Play Audiobook Sample
Love and First Sight Audiobook
Play Audiobook Sample
(0.00) - 0 listener ratings
Quick Stats About this Audiobook
Total Audiobook Chapters:
Longest Chapter Length:
Shortest Chapter Length:
Average Chapter Length:
Audiobooks by this Author:
Publisher Description
In his debut novel, YouTube personality and author of We Should Hang Out Sometime Josh Sundquist explores the nature of love, trust, and romantic attraction.
On his first day at a new school, blind sixteen-year-old Will Porter accidentally groped a girl on the stairs, sat on another student in the cafeteria, and somehow drove a classmate to tears. High school can only go up from here, right?
As Will starts to find his footing, he develops a crush on a charming, quiet girl named Cecily. Then an unprecedented opportunity arises: an experimental surgery that could give Will eyesight for the first time in his life. But learning to see is more difficult than Will ever imagined, and he soon discovers that the sighted world has been keeping secrets. It turns out Cecily doesn't meet traditional definitions of beauty--in fact, everything he'd heard about her appearance was a lie engineered by their so-called friends to get the two of them together. Does it matter what Cecily looks like? No, not really. But then why does Will feel so betrayed?
Told with humor and breathtaking poignancy, Love and First Sight is a story about how we relate to each other and the world around us.
Download and start listening now!
“Narrator Pat Young delivers this audiobook about our senses and how we interpret them…Young’s voicing of the story’s cast—Will’s hovering mother, his insightful English teacher, the kids on the quiz team—enhances Sundquist’s deft characterizations. In the audio format, the accounts of Will’s world encourage listeners to reflect on their own sensory awareness. Add the well-developed romantic theme, and this is a perfect listening experience. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile
Quotes
-
“Sundquist writes eloquently about what it might be like for someone who was born blind to be given sight. He explores the physical, emotional, and psychological ramifications of Will’s change in a thoughtful and evocative manner, providing readers with a fresh perspective on how humans interact with each other and the world around them.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“Sensitively explores disability and its influence on identity…The resolution is optimistic yet realistically open-ended. Thought-provoking and insightful.”
— Kirkus Reviews -
“Although Will is completely incapable of seeing anything in the beginning of the story—not even shadows—he is not helpless or powerless. He is flawed, not because he cannot see with his eyes, but rather because of how he responds when he can see with them…Readers will enjoy Will’s journey.”
— VOYA -
“Readers will enjoy the humor and romance of the story while gaining a better understanding of life with a visual disability. Sundquist makes it clear that Will is not defined by his disability; he often has better ‘vision’ than those with eyesight…A highly recommended and engaging story.”
— School Library Journal -
Sensitively explores disability and its influence on identity...The juxtaposition of blindness with (not) judging by appearances is common, but the author gives depth to the trope by highlighting the betrayal Will feels at the exploitation of his blindness. Thought-provoking and insightful.
— Kirkus Reviews -
Unique...will encourage young adults to think about their own biases related to physical attractiveness and body image. Readers will enjoy the humor and romance of the story while gaining a better understanding of life with a visual disability...A highly recommended and engaging story for most YA collections.
— SLJ -
Sundquist writes eloquently about what it might be like for someone who was born blind to be given sight. He explores the physical, emotional, and psychological ramifications of Will's change in a thoughtful and evocative manner, providing readers with a fresh perspective on how humans interact with each other and the world around them.
— Publishers Weekly -
Rich in sensory detail, this novel pulls readers into Will's world. Sundquist deftly shows the difference between the act of seeing and truly seeing. This fresh and funny coming-of-age story presents an opportunity for readers who take certain abilities for granted to take stock of challenges facing peers.
— Booklist -
Sundquist does a nice job of getting inside the head of a person who has absolutely no visual frames of reference...without it feeling intrusive or overly clinical. For budding scientists and future doctors, these details offer new thoughts as well as context for understanding the real stories of people gaining eyesight after blindness and then wishing they hadn't; even readers who just came for the romance will find themselves understanding the "tyranny of the visual" in new ways.
— BCCB -
In his debut novel, memoirist Josh Sundquist proves he's as adept at making up new stories as he is at recounting his old ones as he explores overcoming adversity, seeing the world through fresh eyes (literally), and keeping a sense of humor in the midst of life's tribulations. An exciting new voice in the world of YA fiction.
— Tommy Wallach, New York Times bestselling author of We All Looked Up -
Is love blind? Should it be? With an intricate, intimate fiction debut, Josh Sundquist aims to find out.
— Barry Lyga, New York Times bestselling author -
[A] laugh-out-loud memoir...
— SLJ
Awards
-
Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
Love and First Sight Listener Reviews
Be the first to write a review about this audiobook!
About Josh Sundquist
Josh Sundquist is a son, brother, cancer survivor, writer, Paralympic ski racer, and motivational speaker. He has shared his story across the country for audiences including Fortune 500 companies, inner-city public schools, and the White House. A graduate of both the College of William and Mary and the University of Southern California, he has been featured on CNN’s Heroes series, appeared with Lance Armstrong on the CW network, and is the founder of lessthanfour.org, the world’s largest online community for amputees. He is twenty-five years old and lives near Washington, DC, where he enjoys taking walks on the National Mall and eating mint-chocolate gelato.
About Pat Young
Pat Young is a voice talent and audiobook narrator. His reading of Love and First Sight won an AudioFile Earphones Award.