The war has been won, peace has been reached and all is calm in the small seaside town of Norton. People are overjoyed to be living in a time of peace and prosperity.

Well, everyone except Lizzie, who's so bored she thinks she's going mad.

Until she meets Natalie: dark, wild, dangerous Natalie. Lizzie is drawn to the out-of-control Natalie, and as they grow closer, Natalie reveals something about her strange little brother, Philip.

He sees things no one else can, he can see that the threat of war is not over.

He can see the 'Left-Over Nazis' and it's up to him, and Natalie, to find them and force them out of town.

To begin with it's all a game to Lizzie, but before long, Philip's 'gift' sparks a series of consequences that spin dangerously out of control.

I've never read anything by Hendry before, but the moment I read the blurb of The Seeing, I knew I simply had to get my hands on it.  It was one of those books you start reading and find you simply cannot put down, no matter how hard you try.

It was dark, addictive, seductive and so much more than I ever thought a 170 something paged book could ever be. 

I don't know if you guys have read it, but something about The Seeing reminded me of The Tulip Touch by Anne Fine. 

It had the same darkly dangerous feel to it, the same addictiveness.  But The Seeing was better in my eyes, much, much better.  Incredible, actually, even if the beginning was kinda slow. 

Hendry's characterisation was sublime.  All the characters were so 3D and intriguing.  Lizzie was very much your average teenager, and perfectly embodied how easy it is to get pulled to the 'dark side' by boredom or a need for excitement.

Natalie was just… well, intriguing. Philip was the most interesting of the lot. There was just something about him. He just knew stuff, stuff that he shouldn't – couldn't – possibly know.

All the way through, I couldn't figure out whether maybe, just maybe, he really did have some kind of 'second sight'. Hugo was really sweet and kind and I loved getting an outsider's view of the trio, seeing them all through his eyes.

The writing was just … whoa. It was atmospheric, creepy and so much darker than I thought it could be. I loved that we got to read from each of the main characters' POV's: it meant we got the whole picture.

As for the story line, I was hooked from the prologue. I mean, talk about gripping openings! The plot was fast-paced, thrilling, with the perfect amounts of suspense, description and dramatic pauses.

As for the ending… Just… whoa…

I loved doing post-war Britain in history and have always been fascinated by historical fiction set in that time period.  It intrigued me to see the two sides of post-war UK: the rich, prosperous side and the financially struggling, hard-done-by side. 

The post-war pain and fear and damage was palpable throughout the book, especially whenever Lizzie's mum was involved.  The Seeing was like a little time machine back to 1956.

I must say, all the themes in this were so much darker than I thought they'd be. One example was the way Natalie and co went about ridding the world of "LONs". It was simply bullying, and if there's one thing I truly hate, it's bullying.

I actually felt sick to the stomach at some of the things they did. But that just made the book even better, even more powerful.

This book literally blew me away. I can't tell you how powerful and shocking The Seeing was, how addictive it was.

As I neared the end, I found myself reading faster and faster and faster, totally hooked, unable to put the book down, not even for a second.

This was such a hard-hitting book, so much so it hurt.

Read it, have your mind blown, and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Star Rating:
4¾ Out of 5

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