I'm faithful to THE FAITHFUL

Hey y’all.

I have a confession to make. I’ve completely been failing at reading. Yes, reading. In between editing, and obsessing over covers, and researching self-promotion tips, and continuously refreshing the ABNA page on Amazon, somehow my time for reading has gone out the window (let’s ignore the fact that I haven’t been working on the sequel to MT like I should either…)

So, now for the first, in hopefully a continual string, of book reviews, I thought I would give a shout out to the amazing and simply stunning, THE FAITHFUL by S.M. Freedman.

Short summary: According to I Fidele, non-psychics are cockroaches. And the extermination is about to begin. (Longer summary and excerpt available here).

I was lucky enough to read this book as a beta, and let me tell you- I could NOT put it down. What was a ‘let’s read this in one hour chunks’ read, became a non-stop 5 hours, I can’t put this book down even though my eyes are screaming and I’m starving… etc. read.

But if you don’t believe me, we can ask other people. Even Commodus liked it!

He doesn't enjoy liking things, you busy little bees. That's why he's so upset that THE FAITHFUL is to die for.

The author truly has a gift with words. Some of the descriptions are so stunning and beautiful, I feel like they are imprinted in my mind’s eye. In other books, descriptions of characters can bore, and sometimes even, annoy me. But the characters Freedman has created are so real, and so… present, it’s like they are people I’ve known all along, but I just needed this book to remind me of their existence. When describing a little girl’s school picture, Freedman writes:

“Ryanne perched awkwardly on a stool, her hands clutched in her lap. Red hair flamed in a cloud around her pale face. Her denim dress was several sizes too big and had a red strawberry on the breast pocket. Scabbed, bony knees poked out from the hem of her dress, and dingy lace socks circled her ankles above scuffed black patent shoes.”

I swear I’ve seen that picture before. In fact, if I searched through my old yearbooks, would I find it? This image is so clear in my mind, I almost think I would.

And the plot? How can I express my appreciation for this complex web the author wove around me. I have to admit, when I reached the end, my mouth was hanging up in a less than flattering expression.

Something like this.

Playing a ‘will she-won’t she’ game with the reader, the author stuns you with a conclusion you might have guessed at, but never fully realized. Add in a hefty dose of reality and a slight hand with researched details, and you have a world with fantastical elements, that still seems so very possible.

I really can’t say enough about this novel. I give it all the stars I can. It’s available at Amazon in either print or kindle here.

Loves forever if you give it a read and review. Let’s give this author the feedback and recognition she deserves. If you need me, I'll be in the corner, reading it again. 

Must learn to read faster!