Witch Eyes

Witch Eyes - Scott Tracey Goodreads Summary:Seventeen-year-old Braden was born with witch eyes. He has the ability to see the world as it truly is: a blinding explosion of memories, anguish, darkness, and magic. The power enables Braden to see through spells and lies, but it comes at the cost of horrible pain.After a terrifying vision reveals imminent danger for the uncle who raised and instructed him, Braden is lured to Belle Dam, an old city divided by two feuding witch dynasties. Rival family heads Catherine Lansing and Jason Thorpe are desperate to use Braden's powers to unlock Belle Dam's secrets, but Braden refuses to become their sacrificial pawn. His resolve is tested when he learns that Jason is his father—and that Trey, the enigmatic guy he's attracted to, is Catherine's son.To stop an insidious dark magic from consuming the town, Braden must master his gift—even if the effort destroys him.Review:With Witch Eyes, it was the story I liked. It was original and really stood out as memorable. I have a feeling this will be a book with details that I will remember for quite awhile. I thought Braden's affliction was pretty cool. It was a gift AND a curse. I liked the poetic way the things and feelings his eyes could see were described. It's hard to explain, but when he took off his glasses, he could see all the pain and memories in the place where he was. And the feelings would come together in kind of a strange poem. God this is a hard review to write. I am utterly lost as to what I want to say. When it comes down to it, the book had a really good story, but the characterizations weren't particularly deep. It was all about plot, and there is nothing wrong with that, but as a reader, I am usually looking for a great balance between plot, characters, and setting. To me, that is what makes a fabulous book. The town of Belle Dam and its residents had a great history behind it that I really enjoyed learning about, but didn't particularly affect me in any emotional way. I was looking for more conflict, and the conflict that did exist didn't necessarily feel realistic. But that's not to say I didn't enjoy reading Witch Eyes, because I did. It was a fabulous book, it just didn't reach the depth that I usually look for in my reading materials.It was an easy read, and a fast one, but I did feel that parts of the narrative were disjointed and confusing, particularly toward the end. I would have enjoyed a little more description so it was easier to figure out what was going on and why. I would have loved to see the legend of Grace expanded upon a little more, because that part of the story was creepy and really fabulous. I think this has the potential to be a great series and maybe it was just a case of "This is the first book in a series so we had to get all of the back story out of the way first." Because I think it's only going to get better from here. I can't wait to see what happens next in this series, and I am a fan. I have every intention of reading the next book and I am really looking forward to seeing what happens next to Braden and Jade. I really liked Jade as a character by the way. Just adding that in as an additional thought, because I forgot. Didn't really like Trey though. I don't like people who can't think for themselves and form their own opinions. Anyway, read it and tell me what you think. I liked it, but not enough to not have any grievances. But the ones I did have were minor. As a whole, it was a great book. It's original and unique and that's what counts.