The Girl Who Could See

I open my mouth and force my voice to remain clam and steady. I hope my words and convincing—they have to be. “I knew about the incident, Agent Barstow, because my friend warned me.” Throat dry, I look away. “My imaginary friend.”

The Girl Who Could See by Kara Swanson checks many genre boxes—contemporary, sci-fi, light romance, thriller, and even a dollop of horror at the end. It came to my attention because the author is an instructor for the Young Writer’s Workshop, a program I’m a part of. And while this novella has some flaws, the raving that surrounds the book is now understandable.

Plot

Everyone has had an imaginary friend at some point in their life. But Fern Johnson’s never left.

Ever since she was eight, Fern has been followed around by Tristan, a young warrior from another world. He’s saved her from bullies, kept her from falling (literally), and encouraged her in her darkest hours.

But now, at the age of nineteen, Fern has been diagnosed as clinically insane due to her conversations with an invisible boy and her schizophrenic behavior. Because she can not only see Tristan—she can see glimpses of his world. But years of therapy have convinced her that the blond warrior is just a hallucination.

However, now is when Tristan needs her the most. His devastated world harbors a deadly disease, and it’s trying to break through into the heart of Los Angeles. Fern is faced with a choice—trust her “imaginary friend” or risk her world being ruined.

It might just be my minor interest in sci-fi stories, but no part of this plot really grabbed me. Evil monster/disease from another world threatening Earth. It’s no original story. I picked it up partially because of curiosity about the situation with Tristan, but after the first few chapters, this is mostly explained.

However, by that point, I was hooked on the characters. I couldn’t stop reading for the desperate knowledge of what would become of them. So, despite the critiques I have of the story, I was completely enraptured.

One of my biggest issues with the book is that there’s a certain plot event that’s completely brushed over. It’s played up in the opening chapters through flashbacks, but when the story returns to the present day it’s already happened and no details are given.

That’s a recurring theme with The Girl Who Could See. It’s a very fast-paced novella, never stopping to elaborate on anything, leaving it up to the reader’s imagination. In some cases, I didn’t mind this, but at other times it was a bit annoying.

Regardless, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy the plot.

Characters

For years, Fern Johnson has been told she’s insane. She’s broken and can’t be fixed. Her only friends are Tristan, who she’s recently made a habit of ignoring, and Elinor, her young niece that she looks after. Memories of childhood trauma haunt her, even though she’s tried to bury them.

All this leads to a very broken, vulnerable protagonist. Her emotions are very raw and real.

Fern has a semi-romantic relationship with Tristan throughout the story, which turns into a very romantic relationship at the end. It’s clean, though there are a couple of things I’ll mention in the content warnings section that a reader may want to know about.

And Tristan himself is an endearing character, with his sacrificial and caring nature. His world destroyed, he clings to Fern as his only light, and she does the same to him.

Other characters I liked were Elinor, for her sweet character and love for her aunt, and Agent Barstow of the FBI, because he’s the only important character who isn’t driven by a storm of swirling semi-romantic emotions.

Theme & Content Warnings

A theme runs throughout the book, but it seems to be a run-of-the-mill “You don’t have to be normal, embrace your oddities” sort of a thing. Fern learns that she’s “the only one who can truly see,” and is the sanest person on the planet, despite the input of psychiatrists.

I didn’t really get any of this, or how it applies to a person without the ability to look into another world. But it might just be me.

For content warnings, it’s fairly light. Tristan mentions he won’t follow Fern into the bathroom, even though he follows everywhere else, because he’s not “some perv.” A traumatic experience is described as being like hell. Fern and Tristan embrace multiple times and hold hands, finally kissing near the end. A focus is placed on the warmth of Tristan’s touch and how it makes Fern feel, but it all stays clean.

Also, parts of the climax become very intense and somewhat gory. Tristan receives many wounds, some of which are rather dramatic and leave a lot of blood in the environment. The otherworldly disease infects a minor character who dies spitting up blood. An impact results in a spray of blood coming from a character. A character is hit in the head by a flail, resulting in a small wound on his head. A few characters die from being covered in a sand/fog-like substance that contains the disease and dissolve to nothing.

Overall

The Girl Who Could See is a roller coaster of a book, especially for those who enjoy reading sappy romance (unlike me). The end left me dazed and mildly traumatized. But despite my general enjoyment of the book, some aspects I didn’t like.

As the book progresses, it gets progressively more sci-fi. I didn’t understand some of the more abstract aspects, like how the connection between the two worlds works. It seems rather vague and able to be used however the plot requires.

As I mentioned already, some plot points that would be nice to know more about are glossed over. I didn’t get the theme, and it seemed pretty hollow.

Would I read it again? Probably not. Sci-fi books aren’t usually my thing. But if it sounds interesting to you, go for it. It’s a quality book if the many, many raving reviews have any weight. And it’s on Kindle Unlimited (free books are always nice).

And as always, thanks for reading, and I’ll write you in the next one!