Loved this novel! Such a unique plot and unlike anything I've read before. The audio narrator was also fantastic!

This
Book
Was
Not
For
Me
The synopsis for this book was a solid 5/5. There was something there I wanted to know more about. And in all honesty, it did start off promising. the angst was there and our MC-Faith did pull a bit of empathy from my petty little heart.
But
It just didn't hold my attention. I zoned out way more than I tuned in.
Not my cuppa tea I guess

I really wanted to get to this one, as it seemed interesting. This was requested when I first found out about NetGalley and I had requested so many ARCs that I could not get to all of them before they were archived. If I can find this somewhere for a reasonable price, I will try to get it!

I enjoyed this cryptic story of a woman who might be able to see the future. I loved the circus setting, and the story unfolded at a satisfying pace; just as I thought I knew what was going to happen. something was added to change my mind. It kept me on my toes and I was glad to have both an audio copy accompanying my digital copy to allow for a quick read.


I received advanced audio and digital copies. All thoughts are my own.

3.5 ⭐️’s
When Faith was young it was discovered that she had the ability to see how a person would die. Working in a family owned carnival, you’d think that “the sight” would be a welcome addition. Instead it’s thought of as a curse and Faith is ostracized for a period. Wearing an eye patch to keep her gift concealed, Faith returns to the carnival until one fateful night when a friend asks her for a favor. A favor that opens up old wounds and old feelings. Things start to snowball from there when Faith sees the death of a famous customer and tells him. When it happens she’s under investigation for his death. Did she have something to do with his death? As things progress Faith starts to use her gift as she needs the money for her moms care. When she sees the death of a stranger she realizes she was responsible for killing him. She now must figure out if her visions are set in stone or if she has the ability to change the outcome. With a nice twist at the end, this was an entertaining read. Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Faith has a gift, a very unusual gift. She can look into someone's eyes and knows how they are going to die. At an early age she learned to hide her gift from others. Faith worked in her family's traveling carnival/circus until an incident with an unruly person resulted in her experiencing a vision in front of the entire audience. One would think this would be interesting for carnival goers and part of the show, but Faith is kicked out and lost her only way to pay for her mother's care.

Now with the support of her friend, she will use her gift to make money and is unsettled when she sees herself in a vision....

I had such high hopes for this book. I loved Golding's other books Little Darlings and The Hidden and was expecting to love this one as well. It is only 272 pages long but felt much, much longer. It was slow in parts and had a very strange vibe. When the book began, I could have sworn that the book took place during the Victorian age, but it takes place in the modern day. I might have enjoyed this more if this book had taken place in the past, it might have made more sense in terms of people's reaction to her visions.

I can't fault, Melanie' Golding's writing. It is top notch. She also does a great job creating tone and atmosphere in this book. I just had a hard time connecting with this book and the characters. The synopsis was intriguing and as I mentioned I had high hopes.

This is my third novel by Melanie Golding, and once more I was not disappointed by the captivating storytelling and creepy vibes. The Sight follows trick rider Faith Harrington, who has the power to foresee a person’s death. It first manifested when she was just a child, wintering with her family of circus performers on a farm over a frozen lake, when a dream suddenly came to her foretelling her brother’s drowning. Ever since that day, simply looking into someone else’s eyes will bring on a vision of how they will die. Faith’s helplessness to do anything to prevent these deaths is what ultimately drove her to try and blind herself by stabbing out her left eye.

Circus folk being the superstitious bunch they are, however, at first they tried to keep Faith out of the family business, and only after a promise from Faith herself to never use her gift did her Uncle Billy eventually allow her back in the ring. Gradually though, even those closest to her began to fear her and pull away, and then one night, disaster strikes in the middle of a show, and Faith is compelled to break her promise as a favor for a dear friend. Had that been the extent of it, all might have been forgiven, but soon afterwards, Faith is caught using her gift again, this time with the entire incident caught on camera, sealing her fate. Uncle Billy is left with no choice but to cast Faith out of her beloved circus and the only life she has ever known.

