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When You Open Your Eyes

by Celeste Conway (Goodreads Author)

3.36 of 5 stars 3.36 · rating details · 122 ratings · 19 reviews

A consuming passion turns dangerous in this lush and lyrical novel set in Buenos Aires.The more you love, the more you stand to lose….

Tessa’s head over heels for Lucien, the son of a French diplomat. Sexy, artistic, and daring, he brings out a completely new side of her. With him, Tessa feels beautiful and exotic. So when Tessa’s strict father forbids her to see Lucien, sh...more

Hardcover, 320 pages

Published March 20th 2012 by Simon Pulse

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Dec 24, 2012 Bailey rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When You Open Your Eyes was extremely disconnected.
I finished this book less than three days ago, and already I'm not remembering much of anything about it, other than that it was about a girl named . . .

Yeah, see, I don't even remember her name now. Know who's name I remember? Bill. Lucien. Norah (Noree). Tyler. Jer. Kai. Esme. Wid. Gash. Mike.

How is it, that out of all the freaking characters in this book, I rememebr the flipping side characters? I even remember that Wid's mother is named Be

...more When You Open Your Eyes was extremely disconnected.
I finished this book less than three days ago, and already I'm not remembering much of anything about it, other than that it was about a girl named . . .

Yeah, see, I don't even remember her name now. Know who's name I remember? Bill. Lucien. Norah (Noree). Tyler. Jer. Kai. Esme. Wid. Gash. Mike.

How is it, that out of all the freaking characters in this book, I rememebr the flipping side characters? I even remember that Wid's mother is named Beatrice. And yet, for the life of me, I cannot remember the main characters name.

I just looked it up, and her name is Tessa.

So, tell me something about Tessa. Let's see. She liked to paint until she didn't. She liked Mike until she didn't. She liked her mom until she didn't. She played with her younger brother until she didn't.

All these things we know about Tessa aren't really anything. We know what she used to like, until she decided she didn't like them anymore. It all seemed so vague. It didn't even feel like Tessa was a real person, sometimes. I kept waiting for this to turn out that Lucien is really crazy and that Tessa isn't real and it was all his imagination.

And, Lucien. Jeez. He was supposed to be, like, scary, right? I was never once scared of Lucien. He didn't make any sense. Not ever. I even found myself laughing at the moments that were supposed to be scary, like when he dragged her out of his apartment. Like, what? That was scary? As freaking if!

Another thing. In the beginning, I remember Lucien being described with dark hair. Why, at the end, did she describe him as blond-haired?

Tessa was seriously obsessed with Lucien, too, so it REALLY made no sense. She pretty much memorized his breathing pattern. How did she go from saying he had dark hair to blond hair? I'm incredibly surprised she didn't count the numbers of hairs on his head. Really.

I think we should talk about her dad, now. Tessa's dad did something bad (view spoiler)which is found out at the end.

The way the family reacted to this made no sense to me. They were all ten times more upset by what Tessa's dad did than what happened with Lucien. Um, I dont know about you, but guerrila art/terrorism is a little bit more serious than Tessa's dad's issues (view spoiler).

The ending posed a serious problem with me, too. I have no idea what even happened at the end. The ending literally is dropped into our laps like the author just wasn't sure how to continue. I was actually thinking my book was messed up or something, because that ending made no sense. I have no idea what happened. What was she painting? Why did it have any significance to her life? WHAT? I'm stunned.

This book has many plot-holes, ill-thought out sub plots (Gash and Esme, really? What about Wid? And Kai's daddy/mommy issues? And Bill being a mini-Jimbo?)and characters that had yet to be filled in. The only positive thing I can say about this book is that the author is somehow a good writer (weird, right?). There were no gramatical errors that stood out to me, and the sentences were fairly well structured, if a little weird.

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Apr 10, 2012 Jodi Papazian rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-reads

I'm having a difficult time deciding what to say about When You Open Your Eyes. It was well-written enough and kept me engaged throughout. However, I think one of the reasons why I was so engaged was because I kept waiting for something to happen that never did. Based on the blurb about the book, I thought that Tessa was going to fall into a downward spiral and it would become a book about recovery and healing. There were even indications that would be the case as subtle drug use was often refe...more

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Apr 12, 2012 Meagan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, ya-sex, ya-love, ya-good-narrators, ya-family, ya-friendship, ya-mental-illness, ya-bad-students

When You Open Your Eyes is a fantastic look at the way an illness can grab a hold on both sides of a relationship.

