For the first three quarters of this book, I wasn't quite sure what to think. I knew the author was building a story and developing her characters, and while I was enjoying it, it was definitely a slow burn for me. The last quarter? Blew me out of the water. The twists the story took and the ways it turned upside down what you had come to accept were masterful. The last few pages I just kept saying, "Oh! Oh!" This all to say - I think it is a book worth sticking with, even if the beginning does not quite grab you. I did find a few things in the story very intriguing. The way Faye struggled with her faith in God while her husband was in training to become a vicar was quite interesting - I know this type of lifestyle demands so much not only of the person involved but their families as well. I also found Faye's relationship with Louie unexpected - at the beginning of the story she references her best friends (like sisters) Clem and Cassie, and then they all but disappear from much of the book. The thread that felt familiar in this book has echoed through other time travel books I have read - the idea of things that have already happened being preordained or if we can change the past by being there. This book really twists that idea significantly and makes you question everything that might previously have made sense.

It took me a long time to get through this book. It's a quiet type of meandering story with lots (and lots) of inner contemplation and discussion and pondering and not a huge amount of action. I get that books don't really need a ton of action, but as this centers on Faye traveling back in time and meeting the mother who died when she was a child, I was expecting a bit more.

Overall I appreciated the themes explored in this tale, especially when Faye talks to Eddie and he compares his calling from God to her experiences. It made me stop to think of what I just accept in life as the truth or believable and what I cannot wrap my mind around believing. I did like this author's explanation for time travel and its effects on the present, it did make the book much more plausible for me once I wrapped my head around it.

When all is said and done, there's a surprise that is told to Faye and from that point on I knew exactly where the book was heading and I was correct. Which was a bit of a letdown because the way things would work out in the end was most of the driving force of the novel. I liked the book, but it was just a little too drawn out and thoughtful rather than plot driven for me.

Thanks so much to Gallery Books for the advance copy!

This book is about grief with some Alice in Wonderland vibes, plus deep connections to loved ones.

Faye lost her mother at a young age and never met her father. When Faye discovers she can travel back in time to see her mother, she has to choose between the past or her beautiful life in the present.

I love a realistic story with a dash of magic, so this checked off a lot of boxes for me. It was fast paced and I appreciated the emotional journey the reader experienced through Faye’s perspective. Through every stage of grief, I was right there with Faye. I was sad, angry, and at peace. I’ve also been obsessed with Alice in Wonderland my whole life so I loved the parallels.

Faye's never really known what happened to her mother Jeanie- only that she was, luckily, taken in and adopted by Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, who raised her. She's 37 now, with two young daughter, good friends, and a husband- Eddie- who is studying to be a vicar. When she finds the box for her Space Hopper (a childhood toy), she also finds a surprising portal back to when she was 7 years old. What would you do if you suddenly found yourself face to face with your seven year old self and with your mother? Faye panics briefly but quickly finds herself becoming friends with Jeanie. She also discovers that she can travel back to her husband. Some of the most interesting interactions in this genre leaping novel are between Faye and her friend Louis, who is blind. The two of them debate what Faye should do but he also has thought provoking commentary on blindness. No spoilers from me on what happens but know that there are a few twists and that the path for Faye is not so simple. She's a terrific characters, I loved Louis, Eddie is a treat. There are lots of little nice things, such as the rocks the family collects and Jeanie's cookbook. It's a big hearted novel that doesn't go over the top. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. An excellent read.

What a beautiful, incredible, spellbinding book. This story drew me in and completely captivated me. Faye is a happily married mother of two who has never fully recovered from her mother's death when Faye was just a little girl. But then, quite unexpectedly, Faye finds herself back in 1977, when her mother was still alive. Faye is given the chance to interact with her mother as well as herself as a little girl. But Faye will ultimately have to make a choice between her present day and earlier life.

I think the concept for this book was brilliant and it was executed perfectly. I absolutely loved the scenes set in the 70's, and if I could've changed anything about the book, I would've asked for one more scene in that time period. The irony of that is that Faye understandably feels the same way after visiting her mother in the past. Just one more visit. I think it's telling that the author did a great job when I find myself aching to go back in time with the main character.

This book brought me to tears more than once, and that is not a common occurrence for me when reading. As it was winding down and I could tell that I was nearing the end, I was almost anxious about how it was going to end. I didn't know what the author could possibly come up with that would leave me feeling anything other than a little bit heartbroken. But in my opinion, even the ending was executed perfectly.

This book is pure magic and will stick with me for a very long time. I give this one all the stars.