This banishment ends up setting in motion a series of events that leads to more hardship for Faith, now adrift in a world without support, with a mother whose end-of-life care is racking up some serious expenses. But our protagonist is resourceful and determined, using her ability to her advantage in a truly enterprising manner, selling her gift as a service—until one day, a look into a client’s eyes revealed herself as the killer in her vision of his future murder.

Up until this point, the novel had been a slow build-up of tension and suspense, alternating between the present and flashbacks which served to fill in the gaps in our main character’s backstory. However, as Faith’s journey takes an unexpected turn with the revelation of seeing herself in a vision of a stranger’s death, that was a truly WTF! moment, injecting a fresh jolt of momentum and shifting the narrative abruptly from slow-burn into edge-of-your-seat territory.

At the heart of it, The Sight is a depressing, tragic tale as well. Faith’s life has been marred by death, death, and more death. In a bold move, the author does not shy away from the emotional burden her protagonist carries, incorporating her trauma into creating a heavy, haunting atmosphere. In turn, Faith’s portrait is a picture of a woman who has faced one trial after another, but these experiences have also sculpted her character into one of remarkable depth.

Through all the darkness though, there is some light. While it feels a bit wrong to admit this, I did find some amusement in Faith exploiting her gift by advertising herself as an “Oracle of Death,” and it says a lot about our society that I find it completely believable that some would pay huge sums of money for the services she can provide. In the end, there is also a ray of hope and optimism—that is, right before it is dashed by the parting shot of a last-minute twist.

But that is the game you play when you pick up a Melanie Golding book. You enter a world where the ordinary and the paranormal coexist, and where the line between horror and thriller blurs. The Sight was another great read, showcasing her talent for writing eerie and emotionally charged stories.

Faith discovers at a young age and in a tragic way that she has the “gift” to foresee how someone will die. She and her family are carnival performers, but this is a dangerous gift and they demand Faith to keep it a secret. When an event occurs that makes Faith blurt out a vision, she is ostracized from the carnival. She’s not forced to leave but since she cannot work with the performers, she’s given the job of running a carnival ride so she can make money to support her dying mother. After an altercation with a customer, Faith blurts out yet another vision and it goes viral. Shortly after she senses she’s being followed and has a vision of herself killing the man following her. Now with no one except her best friend on her side, she finds out the pack up crew have raised her rates out of reach. She needs money fast and she also needs to find out who this man is and what circumstances must transpire to cause her to kill him at some future date. Could her gift help to raise the much needed money and also help her to change the events that lead to murder?

The characters here are richly drawn and I loved the story. This is a great and atmospheric paranormal thriller by the author of Little Darlings which I also enjoyed. I listened to the audiobook which is beautifully narrated by Ella Lynch @narrator.Ella

Thank you to @dreamscape_media @netgalley @melaniegoldingauthor for an advance audio copy.

I’m really hoping Book of the Month or Aardvark feature this as a September selection as I will definitely want a hard copy for my bookshelf. A great read for the fall season coming up!

The Sight by Melanie Golding is a story about Faith and her best friend Betsy. Faith has grown up with the circus and now since her mother Iris is ill with cancer, she is shunned by her faimly beacuse she can predict how you are going to die. Faith wears an eye patch so that she can't not see the furture events of death. When she was a little girl she saw how her bother and his friend were going to die. In order to make money Faith and Betsy come up with a plan to charge people for their readings of how they will die. It all goes well until a soldier who is going to be deployed steals their money and is now harrassing them. This book a very fast paced and had the most unbelievable plot twist you wouldn't even imagaine would happen. I have read Melanie Golding's Little Darlings and The Hidden books and absolutly loved them. This is a must for anyone who loves to go to fortune tellers or anyone who loves a good thriller.

To say I have a love of all things Carnival related would be an understatement, since reading a certain series even the mention of one with or without magic has me saying yes please.

In The Sight we have the story of Faith, a young woman who can see things, things no one is supposed to see, and while other members of her family have had similar gifts, Faith's is hers alone and the burden is cumbersome to say the least.

