprepared to have her hopes crushed and her peace destroyed. She finds herself living in constant terror and drowning in fear—and Liam's voice is the only thing that can keep her afloat. His comforting touch becomes the only light in her pitch-black darkness. Helen has always been a tough girl who relied only on herself. But this time, she can't survive alone. Due to the horrors of her past, Helen has promised herself not to trust anyone. When her life becomes unbearable, how can she trust Liam enough to let him save her?

Clarity 2 is the second installment in the Clarity series by Loretta Lost. 

I have to say that I enjoyed the book very much, though very little significant things happened for the story. That was my problem with it.

After the cliffhanger of the first book, Helen tries to cope with the realization that her darkest nightmare is becoming true all over again. She feels that she needs to protect her loved ones so nothing bad would happen to them. She warns her sister that someone very evil is a little too close to her but she soon finds out Carmen knew all along. 

In my opinion, Carmen is insane, and so thinks Helen. That makes the situation all of the characters are in so dark. I liked that turn of the screw, it was not the obvious choice to continue the story.

The romance is still great. Helen and Liam clearly feel something between them is going on, but they take their time. At moments, Liam seems too good to be true, his words seemed false to me. (view spoiler)[Anyway, I understood why while reading the third book. (hide spoiler)]

What I didn't like is that there is no progress concerning Helen's medical treatment. I was hoping to read of some tests in this one, at least. But no, nothing about that.

The ending was amazing. I've started to read Clarity 3 right after I'd closed this one. Yes, another cliffhanger, so you better have the third book close.

**********This is the third and final book of a three-part series. This book is full novel-length with a complete ending--no more cliffhangers! ********** After many years of darkness, Winter never thought that she'd be happy or safe again. Her whole world changed when she met Liam Larson, a charming young doctor determined to be her knight in shining armor. When a brutal night unleashes vicious reminders of her past, Winter must struggle to hold on to the little bit of happiness she has found. When everything begins to fall apart, Liam's strength and kindness might not be enough to save her. Battling with the betrayal of her family, terrifying nightmares, and frequent reminders of her enemy that make daily life difficult, Winter's first instinct is to run away. She is tired of being the victim and living in a cruel, crowded city where she doesn't feel like she belongs. But Liam promises her that if she only trusts him, he can change everything. And that's exactly what he attempts to do, starting with an operation to heal her eyes, and then her heart...

Clarity 3

I won this book on First Reads, Goodreads Giveaway program. Thanks to Loretta Lost for hosting it.

This is the third book of the Clarity series by Loretta Lost. What seemed like a young adult saga ended up being new adult with this book.

Anyway, it was not bad (as the others new adult books I'd read in the past) There was no instalust (as the story has two previous books behind) and that made it work.

At the beginning of Clarity 3, we learn what really happened at the end of the previous book. We find out who is alive and who isn't, so this book starts as a very heavy one. 

The relationship between Helen and Liam finally takes off, but a few complications come into its path. There is a betrayal, I won't say anything more it but this: it made us understand some things of the previous two novels, it gave them sense. In my subconscious, I was expecting it.

Also, Helen finally undergoes some test and the surgery.

What I did not like at all was that Helen blames herself for what happened to her in the past, when it's clearly not her fault and she should not try to justify the person who did that to her. Anyway, I don't really know if it's normal for (view spoiler)[rape (hide spoiler)] victims to feel that way, but I found it unbelievable.

The best thing about Clarity 3 is its ending. What a wonderful piece of art. I loved every single line of it. Hell, I've not read an ending so intense in years! 

To summarise, Clarity is a great and unconventional young adult/new adult trilogy that I would recommend to people tired of the thematics that those genres usually touch.

Clarity

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