Faye has a happy life with her husband Eddie and two young daughters but has never forgotten the mother she lost at a young age. Now, with a little help of the supernatural nature, Faye has the opportunity to revisit her mother and herself as a child, and find the answers to all of the questions that have followed her throughout her life. The scenes with Faye & her mother are heartrending and emotional and I think a lot of readers who have lost loved ones will sympathize with her desire to spend time with the mother she lost so long ago.

Faye's life in the present day almost distracted from the story, especially the storyline of Eddie becoming a vicar. I understand the use of it for the whole God, believing in what' you can't see debate but those scenes did nothing for me. The pace dragged a bit and there was lots & lots of exposition that didn't enhance the story. I found myself skimming a lot during Faye's internal monologue to get to the parts where she was back in time.

The time travel aspect wasn't an issue for me. Yes, it is an important device in the story but much like the time travel in Outlander, I'm able to suspend my disbelief and focus on the story and characters more than trying to nitpick the elements of science and time. If time travel books aren't normally your thing, I still think you can be interested in Faye, Faraway so don't let it deter you.

Many thanks to Gallery Books & Netgalley for the ARC

Faye, Faraway by Helen Fisher is a time travelling adventure novel with the bond between a mother and daughter at heart. Faye is a thirty-eight-year-old woman who is happily married with two beautiful daughters. Her life ought to be perfect. Only her life is dominated by the loss of her mother when she was seven-years-old. She aches to have her mum's advice, to hear her voice, to see her smiling face. One day after some decluttering, Faye's husband brings down a spacehopper box - the very one that Faye remembers playing in as a child. Overwhelmed by nostalgia, she feels a strange kind of connection to the cardboard. After a broken bulb leads her to standing inside of the four cardboard walls, she's suddenly transported back in time to 1977 where her mother is still alive. Torn between the past and the future, Faye has to navigate grief, expectation, and unravel the mystery that seems to surround her mothers death.

I received this through Net Galley as an ARC and honestly adored it. I didn't know what to expect from Faye, Faraway as not only is it a debut by the author but the premise could've easily flopped. I saw on one site that it was marketed as a mix between Gilmore Girls and The Time Travelers Wife which really don't have anything in common. But it read beautifully. It was such a heartfelt story told through writing that was seamless. Faye as a protagonist was likeable and her problems truly felt like problems, which isn't always something easily accomplished when writing about a middleclass white woman who has the perfect family.

The mother/daughter dynamics were written very realistically. I'm very close to my mother, so I always magnate towards books that have this as a central topic. I liked that Faye's expectations and memory of her mother were skewed by that daughtery love that so many of us are familiar with. It's so easy to see a parent through rose-tinted glasses. I liked learning about Faye's mother with her, and how different she actually was to the memories.

As with any book or entertainment that discusses time travel, this had the butterfly effect as a crucial storyline. I find this interesting, so although it didn't really bring anything new to the table to this conversation, it was fun reading about the characters discussing it. I'm glad the author brought up the consequences of changing time as she could've so easily skirted over it given that this book is more contemporary than fantasy.

The one thing that surprised me was how heavily this book spoke about faith. I'm personally not a huge believer in the all mighty but can respect when someone is. However, I don't necessarily want to read about it in my fiction. I think Helen Fisher did a wonderful job at opening up a discussion on religion without ever seeming preachy, allowing it to take over the plot, or fully changing the main characters beliefs to make a "statement". It was handled with the utmost care, which I appreciate.

Now for the problem.. Faye, Faraway wasn't diverse in the slightest. For a book that's being released in 2021, that can't be overlooked. There was a pretty huge list of characters in this book and, from my memory, not one wasn't white For that reason alone I had to knock one star from the rating. I hope Helen Fisher does anything to rectify this if she publishes another novel. (Please, please, please, correct me if I'm wrong as my memory isn't the best and I'm going solely from that and my reading notes here.)

All in all, this was a well rounded story that I devoured quickly. The writing reminded me of early Kristin Hannah and Liane Moriarty. It was easy to read while still keeping my interest. For a debut, I'm impressed. Again, thank you to Net Galley for giving me the opportunity to read this before it's release date.

Faye and Eddie share a quiet life and happy home with two little girls they adore. As Eddie prepares to train as a vicar Faye is terribly worried whether she can live up to her wifely duties. Faye lost her mum as a young girl and was adopted by an older couple. Although she had a lovely childhood, Faye has always longed for the mother she can hardly remember. While cleaning out the attic she discovers a box she recognizes from an old photograph. Faye climbs into the box to avoid stepping on glass and her life is transformed to another time. Faye awakens in 1977, in the yard of her childhood home, her mum Jeanie in the kitchen and her younger self nearby. This terrifying leap leads Faye down a path of discovery she never imagined possible. She can finally get to know the woman she has yearned for all these years. Maybe she can change the trajectory of their lives. Love and a little bit of faith in time travel is all you need to go back to the future.