Told from dual timelines we see both current day Faith and Faith as a child learning to harness her gift, learning who she could tell, and learning that sometimes she would see things she didn't want to see and worse yet couldn't unsee.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing an advance copy of this e-book, I have voluntarily read and reviewed it and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Would you want the ability to see how people would die? At first it sounds interesting but then not so much. but Faith can, and it turns out to be so much more of a curse than a "gift". The Sight was such a fantastic book, full of twists and turns that I could barely catch my breath. You better get comfy because you won't be able to put this down until the very final page

At its core, this tale revolves primarily around Faith and the repercussions of her extraordinary “gift.”

Faith possesses a unique ability from birth, one that terrifies those who discover it, leading to her estrangement from her own family. Her gift allows her to foresee the impending deaths of those she gazes upon, a power that even her mother accepted, though she is now gone.

When Faith inadvertently reveals the manner of a pseudo-famous man’s demise, she loses control of her ability, thrusting her into the spotlight and subjecting her to the relentless scrutiny of the world. The resulting infamy becomes an inescapable burden.
The characters are portrayed with depth, and the atmospheric setting is masterfully crafted. The narrative seamlessly transitions between past and present, providing insight into both the family’s history and the enigmatic circus that surrounds them.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Reading Between the Wines book review #112/115 for 2023:
Rating: 3 ½ 🍷 🍷 🍷
Book: The Sight
Author: Melanie Golding
Available Now!!

Sipping thoughts: Very interesting concept. If you were able to find out the way you die would you want to? I kind of have 2 thoughts about it. If it is a death that is coming soon, I think it would ruin my life but if it is way in the future then maybe. Either way, I definitely think it would change my life. This is probably how Faith’s family felt when they ostracized her, she predicted a family member’s death. Faith’s gift is definitely a curse and reader’s will see how the “sight” has also made it hard for people to believe she has her head on straight. I was very surprised with the ending and enjoyed the book.

Cheers and thank you to @CrookedLaneBooks and @Netgalley for an advanced copy of @TheSight.

#TheSight #MelanieGooding #CrookedLaneBooks #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult

The Sight is perfect for spooky season, emphasis on the SPOOKY. It is important to note there is a supernatural element here that is unique from Golding's backlist. It worked very well for me, but I like the supernatural in my reading. The concept of looking into someone's eyes and seeing their death is terrifying alone, and what Golding does with this concept is unique and very very scary. I loved it.

🎪🎠🎪🎠🎪🎠🎪🎠🎪🎠🎪🎠🎪🎠🎪🎠🎪

The Sight is the latest release from Melanie Golding, author of Little Darlings and The Hidden. I enjoyed both of those books so much. I loved the dark atmosphere and eerie sense of dread that permeated both. Because of that, I was really excited to pick this one up. After completing The Sight, I would still consider myself a fan of Golding's writing, but unfortunately, this story just didn't do much for me.

I only have myself to blame. I really didn't do much investigation into this one prior to reading it. I sort of just anticipated a similar feeling story to the earlier works mentioned above, and it was comped to Stranger Things.
Sadly, this didn't feel like those previous works at all, nor did it feel like Stranger Things.

I felt no dread, no urgency, no suspense and no mystery. It felt very general Literary Fiction, which is admittedly, not my cup of tea. I was happy to have a copy of the audiobook, which I did feel was well narrated. Otherwise, it probably would have taken me weeks to get through this.

I can see that there is a solid story here and I think for people who enjoy the feel of a slow-burn Literary Fiction novel, this could be a good fit. Particularly, if you enjoy stories set in a carnival environment. I'm not sure if I have much else to say. I'm sort of at a loss. The story does nothing wrong, it just wasn't what I was looking for, nor what I would generally tend to pick up. My most dominant feeling while reading it was boredom.

In spite of this, I would recommend that everyone who thinks this sounds intriguing, give it a shot. Reading is highly subjective, as we all know, and your experience may be completely different than mine. In fact, you could end up with a new favorite.

I would caution against putting to much stake in the comp to Stranger Things in the synopsis though. I don't see that comparison at all and I think if you go into this wanting that, like I did, you could be disappointed.

