I received this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Genres:YA, coming of age, WWII, paranormal

I began reading this book, with an eye towards reviewing it, with a pen and notebook. My notes are as follows: "Kit, teenage girl and brother Leighton on train evacuating London during the Blitz." And that's all I wrote, because I was quickly drawn into the story.

During the early years of WWII, many children were evacuated from London, leaving their mothers to be fostered with families in the country. Kit and Leighton are two of these children. They end up in Wales with a lovely family. There's just one more thing: Kit can enter the minds of others, see through their eyes, and talk to them in their minds. Before too long she begins talking with Henri, a tonnage boy stuck in the horror of the Nazi occupation of Norway. Their friendship evolves beautifully.

This is a captivating story that I recommend highly. ( )

I just finished reading this book in one sitting because it was just that good. That a disabled girl in chronic pain is the star of the story is particularly compelling as characters like that are rarely lead protagonists. And learning more about WW2 was much more interesting than I imagined. I wasn't a huge fan of Kit's special psychic gift which drove key aspects of the plot, but it didn't matter as the story and characters were completely engrossing to me regardless. ( )

I found myself really intrigued with the mechanics and possibilities of Kit’s gift. Maybe it’s the fantasy geek inside but I think that was my favorite part of the book. I loved seeing the limitations of her gift (i.e. how far she could travel or the cost on her physically), the different ways she could gather information with it, and the possible role it could play in the war. I think that will probably be the carrier for my interest in the rest of the series.

I enjoyed Kit herself as well. She’s a well-rounded young lady who has some serious trials in life to overcome. Not only having to evacuate from bombed-out London, but dealing with a serious, debilitating illness that requires constant medical care and serious readjustment of how Kit goes through her daily life. She shows courage and fortitude in facing all her trials that I admired.

At times, Kit came off as very juvenile and immature. How she utilized her gift at times and her focus on herself for parts of the book were off-putting to me. Yet, as the story progresses, Kit shows more and more maturity in how she interacts with the world. I think all the trials of WWII and how her world was affected by it helped her to grow up and become a woman rather than a teenage girl. I loved that journey.

The secondary characters were as vibrant and three-dimensional as Kit. I think I especially loved Doc Bickerstaff. He’s irritating, condescending, and socially awkward. However, he’s also a very dedicated doctor, a sufferer of depression, and courageous soldier, stopping to rescue his fellows rather than run to save his own skin. He, along with the whole Price family, made this book even more of a joy to read.

The historical aspects of the book were more muted than I was expecting. We do see how evacuation to the countryside affected the various parties involved, some aspects of the battlefront in North Africa, and occupation in France and Norway. The author shows her research in these areas. But, I think I was expecting more, especially in Norway. One of the characters being from Nazi occupied Norway was one of the things that originally drew me as that area of WWII Europe isn’t explored in fiction as often as other areas. However, there was enough of a historical emphasis that I didn’t feel lacking in that regard.

An intriguing way of exploring WWII, this book combines great characterizations, good historical details, and a fantastic psychic system to draw the reader in. This is book one of a trilogy, and I look forward to exploring the rest of this series. ( )

I have a high interest in war books--especially when it comes to anything related to WWII.

K.C. Finn's The Mind's Eye does a great job of going back and forth between both being a war story and focusing on the life of a young girl and her personal (fictional) story.

I didn't know how well I would become immersed in a young adult book considering I hadn't read one in a while, but overall, I really enjoyed myself and the book apart from a few hiccups here and there.

Kit, the main character of the story, has both a disability (juvenile arthritis), and psychic powers. So it's no surprise that I fell in love with her right away. I mean, someone I can finally relate to AND who has some cool attributes? Sign me up!

I definitely sympathized with Kit and how much pain she was constantly in. I easily felt anger towards her doctor, Bickerstaff. How he treated her with such disdain took me back to memories of doctors of my past. UGH!
Kit's feelings of being a huge burden on everyone because of her disability was like a smack in the face for me. Whether you have a physical or mental disability, you know what it's like to be helpless and feel like you're being a burden--even if you're really not. It's a struggle and I completely understood Kit's emotions. The author did a great job of describing what the main character was going through.

As for Kit's psychic powers, they definitely took over the story, which was nice because then the book didn't focus mainly on Kit's disability. Being able to see through the eyes of Kit's..."target"...was interesting and I was surprised that I never became confused when Kit was in the head of someone else. Everything was written in a way that was easily understood.

Some of the minor characters--even if you didn't get in their heads from Kit's perspective--were easy to care about. This isn't always something a writer achieves, and I really appreciated that with Finn. Sometimes I don't even feel for the main character in a story! But I remembered and had feelings for almost every single character in this book.

Speaking of characters...
I enjoyed the romance between the two main characters. But I also didn't.
It was just overplayed a bit. You knew what was going to happen, basically, and I didn't like that. I wish there had been more ZING to what they experienced, although what they went through together at the beginning was definitely exciting! The rest of the book had a lot of great twists and turns; it was a bit disappointing to see the romantic sub-plot go a bit flat.

I suffer from a chronic autoimmune disorder.
Or...chronic Lyme disease.
So when I read that the author, K.C. Finn, had M.E./CFS, it struck a chord with me and made the book even more special. I realized Finn could lend a piece of herself towards the main character. Yes, Kit had a severe disability in the book, and yes it plays a major part, and yes it is discussed heavily. But that's not the part she plays. She's not just the token disabled kid. She's so much more, and I love that.

(I did have a weird feeling about the ending, but that's neither here nor there in this review.)

So, cheers! Praise, praise, praise! Go read, read, read! ( )