All That She Can See

Author: Carrie Hope Fletcher Publisher: Sphere ISBN: 9780751563184

WOULDN’T it be great if we can see the true emotions of others? To be able to help those feeling bad?

It might seem to be a talent to most people, but such a talent could be more of a curse. Just ask Cherry.

She can see what other people can’t. She sees what follows all of us – shadows standing close by, frightening goblins or monsters with ferocious faces and jabbering jaws.

They have many names: Loneliness, Anxiety, Depression, Disappointment, Regret, Uselessness, Hopelessness, and many more.

Her parents thought they were her imaginary friends. Other children thought she was weird, so Cherry has always only had one friend – Loneliness.

As an adult, she finally decides to use her gift to help others. Through the bakery she inherited from her adopted father, Cherry starts baking, adding something special into her cakes so that after just one mouthful, people start to feel better.

People are drawn to Cherry’s bakery and feel safe there, and she is happy to help. Then, along comes grumpy Chase, determined to undo all the good she has done.

Apparently he has the same gift as Cherry, only he sees all the good emotions in people and in comparison, becomes bitter and unhappy about his own life.

From their animosity, the two attract the attention of an organisation called the Guild of Feelers, and learn that they are not alone.

The book starts off interestingly enough and it was quite a fun read, but the story becomes quite hard to swallow with the introduction of the Guild, and goes rather overboard after that.

It’s a shame really, because I enjoyed the first half of the book. – K.K. Wong