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foreveryoungadult's review
Graded By: Meghan
BFF Charm: Yay
Swoonworthy Scale: 6
Talky Talk: I Have A Secret, Nyah-Nyah-Nyah
Bonus Factors: Yellowstone, Outlaws, Feminism
Relationship Status: A Love As Wild As My Fenced-In Backyard
Read the full book report here.
BFF Charm: Yay
Swoonworthy Scale: 6
Talky Talk: I Have A Secret, Nyah-Nyah-Nyah
Bonus Factors: Yellowstone, Outlaws, Feminism
Relationship Status: A Love As Wild As My Fenced-In Backyard
Read the full book report here.
mindi_r's review
4.0
Just what I was in the mood for. I good historical fiction with some romance thrown in for good measure.
blackngoldgirlsbookspot's review
3.0
The main character is a little whiny and very changeable but the storyline is definitely different and overall this book is nicely done.
ebreed99's review
3.0
This book was interesting and delightful. It was magical and adventurous! I likes how it was set in the beginning of the 20th century!
classiccaitlin's review
5.0
This book was amazing. It was original and captivating, and the author's use of language is exquisite. It did repeat a lot, like she repeated a lot of the same thoughts a lot but nonetheless it was a solid A+ novel. I really recommend it, it's beautiful.
theresidentbookworm's review
5.0
A Review In Pictures (And A Few Words Because I Am Still Me)
What's to love about Faithful. Well, I don't know?
How about the majestic setting of 1900s Yellowstone (one that has not been commonly used in YA historical fiction or really any historical fiction)?
And yes, we have to put up Maggie, who is a bit of whiny brat at first, but she gets better. And then there is Tom Rowland, who I like very much. He calls Maggie out on her crap, and I like to think of him in his 1900s garb because there's something sexy about it.
I also liked the addition of her interest in (that newfangled technology) photography. I always thought it would have been cool to be interested in photography then. The real center of the plotline is around the mystery of Maggie's mother's disappearance. It's well paced and well crafed. Janet Fox knows her stuff. Highly recommended!
What's to love about Faithful. Well, I don't know?
How about the majestic setting of 1900s Yellowstone (one that has not been commonly used in YA historical fiction or really any historical fiction)?
And yes, we have to put up Maggie, who is a bit of whiny brat at first, but she gets better. And then there is Tom Rowland, who I like very much. He calls Maggie out on her crap, and I like to think of him in his 1900s garb because there's something sexy about it.
I also liked the addition of her interest in (that newfangled technology) photography. I always thought it would have been cool to be interested in photography then. The real center of the plotline is around the mystery of Maggie's mother's disappearance. It's well paced and well crafed. Janet Fox knows her stuff. Highly recommended!
bookmaddie's review
4.0
Really liked this book, two of my favorite things;
Historical Fiction and Photography!
Historical Fiction and Photography!
somechelsea's review
3.0
One of these days, I will stop listening to the blurbs in catalogs, because they always let me down. I ordered this one specifically because the publisher's blurb compared it to [a:Eva Ibbotson|57462|Eva Ibbotson|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1210367519p2/57462.jpg], who I completely and wholeheartedly adore. And not a lot of authors or books get compared to her (at least by the publisher, all of whom are desperately trying to convince you that this book is the next Twilight, and you should buy it RIGHT NOW), so I couldn't resist.
It was a good book. But that's it: good. Maggie was whiny, her father was lame, Tom was nice, and Graybull was mostly annoying. Maggie's reaction to Yellowstone was interesting, I guess, but I remain immune to the allure of the West (real or metaphorical), and I would have much rather watched Ken Burns' documentary on the National Parks.
The big secret about her mother (which I won't reveal, because I am a nice person, so forgive me for my awkward vagueness coming right up) would have made a fantastic book, rather than half a chapter. I find it incredibly hard to believe something that juicy happened to a member of Maggie's social circle and she never heard about it, even years later, daughter of the woman in question or no. That is the best gossip ever, and I refuse to buy that Maggie lived her entire life with the same small group of socialites and not one of them let anything slip. Shenanigans!
