A brilliant book

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Nova is a police interpreter who can speak 5 languages. She has been blind for her entire life, then her brother convinces her to have an operation which allows her to see. Whilst in the hospital she meets Kate, someone with problems of her own. When Nova is overwhelmed by her new ability to see, Kate supports her, and soon their friendship blossoms into something else.

Both characters felt real and complex. It is a book about friendship that turns into romance, but also about abusive relationships and disability.

I loved the way that this book made me think. I came to it assuming that going from blindness to sight would be easy and something that a person would definitely choose. Yet Nova shows that seeing is a complex thing and that it takes time to adapt to. At times she feels more disabled by her ability to see than she did without it, and that was something that I didn't expect. It made me consider how complex vision is and how those of us who are sighted take for granted the complex 'rules' that define it.