Book Review The Sight of You

Lucy reviews Richard and Judy Book Club 2021 pick The Sight of You by Holly Miller

A romantic tale to melt a heart of ice and make the driest-eyed reader weep.’ Richard & Judy

Synopsis

Joel is haunted by prophetic dreams about his loved ones. Sometimes they’re good, sometimes they’re mundane and sometimes he has no choice but to intervene. He lives a reclusive life trying at all costs to not love anyone else. That is until he meets Callie. Callie is grieving the loss of her best friend, Grace. Feeling lonely and unfulfilled, she craves direction whilst her life is in limbo.

Joel needs to let go of the future.

Callie needs to let go of the past.

Their epic love helps them both start to live for today, until Joel has a dream about how it will end.

Review

Joel’s dreams create intrigue from the offset and throughout. And despite the high concept narrative, the story feels understated and contemporary. Miller perfectly interweaves vivid description with compelling narrative. Her writing is so emotive, she really knows how to tug at a person’s heartstrings.

The book brilliantly calls into question human’s need for certainty and our collective fear of the unknown. By focusing on Joel’s distress in regard to the future you realise that knowing exactly where your life is heading isn’t necessarily the answer to present day worries. As a person who has the tendency to get anxious about the unknown, this aspect of the novel brought me a lot of perspective. Ultimately this is a life-affirming read that encourages you to be brave, take risks and put yourself first. A beautiful expression of an unlikely romance and what it means to live your life to the fullest. Warning: tissues at the ready.

For fans of…

One Day or Me Before You. They will adore this heart-wrenching, tear-jerker of a debut.

Rating

4 stars

One Word Summary

Heartbreaking