I am not usually a huge fan of time travel, but couldn’t keep my intrigue at bay when reading the synopsis for this one.

Faye is happily married to Eddie. They have two young children, and she loves her family with all of her heart. She never really got over the death of her mother when she was a young girl, and she makes it a point to let her daughters know how much she loves them each and every day.

When Faye finds an old Space Hopper box from her childhood, stuffed in the dusty attic, one thing leads to another...and she finds herself stepping into the box, and being transported back to 1977. She crashes into her childhood living room, and her mom is still alive. Her younger self is there too.

As Faye grapples with this, she can’t help but be drawn to her mother (who doesn’t know her as her daughter, but as a new friend). They become fast friends, and yet...Faye is terrified to tell her mother who she really is (the adult version of Faye). After a couple trips in the box from the past to present, Faye starts to question if the things she does in the past (as adult Faye) will alter the present...and vice versa.

Let me say that the writing is beautiful and heartfelt, and I felt many emotions as I thought of my own mother (who is alive...but just the thought of losing her is too much to bear). The story is interesting and captivating, and I can see why so many reviewers rated this so high.

For me, there was a little too much suspension of disbelief. Although I suspected that going into this story (and although I don’t always mind it), I couldn’t stop myself from pondering, “If this happened, how did that happen?” It was a bit distracting to wrap my head around, and a tad bit difficult to just go with it.

I also did not care for the ending. It was a letdown after I built up multiple scenarios in my head. As I reflected further, I determined that there were some sections throughout where nothing of great interest occurred.

As mentioned earlier, time travel isn’t normally my genre. However, one of my favorite books (possibly my all-time favorite book) is Diane Chamberlain’s The Dream Daughter. That one also had time travel aspects, and maybe that one is my exception to the rule.

I urge everyone to read other reviews for this too. I could very well be an outlier. A solid 3 stars.

Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This sounded as if it was going to be great but sadly, it was not. Dragged in parts it should have sped and sped when should have slowed. Never quite got it!

Our story is narrated from Faye’s perspective. Faye travels back in time to spend time with the mother she lost as a young girl. Although she does this I expected to be more emotionally involved. I expected to be moved. I wasn’t. I don’t know what it was but I just didn’t get all the feels like this like I thought I would. I thought I would be really emotionally pulled by Faye having to choose between her mom and husband.
Overall it was a solid read and story, I just didn’t get what I thought I would from it.

This book excited me with it's storyline. An adult woman falls through time back to when she was 6 years old. She is able to watch her child self interact with her mother that she lost at 8 and yearned for her entire life. Having lost my father at 11 I loved this idea. Yet? This book absolutely dragged painfully and the only good parts was when she was watching her child self. It IS well written but the pace ruined it.

2.5 stars

I don’t read much science fiction, as the genre just doesn’t interest me and I don’t want to waste my time slogging through books that I know I most likely won’t enjoy. Having said that though, I AM open to occasionally trying out books of other genres with sci-fi themes worked into the story (as long as it’s not hard-core sci-fi stuff) and there have been plenty of times where I actually had a good reading experience. This is one of the reasons why I decided to pick up Helen Fisher’s debut novel Faye, Faraway – with its premise as a “heartfelt” story about family, relationships, love, and time travel, I thought it would be one of the “exceptions” that I would be able to appreciate. The summary describes this as an emotionally gripping, contemporary story about a woman named Faye who time travels back to the past to see her mother, who had died 30 years ago when Faye was just 8 years old. Faye becomes friends with her mother (who doesn’t know who she is of course) and the more time she spends with her, the more Faye doesn’t want to let her go, even though she knows she must do so in order to return to her beloved husband and 2 daughters. In the end, faced with an impossible scenario, Faye must choose between a second chance to make things right with her mother in the past or letting go and returning to her happy life with her family in the present. Based on this premise, I went into this one expecting to be moved and perhaps to even shed a tear or two – but my reaction ended up being the opposite. Instead of the expected emotional reaction, I ended up feeling super annoyed and frustrated, both with how the story played out, as well as with the characters.

