VisionSight

by Connie Lacy

Jenna Stevens sees the future. But only when she looks into her loved ones’ eyes. And it’s driving her crazy because she can’t prevent all the misery and heartache lying in wait. She quickly decides the gift of “vision-sight” she inherited from her mother is actually a curse.

So she distances herself from everyone she cares about, throwing herself into her acting career and the arms of a young director. But she’s haunted by her visions and begins drinking as her life spirals out of control.

VisionSight is the story of a young woman’s search for courage as she tries to figure out how to help the people she loves. What she doesn’t realize is that she must save herself as well. A heartfelt novel of secrets and unexpected love.

Magical Realism and Contemporary Women’s Fiction.

Genres: Paranormal

290 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 12, 2015

About the author

Connie Lacy writes fast-paced novels about gutsy young women struggling with moral dilemmas and life-changing decisions, all while falling in love. She writes speculative fiction, time travel and historical fiction.

Connie worked for many years as a radio news anchor and reporter. Many of her books feature journalists. Social justice and women’s rights are themes in some of her books.

She loves beautiful old trees, sparkling rivers and learning about the history of our forebears, recent and ancient. She’s fascinated by the idea of time travel.

She and her husband live in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.


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Reviews

[William Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Think it would be cool to be able to look into the future? Think again.

In VisionSight, we learn early on that clairvoyance is not a gift but a curse. When the mother of Jenna Stevens dies, that curse is passed on to her daughter: as Jenna looks into the eyes of someone she cares about, she sees their future in a burst of images that literally knocks her off her feet. The images are often unpleasant—accidents, illnesses, tragedies of every stripe that she feels helpless to prevent. So she adopts the only strategy she can think of to spare herself that torture—she stops looking into the eyes of those she loves, and determines not to love anyone else again. In so doing, she condemns herself to a mental solitary confinement, abandoning friends, seeking solace in the acting career to which she aspires, numbing her pain with alcohol and casual sex.

Author Connie Lacy gives us a grim take on a theme we’ve all played with: What would we do if we had a crystal ball and could see the future? In our fantasies, we’re apt to imagine picking the winners at horse races and lotteries, betting fortunes on the outcome of a Super Bowl or World Series. Instead, Lacy confronts us with how punishing clairvoyance can be, and the desperate lengths someone would go to escape that torment.

The book is well-edited, the writing is crisp, the characters are fleshed out. I do admit to moments of frustration as Jenna continues to make one bad decision after another. “Wake up, girl!” I found myself thinking on more than one occasion. Thankfully, she does.

A compelling and sometimes heartbreaking read.

[Ginger Bensman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jenna, the engaging protagonist in Connie Lacy’s novel, Visionsight, is faced with the sudden death of her mother, and the almost simultaneous discovery that she has inherited the ability to see glimpses of the future when she looks into the eyes of people she loves. It doesn’t take Jenna long to understand that some futures are too sad for her to bear, and she begins a self-destructive cycle (distancing herself from the people she loves and drinking too much).

I liked Jenna and rooted for her, but there were moments in this novel when I wanted to grab her by the collar and tell her to stop feeling sorry for herself—but then, this is a novel of self-discovery and Jenna has a lot to learn. This is an enjoyable read (not as tightly constructed as Lacy’s, The Time Telephone ), but well-edited, and Lacy has a real gift for romance.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG I wish I could give this more than 5 stars! This is a refreshing, unique story about having the gift of second sight. Meticulously told with depth of characterization.The author does a great job of dealing with the impossible in a realistic and quite possible way. I love these types of magical realism fantasy’s but it all hinges on making the reader suspend relief and making the magical quality seem realistic and ordinary, which Connie Lacy does brilliantly. Throughout I felt the characterization of the heroine hit every beat perfectly. I was so caught up in the story that I finished this in one day. Perfect holiday reading.

[Allies Opinions · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book put an interesting twist on the visions of the future premise. At first, it seemed as though it was going to be nothing but heartache for Jenna. Then she is able to manipulate the visions and alter the trajectory of the future.

I like premonition novels. I like the whole idea of premonitions. Honestly, how many of us wish we could see some future mistake we are going to make in time to fix it? I can think of about a million stupid things I’ve done that could have been prevented.

