Visions by Kelley Armstrong

Not sure whether this is relevant or not, but I did not previously review Visions. I reviewed Omens and Betrayals, but not Visions for some reason. I’m not sure what that reason is, as my first two reads were 10-ish years ago. However, thinking about how I feel about Visions now, I think maybe I didn’t have the language to talk about the characters. I’ll get into that more as I write this review.

First and foremost: everyone needs some therapy. Olivia, due to her parental situation and dead body encounters. Gabriel, because of his past, mostly. James, to get over this toxic bullshit he’s got going on. Just therapy all around, might be smart.

I like the Ciara Conway mystery for what it brings in terms of world-building. We know that Cainsville has some weird crap going on, apparently to do with Fae. That’s definitively confirmed here. That Cainsville has some sort of perception filter is honestly par for the course. I like that Olivia and Gabriel are pushing through it. That said, the preternatural stuff is rearing its head a lot more firmly in Visions. It’s still woven neatly with the “normal” stuff, which I think is a plus.

Given that I’ve only read the first three Cainsville novels and a smattering of short stories so far… I honestly did not remember what happened with James. It is safe to say that I actively hate him. I hate the way he’s decided he basically owns Olivia despite her saying very clearly, several times, that she doesn’t want him. Hate it. Hate him. He’s really giving me Riley from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer vibes. More milk-toast and excluded from the actual goings on than everyone else and resenting it. Well… resenting that Olivia is not “his.” Blech.

I actually quite like Ricky, so far. He’s so far done very little wrong. He’s a charming character. Apparently has ties to something Cainsville-related… which I don’t remember if that’s made more explicit in Omens or one of the short-stories, but yeah… don’t know much about it from a Visions perspective anyway. Ricky’s a pretty good character.

I love that we get to see Gabriel’s trauma hoard, even if Olivia has no idea… I won’t say anything more about that, though, as it is late enough in the book to be a spoiler. But Gabriel does loosen up some more here, which is good.

Visions is largely about Olivia discovering and figuring out exactly what’s up with Cainsville and breaking more firmly into her own life away from the life she had at the beginning of the series. I enjoyed the ride and — despite rereading my Betrayals review — looking forward to the next one. I’m genuinely interested in learning more about the Fae in this “realm” and hope there’s more of that to come. 

*Amendment: I completely forgot Deceptions existed while writing this review. I also haven't reviewed it.

Favorite Line

     "I don't think angels are supposed to grant wishes."

     "They should. It would make them much more interesting." - Olivia Taylor-Jones & Rose Walsh