Janet S. Fox

World War II has already upended the lives of Kat Bateson and her family by sending her beloved father away on a government mission. Now the children themselves are being sent away from London to the safety of a Scottish castle turned children's academy run by a distant relative. Quickly, Kat and the other children realize something sinister is afoot, from the enigmatic Lady Eleanor who insists they are locked in their room each night, to the castle's befuddling layout and the eerie children show more spotted around the grounds who are not part of the school. While Kat's mathematical mind looks for a logical solution, she is slowly coming around to the fact that dark magic is at play, especially as the children begin to disappear one by one.

An enjoyably creepy read full of atmospheric details and a great villain with a hint of a sequel at the end of the book. For fans of Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's The War That Saved My Life, suggest this as another take on the same historical period. The magic element and location could also make it a good choice for Harry Potter fans. The book has a cool website that you can find at rookskillcastle.com. AR 5.0, pts. 12 JF show less

I wanted to like this book more than I did. On the whole, it's well written and a credible story, with engaging characters going through a very hard time. Unfortunately, for me it felt more like a love letter from the author to the homeless children she'd love to help, rather than a realistic story. The main things that bothered me were that Lulu has this elevated understanding of anger and sorrow and even as a child is able to see around it. The other is that Lulu and her family are in show more every way depicted as the deserving poor -- someone who's in a bad place through no fault of their own save grief, and that her community treats her accordingly. They step up with help and advocacy and legal advice and a place to live. They do all the things that Americans on a good day will do. Maybe it's a function of the small-town Montana setting, but it's a far cry away from urban Seattle, or from the experience of Brown protagonists in similar books. It's an ideal world. That's lovely, for those who can afford it, but I really can't see handing this book to a child who's experienced homelessness. This probably isn't a fair review, but it's what I felt reading the book. show less

A perfectly creepy and atmospheric mystery, with an excellent audiobook reader. I guess this isn't quite a gothic, but it's got many of the same hallmarks. I really liked the nuanced and well developed villain contrasted against the frustrated and often scared heroine. Such great characters! It might be a good fit for people who liked [b:The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls|10893214|The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls|Claire show more Legrand|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1336841328s/10893214.jpg|15809029], even though the settings are super different, because both stories are creepy and weird with interesting mystery elements. show less

On the eve of the summer she was supposed to have finally come into society, Maggie Bennet’s father suddenly takes her out west, following a rumor that her mother, a former bohemian artist missing for months now, might be there. As Maggie settles into her new life in Yellowstone Park, she is forced to come to terms with the fact that what she thought she knew about her father and mother are probably wrong.

A forest ranger’s son named Tom Rowland gradually helps Maggie open her eyes to the show more beauty around her, though, but part of her still wishes she were back East, entering society like a proper young woman. Will Maggie ever be able to reconcile these two desires within her?

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. show less