Faithful

Alice Hoffman is a prolific writer, having written at least thirty novels I have read just three of them and it is apparent to me what a great story teller she is Whether its historical fiction or a contemporary story like this one, her characters are real and relatable and I admire her ability to write across genres While this felt YA at first , it became clear that what happened to Shelby and Helene could happen to anyone and how Shelby deals with it or didn t actually , could happen to anyone [...]

Never underestimate the power of rescued dogs, anonymous postcards or lots and lots of Chinese food.Wow talk about a punch to the gut An emotional journey, from the first few pages to the final few words, it was kind of draining, but in the best way possible If that even makes sense Sometimes a sad and poignant read just hits the spot And much like life, everything is an ebb and flow The tough times make the good times, or in this case, the ending, that much sweeter.It s so easy for anyone sitt [...]

Oh Boy Houston I have some issues I need to discuss Shelby Richmond, was the driver There was a car accident Physically, Shelby is not hurt.Helene, Shelby s best friend, was the passenger Helene is left comatose The theme that reached into my heart immediately was the how in the hell was Shelby going to learn to forgive herself she was only 17 years old , so that this very sad tragedy doesn t make her comatose for the rest of her life I felt Alice Hoffman did an excellent job crafting this theme [...]

In February,when the snow comes down hard, little globes of light are left along Route 110, on the side of the road that slopes off when a driver least expects it The lights are candles set inside paper bags, surrounded by sand, and they burn past midnight They shouldn t last for that amount of time, but that s part of the miracle There s a heat wave all over Greece at the moment I m writing this review I don t like summer and heat, I want to live in a place of eternal winter Also, bright sun ch [...]

I can hardly believe that I have never read a novel by ALICE HOFFMAN before.What was I thinking and where have I been Obviously not in the right section of the bookstore FAITHFUL by ALICE HOFFMAN was a spellbinding and beautifully told coming of age story that I devoured in two sittings which rarely happens for me as I normally don t get that much time to read in a sitting Although I do find the embossed floral blue COVER of this book very attractive and pretty it isn t the reason I chose this b [...]

Last century I read Hoffman s Turtle Moon and loved it The next thing I knew, Hoffman started writing woo woo stuff, like Practical Magic, and I ran the other way.I might have made up the term woo woo sounds like something I d do so let me explain By woo woo I mean all things magic, psychic, ghosty, New Age y, paranormal, and supernatural Angels, devils, miracles all woo woo Woo woo and I don t get along very well with one notable exception, the book Big Magic Creative Living Beyond Fear Even th [...]

NOW AVAILABLE 4.5 StarsIn High School, Helene was a shining star, Shelby her faithful sidekick But it was Helene that all the other girls wanted to be, or be like, and it was Helene who all the boys wanted But that was part of the life before, never to be the same again Before she ever left the hospital, she received a postcard with a sketch on one side, and on the other the words Say something It s two years before she receives a second card, this with a picture of her house, a shadow of hersel [...]

DNF 40%There is no way I want to follow this character any Seriously, if you know someone like this, they need a mental health intervention I am disappointed that this was categorized as Women s Fiction This reads like Young Adult or New Adult at best.The main character is late teens when we first meet and psychologically devastated by events her senior year of high school With the loss of her best friend she withers This first part has intense Judeo Christian ideology and symbolism, which mak [...]

I d rate this 4.5 stars, maybe even 4.75 Shelby knows what s wrong with her She is paying her penance She is stopping her life, matching her breathing so that it has become a counterpart of the slow intake of air of a girl in a coma Shelby and Helene were inseparable best friends from the moment they met in childhood Helene was always known to be the prettier one, and Shelby was fine with that she was just happy to be part of Helene s orbit But as often happens with childhood friendships, as hig [...]

