See What I See

See What I See

Author: Gloria Whelan

Publisher: HarperTeen

Pages: 199

Read Time: 1 Day

Rating (1-5): 4 

Tag Words: Artists, estranged fathers, painting, ugliness in beauty, college life, sickness, disease, death, recovered alcoholic, duty, love, honor, family, nature

My Summary:

Kate has always been a painter, not because of her famous, estranged artist father, nor because of her mother’s hatred for all things on a canvas, but because when she is painting she can see the world in a new way.

When she goes to her father after being accepted into school on scholarship she is surprised to find a dying man in desperate need of her time, while his time runs out. 

Kate can only pray that before he dies his final pieces will be completed, and he will see what she sees; that he will see her.

My Review:

I was really looking forward to this short read and Whelan did not let me down. The plot and follow through are both fantastic and a wonderful look into the world of college through the eyes of an artist. See What I See also pulls you through the oddly resurrected relationship between Kate and her father, Dalton Quinn with grace and finesse. Whelan covered all the bases, said what needed to be said and left us with a satisfying ‘The End’ even if it doesn’t absolutely mean ‘Happily Ever After.’

I believed this story through and through and only wish I could have heard more about how Kate felt painting in the moment. Whelan narrated plenty of Kate’s love for nature and her many emotions for her dad, but seeing Kate paint in the moment would have been a great way to prove that she had what it takes to be Kate Quinn. 

As a bonus, the Christians portrayed in this book are wonderful examples of walking the walk and believing in the true faith and one God. I was so pleased to finally see that in YA. 

My favorite scene is one with which I am leaving you an excerpt:

“Instead my painting has found the perfect owner, someone to look at it hundreds of times a day, to live in my painting, to love it for giving her back a piece of her past.”

So you can see why I only wanted more of Kate’s thoughts on her own paintings. 

I checked this one out from my library and cannot wait to add a copy to the Mod Podge Bookshelf. 

Notes on the Names: Nothing that thrilled me either way, but I will say I cried when her father gave her his name. “Be Kate Quinn.”

Thoughts on the Cover: I bow to the photographer behind this shot. The cover is the epitome of the novel, the title and the focus, and out of focus, of artistry. This is one of those one-in-a-millions that is the soul mate to the novel it was created for. 

Parental Book Review *spoilers*

Sexual Content: 

None.

Language: 

None.

Violence: 

Dalton Quinn throws things and has cruel words to say to Kate on his good days and bad days.

Other Notables: 

Dalton is dying of liver failure after spending a life time drinking. Once Kate meets Dalton he is abstaining because one drop could be fatal.