When You Open Your Eyes

by Celeste Conway

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, she’s determined to keep their relationship a secret.

But as Tessa gets caught up in Lucien, he becomes increasingly volatile. What she once found alluring about him now feels alarming. Tessa must figure out how far she’ll go for Lucien before she risks losing not just him, but everything she loves.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Realistic Fiction, Fantasy, Chick Lit, Teen

308 pages, Paperback

First published March 20, 2012

About the author

Celeste Conway is a published author of children's books and young adult books. Published credits of Celeste Conway include The Melting Season, Where Is Papa Now?, The Goodbye Time, and When You Open Your Eyes.

Reviews

[Melanie McCullough · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 didn't care what happened to her or Lucien. There were also these long passages about how incredible Lucien was. How Tessa finally mattered because he loved her. How deep, and profound, and artistic, and creative, and mysterious he was. It got to the point where I was like, okay, I get it. I understand why Tessa is attracted to Lucien. Can we move on now?

Maybe it is because I was never the girl who was drawn to the dark, repressed, or dangerous boy. I like my guys stable and clean cut. But Lucien just failed to do it for me. It was also slow. A long read for a short book and while the pace picks up as we neared the conclusion, at the end of the day, not much happened. I'm kind of disappointed.

Bottom line, some people may enjoy it—especially fans of contemporary YA fiction—but not me, so I can't recommend it to my readers.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was nice to read, but I'm not sure I liked the ending.

Tessa is living in Buenos Aires with her parents. Her father is in the FBI and she hasn't seen him much in the last two years while he's been living abroad, but now the whole family has moved to Argentina. Tess begins to date a boy called Lucien, but people keep warning her off of him. It seems that Lucien is bipolar, and people (especially a man who works for her Dad - Jerry) is using that as a reason to keep them apart.
Anyway, Lucien starts acting strangely, he puts blue dye in a famous fountain in Italy, he dresses differently, he wants to get Tess pregnant, and he draws pictures of IEDs. Tess then realises that he hasn't just drawn pictures, he's also made these very-real-looking IEDs and he won't get rid of them. Then she learns that he's going to plant these IEDs at the American Embassy which will likely get him killed.
Tess learns that Lucien has stored these fake IEDs at a friends house, and is on his way to the embassy. She stops out his apartment to speak to his mother, and finds her father with Lucien's mother partially undressed. Tess runs before her father can speak to her and goes to the embassy to stop Lucien. She finds Lucien, and tried to get him to leave but they have already been spotted, and Lucien gets shot.
Tess's mother finds out about the affair and the whole family leave - first to a hotel, and then home to America. She receives word of Lucien to say that his spinal cord was severed by the bullet, and he's paralysed from the waist down, he'll never walk again and he'll never have sex again.
Tess thinks that she'll always miss him but she is glad to be home and see her best friend again. Her friends from Buenos Aires never return her messages.

[Scarlet · Rating 3 out of 5]

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? What happened to Lucien? I don´t get it. I have a feeling that my book is missing last few pages and it sucks.

[Bailey Lamar · Rating 1 out of 5]

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 he cheated on her mom! NOT a spoiler, really, since we all saw it coming a mile offwhich 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 infedility with a side of Solange, anyone?.

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.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Bg · Rating 1 out of 5]

You know, It really pisses me off when the summary of the book is more interesting than the actual book. I feel cheated. I hate feeling cheated by a fiction.

So the book takes place in Europe in the dramatic spin cycle of a romance between Tessa and her lovely French boyfriend Lucien. Needless to say, Tessa is having family problems, being that her father works for the government and is just coming back into her families life as a father. Blah, Blah, Blah, Tess is rebellious again how the household is being run also while trying to stay connected with 'the love of her life' and 'live her life', blah blah blah. *Sigh* (smh)

I'm sure its just my 'maturity level', but I am really so sick of these rebellious teen types claiming to be in love, its selfish and immature and this book just does it no justice. I can see if I actually gave to craps about the characters, but sadly they weren't that interesting; I really didn't care that much for Tessa and Lucien. I felt no magic or sparking of genuine love. Real love, beyond anything fathomable in this world. It just felt dysfunctional and full of fear and uncertainty. The ploy progression was pretty far-fetched and not very well written. I'm extremely disappointed that I didn't care more for Tessa's pill popping boozy friends either. It was just a lot of deceiving and desperation.

I hope I never come across another book like this this year. Its just not okay.

[Jodi P · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 referenced. However, it was not that kind of story. Then, I started wondering if Lucien was going to be an abusive boyfriend towards Tessa - is that where the story was going? Nope. Basically you have a story about a girl in a foreign country who dates a boy that her father doesn't like. Other boys like her but no one else matters to her. Then, one day, said boyfriend discovers a family secret and has a breakdown and a brief bout of hysteria ensues and the girl moves back to the United States and that's that.
I don't know if I'd say it was a disappointing book, but when I got to the end I realized it was kind of boring because nothing ever seemed to happen.
Better suited for older YA readers due to content.

[Shalana · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 old, her siblings, and her parents. It had a beautiful setting and was written really well.

[Rida · Rating 3 out of 5]

they deserved that ending
honestly I hate they didn't get their happily ever after

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting enough for me to actively want to continue reading but I did not really feel any connection to the characters or the plot.

The setting in Buenos Aries was pretty cool though!

