For some reason any story that in some way features a circus or a carnival always gets my interest. Perhaps it’s because I can’t recall ever going to one and a part of me feels like I’ve missed out somehow. Anyway, our main character Faith grew up in the circus/carnival and discovered at an early age she possessed a very special gift. She can see how a person will die. Now I swear I’ve either read another book or seen a movie with a similar setup, but I’m okay with it because it’s a heck of a hook. And when knowledge of her gift comes to light it makes her a bit of a pariah. Seriously how can you want to be around someone who can tell you how you are going to die? Now as an adult things are worse than ever. She has to struggle to pay for her mother’s care. She has almost no friends. And then she sees how a stranger is to die and it throws her entire world out of whack. This is quite the twisted tale and I couldn’t help but sympathize with Faith. I’d like to thank Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of The Sight.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R1YKABFQH4PSNF/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

The Sight is a story about a young woman named Faith who has the ability to foresee how people die. Her family of carnival workers are superstitious and view her ability as a curse, outcasting her from being in the ring with them.

The atmosphere of the carnival, vivid descriptions of the premonitions, and tension between the family had my full attention. After an encounter with a soldier around the halfway mark the book was unputdownable for me. I needed to know who he was and if the vision of his death came true or not.

In addition to a unique story this novel also delves into deep reflections on mortality and dying. There was a deathbed conversation between Faith and her mum that had me choked up reading.

#JoeyStandishDies #EyePatchGirl #OracleOfDeath

What to expect: Non-linier timelines, unreliable narrator, family drama, & spooky premonitions.

4⭐

If you enjoy a dark circus story, give this book a try. I enjoyed it, but the pacing was just a bit slow to me. I was excited to give this author a try will be sure to look for her other books because the writing was good. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this e-arc for my honest review.
3.5 stars

Faith grew up being part of a circus act. Faith as got a curse: she can see how a person is going to die. This had a big impact on her life. The premises sounds good, but the book was a little too slow paced for me. The story felt to be dragging on for a while. I think this book wasn't really for me.

I received this book from NetGalley in return for a honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books and Dreamscape Media for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the latest book by Melanie Golding and wonderfully narrated by Ella Lynch - 4 stars!

Faith has a gift - the ability to see someone else's death by looking into their eyes. But even though a similar gift has been passed through generations, Faith's ability has caused her to be ostracized even by her family and the circus they own. When she sees herself in a man's death, she begins to really be afraid. Desperate for money to take care of her mother, she and her only friend, Betsy, decide to take control and profit from her gift.

This was a mixture of genres, and if it would have been set in the past when circuses were more popular, I think it would have added to the horror aspect. There was a good twist involved that caught me unawares, and the book kept me interested until the end.

I tend to love this author and find myself drifting seamlessly through her books. I had a harder time getting into the turmoil here and caring about Faith, as ironic as that might be.

🎠🎠🎠.5 / 5

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I was excited about this one because I’ve heard great things about this author! While I sort of had different expectations going into this one, I did still enjoy it. This book defies any one genre, which is super unique. The author’s writing is exceptional, and the dark and eerie setting she created was intriguing. I felt the mystery and thriller parts were lacking a bit, but again, I think I unintentionally went into this one thinking it was going to be more of a thriller. If you like dark stories about the circus and/or theme parks, this one’s for you!

I have a physical copy of THE HIDDEN by this same author and can’t wait to read it!

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.

Although this was not my favorite of her books, I will still be excited to read what she writes next.

First line: By the time she left the wagon after breakfast, she had almost forgotten about the dream.

Summary: Faith has the gift of the sight. By looking into someone’s eyes she can see how they will die. It is a horrible gift that she wishes she could banish but over the years she has learned how to limit its power. Then one night an unruly carnival guest leads her to make a prediction for the whole world to see. By using her gift she has broken the carnival rules and is banished from the only world she knows. Without a way to earn money for the care of her dying mother, Faith has to turn to this cursed gift and the consequences it may entail.

