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A review by stephxsu
Faithful by Janet Fox
2.0
I wanted to like FAITHFUL, with its gorgeous cover and promising tale of self-discovery in Yellowstone Park. I’m not a historical fiction fan, but I do love me the inspirational beauty of nature. Unfortunately, lackluster writing, plot, and characters drag this book down until it is very difficult to like.
Nearly all of the characters in FAITHFUL are either unbelievable or unlikable. For lack of better words, Maggie is, simply put, a pain in the ass, a spineless, spoiled, and petulant girl forever waffling between her childish desires of admittance into the gossipy, fashionable worlds of New England society and her goal of being a young woman mature enough to be included in her family’s decision-making process. News flash, sister: you won’t be treated as an adult if you keep on being so self-centered.
Tom, the love interest, is introduced to us as a tall, good-looking, light-eyed young man with an enigmatic smile, who immediately makes our heroine feel clumsy and unworthy. Excuse me for a moment while I chuck something across the room. And pardon me when I don’t believe the supposed attraction between the two. If any guy as perfect as Tom is purported to be falls for someone as inconsiderate and selfish as Maggie, then, well, he’s really as far from perfect as can get.
Equally frustrating is the slow, flashback-laden plot. The flashbacks are meant for us to see what Maggie’s mother was like, and why Maggie feels so conflicted about her as she does. But in the present time, there is little that moves the story along. A story of self-development needs to find the right balance between the past and the present, and this one was bogged down with too much of the past to work effectively.
FAITHFUL wasn’t the book for me because it combined the parts I like least about YA lit into a single book, but fans of historical fiction might have more patience with Maggie’s story. You might be better able than me to appreciate the intricacies of societal rules of the time, as well as drink in the luscious idea of the setting.
Nearly all of the characters in FAITHFUL are either unbelievable or unlikable. For lack of better words, Maggie is, simply put, a pain in the ass, a spineless, spoiled, and petulant girl forever waffling between her childish desires of admittance into the gossipy, fashionable worlds of New England society and her goal of being a young woman mature enough to be included in her family’s decision-making process. News flash, sister: you won’t be treated as an adult if you keep on being so self-centered.
Tom, the love interest, is introduced to us as a tall, good-looking, light-eyed young man with an enigmatic smile, who immediately makes our heroine feel clumsy and unworthy. Excuse me for a moment while I chuck something across the room. And pardon me when I don’t believe the supposed attraction between the two. If any guy as perfect as Tom is purported to be falls for someone as inconsiderate and selfish as Maggie, then, well, he’s really as far from perfect as can get.
Equally frustrating is the slow, flashback-laden plot. The flashbacks are meant for us to see what Maggie’s mother was like, and why Maggie feels so conflicted about her as she does. But in the present time, there is little that moves the story along. A story of self-development needs to find the right balance between the past and the present, and this one was bogged down with too much of the past to work effectively.
FAITHFUL wasn’t the book for me because it combined the parts I like least about YA lit into a single book, but fans of historical fiction might have more patience with Maggie’s story. You might be better able than me to appreciate the intricacies of societal rules of the time, as well as drink in the luscious idea of the setting.