Self-Destructive Behaviors Before Faithful By Alice Hoffman

Before Faithful, I've only read one book by Alice Hoffman which was Aquamarine, a book I read back when I was in elementary school. Thus, I wasn't sure what to expect from Faithful besides gorgeous prose.

Told from a third person, omniscient perspective, Faithful is the story of a woman named Shelby who struggles with immense guilt when a car accident leaves her best friend brain-dead while she is virtually unscathed. As a result, Shelby spirals downwards and engaged in a great deal of self-destructive behaviours before she is slowly able to come to terms with the fact that she "survived". What I liked about Shelby's story was that Shelby undergoes a lot of terrible things yet in the end she is able to come out of it as a stronger character.

It just goes to show that no matter how broken someone may be, they can eventually come back from it.

Another story element I enjoyed within Faithful were the female relationships. In particular, the friendship between Maravelle and Shelby was incredible and I adored the way that Maravelle's family gradually became a substitute family to Shelby. It was touching to witness her start to care for others as well and it assisted her in her journey of learning to love herself again. The other central relationship throughout the book was Shelby's relationship with her mother. It was nice to watch their relationship evolve over time and their bond become stronger as both grew older.

In spite of the fact that I enjoyed Faithful for the reasons mentioned above, there were two things that I wasn't fond of. One was the romance in the book, the relationship in the end felt underdeveloped and if I were to be honest this book would have been more than fine without any romance plot. The other thing that made me slightly uncomfortable was what happens to Shelby's friend, Helene. Despite being brain-dead she is kept "alive" on life support so that people can come to and worship her for miracles. While it is understandable that her parents are unable to let go of their daughter, it's also sad to read that she is kept alive this after having read about what she was like.

Faithful, is a powerful novel that demonstrates how amidst all the tragedy, loss, guilt, and shame there can be love, hope and perhaps even a "rebirth" of sorts. All in all it was a fairly quick and engrossing read that I would recommend to readers who love stories of redemption and stories with dogs!