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

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...

[Vanessa Gao · Rating 3 out of 5]

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).

[Cali · Rating 4 out of 5]

When You Open Your Eyes
Celeste Conway


Personal Response-
I really liked this book although it tended to be a little hard to read due to some french. I liked it because like most books, it involves romance but also deals with struggles and rivalry/action.


Summary-
In this book Tessa had moved across the world to a new place where she meets a guy named Lucien. Lucien and her have been dating but her father doesn’t approve so she ends up keeping them a secret. Lucien has had a struggled past and he told Tessa, Tessa ignored it because she’d love him no matter what but Lucien traveled with his mom for education and he’d never contacted Tessa as she worried. Turns out Lucien’s mother took him to his fathers where Lucien begged to come back. Once he was back something had happened to him. Lucien and Tessa used to draw. Lucien lost his artistic skills and once they came back, his images were vulgar and disturbing. He became angry and then his plan scared Tessa and she fought against him. Lucien made fake IEDs and laid them out of an important building as people watched him. Tessa got to him to late and although they ran, a gun made them have to stop and Lucien got shot.

Lucien’s still alive but Tessa and her family moved back to Paris and they’d left their father behind.


Recommendation-
I recommend this mostly to teenage girls that enjoy romance and even more so, to those that know french.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book; I really did. But try as I might, I kept finding that the description sounded much better than the book actually was. I felt like it was rather slow at the beginning, and I thought the story was going one way with Lucien's behaviour and Tessa's isolation, but it seemed to go off in left field toward the end.

When I finally reached "The Next Part," it seemed to go from bad to worse...if that's possible. Seemed like Celeste Conway wanted to tie everything up in a way that was too easy, too happy. Sure there are hard bits, but I found it strange what happens between Tessa and Norah, as if nothing had changed between them. After the events of the novel, it seemed strange that it was so easy between them, at least to me.

In addition, there were other moments/details that made me uncomfortable. For example, Norah's and Mike's Halloween "costumes," which are really cultural appropriation.

[Nash Norden · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 towards the end when there’s finally something. It was really frustrating when a writer stashed everything important towards the ending.

Book Review: When You Open Your Eyes @ai-Books

[Jeannie Henry · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.
When Lucien planted the bombs outside the Embassy was when I became hooked on the book. Other than that, I became bored with his antics. I mean a circle project to rebel? Really?
Conway could have done better to further develop her characters, as well as the relationship between them. There isn't even that much of a plot to compensate for the lack of characterization and the novel becomes difficult to follow.
2/5

[Pat Jbhi · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 books and have enjoyed the differences among all of them.

[Hudachee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sort of confused with the storyline. Its like some pieces of the story doesn't connect really well. The only thing that made me finish the book was to find out what the hell was wrong with Lucien. The ending was kind of a cliff hanger. What happened to Lucien besides the fact that he is paralysed? I guess this book makes you think alot. Maybe the reason why her dad doesn't let her be with Lucien in the first place is because he had and affair with Lucien's mom.
The storyline is just an ok. I'm confused .

[Grace Mycek · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tessa and her family move to Buenos Aires and she gets sucked into a world of teens with lots of freedom. She falls in love with the artist Lucien, whose dark moods and creative ideas impress Tessa. But he's not what Tessa's parents want for her, and their sneaking around leads to trouble. Tessa's life spirals out of control, and her love for Lucien is the cause. When Lucien makes a decision that she can't support, she has to decide if her love for him is real.

[Lorrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[voiceofmadness · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard life lessons that were delivered brutally. The first read, I completely hated it because it didn't have the happy ending that I wanted and expected. The final chapters felt like they were taken from a different book. Second time reading it, much better! A second read gives you time to notice things you didn't before, and can see the story clearer. Not the best contemporary but one you'll remember.

[Tianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

It just felt for the whole book like something was missing, or that I was missing crucial parts in the book as if there were scenes I never read. It was like I had to play a guessing game just to know what the book was about. It had so much potential to be so much better, the story didn't do justice to the short summary on the back because it made it seem that there was so much more to it than there really was.

[shady boots · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Celeste · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Arimas Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well I dunno what to say. I am torn. The basis and plot were fucked up to the max. And the end was messy and rushed. And I was very upset with that. Now on the other hand the description was gorgeous and the language and creativity it was perfect. I could feel every situation and it was lively and painted beautifully astounding pictures. So I dunno what 2 say. 2.75.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought the story was really great. Actually finished it in a few hours - very rare for a book to capture my attention that deeply. The way Celeste Conway shows how deeply clinical depression affects not only the one who has it, but whoever they are involved with, is spot on. It's a fast read, high tension, and even higher stakes.

[Ashley Keeler · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first finished this, I thought I hated every solitary thing about it. But now that I look back, a certain nostalgia hits and I remember that no matter how stupid some of the characters were, there were a couple I did like. So my review went from one star to three. Teenagers do stupid things and so a lot of people might be able to relate to this in their own confusing way.

[Morgan Green]

It was...confusing, most of the time. But I wouldn't recommend anyone under the age of 15 reading this because although it's a teen book, there are not one but two sex scenes in it. This book was...interesting though.

[Karisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this book up for a dollar and am glad I didn't spend more money on it. The topics in this book were deep, the plot was really interesting but the character development and the even the plot was not really developed. It could have been so much more!