F.T. Lukens's YA fantasy Love at Second Sight is a mystery that is as soapy as it is thrilling. Queer witches, werewolves, sprites, and other fantastical beings stumble through awkward teen foibles, interrupted by monsters both real and metaphorical.
Cam Reynolds, a "honey blond"-haired 15-year-old, lives in a town where "witches, werewolves, faeries, sprites, and a whole host of supernatural entities" shop at the same grocery stores and attend the same schools as non-paranormal humans. His bestie, Al, has "beautiful brown skin," a "comforting and cozy" cottagecore witchy vibe, and a raven familiar named Lenore; his hunky crush, Latino Mateo, is a werewolf. But Cam is "only human"--he thinks. During a dustup on the first day of school, his latent gifts as a clairvoyant manifest: he sees the brutal murder of a young woman he doesn't recognize. Traumatized, Cam is unsure of this newfound power and what he's meant to do with it. And, since seers are rare, different factions of mystical beings all want a piece of him. Cam, with the help of Al, Mateo, and a new crew of friends, decides to find the killer, save the girl, and stop the future he has seen from becoming reality.
Lukens (Otherworldly) is no stranger to the world of the young, exceptional, and angsty. Lukens's mastery of the adolescent hero's journey is on full display here: though the whodunnit may be the endgame, it's Cam's arc of empowerment through the relationships he solidifies with his friends that fuel the book. A surprisingly substantive treat about surviving in a monstrous world. --Luis G. Rendon, freelance reviewer