It wasn't entirely fair of me to pick up Fox's debut and expect Ibbotson, but life isn't fair. Take it up with your publisher, Janet.
It was a good book. But that's it: good. Maggie was whiny, her father was lame, Tom was nice, and Graybull was mostly annoying. Maggie's reaction to Yellowstone was interesting, I guess, but I remain immune to the allure of the West (real or metaphorical), and I would have much rather watched Ken Burns' documentary on the National Parks.
The big secret about her mother (which I won't reveal, because I am a nice person, so forgive me for my awkward vagueness coming right up) would have made a fantastic book, rather than half a chapter. I find it incredibly hard to believe something that juicy happened to a member of Maggie's social circle and she never heard about it, even years later, daughter of the woman in question or no. That is the best gossip ever, and I refuse to buy that Maggie lived her entire life with the same small group of socialites and not one of them let anything slip. Shenanigans!
It wasn't entirely fair of me to pick up Fox's debut and expect Ibbotson, but life isn't fair. Take it up with your publisher, Janet.
xanthe's review
3.0
Great premise, set in a time and place that intrigued me, however the characterization and plot ended up disappointing me. Our heroine has a family mystery to solve while deciding what kind of future she wants in 19th century America. She's believably spoiled and whiny, but tries to change through the course of her story, leaving comfort and stability behind in the New England to travel to Yellowstone. Her love interest is presented as amazing and kind, but spends most of the novel scolding her for her many failings and for her ignorance. He was never precisely wrong about her faults and mistakes, but I hated that he was constantly correcting her and disapproving. I couldn't imagine their relationship going forward being on any sort of even footing, despite how I was supposed to think he was so wonderful. So bah. Loved the setting and was disappointed by the content, except for the portrayal of Maggie's awakening and acknowledgment of wanting to have a bigger life than the one that she had known.
prationality's review
4.0
When I first read the blurb for Faithful, I had no idea it was set in the beginning of the 20th century. Nor did the cover really illuminate this fact, as the dress's design was just ambiguous enough to be considered 'popular' now. I like it better for the fact its set in 1904 and not in the last two decades. For what I think Fox was trying to convey in the book, it needed to be set during a time when parts of the country were still more rugged pioneer then refined city-slick.
Maggie was, for all her tactless comments and sometimes 'snobbish' behavior, she was very relate-able. She grew up in the affluent and 'rich' neighborhood of Newport; she was given every privilege, every luxury, but what she wanted most was a stable family life. Some small eccentricities could be overlooked--her family's money and prestige allowed that much--but her mother went beyond the pale with her behavior, her manner. This gave Maggie a strange dichotomy of growing up. On the one hand she loved her mother, loved her spirit, but she also felt the censure of what it meant. She tried to repress anything that even remotely resembled her mother's behavior and the few times she acted out ended disastrously. She was scared, uncertain and confused.
Even as her thoughts seemed to vacillate between praying she could have that perfect debut and finding her mother, foremost in her mind was always a need for her mother. She needed her, needed closure and the fantasy that if they found her it would all be perfect if she wished for it hard enough. I felt so bad for her in those moments. She wanted so hard to believe that everything would worked out if they found her mother even while also knowing that more problems could arise because of it.
It was hard for me to judge her father adequately. He was obviously not a man who was malicious, or hurtful, or purposely sought to 'wreck' his daughter's future. On the same token he didn't understand what she really needed. He was scared that if he gave her too much freedom, she would be just like her mother. Just as uncontrollable, just as heart-breaking. Even when he tries to give her what she tells him she wants most--a triumphant return to Newport society with a respectable husband--he still doesn't quite get it. He was weak. He was a very weak man, so frightened of losing something, of wanting something best left in the past, that he was deaf to rational thought.
The friendship between Tom and Maggie was unexpected in its development. Through him Maggie grows and understands her mother better as well as herself. Because he's never lived in the society limelight with the society pressures she's always had to fight against, he understands far better what a person needs the most. He's awkward, and together they make a lot of missteps, but their understanding of each other grows steadily.
