Official Review: Forever Faithful by Isabella

erasmus · Post by **erasmus** » 17 Apr 2015, 07:56

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Forever Faithful" by Isabella.]

2 out of 4 stars

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Forever Faithful by Isabella is the second book in The Faithful Series. Nevertheless, this book can be read on its own. Forever Faithful is a lesbian themed romance novel, depicting a relationship between Lieutenant Colonel Nichole “Nic” Caldwell and Claire Monroe. They first met each other when Nic delivered the news of Claire's husband's death.

After going through that traumatic part of their lives together, Nic, Claire, and Grace, Claire’s six-year-old daughter from her previous marriage, moved to Monterey; they were getting ready to settle down in a new life away from old hurts. With Nic close to graduation and Claire getting ready to attend university, life was perfect for them - until Nic was deployed to Afghanistan.

While separation right before their plans could come to fruition was difficult, Nic and Claire made their relationship work. Life went on, right until Nic was nearly killed in a bomb blast in Afghanistan. In the fight to bring some sense of normality back into their lives after the terrible accident, Nic and Claire’s relationship might just become a casualty.

Since this was a story about two women in a relationship, we would naturally read about homophobia. It's mild, though, and I liked how the author didn't go overboard when dealing with the issue while highlighting the fact that it's a part of everyday life.

In addition, I was impressed with the amount of effort put into the building of the military backstory. It’s all very convincing - more so because I have no knowledge of the military whatsoever. Furthermore, despite my short and simple summary of Forever Faithful, I could feel the love and devotion Nic and Claire had for each other even when they were apart.

The emotional turmoil depicted after the explosion was also split between Claire and Nic’s point-of-view, ensuring that the reader is able to empathise with both characters. While the splitting of point-of-views was done from the very beginning, it really stood out, for me, after the explosion because the author did it without making the whole thing overwhelming or messy. Instead, it’s very refreshing, as I very clearly saw how differently the characters reacted to the tragedy due to their roles in it: Nic as the survivor, and Claire the loved one of the survivor.

However, some, if not most, of the side characters were little more than props. I liked a few of them a lot, but, after they helped the plot along, they faded into obscurity. I have no idea what happened to them. More's the pity, since they could have developed into wonderful characters people could enjoy, instead of being just one-dimensional. There also seemed to be a subplot somewhere, but it trailed off and became lost amongst the heartache and trauma. Finally, there were some issues with missing words, and spelling and grammar.

Overall, while the emotions were touching with just the right amount of heartache, the story wasn't too impressive, especially when the period during which Nic and Claire were separated became too draggy; it resulted in an abrupt ending. While I enjoyed this book well enough, I'm not so sure I'll be reading the next instalment, or even the previous one. Therefore, I rate Forever Faithful 2 out of 4 stars. Just in case, I'll also throw in a warning for some character deaths, violence, and gore.

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Forever Faithful
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zeldas_lullaby · Post by **zeldas_lullaby** » 21 Apr 2015, 22:35

Great review. It gave me a good sense of this book.

erasmus · Post by **erasmus** » 22 Apr 2015, 00:42

zeldas_lullaby wrote:Great review. It gave me a good sense of this book.

Thanks!

Are you interested in reading it?

zeldas_lullaby · Post by **zeldas_lullaby** » 22 Apr 2015, 00:46

Not really. I would be, but it sounds dreary and bleak. I'm not into military fiction, either. I might want to read it otherwise!

erasmus · Post by **erasmus** » 22 Apr 2015, 00:52

Each to his/her own, I guess. X)

zeldas_lullaby · Post by **zeldas_lullaby** » 22 Apr 2015, 01:02

Yeah! Well, I'm generally hard to please because I have reading focus problems, although i was a voracious reader as a kid. But I gravitate toward authors like Richie Tankersley Cusick, Mary Downing Hahn, Lois Lowry (anastasia), Lauren Brooke, Nancy Werlin, Alyson Noel, Melinda Metz, etc. Another member on here suggested I try romance recently, and it didn't fly with me. (Not enough plot, I guess, plus I'm not romantically oriented, which is odd.) (This saves me a lot of grief on the relationship front, BTW.) If you're still up, are you having a nice night? I'm drawing up some woodworking plans for my kitchen built-ins and waiting to fall asleep.

erasmus · Post by **erasmus** » 22 Apr 2015, 07:48

zeldas_lullaby wrote:Yeah! Well, I'm generally hard to please because I have reading focus problems, although i was a voracious reader as a kid. But I gravitate toward authors like Richie Tankersley Cusick, Mary Downing Hahn, Lois Lowry (anastasia), Lauren Brooke, Nancy Werlin, Alyson Noel, Melinda Metz, etc. Another member on here suggested I try romance recently, and it didn't fly with me. (Not enough plot, I guess, plus I'm not romantically oriented, which is odd.) (This saves me a lot of grief on the relationship front, BTW.) If you're still up, are you having a nice night? I'm drawing up some woodworking plans for my kitchen built-ins and waiting to fall asleep.

Well, it's night now. I've just finished Paper Towns by John Green. I think you would be sleep by now?

And oh my gosh, I've never even heard of those authors before! I've always liked fairy tales, romances, mysteries etc. I've my head in the clouds so to speak. I don't usually get very critical with plot characters' actions, and the meaning behind it as well. Do you like thrillers then?

zeldas_lullaby · Post by **zeldas_lullaby** » 22 Apr 2015, 22:02

I'm not sure about thrillers. I like them in the context of YA or middle grade, definitely. Such as: Megan Miranda, Natalie D. Richards, and Margaret Peterson Haddix. Hysteria by Megan Miranda was wonderful! I read it recently. I also really liked Six Months Later by Richards.

You like romances and mysteries? I like them when they're combined. I don't like one or the other separately. But there are a few good books I've come across that puts the two together: Carolina Moon by Nora Roberts (one of her good ones--my favorite of hers, actually), Midnight Bayou by the same, One Last Dance and The Second Silence and The Diary by Eileen Goudge...

Geez, I hope I can fall asleep tonight!! Did you enjoy Paper Towns? It's the book of the month, right?

erasmus · Post by **erasmus** » 23 Apr 2015, 09:41

I feel like our reading preferences differ a lot. The only author I recognize that you mentioned was Nora Roberts. I do read thrillers a lot, but most of them are mystery thrillers. Like Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta Series.

If you like romance and mystery combined, do you read the In Death Series by J. D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts)? I really like that series. It's got over thirty books and it's ongoing. I'm only at book six.

Time zones are messy things. Paper Towns is definitely very funny, but John Green's writing style has never appealed to me, even after reading three of his books. I think I keep reading his books because I want to find the meaningful stuff people always seem to find in his books.

Perhaps the reason I don't completely enjoy his books is that I've never been critical about analyzing plot or character motives or life lessons. Paper Towns is a meaningful story about growing as a person, but I think I might not read John Green again. What about you?

Post by **bookowlie** » 28 Apr 2015, 17:36

Great, insightful review! You brought up a good point about the side characters. I notice in a lot of books that side characters are introduced and then "disappear".

Stevefromtheblock · Post by **Stevefromtheblock** » 28 Apr 2015, 17:41

Thank you for the review. This is a nice analysis of the book.

erasmus · Post by **erasmus** » 28 Apr 2015, 18:43

bookowlie wrote:Great, insightful review! You brought up a good point about the side characters. I notice in a lot of books that side characters are introduced and then "disappear".

Thanks! Don't you just feel awful when that happens, especially when some of them are so likable..?