My Thoughts: I was very excited by the premise of Golding’s new book but I was a bit underwhelmed by it in the end. So much of the beginning was talking of the past and just her life while hiding her gift. Things did not really pick up until the last quarter of the book when Faith starts to use her gift more freely and sees things she would love to forget. There are several twists at the end that were shocking. I did not see them coming at all which gave it a little higher rating. It was fun and quick with a fun atmosphere but just not Golding’s best work.

What a horrible "gift" to have- the ability to see someone else's death by simply looking into their eyes. This has caused Faith no end of problems and angst even to the point where she's been ostracized by her blood and circus families. The only one left to her is her pal Betsy. The two of them hatch a moneymaking scheme that goes horribly wrong,. And then there's a twist. This is an odd genre crossing novel that has a bit of horror but the most interesting bits to me were set at the circus and within Faith's family. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

I read this book because I have enjoyed everything I've read from Ms. Golding. I was not drawn in by the it taking place within the circus. I know a lot of people love books centered on circuses but I am not one of them. I could have done with less circus. But, again, I really enjoy this author! I felt for Faith and how she was ostracized by her circus family for her gift. I never quite understood why no one had thought to use it to make money, especially in a circus environment. The story kept the reader on their toes. I had another lingering question throughout the book that was answered at the end. A good solid thriller!

This was my 3rd Melanie Golding book (I enjoyed Little Darling and The Hidden) but I DNF'd at about 20%. I guess I'm just not about that circus life. I felt like the pace was too slow and I was having trouble being endeared to the storyline that had so much to do with the ins and outs of circus life and wasn't captured by the characters. I just could not focus. The writing is fine but just not the right story for me.

I thought the premise of this book was really interesting, and Loved the cover. A woman who lives and works at the circus run by her family can see how people will die when she looks into their eyes. I mean that seems pretty cool right?
Well, I had a hard time getting into this one. Faith is struggling, she never uses her power under the threat that if she does she will be kicked out of the only home she's ever known, she can't afford any accidents as she has to pay for her dying mother's care. When she ends up seeing something she shouldn't, basically the entire circus turns against her. People she has known since she was a child refused to work with her and force her out.
I liked Faith well enough but I really didn't like any of the other characters, and it takes a good while for the danger to present itself, and once it did it just didn't feel very thrilling to me. There are a couple of good twists, especially at the very end, but it just came too late I think.

While this one, in particular, didn't work for me, I have really enjoyed her other works and will definitely read more by this author,

My insides might have landed on my outside after concluding this book. You know, I am all about creepy books but horrified to the core?

Who am I kidding, I loved it.

Drumroll please…. The Sight

Even the title is horrifying but the book will leave you complete “shook” and begging for your mama. If I wasn’t checking under my bed before, I sure am now …

Teaser:

In the tradition of Camilla Sten and Victor LaValle, Melanie Golding’s newest novel is a chilling carnival-set suspense, perfect for fans of Stranger Things.

Look into her eyes—she can tell you how you'll die . . .

As a child, Faith acquired the ability to see when and how people would die—a “gift” she neither wanted nor could get rid of.

After foreseeing a family tragedy and being ostracized, Faith learns to control her visions, and returns to perform in her family’s traveling carnival. But when an unruly customer attacks her, she has a vision in full view of a crowd.

She is banned from the carnival she loves—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.

A Pyschic Circus Performer

2.5 stars

The Sight is a psychological thriller about a circus performer whose psychic powers puts her in danger.

Faith, a circus performer, has had the “sight,” which allows her to “see” people’s deaths. When her powers become known, she becomes ostracized by her family, friends, and fellow circus performer. She does all that she can to hide her abilities, but when an incident occurs, she uses her“sight” to reassure a friend, putting her life in turmoil. The consequences of her actions result in trauma, and danger, ultimately causing Faith to lose her place in the only community she has ever known.

The premise of this book is alluring--I was intrigued by the circus and Faith’s powers, but unfortunately, the execution is lacking.

Faith is the main narrator. Other chapters are narrated by Faith’s only friend, Betsy. The tone is dark and broody. I had trouble remembering that the novel takes place in the present because outside of cell phones and references to screens, the tone and setting feel like a time in the past.