Here we have Tessa, the quiet artist, who has been uprooted, then planted in Argentina with the rest of her family. She doesn’t really know where she fits in, and so she finds herself clinging to a group of people that her parents automatically dislike. These kids are obviously up to no good – and that’s not to say they aren’t, Tessa’s drug problem was kind of alarming – and her pare...more When You Open Your Eyes is a fantastic look at the way an illness can grab a hold on both sides of a relationship.

Here we have Tessa, the quiet artist, who has been uprooted, then planted in Argentina with the rest of her family. She doesn’t really know where she fits in, and so she finds herself clinging to a group of people that her parents automatically dislike. These kids are obviously up to no good – and that’s not to say they aren’t, Tessa’s drug problem was kind of alarming – and her parents want her to know it.

She becomes deeply involved with local ‘Bad Boy’ Lucien, and her parents – particularly her father, the FBI agent – do not approve. As she fights to get closer to Lucien, the object of her affection pulls away. Things slide from quiet and average forbidden love to manic-or-hypomanic episode in a matter of pages.

Brilliant.

You see, that’s how bipolar disorder works. You don’t always see the manic episodes coming, and a lot of the time, YA makes it into an prolonger affair that rings overwhelmingly false. Lucien’s illness isn’t really brought to focus in a big way until 2/3 of the way through the book, and at that point, we don’t even know what he’s dealing with. We know (because his mother tells Tessa) that sometimes, things get bad. The way that it all blows up in the end is not at all something you see coming from the start of the book – I mean, yeah, we’re told Lucien becomes “increasingly volatile” but that could mean a number of things. In fact, to me, it initially sounded like a relationship gone incredibly bad.

What I liked about this book, other than what I mentioned, was that Tessa was just far away from us to take in the scene and almost forget how obsessive she was becoming over Lucien. She seems so distant and far away, and that’s because all of her energy is pushed into Lucien.
We know how it goes when that happens.

In the end, I will absolutely recommend this book. It has a quiet, flowing style to it that sticks with you, but doesn’t make itself known too loudly. The characters are real – and although we don’t get to know Tessa as much as we could, we certainly feel her there. At times, it does feel like we’re taking forever to get to somewhere, but that’s because Celeste Conway is building up – and if you skim, you’re going to miss the hints that things are amiss.
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Jan 17, 2013 Jeannie Henry rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I would like to start by saying that I really wanted to like this book. I typically read literature with a very troubled character (Lucien), which is why I lean towards lit about rehab, drugs, violence, abuse, etc.
I didn't see Lucien as dark, brooding and abusive. I saw him more as whiny and spoiled and pathetic.
(view spoiler)...more

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Feb 09, 2013 Vanessa Gao rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya

originally from my blog: http://just-sitting-thar.blogspot.com...

Set in lush, exotic Buenos Aires, When You Open Your Eyes tells the story of Tessa, the daughter of diplomat parents, and the different, almost unimaginable life she lives. While the plot largely deals with her romantic relationship with Lucien, the author also shows us the very interesting perspective of being an American on foreign land--something the Americans don't get to experience as much anymore.

The good things about this bo...more originally from my blog: http://just-sitting-thar.blogspot.com...

Set in lush, exotic Buenos Aires, When You Open Your Eyes tells the story of Tessa, the daughter of diplomat parents, and the different, almost unimaginable life she lives. While the plot largely deals with her romantic relationship with Lucien, the author also shows us the very interesting perspective of being an American on foreign land--something the Americans don't get to experience as much anymore.

The good things about this book:
-the prose. The author writes in such a way that the story flows quietly yet dynamically; the writing has a strong lyrical quality, at times beautifully poetic;
-the details. The tireless descriptions of little things such as a dress, or a hors d'oeuvres, brings the reader to the scene immediately, which enlivens the reading experience

The not-so-good thing:
-the story itself. I know, it's always sad when, after reading a book, I arrive at such a conclusion: the story itself is not good enough. While I'm constantly curious about the different things about Tessa's life, I'm never quite attached to her or any characters. This is a bad thing, because then I don't root for anyone or anything...which makes it hard to be engaged at times. Unfortunately, this one thing alone can make a story really good or not quite so, and unfortunately When You Open Your Eyes is the latter.