I adored Mrs. Gale, a widow professional photographer who introduces Maggie both to the artistic beauty Maggie's mother gave to her, but also the fact that an accomplished woman can be a wife and professional. Mr. Greybull was one of the most repugnant men I have ever had the misfortune to read about. As a foil to Maggie's growing uncertainty about what she wants in the future, he worked well. Kula...I'm still not certain of her motivations or behaviors. I understand why she felt the way she did, but I don't understand the maliciousness and vindictiveness she felt towards Maggie. Its one thing to envy someone's seeming better fortune, its entirely another to completely hate a person for it.
Fox does an excellent job conveying the landscape of both Newport and Yellowstone. The wonder and the excitement of the geysers, grizzleys and bison, as well as the difference between the variety of people represented in Yellowstone. Bandits, tourists, geologists, hunters (grrr Mr. Greybull), officers and servants.
The end result was both satisfying and fitting to the story. Maggie got the answers she was searching for and was able to move forward. The novel is a heart warming story of finding redemption, faith (not the religious kind) and learning to accept that knowledge can come with a price.
Maggie was, for all her tactless comments and sometimes 'snobbish' behavior, she was very relate-able. She grew up in the affluent and 'rich' neighborhood of Newport; she was given every privilege, every luxury, but what she wanted most was a stable family life. Some small eccentricities could be overlooked--her family's money and prestige allowed that much--but her mother went beyond the pale with her behavior, her manner. This gave Maggie a strange dichotomy of growing up. On the one hand she loved her mother, loved her spirit, but she also felt the censure of what it meant. She tried to repress anything that even remotely resembled her mother's behavior and the few times she acted out ended disastrously. She was scared, uncertain and confused.
Even as her thoughts seemed to vacillate between praying she could have that perfect debut and finding her mother, foremost in her mind was always a need for her mother. She needed her, needed closure and the fantasy that if they found her it would all be perfect if she wished for it hard enough. I felt so bad for her in those moments. She wanted so hard to believe that everything would worked out if they found her mother even while also knowing that more problems could arise because of it.
It was hard for me to judge her father adequately. He was obviously not a man who was malicious, or hurtful, or purposely sought to 'wreck' his daughter's future. On the same token he didn't understand what she really needed. He was scared that if he gave her too much freedom, she would be just like her mother. Just as uncontrollable, just as heart-breaking. Even when he tries to give her what she tells him she wants most--a triumphant return to Newport society with a respectable husband--he still doesn't quite get it. He was weak. He was a very weak man, so frightened of losing something, of wanting something best left in the past, that he was deaf to rational thought.
The friendship between Tom and Maggie was unexpected in its development. Through him Maggie grows and understands her mother better as well as herself. Because he's never lived in the society limelight with the society pressures she's always had to fight against, he understands far better what a person needs the most. He's awkward, and together they make a lot of missteps, but their understanding of each other grows steadily.
I adored Mrs. Gale, a widow professional photographer who introduces Maggie both to the artistic beauty Maggie's mother gave to her, but also the fact that an accomplished woman can be a wife and professional. Mr. Greybull was one of the most repugnant men I have ever had the misfortune to read about. As a foil to Maggie's growing uncertainty about what she wants in the future, he worked well. Kula...I'm still not certain of her motivations or behaviors. I understand why she felt the way she did, but I don't understand the maliciousness and vindictiveness she felt towards Maggie. Its one thing to envy someone's seeming better fortune, its entirely another to completely hate a person for it.
Fox does an excellent job conveying the landscape of both Newport and Yellowstone. The wonder and the excitement of the geysers, grizzleys and bison, as well as the difference between the variety of people represented in Yellowstone. Bandits, tourists, geologists, hunters (grrr Mr. Greybull), officers and servants.
The end result was both satisfying and fitting to the story. Maggie got the answers she was searching for and was able to move forward. The novel is a heart warming story of finding redemption, faith (not the religious kind) and learning to accept that knowledge can come with a price.
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