Where Bluebirds Fly

PARANORMAL, NEW ADULT:  Verity Montague and her brother John live in Massachusetts of 1692, during the height of the Salem Witch Trials. Both are decidedly different for their time; John has Asperger’s Syndrome, and Verity a form of Synesthesia; a disorder which causes her brain to process information in unique ways, and involving color. Before long, John’s oddness has him being pulled up on charges of being a witch, leaving Verity desperate to save her brother’s life. The story cuts to modern times, and to Truman Johnstone, who also experiences a form of Synesthesia. He runs an orphanage, taking on the task of helping children with various sensory disorders. Verity and True somehow manage to meet up in a cornfield near the orphanage by way of a ‘gateway in time’. When True learns of Verity’s plight, he attempts to help her rescue her brother and bring him back to current times. 

Where Bluebirds Fly is a unique and educational story about sensory disorders, perhaps a little too educational. Where the story could be quite effective as a time-travel love story, it often bogs down, reading like a research essay. The witch hunts and trials are fascinating; Chapman obviously did painstaking study on the subject. The story, however, is a difficult and occasionally confusing read. The flow of the story is often lost with frequent transitions of focus between educating the reader to entertaining the reader, as well as the awkward shifts in time. The stilted language and word phrasing is also a bit difficult for the reader to work through. Overall, it is an ambitious project, but would ultimately be a much easier and enjoyable read if the story had not tried to take on so many different topics in one book. 

Faith Turner