In the end, I just want to say how similar this book is to Anna and the French Kiss (see my review here). Now, now, I know some of you may disagree strongly--"the writing style is totally different!" "The story doesn't take place in Paris, jeez!" However, think about this for a minute: both Tessa and Anna are Americans living in a foreign country (Anna in Paris, Tessa in Buenos Aires), both meet cute French boy (Anna and Etienne, Tessa and Lucien--yes, I know, Etienne is technically half English half American), both have family problems (Anna's parents are divorced, Tessa's parents are, oh well), both Etienne and Lucien have dysfunctional families (both of controlling dads), both have a love-hate relationship with art... the similarities go on and on.

Now, I'm not saying anything, but I just think it's quite surprising how similar these two stories are, if you think about it this way. However, at the same time, they're totally different too. The execution, the ending, the general atmosphere... it makes me think of how different writing styles can change a story so significantly--I think that's something every (aspiring) writer should consider seriously before setting pen to paper (or sitting down at computer).(less)

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Apr 24, 2012 Melanie McCullough rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Actual Rating 2.5 Stars

I'm struggling with what to say about this book. It's not that it was bad, because it wasn't. It just wasn't that good. It was fine. There's a nice description for you, right?

All I can say is that there's nothing technically wrong with it. It was well-written (though my ARC did have a few disconcerting typos and formatting errors). I just failed to connect with Tessa and the rest of the characters in any significant way. I could sympathize with her, sure. But overall I did...more

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Apr 26, 2012 Hannah rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own-finished-copy, 2012

Argh. I hate writing negative reviews. But When You Open Your Eyes didn't sit right with me, so here we go.

The writing is a little strange. Not necessarily bad, just unusual. For example, the author often uses reported speech instead of regular dialogue, or a few phrases between the dialogue are reported speech. Maybe it's only because I'm not used to it, but that bothered me a little; it just felt strange. The writing is very descriptive; too descriptive at parts, in my opinion, making When You...more Argh. I hate writing negative reviews. But When You Open Your Eyes didn't sit right with me, so here we go.

The writing is a little strange. Not necessarily bad, just unusual. For example, the author often uses reported speech instead of regular dialogue, or a few phrases between the dialogue are reported speech. Maybe it's only because I'm not used to it, but that bothered me a little; it just felt strange. The writing is very descriptive; too descriptive at parts, in my opinion, making When You Open Your Eyes read slowly, even though it's really short. The chapters are very short - there are about 100 chapters in this 300-page book - which I also found unusual. None of this is necessarily bad - it's just different, and it took me a while to get used to the style.

I'm not sure what to make of the plot. It's kind of... non-descript. I kept waiting for something big and dramatic to happen, and it didn't. We just kind of float through Tessa's life alongside her. That was how I felt until about 40 pages to the end, at which point things definitely start happening. But then, everything happens at once, and it was just too much. I would have preferred something a little more balanced - more action in the first part and less towards the end.

Tessa is an okay character. I didn't love her, didn't feel that there was anything special about her, really. I didn't like Lucien, even in the beginning, which made it hard for me to relate to the relationship and Tessa's struggles. I did think some of the secondary characters were interesting, like Esme, for example, but sadly, we don't get to know what happens to her later on.

Tessa is American but living in Buenos Aires, and most of her friends are international too. Most of the people she interacts with have something to do with the embassy. And honestly, I found the portrayal of this crowd kind of offensive. I've lived in communites like this because my dad was a diplomat and I know a lot of people like that. Not as high up in the order of embassy-people or "important" as most of the people Tessa interacts with, but still. The portrayal of these people Tessa knows, especially towards the ending, is very negative. I don't want to get into it because of spoilers, but that part didn't sit right with me.

Another aspect that bothered me is the casual way in which drug use is addressed in When You Open Your Eyes. It's mentioned quite a lot that Tessa and her friends take some pills (it's not clarified what pills, since Tessa herself doesn't even know what she's taking), but we never see what happens because of the drug use. No consequences whatsoever are addressed, which I, personally, find unsettling.

***This paragraph is a little spoiler-y. I'm not revealing anything huge, but still. You have been warned.***
The ending and the message it seemed to convey are also a little strange. This is just my own interpretation, but the title and the ending seem to imply that Tessa should leave Lucien, that his problems shouldn't be her problems. And of course I agree Tessa needs to take care of herself, too, but Lucien is mentally ill, and his episodes are not his fault. I think mental illness is a tricky topic, but making it seem like being bipolar is somehow Lucien's fault, I did not like. At all. And I didn't like how his disorder is belittled towards the end, how it gives the impression he only went "crazy" because of this one thing, and that if that problem is solved, Lucien will be fine again. That is not how things work. And when mental disorders are portrayed like that, it just really frustrates me.