3.5 There are two different Shelbys The before Shelby, seventeen, fun loving, popular in school, a good student and there is the after Shelby After the accident where Shelby was the driver and made it but her best friend would live paralyzed and in a comma How does one forgive herself after something like this Go on and live a life knowing the other person can t Survivor guilt This is her story and parts of it are not pretty.A different read from the Hoffman of the last few years but her underst [...]

4.5 stars What a great coming of age type book It had everything tragedy, friendship, romance I will be reading of Alice Hoffman s books One great book like this one and I might just have another favorite author.

3.5 stars Faithfull was hard to read It wasn t hard to read because it s bad or is written in a challenging style, but because it s sad and for a long time it feels relentlessly sad When she was 17 years old, Shelby was in a car accident with her best friend Helene The accident left Helene brain damaged, and it caused Shelby to go into a tail spin of guilt and depression Shelby can t find the way to forgiving herself, so she pushes people away and makes her life as narrow and bleak as possible S [...]

Akin to myriad other victory over adversity novels featuring a feminine soul I am thinking way back to W Lamb s She s come undone I m EVEN thinking Bridget Jones, Jemima J even, heck, Precious from Push by Sapphire it s got a lot going for it Effective beach side worthy prose Great symbols to highlight, elements that get repeated At the end of the day it s a tale about a chick who has survivor s guilt, gets a tattoo, has the audacity to quit steady gigs in New York City, keeps a shitload of dogs [...]

I m of two minds on Faithful, the first book I ve read by Alice Hoffman Focused on one young woman, Shelby Richmond, the novel has the feel of a coming of age tale, but is probably accurately about how Shelby comes to terms with her guilt, her anger, and her self pity that follow her through life after a car accident in which her friend is rendered brain dead There s a lot in here, a short novel that is packed with ideas and symbolism and major plot points, and while Hoffman is a beautiful writ [...]

I was skeptical when I picked this up, but was rewarded in the end Magical realism isn t my thing so when Shelby started receiving anonymous letters I was thinking, oh no, letters from beyond I was too hooked by that point to care Shelby is dealing with a death of a friend that she feels responsible for and withdraws form everyone Enter a friend, a few dogs, and endless Chinese food The healing power of dogs really can soften a character so full of angst and guilt I enjoyed this coming of age st [...]

Alice Hoffman s Faithful is a novel about Shelly Richmond, a young woman, who has her whole life ahead of her It s about fate and prevailing when all seems lost.Shelby Richmond is a High School Senior when tragedy strikes and she and her best friend Helene Boyd get into an accident She walks away, her life completely intact Afterwards, Shelby loses her mind, her friends and loved ones and her sense of self She finds love in animals who need rescuing and a new friend, Maravelle, whose family need [...]

I love stories like Faithful that explore characters who are flawed and scarred and that draw me into the their lives as they find their way in life This makes for a powerful and interesting read for me The story is told by Shelby who was once an ordinary, happy girl After an accident she suffers from survival guilt, feelings of worthlessness and depression She punishes herself by hiding from the world and believing the world is better off without her We follow her story as she discovers she has [...]

Shelby is determined to pay a lifetime of penance When she s seventeen, she s involved in a one vehicle crash that leaves her best friend in a vegetative state and herself in psych ward Shelby is convinced the accident is actually her crime, and she s volunteered to serve as the warden to her own emotional prison Instead of going to college, she shaves her head, festers in her parents basement, only making human contact with her weed supplier.I thought the beginning to Faithful was really intere [...]

This book had everything in it that I love dogs, books, and broken characters.I have to say that I love Alice Hoffman s writing this one didn t quite have many magical elements in it like some of her past works, but I enjoyed it immensely Shelby Richmond gets in a terrible accident on an icy road in high school and survives She struggles to understand why she should ve been the one to walk away when her best friend Helene did not What follows is Shelby s quick path to destruction, random inspiri [...]