This one has an interesting spin at first with the ability to only see loved one’s futures. That made this interesting for sure. Those are the ones we would be the most scared to see. But, aren’t they also the most important ones?

Jenna spends a lot of the book wallowing in despair due to the things she has seen in peoples futures. I can’t say I’d do any different.

For the most part I really enjoyed this book. However, there were a few things that just kept me from absolutely loving it.

First off I felt like I didn’t really get to know Jenna the way I wanted. As a character she felt far away and didn’t stir my emotions the way she should have.

Secondly, the speed at which Brian and Jenna fall in love. Normally this isn’t an issue. I don’t mind love at first sight stories. I need something more than what I got here though. They spent very little time together and Jenna seemed mostly aloof. It seemed like the book went from hey there’s that brian guy working on my lawn and Jenna passing out drunk to oh my god I am suddenly in love with Brian.

The premise of the book is great. I would read it again. The characters just need a bit more fine tuning.

[Skye Collett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I scrolled onto Connie Lacy's VisionSight last night thinking I'd read a chapter or two to get me to sleep... that was 11.50pm. At 3.35am I finished it! Too engrossed to tear my now weary eyes away.

What a fantastic read! The main character Jenna is the type of women I love to read about. Likeable and centred until tragedy strikes and she finds herself grasping for anything and anyone to keep her treading water... the realness of her stuggle is honest and relatable. The supporting characters believably colourful, keeping the storyline fast paced and engaging.
VisionSight: a Novel

[Constance McKee · Rating 5 out of 5]

“VisionSight” is an excellent reading experience! The premise is unique—being able to see the future in loved ones’ eyes—and Connie Lacy weaves this fun idea into a fascinating plot. She has created engaging, complex characters. Her writing is crisp, with just the right touch of lyricism. As an Atlanta resident, I especially appreciated the way she uses the Atlanta area setting to full advantage—enough to make it interesting, without being overdone. I highly recommend this well-written book.

[Christina McMullen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains an interesting premise: a woman inherits a talent for seeing the future if her loved ones upon the moment of her mother's death.

Certainly, I could see why someone might freak out or want to live the life of a hermit after that, which is exactly what Jenna does. But on the other hand, it's pretty easy to see right off that some of her visions seem to be the direct result of her not wanting to deal with seeing the future (for example pushing her boyfriend away leads him to date her best friend and by quitting her job as a teacher she may have adversely affected a student with a bad home life).

But I stuck with the story and yes, eventually she comes to terms with her gift and stops acting on impulse, which is great, but there are still some loose ends. Specifically, throughout the story, Jenna is spiralling into alcoholism. She drinks a bottle of wine while on painkillers, which is pointed out as being bad, but suffers no consequences and then, all of the sudden, she's sober. She has love and acceptance and we never hear anything about her drinking problem again.

Outside of those issues, the story is good and kept my interest. I would definitely recommend it to fans of romance and angsty drama.

[Lucretia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jenna has a lot thrown at her all once. When her mother dies, as if that wasn’t enough, she discovers a gift for seeing peoples' futures. The gift is more of a burden to her as she struggles with the awful futures she can’t help seeing. It’s easy to see why she spirals out control, but painful to watch, making this a very emotional read.

There are a lot of people, friends, and family, and even love interests who care deeply for her and try to reach out and stop her world from spinning. They can’t, though, because this is about her coming to terms with life, her ability, and who she is now. In addition to the losses and gifts, there is a thread of romance, which was also nice.

What makes this so profound is that the answers are not easy, they do not come to her in a flash. While the journey is difficult, I was glad to share it with her. There are some very unique angles in regard to the visons that was refreshing and the end was wonderful.

This is my second book from this author and I will certainly be reading more.

[Camille Marino · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story with riveting plot twists that explores several themes but ultimately challenges the ideas of destiny and self-determination; being at the mercy of circumstance or actively deciding to assume control.

