The Rules of Seeing by Joe Heap

ebook, 419 pages
Published August 9th 2018
☆☆☆☆
About the Book:
Nova is 32 years old and she is about to see the world for the very first time.
Nova can do many things. She can speak five languages. She can always find a silver lining. And as an interpreter for the Metropolitan Police, she can tell when someone is lying just from the sound of their voice. But there’s one thing Nova can’t do. She can’t see. When her brother convinces her to have an operation that will restore her sight, Nova wakes up to a world she no longer understands. Until she meets Kate. As Kate comes into focus and their unlikely friendship blossoms, Kate’s past threatens to throw them into a different kind of darkness. Can they both learn to see the world in a different way?

As someone who is deaf, I could relate to someone who is blind, it was also very eye opening.

Learn to see. Realize that everything is connected to everything else.
I loved this story, the emotions are deep and the narrative flows freely through the story line, and is laced with realism all throughout. The pacing is perfect, readers will follow around the lives of Nova and Kate, who go through transition periods rehabing after a hospital stay. I don't want to give too much away.

When you make eye contact, when you hold someone’s gaze, it’s the closest thing to knowing that you’re not alone in the world.
The characters are well developed, Nova and Kate take the center stage and from there perspective, the readers will get to learn about the supporting cast. Nova is a great protagonist, who will inspire you through her ordeal, as will Kate. Kate finally lesrns to speak honestly and gradually the readers can see the side of Kate which exists under layers of pain and fear.

They took her wedding ring off at the hospital, but she’s still married.
The blindness remains in the backseat of this whole story, as the author majorly focuses on the female relationship and the value of those who matter to us, despite not being related by blood, and also Kate's self growth, and that sums up the entire novel, where Nova teaches Kate to live by her own rules.

Kate laughs again. She can’t remember the last time she laughed this much, every day. Maybe never. Maybe not in her whole life. Sometimes she still feels like shit. But there is so much laughter as well.
In a nutshell, the author promotes self love through this book, even though the main character suffers from a so-called disability, yet she is depicted as brave and someone who needs no saving from anyone. A smart and fearless take on friendships, relationships and dealing with roadblocks in life.