The pacing is painfully SLOW, especially in the beginning. But the background of the circus and Faith's childhood kept me interested. Nothing really happens in the first 50% of the novel. The events are dragged out, and while the ending offers two big twists, they come too late to make an impact.

I loved Golding’s last book, The Hidden, in which she seamlessly weaved in myth. I was expecting the same in The Sight. Somehow, the elements of circus and psychics don’t fully come together. The twists threw me a bit, but rather than add to what I was reading, they took me out of the story, and I felt a bit cheated in the end.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane for gifting me an early copy of this book. Below is my honest review:

This is my second book by Melanie Golding. I loved Little Darlings so much, and was really excited about this one. Apparently, I somehow missed getting my hands on The Hidden, so I'll have to remedy that as soon as possible.

The Sight involves a character named Faith who, since childhood, has had the ability to see how people are going to die when she makes eye contact with them. It causes strife on the family run circus she works for, both as a child and as an adult, when the powers are used. Most of the circus workers feel like it's an evil curse and not a gift, so they treat her very poorly over the years.

As the story progresses, we see her come to grips with her gift, learning not to shun it. Of course, it takes a long time, most of the book, for real progress to be made.

I wasn't pleased with one aspect of the ending, so I had to cut a star. I can't mention it here, because I don't want to spoil.

Included in that star reduction is my confusion as to the first time her powers showed up - did it happen while she was sleeping, rather than when she made eye contact? My curiosity towards that inconsistency was hard to shake.

All in all, another win for Golding. I can't wait to catch up on The Hidden and very much look forward to whatever great tale she comes up with next.

Definitely recommended, especially for fans of dark, horror-adjacent-but-not-quite-horror paranormal tales that have deep characters and gripping plots.

Circus setting, premonition visions, and a creepy cover? Heck yes man. This was a cryptic story involving twists I did not see coming and characters that were well fleshed out. 10/10 recommend this book!

3.5 stars

Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book.

I am a Melanie Golding fan and have now read all of her books. This story was up and down for me. There were parts where I felt the action and suspense were really good, and other parts in the middle that dragged for me. I didn't feel like the plot really got going until around 40% which was a bit too far into the book for me. I feel like the actual focus of the book wasn't really so much about the sight that Faith had, but more about the circus/carnival life and how that sight affected her life. That was interesting, and there are certainly some unlikable characters along the way, but some of the story just didn't come together in a cohesive manner for me. The twist near the end was a bit of a surprise, but I was pretty sure I knew it was coming.

Overall, I feel like there could have been a reduction in the number of characters because for the most part I wasn't able to keep track of who was who for the peripheral characters. There were too many to keep track of for my brain.

I like Golding, but this was probably my least favorite of her books so far. I do look forward to what she will bring in the future and hope that she brings back her character DS Joanna Harper from her previous novels.

Faith got a gift for telling how people would die. It lead to lots of complications in her life, including seeing her own role in someone’s death. She must now work to prevent that.

I normally like when it flips from present to past between chapters but for this plot, it didn’t work for me. Others might like the writing here more though.

This was a fantastic dark read, filled with death and familial ties, all set against the backdrop of a circus.

Told in dual linear timelines, past and present, we see Faith at 22 and also at 10 years old. Born a Harrington and raised in the circus lifestyle, it is all she has ever known. But the family’s past has seen some serious tragedy. She along with other passed-on women in her family were given a special sight, one that everyone else fears. Faith can see how you will die by looking into your eyes and it all started at 10, when she dreamed about her brother, Tommy’s death. There was a fracture in the family after that, causing people to distance themselves from her. But she always had her mother and her best friend, Betsy.

Now, while still having a sharehold in the family business, she is still there, but under contract not to look into people’s deaths. When a freak accident happens and her friend asks her to do something she shouldn’t do, her world begins to crumble… leaving people even more afraid of her.

What continues is a spiral of events that leave Faith on the verge of losing everything. Her limits are tested, she grieves losses, but ultimately she finds what she is capable of.

I thought this book was masterful. I found myself not trying to read deeper into bigger meanings, just happy to be enjoying the ride. And that made the read so much more enjoyable. I wasn’t looking for twists, just reveling in a really good book.