I enjoyed watching Jenna Stevens navigate a world she had to shield her gaze from those that she cared for deeply or loved. And the weight she carried would express itself in some self-destructive behaviors until she ultimately drives her car drunk into a house full of family and friends. A catastrophic event that proves to be the catalyst in her re-gaining control. Good or bad, gift or curse, our heroine takes us through an evolution of events and learns that things simply are; their value, however, lies in us -- in how we choose to view them or use them or find love and beauty in them. Indeed, once Jenna takes control of her own abilities, real love found its way through. And the real beauty and wonder of life was nicely brought into focus with the birth of her brand new, baby brother. A lovely story that is sure to enchant any reader.

[Mei Li · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like everything about the story, from the structure to the premise. It opens with a tragedy: the death of Jenna’s mother. This turns out to be the precursor of an even greater misfortune: the discovery of her clairvoyance. The irony of the story really grabs my attention. Has Jenna inherited a gift or a curse? A person with a vision is usually regarded as a superhuman, but we often overlook the downside of possessing such supernatural power. Jenna’s vision reminds her of sufferings among her loved ones and she can’t even do anything about it. Her ‘gift’ nearly destroys her life. Connie Lacy did a good job in drawing the readers into the story. I really sympathized with Jenna’s predicament and waited eagerly for something good to happen. I was very thankful to see the transition, which happened smoothly. I’m happy about the ending although I do feel sorry for Alex and wish his part were done a bit differently.

[Valerie Albemarle · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
This book is a well-written and very pleasant romance with elements of the supernatural. The story is told in the first person; the writing is simple and down-to-earth, reflecting the main character's feelings. Jenna takes steps to learn of her ancestry and find the roots of her curse/gift, but is able to dissociate from this quest as she pursues her passion for theatre. Indeed, theatre comes across as a distinct and separate theme that stops abruptly as Jenna returns to examining her visionsight toward the end of the story. While the romantic aspect of the story is its strongest point, there is the sense that Jenna has not really earned her happy ending as she seems to have learned little from her initial breakup.

[Jana Petken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Connie Lacy’s novel, Visionsight was a lovely, unique read about Jenna, a young woman who develops the second sight when her mother tragically dies. I tried to imagine what it would be like if one could see into the future through others' eyes. What if Jenna were to see something terrible, a disaster, tragedy? How would she cope with these visions should she get close to someone? In this novel, Ms Lacy gently describes how Jenna copes in love and life and does it well.

An enjoyable read that made me think, a little slow at times, but well worth reading on as the dilemma Jenna faces develops.

An uplifting, poignant read. I have read other books by this author and will definitely read her next offering.

[SA · Rating 5 out of 5]

With her mother’s tragic death, Jenna doesn’t have the time to mourn as she inherits the ability to see the future. Is that a curse of a gift? The only good thing that comes of this ability is that she now understands her mother’s predicament. The clairvoyance brings the two together after her death. Soon Jenna distances herself from everyone she cares about as she soon understands that ignorance is bliss. This is a story of self-discovery and transition. I love how Connie Lacy takes a supernatural theme (the time telephone was the same) and covers issues that pertain to each one of us, drawing the reader into the story and the character in such a way that it is a breathless read. Loved it, as always.

[Cherime MacFarlane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good solid read. The character has a lot on her plate when this starts out, and the weight drags her down. But she finds the courage to confront the issues and doesn't let herself get dragged down into the negativity that lurks waiting to suck her up. The romance is well done and I will review this one in several places because it it a good book.

[Reg Shell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magical Realism

knew I would love this from the opening page. Jenna’s story had instant appeal. Great potential here for a series.

[Anna Fantabulous · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would we still be who we are if we could see the future? Would we still make the same choices? Be with the same partners, friends and workplaces? Would we be happy and content or miserable? Would we be rich? What about death? Would we attempt to prevent it - whether our own or a loved one’s?

Jenna Stevens strives for answers when she finds herself as the inheritor of a long line of premonition-makers. Her great-great grandparents committed suicide - presumably because of their inability to come to terms with their ‘gift’ - her grandmother and mother did not fare well either and lived lonely lives, thinking of the gift as a curse and drinking themselves to death. The ball falls in Jenna’s court, so to speak, just when she is fairly content in life - her parents are divorced and settled, her father is married to Meg - Jenna is in a loving relationship with her boyfriend Alex, she also is teaching kindergarten at Cliffdale Elementary where one of her favorite students is Daisy and she has high hopes for her acting career - waiting to be called for audition in a new play at Midtown Theatre.

