Eyes on the Horizon

by Carrie Lynn Fazzolari

Claudia wants to grieve the death of her best friend, Maryann in her own way – by getting blind drunk, sleeping off the hangovers and living in isolation, while hearing the voice of Maryann, just like she’d been doing before the psychiatric ward. But her psychiatrist, her father and the judge won’t have it.Maryann was killed in a car accident Claudia cannot remember. Her psychiatrist tells her its dissociative amnesia – caused by trauma and stress. Claudia is court-ordered to undergo therapy so she can talk about her best friend, her former fiancée and her past, including her mother’s suicide when she was a teenager, and the strained relationship with her father, who remarried and started a new family.
She is forced to get a job at the failing and decrepit Mangione Bookstore and go to “imaging” therapy which opens her up to a dream-like world where she works through her grief.
Just when it begins to help, and she forms friendships and finds hope, her fiancée, Nigel returns with secrets of his own. Claudia’s mental anguish and physical aberrations intensify, and she must uncover the truth, or her life will not be worth living.
Contemplative, warm and enchanting, Eyes on the Horizon is the story of a heartbroken, but hopeful woman whose introspection and yearning make for an engrossing journey as she realizes the greatest honor she can offer to her loved ones is to live her life fully.

398 pages, Paperback

Published May 28, 2024

Reviews

[Corinne Leone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book about friendship, love, and overcoming your biggest fears and shortcomings. Well-written ....hard to put down! The characters are well thought out and relatable.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This debut novel hits you in the heart. Friendship, family and the difficulty grief can bring to your circles. I enjoyed every twist and turn as the main character navigated through her journey with grief.

[Lydia Armstrong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eyes on the Horizon is a story about grief. Sometime after losing her best friend in a car accident, Claudia is lost in old memories and alcohol until her own life becomes so upended, she is mandated to seek therapy. Pros: I couldn’t put it down. I finished the book in a few days, eager to find out what happens next. The plot grabs you and the characters are well-formed. I had a clear picture of everyone in my head and understood their motivations. The dialogue is realistic and well-written. Interesting connections are made between characters and storylines that become clearer as you read on. It was a thoroughly enjoyable book to read and easy to sink into. Cons: The exposition writing could use some work. Words and phrases are repeated a lot and some of the imagery fell a little flat. I had a lot of questions as I read, like how Claudia could afford to maintain payments on three owned properties despite barely maintaining employment (inheritance aside, also confused how her inheritance could have been large enough to support all this). I also found it a little too convenient how easily everyone responded to Claudia and her actions—her therapists, a judge, a love interest, her new employers all seem to give Claudia a great deal of grace and I think there was some opportunity to give her more obstacles than the author wrote for her. And there were some timeline issues that are never addressed—Claudia’s boyfriend breaks up with her sometime after her best friend’s death, and every time it’s referenced, the timing between the death and the breakup changes. At first I thought this was related to Claudia’s amnesia and would be addressed as some point, but it wasn’t so I’m not sure if the inconsistencies are a mistake or on purpose. Overall a great read and I look forward to more from this author!

[Marcy Kahler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so well written, I couldn’t put it down!! Finished it in 24hrs. Some of the subjects hit close to home.

[Carol Orme · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story. It pulled me in from the beginning and I kept turning the pages. She hit all the emotions and touched my heart several times. A great book that is difficult to put down.

[Julie Upchurch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eyes on the Horizon was one of the best first novel by a new author I’ve read.
Carrie Lynn Fazzolari writes a truly poignant story of loss, love and forgiveness . I couldn’t put it down.
It’s real, a true study in how everyone deals with grief differently. There were truths in there about how forgiveness will change lives, how grief if we let us will shape us into a different person from the one we thought we were. Grief has a way of exposing the rawest form of love and through forgiveness of ourselves and others will lead us to live a life that shows love and compassion for those around us.

[Jenn G · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great story, it was so sad to see what this girls grief was doing to her life. The mix of characters and events are very well written, kept me wanting more, I couldn’t put this book down. Bravo to this new author!

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author brings her characters to life in a vibrant, vivid and emotional way. The angst and grief leap off the page and make you feel the emotion. Very descriptive writing and a good story of friendship, family and pushing forward to keep living even in the face of grief. Excellent debut novel!

[Rachel Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fantastic. It is a journey with a broken woman through her trauma to hope on the other side. If I didn’t have kids, I would’ve finished it in a day.
Absolutely captivating. You won’t be able to put it down.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stellar read. Story put the tingles in my toes, author put me in a trance. Amazing work