Thank you to the publishers, Crooked Lane Books and Dreamscape Media, for providing me with copies to read and review. Regardless of my experience with this one particular story, I look forward to picking up Golding's next release!

I really enjoyed the author's previous books, where she mixes a suspenseful tale with folklore, and was expecting more of the same, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. The Sight doesn't contain much that's thrilling or suspenseful at all. The emphasis is more on the family drama surrounding the circus and Faith's supernatural gift. I had trouble getting into the story and feeling invested in the plot or characters. The beginning is slow, picks up in the middle, but then falls apart at the end, with not enough resolution, especially regarding the twist that's thrown in near the end. Although I was disappointed with this story, since I've enjoyed her previous ones, I'll continue to check out Melanie Golding's books in the future.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and Netgalley for my gifted copy.
3.5 stars
I really enjoyed the setting of this one, the circus environment with all its different personalities. Faith has a gift that is causing much more harm then good for her and everyone else. Melanie's writing has you pulled into the world of the circus and it just feels like you touch this place, like you've been there before. Its just magic.
The story was over all entertaining and had twists some I didn't see coming at all. Faith's gifted was so unique and they way people treated her kept me invested. The only problem for me was the pacing at some parts got slow and I had hard getting back into those parts.

There seem to be a lot of supernatural themed thrillers lately and this one was good. The main character is plagued by seeing people’s deaths. It haunts her wherever she goes and gets her into trouble. As a reader, I had empathy for her and admired her tenacity. The ending was the best part with a completely unexpected twist.

I enjoyed the last Golding book I read, but this book is a hard no from me.

If you’re going to write a book where your main protagonist comes from an insular and superstitious group of people like circus people, then you had better make sure to do your research and be accurate. This is my first and largest complaint. Golding simply didn’t do her research.

Who’s to know whether or not a British traditional circus would turn away a stakeholding member with the sight in real life? It’s certainly not impossible. But traditionally, circuses have been the safe haven of anyone a little different, weird, or otherwise seen as an outcast by society. It doesn’t make sense that someone would be cast out for having the sight, especially if they were family. Circus is all about found family.

Circuses also still have their own code and vernacular that’s used both during shows and when the public isn’t around. It doesn’t matter what country you’re in. The lingo pretty much doesn’t change much because it reaches across language barriers.

I was reading Golding’s book and I wasn’t seeing any of this. None of the terms that I knew the characters should be using were being spoken. And WHOMP. There goes your worldbuilding before the first half of the first act is done. If you don’t even go to the trouble to build your world, how are we supposed to care about your book?

Now, I know this book isn’t entirely about the circus, but nothing about this book made me care about it. The prose was blah. The plot was blah. The characters were blah. It just all simply felt like Golding had phoned it in.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

Ever since Faith was a child, she has had a "gift" - she could see when and how people would die. After foreseeing a family tragedy, Faith and her mother were ostracized from the family's traveling carnival. Years later, after she has learned to get her visions under control, Faith has returned to the family business, But when an unruly customer attacks her, she has a vision in full view of a crowd. She is banned once again from the carnival she loves, this time permanently—and loses her only source of income to support her dying mother. Desperate to support her mother and with only one friend standing by her, she sees no reason to continue hiding her ability and goes to dangerous lengths to earn money. But when she sees herself in a man’s future death, Faith must face her own fears of her powers and tune into her gift to fight against a future that would ruin her life—and end someone else’s.

I loved this author's previous two novels, so I was excited to read this one as well. Unfortunately, this one was a bit of a miss for me. It was a slow burn from the beginning until almost the end of the book. It was told in alternating timelines between past and present, so you saw Faith growing up and then present day, with all that was happening with her visions now, and her mom dying. I did really enjoy when she went a bit crazy - tossing out the visions to all of the school kids like she was tossing out pieces of candy, when her mom forced her to go to school for the first time. I was going to rate this a solid 3.5, but the unexpected twist at the end bumps my rating up to a 4. I was not expecting that, and that was a good way to end the book. I do want to mention there is one scene that was a little stomach turning, so if you have a weak stomach, just be forewarned.