When You Open Your Eyes was a frustrating read for me. I had issues with most storylines. The only thing I really liked is the story of Tessa's family. Maybe if you could connect more with the story, it could be a pretty good read, but it didn't work for me.

Reviewed at http://www.paperbacktreasures.blogspo...(less)

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May 09, 2012 Hannah rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: town-library

If I could give this book half a star, I would. This book was completly awful. The book had a very poor writing style and was horribly depressing the entire time. The author had good ideas, but it was written so poorly that it completly ruined it all. I always finish books, but I was so tempted to quit on this one because it was so sad. There was never a happy moment in it. All in all, I thought this book was terrible and I probably won't be reading any more books by this author.

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Jun 13, 2012 Shalana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewd

Tessa has fallen in love with her new life, new friends, and Lucien. As the lines blur together she doesn't even realize when her life goes from exciting to dangerous. She refuses to see Lucien for what he really is. As the first love of her life turns into her first heartbreak, she has to open her eyes to the world around her before its too late.

I found myself connecting with Tessa as she suffered through the confusion of her relationship with not only her boyfriend, but her friends, new and ol...more

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May 02, 2012 Nash Nordin rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, own, crazy-challenge-connection-booksh

This book was probably about a young girl who had to face a few changes in her life. She started to hang around with the wrong people and fell in love with someone who is a bad influence to her.

I’m not sure what to say of this book. The writing was alright. Sadly, the plot was not. The beginning of the book was quite confusing. I wasn’t sure of what was happening to Tessa and her friends. The middle was a bit slow. But I can’t stop reading it because I expect something to happen. And it was towa...more

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Apr 11, 2012 Lorrie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, stand-alone

2.5 stars
Interesting book. I sympathized with Tessa, even though at times I wanted to shake her. I wasn't expecting the ending - I had thought something else was going to happen. The ending felt a little unfinished to me...and there were a couple of storylines that I thought were going somewhere, but then they didn't so I was kind of left with a question mark, but all in all, it was a decent read.

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Aug 18, 2012 Morgs added it · review of another edition

It was...confusing, most of the time. (view spoiler) This book was...interesting though.

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Apr 01, 2012 Miss rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary, realistic-fiction, young-adult, mental-illness, bad-boy

The more you love, the more you stand to lose….

Tessa’s head over heels for Lucien, the son of a French diplomat. She gets herself into a world of art, fashion, drugs and sex. She´s quite inexperienced, and then everything goes upside down...

This book was an interesting and provoking look at a teenager suffering with mental illness. It definitely provides insight into bipolar disorder and shows how anyone can be hit by an illness like that.

It was good book, but not amazing. And what about the end...more

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May 08, 2012 Tanya Lloyd rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book has the most wonderful settings. It's like reading a contemporary YA with the atmosphere of a vampire novel.

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May 05, 2012 Celeste rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

2.5 stars. This book was written well, but it was creepy and depressing. The main character was hopelessly in love with a guy that she knew for two weeks even though she knew he was bad for her. Too much drug use, sexual content and creepy characters for me. The kind of book that made you depressed while reading.

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Jan 27, 2013 Pat Jbhi rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Thought-provoking and realistic situations. Couldn't tell where the plot was going, which is a plus in my book--no pun intended. Drug use among young adults was disconcerting, but again, a reality that can't be overlooked. No preaching, no moralizing about sex and drug use. Basically a story about a young girl who confuses love with obsession, a common occurrence among young and not-so-young people. This was a quick read; enjoyed it and would recommend it highly. Have read all of Ms. Conway's bo...more

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Jun 05, 2012 Dutchbaby marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: selling-it-2012

realistic, dark side of chick lit

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Jan 28, 2013 Grace rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book rarely held my attention and took me quite a long while to get through. I just wanted to strangle Tessa because she was such an idiot to constantly go back to Lucien when he was a) treating her like crap and b) was clearly having some issues that she couldn't nor should have attempted to help him through. I just gave up on her halfway through the book and wished for the book to just end because it was more of a chore to watch her making the same mistakes over and over again.

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Mar 21, 2013 fяσzєη rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owned-physical-copies, covergasm, i-am-disappoint, sorry-excuse-for-a-romance

Woooow, I've never been so disconnected from a book in my life. For the first time ever all I saw were just words on a page. I think the problem is that the pace was too fast. I mean, this book has over 100 chapters, and only 308 pages. It was a really bland book, and I pretty much had the same indifferent expression from start to finish.

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May 21, 2012 Stephanie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

2.5

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