Faithful

Shelby Richmond and her best friend Helene Boyd were in a car accident when they were teenagers. Shelby blames herself for what happened and always carried around the guilt of being the driver and the survivor. Shelby suffered through some dark years, but she's slowly crawling out of the depths of despair to discover what makes her happy - Chinese food, dogs and the people who cared about her when she didn't even care about herself. Not only has she found true friends but she finally found the angel that has been watching over her since that icy night long ago.

At first I wasn't sure about this book. But I grew to love Shelby so much. Her feelings, her actions, just everything about her felt real. All of the characters felt real. The story was well-written, flowed smoothly and made me feel so many different emotions. It's one of those books that truly makes you feel as though you're part of the character's life in some way. I really enjoyed it! ( )

When I'm looking for something interesting to read and I'm not in the mood to experiment, I often turn to Alice Hoffman, one of my favorite writers. She's written over thirty books and the ones I've read have all been good (The River King, The Red Garden, The Third Angel, and, The Dovekeepers). Faithful is another example of well developed characters set in an interesting plot.

Shelby Richmond and her best friend, Helene, are in a car accident just before they are to graduate from high school. The weather was bad, with icy roads they should have avoided, but Helene insisted and Shelby, who was driving, gave in. After the accident, Helene was left comatose and Shelby is wracked with guilt.

“People say if you face your worst fear, the rest is easy, but those are people who are afraid of rattlesnakes or enclosed spaces, not of themselves and the horrible things they've done.”

The story is about Shelby's path after that life changing event, but more than that, it is about her relationships with the people who help her along the way.

My favorite character is Ben Mink, a classmate of Shelby's who suffers with the more common insecurities of teenagers. While in school, he felt like a dork, but was enamored of both Shelby and Helene. After the accident, he became Shelby's friend/drug dealer, with an emphasis on the first of those two roles. It is fascinating to watch him grow over time and to see how he helps Shelby deal with her issues.

I had an issue with the way Hoffman chose to end the book. Without discussing specifics, I will say she seemed determined to avoid making the novel ending too pat. Although there was something going on throughout the story that pointed toward the ending Hoffman chose, it wasn't fully developed and felt as if it had come out of nowhere (deus ex machina). But this was minor, considering the overall beauty of the book.

Steve Lindahl – author of Hopatcong Vision Quest, White Horse Regressions, and Motherless Soul ( )

A special thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Alice Hoffman is my favourite author. I can't even wait to get my hands on her books literally the second they come out! To be given the opportunity to read and review this book was truly thrilling for me.

Hoffman's writing is a living thing. Her stories breathe and grow and as the reader, you transcend. Her characters are layered and complex, her writing is rich and incredibly moving, it is fluid.

That being said, I missed the magical realism associated with Hoffman because I don't think that this novel had enough of it, or rather didn't seem to have any other than the reference of an angel which spoiler: unfortunately for this book, becomes a character — this is not classic Hoffman.

While this story was by no means my favourite, it was indeed a page-turner and I'm so glad I got to read it. ( )

I knew nothing about this book going in, and it was surprisingly good. I didn't quite buy the romance at the end, but as a whole, this is a very good, satisfying, well-written book. ( )

FAITHFUL is a sad yet hopeful coming of age story about a young woman dealing with grief and survivor’s guilt. After a tragic car accident, Shelby Richmond is able to walk away, but her best friend isn’t so lucky. Was there someone watching over her that night? Shelby is a troubled soul stuck in limbo when mysterious postcards start to arrive. The sender is anonymous and the messages are quite simple, but it’s just enough to nudge her forward, even a tiny bit.

I love Alice Hoffman’s prose, and the writing in this book is as beautiful as her others. Shelby’s character was difficult and not always easy to like, but deep down I knew she was good, partly due to her passion for rescuing misfit dogs! This is a story of healing, definitely pulled at my heartstrings. I had to grab the tissues a few times. FAITHFUL had a different “feel” to it than Hoffman’s other books I’ve read, though I still enjoyed it.

Audiobook • 8 hrs, 27 mins • Amber Tamblyn, Narrator

Amber Tamblyn narrated the audiobook, and this is the first time I’ve listened to a book read by her. I think she did fine with Shelby’s voice. Overall, nothing too emotional, which fit with Shelby’s apathetic disposition. If you prefer narrations with lots of inflection and drama, this wouldn’t be a good fit.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this audiobook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ( )