Scan barcode
A review by daggersanddragons
Faithful by Alice Hoffman
4.0
One winter's night Shelby is driving with Helene, her best friend, and suddenly loses control of the car causing them to have an accident of which only one of them walked away. Suffering from survivors guilt Shelby turns within and closes herself off to everyone and everything. She smokes weed to stop her hand tremors brought on by anxiety but also to escape reality which has now become a nightmare for her. She can't deal with the fact that her best friend is in a coma whilst she walked away with nothing more than a hairline fracture.
Shelby is but a mere shell of who she used to be, she hardly even recognizes herself. She punished herself by cutting off all her hair and not caring about her appearance at all. Feeling like she didn't deserve anything good in the world. For why should she enjoy life when her best friend couldn't even breathe on her own?!
Soon after the accident her Guardian Angel sent her postcards with suggestions for her life. Shelby grew attached to these postcards and the anonymous person who sent them feeling as though they were the only one to understand her and see her when she was all but invisible to everyone else.
Eventually after moving away from home, new beau in tow, and wandering around aimlessly feeling like she was a nobody who deserved nothing, she found a job at a pet store. She rescued two dogs from a homeless boy and rescued another who was ferociously abused. As time went on, little by little, she did heal. She made a friend at the pet store, Maravelle, who became her best friend. She went to school and graduated and is going to become a veterinarian. Last but not least she met the anonymous person who sent her all those postcards and after hearing his grief story, understood why she felt so seen by him. They naturally became a couple because obviously they were meant to be.
In the end she got her closure after not seeing Helene for 10yrs when she got the courage to visit her in her childhood home. Shelby finally forgave herself after all this time for something that was never her fault.
Shelby is but a mere shell of who she used to be, she hardly even recognizes herself. She punished herself by cutting off all her hair and not caring about her appearance at all. Feeling like she didn't deserve anything good in the world. For why should she enjoy life when her best friend couldn't even breathe on her own?!
Soon after the accident her Guardian Angel sent her postcards with suggestions for her life. Shelby grew attached to these postcards and the anonymous person who sent them feeling as though they were the only one to understand her and see her when she was all but invisible to everyone else.
Eventually after moving away from home, new beau in tow, and wandering around aimlessly feeling like she was a nobody who deserved nothing, she found a job at a pet store. She rescued two dogs from a homeless boy and rescued another who was ferociously abused. As time went on, little by little, she did heal. She made a friend at the pet store, Maravelle, who became her best friend. She went to school and graduated and is going to become a veterinarian. Last but not least she met the anonymous person who sent her all those postcards and after hearing his grief story, understood why she felt so seen by him. They naturally became a couple because obviously they were meant to be.
In the end she got her closure after not seeing Helene for 10yrs when she got the courage to visit her in her childhood home. Shelby finally forgave herself after all this time for something that was never her fault.