3.5 Stars A beautifully written coming of age tale about transformation, redemption, and learning to let go When Shelby was seventeen, she was the driver in a car accident that put her best friend Helene in an irreversible coma Helene is trapped inside herself and subjected to an endless stream of visitors convinced that she produces miracles Shelby blames herself for Helene s misfortune and has dedicated her life to paying her penance She is stopping her life, matching her breathing so that it [...]

Faithful I received an ARC from Simon Schuster via NetGalley in exchange from an honest review, thank you Dear fellow reader, be aware that my review contains some spoilers Before reading this novel the only other book I d read by Alice Hoffman was the extraordinary The Marriage of Opposites That novel was the highlight of my 2015 reading year and although Faithful didn t quite bring that level of utter bliss for me, it was still a very absorbing read You can read my review of The Marriage of Op [...]

TW s Suicide Attempt, Rape, Self cutting, Substance Abuse, Depression, CancerEdit You know what, the I think about it, the I think this deserves two starsI am afraid that if I don t write this review asap it will end up with one star More than two months later Arc Provided by Simon Schuster through Netgalley Release Date November 1rtHere s the thing, I am starting to realize that Alice Hoffman s writing is like a drug to me I am addicted to it why Idk Faulty wiring in the grey cells depression [...]

About 15 minutes into this audio book, I stopped the narration and double checked that I had downloaded the correct book Faithful was nothing at all like my last experience with Alice Hoffman The Marriage of Opposites, with its complexity and lyrical language I thought for sure I had mistakenly clicked on the latest YA release My screen confirmed that, indeed, this was Hoffman and that Faithful was a very different book than Opposites Once I let go of my expectations for what this book was suppo [...]

3.5 stars Shelby Richmond is a normal suburban teenager, growing up on Long Island, enjoying high school days with her best friend, Helene, and busy planning for college, until the cold winter night Helene talks her into driving to a party On the way there, the car hits a patch of ice and spins out of control Shelby comes to and finds herself stretched out on the pavement with what she thinks is an angel hovering over her Next thing she knows she is on her way to the hospital in an ambulance and [...]

I was a huge fan of The Marriage of Opposites, so I was excited when Netgalley provided me with an advance copy of this book Where TMOO is a story of perseverance, this is a story that starts with weakness Shelby was the driver in a car accident that left her best friend in a coma And as her friend is unable to live a normal life, Shelby has also stopped living hers Shelby is now nineteen, but she might as well be ninety What happened to being young, to having her whole life ahead of her I initi [...]

3.5 Life can be beautiful but it s complicated Following a tragic automobile accident Shelby believes she is nothing, an aftershock She spirals into depression, breakdown, and self destructive behavior Feeling worthless, she needs to be reminded that her life is not over She is about to discover that while it s not possible to save others, she can perhaps save herself with the love and support of some very special people in her world.For me this read like vintage Alice Hoffman although I would n [...]

Ring the bells that still can ringForget your perfect offeringThere is a crack in everythingThat s how the light gets in Leonard CohenI ve come to realise that most novels I enjoy grab me from the very beginning It was the case with Faithful as well.This was my second Alice Hoffman novel, the other one was The Marriage of Opposites, which I enjoyed a great deal Faithful couldn t be different.Some could call this young adult novel , it does have a young adult feel about it, but don t let that de [...]

Received from the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review 3.5 starsSave SomethingSay SomethingWant SomethingThese are tidbits of advice that Shelby receives from her Angel after surviving a car crash that resulted in her friend being in a Coma Shelby is pulled out of the wreckage by her Angel, but suffers from survivor s quilt and depression She cannot find the way to forgive herself for the accident that injured her friend so badly She can t accept that she got to walk away wh [...]

Do you ever finish a book and want to hug the author for the experience Or wish that the main character was real so that you could follow their life s journey That s the way I felt after turning the last page of Hoffman s latest, I want to hug both the author and her fictional character for providing me with such an emotional and enjoyable reading experience.At its simplest distillation this is the story of one young woman s survivor guilt and her passage to redemption, but in a bigger sense it [...]

DNF 30%