By: Jamie Steinberg
A Feast for the Eyes is a sci-fi thriller mixed with a tale of friendship, keeping secrets and self-esteem. When two teenage girls are attacked in the woods, the rumor of a local creature named “The Watcher” that has tormented the town through the years reignites. Hoping to snap a photo of The Watcher for her college scholarship portfolio, Zoe teams up with some classmates to put an end to the terror. What starts as a sci-fi story quickly mixes one too many subplots that lack what it takes to make this tale heart racing and visceral enough for fans to invest in.
Shay and Lauren are best friends who have started hooking up. Lauren doesn’t want to go public with their relationship and they begin to argue. Suddenly, a creature attacks and Lauren is badly injured. Lauren refuses to see Shay or anyone after the incident, but Shay is concerned as she has started to feel like the creature, a local phenomenon known as “The Watcher,” is tracking her and she believes Lauren feels it, too. Meanwhile, classmate Zoe Ramos, who has a passion for photography, is hoping to land a college scholarship in order to attend an art school. Unfortunately, her photography teacher thinks her portfolio isn’t up to par. Zoe allows Shay and her pal Jack to convince her that taking a photo of The Watcher would be just what she needs to punch up her work. Adding to the pack is Parker, who is friends with Zoe and Jack and a believer in the supernatural and folklore. They insert themselves into the mission and, thus, the four of them team up to expose the creature. And did I mention that Zoe has a crush on Shay, Jack’s home life is a mess, and Parker is struggling with their identity? Yeah, there is a lot going on with this book.
Author Alex Crespo overwhelms readers with so many aspects of the storyline rather than focusing on The Watcher and his demise. Eventually, readers learn that it’s the keeping of significant secrets that draws The Watcher to them. I would have loved to have centered more on the creature and its origin story, but with all the various subplots going on there just wasn’t enough space for it. We get a bit of backstory through others who have had their own run-ins with the creature, but no talk of the year it all started or possibly how it came to exist. I do love the suspense though that Crespo has peppered throughout the story. You never know when The Watcher will appear, and you desperately hope that Zoe can snag the photo she needs for that scholarship. And I did like that each main character had their own internal struggles that needed addressing – Jack’s home life, Parker’s identity and swim team concerns and Shay coming out to her family and friends? It feels like two stories told in one – with not enough focus on the beast and where it all began. My other qualm is with the ending of the book as there is vagueness surrounding the finality of one matter in particular; however, I can’t go any further so as not to ruin reading the story for yourself.
They saying, “Secrets, secrets are no fun. Secrets, secrets hurt someone,” is never truer than in the book A Feast for the Eyes. However, with so much going on, the focus of the heart of the story that initially hooks readers – a local creature terrorizing a town over the years – gets diluted. This would be a decent tale to tackle in time for Halloween, but don’t expect any frights or moments to startle enough to truly make it a proper thriller.