A review by eesh25
Faithful by Alice Hoffman

Did not finish book.

DNF

I should probably schedule this review closer to the release date, but I simply wanted to get it over with.

Here's part of the GR synopsis: Growing up on Long Island, Shelby Richmond is an ordinary girl until one night an extraordinary tragedy changes her fate. Her best friend’s future is destroyed in an accident, while Shelby walks away with the burden of guilt.

This was a story about a woman learning to live again after a horrific tragedy and it was completely wrong for me. So wrong that, had I known what it would be like, I wouldn't have gotten it from Netgalley in the first place.

You see, the genre is 'Magical Realism'. To me, that's an oxymoron. Things are either real or magical. Not both of them at once. I'm not one for miracles and angels watching over you. Not when it comes to real life at least. I more enjoy...



Yup, that. And I make no apologies for it.

But there were other problems as well. For one, I didn't like the protagonist and I couldn't connect with her either. She was okay at first, but she soon started to annoy me with all the bad decisions and whatnot. Not that I liked other characters more. I didn't like Ben either, or all the other people who couldn't seem to realize the fact that Shelby was in serious need of therapy; and not being stoned 24x7.

The tone of the book was very depressing (another reason why it was all wrong for me) and I couldn't bring myself to care about what was happening or what would happen. Especially after we found out that Shelby was repeated raped, only to have the issue shoved aside. Because apparently, rape is not something worthy of much attention.

And now I'm going to stop typing because the more I think about the book, the more I dislike it. And I prefer not to shit too much on books I haven't even finished.

Overall, this wasn't a badly written novel, just not my cup of tea. And while I don't recommend it, you can try it if you want.


I recieved an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.