All changes when she has visions of the future: her father’s death, her stepmother standing over his grave with a boy (her step-brother), her boyfriend Alex cheating with her best friend Tia, Tia burning a house down due to alcoholism, Daisy ending up old and broken. All this rattles Jenna so much that she escapes the only way a young woman escapes! She cuts off ties to the boyfriend, the best friend, leaves the school, keeps her distance from her father whose death is eminent and she has no idea of when, where, how or why. She has casual wild sex with the director of the play she is cast in, lets a complete stranger mow her lawn, runs a useless exercise of tracking family history through a genealogist, and - while she is a success as a stage actress - slowly finds solace in drinking away the sorrow of knowing the future.

The big question is would the boyfriend have cheated if she had not already left him? Would she have focussed on her acting career if she still was a teacher? Would she have been better, kinder, more attentive, if she had not been given the gift of seeing the future? Would she have found the love of her life?

As Jenna herself opines in the end, “I no longer viewed life as a river that gravity forced over a precipice. There were no Fates spinning our destinies with a thread of life – nothing is necessarily inevitable, except for death.”

I received a pdf of the book in exchange for a fair, unbiased and non-reciprocal review.

[Janet Eshenroder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two and a half stars. It was a fast, easy read. Light, summer reading. I had trouble relating to Jenna. Her life was on such a spiral downward. Plus, I wasn't connecting with her reasoning. I think other readers may have an easier time of it and find the story more enjoyable, especially if they have limited personal psychic experience.

Jenna's reactions don't ring true to the psychics I've known. Hiding the strange events from others? Of course. That part is well known and understandable. But even those of us who grew up spontaneous psychics learned to deal with it from early childhood, figuring out how to fit the pieces together to create a stable life. Is all this to be blamed on Jenna getting her "gift/curse" later in life? (I also should mention that psychic tendency frequently follows in families and I haven't ever heard of the talent suddenly passed down with an issue of only "one person per family at any one time." Perhaps that is my lack of knowledge. I'm open to hearing live stories.)

Jenna had a stable father, plus a mother who we discover suddenly changed after the death of her own mother. Yet, Jenna still had a relatively stable lifetime. She knew she was loved and cared for. Why follow in the mother's footsteps and make the exact same mistakes with personal relationships?

Jenna watched the mother's transformation, how that destroyed the marriage and impacted Jenna's relationship with her mother. Is that enough reason for Jenna to befriend girls who are not accepted into the normal school circles? Perhaps but, after all Jenna's been through, it's hard to believe she would follow in her mother's footsteps and withdraw, rather than looking for other options. Or that Jenna's mother would not brought her up preparing her to be strong enough to handle the family curse. What mother would not at least help make her child resilient and able to reason out new options?

Luckily, though two thirds of the book is the downward spiral, the author does bring it around to a positive ending.

[James Cardona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Judging the book more as a romance and less as a contemporary-fantasy or magical realism book, I think the romance sections were well written and really solid. In fact, I think Lacy’s real skill lies in her depiction of relationships and the interplay of emotions in dialog. If you are looking for a quick, page-turning romance, then this book is worth the price.

Vision sight is listed as magical realism and romance. I would certainly switch the order of those two categories. The story follows the main character that learns she has acquired her mother’s dramatic, terrible and awesome gift to see into the future of others. She then spends almost the entirety of the book in a downward spiral of self-loathing and avoiding using this gift-curse at all costs. During this portion of the book there are multiple romantic relationships with multiple men.

I will not give away much more of the plot, but only say the premise of the book is based upon the magic of her gift, but this is not really dealt with in detail, but is mainly used as a device that makes the main character miserable. I initially thought, after the first few chapters, that the book would be mostly about the gift, but in fact it is mostly about her romantic relationships which are very well done.

[Julie Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this paranormal story about a woman who inherits vision sight. Yes, it is also a romance, which I don't usually read, but it was so well written that it kept my interest through until the end.

The concept of vision sight is fascinating whether real or not, and this tale made it believable.

Some good characters, although, I have to say that Jenna was annoying at times, and a little contradictory, but overall made for a suitable protagonist.

Certainly an entertaining and intriguing read.