The story is narrated from Faye’s first-person perspective, which I feel like is one of the things that didn’t work too well in this instance, as it seemed that Faye spent way too much time explaining and justifying (and re-explaining and re-justifying) practically every action she takes, especially as it pertains to her time travel. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, but I found most of her arguments irrational and nonsensical. I’m all for flawed characters in stories (as we are only humans after all and are bound to make mistakes and bad decisions), but I also need to see these characters grow in some way as the story progresses, rather than remain one-dimensional from beginning to end. With Faye, I felt like she didn’t change throughout the story – her behavior was childish and immature from the start and it continued to be up until the very end. I also got annoyed by the fact that Faye would act overly unreasonable and stubborn throughout nearly the entire story – even when others tried to reason with her, she didn’t seem to want to listen. Maybe I’m being too harsh, but I just find it hard to believe that Faye’s overwhelming desire to see her dead mother again (even she herself called it an “obsession”) could be all-consuming to the point that she was willing to put the life and happiness that she spent over 30 years building, (not to mention her family’s happiness) in jeopardy. The first time Faye encountered this dilemma (going back versus remaining in the present), I could understand her struggle with it and even empathize with her, but after repeated conversations with people who would tell her over and over again the dangers of her actions and how it wasn’t worth the risks, and even after she acknowledged they were right, but most importantly, she recognized that it was unfair to put her husband and daughters through the ordeal of potentially losing her if she got stuck in the past and couldn’t return, she still insisted on going, as she missed her mom too much not to do so. It was unfathomable to me how she could be so irrational and irresponsible, especially given how much she claimed that she couldn’t bear to leave her family.

The other part of this whole thing that annoyed me was the fact that Faye felt like she couldn’t tell her husband Eddie the truth (about her time traveling) because she knew he would try to stop her (especially since each time she traveled back in time, she would get physically injured) and she wouldn’t be able to bear it – so she decides to lie to him, even though she knows full well her husband can see right through her (as she repeats this continuously throughout the story). Then, when it gets to the point that her husband can’t stand it anymore and thinks she’s having an affair, she becomes indignant and belligerent, almost as though she is outraged that her husband would think such thoughts – again, her reaction made no sense given that she was the one evading his questions and telling him lies that even she herself didn’t find plausible. And then later, Faye berates the one friend who believed in her — when he tried to persuade her not to take the risk of going back to the past again due to the dangers and what it would do to her family, she insults him and claims that he’s jealous and throws his disability (blindness) at him...she even tells herself she knows she’s being unfair and he’s only trying to help her, but she’s so mad at her own helplessness that she lashes out at anyone who tries to “walk her down from the ledge.” Basically, my experience with this book was that each scene as the story progressed got more and more ridiculous, with Faye’s behavior more and more reckless and hysterical – needless to say, the more I read, the more frustrated I became.

One of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to characters in books are immature adults who behave unnecessarily defiantly – meaning they know that certain behaviors and/or actions are not constructive and, upon taking the time to weigh the risks, they understand that the outcome would be more harm than good, yet they proceed with the bad decision anyway, all the while telling themselves the equivalent of “I know I shouldn’t but I’m going to do it anyway” (and then of course regret it later when things don’t go as planned). Characters like these frustrate me to no end, especially when their actions and behavior make them come across as stereotypical (which Faye certainly did in this story, at least to me). Unfortunately, in this instance, it wasn’t just the characters, as parts of the plot didn’t make sense either, plus certain sections were bogged down by wordiness, with explanations and excessive descriptions of things that didn’t seem to have anything to do with advancing the narrative.

Overall, I struggled with this one and while I wouldn’t say it was a complete lost cause (I did finish the book after all), I felt that much of the story was a stretch and there really didn’t seem to be a point to it. If I had to sum this one up, I would say that it’s basically Faye on infinite loop trying to justify her time traveling with back-and-forth arguments that honestly didn’t warrant 300 pages to get across. I also didn’t feel the emotional pull that others seemed to experience with this book, though this was likely due to my annoyance with the main character being so strong that it was hard to feel anything else for her or any of the other characters. It could also be this was just the wrong book at the wrong time for me given the events of this past week and being inundated with examples of people showing poor judgment and making bad decisions. As I’m an outlier on this one amongst the many 4 and 5 star reviews, I would definitely recommend checking those reviews as well for a more balanced perspective.

Received ARC from Gallery Books via NetGalley.

Faye, Faraway by Helen Fisher #jaylammreviews
Faye lost her mother as a child but now as a thirty-seven year old wife and mother, she has found a way to reconnect with her mother...she takes trips to the past. These trips give Faye what she has always wanted, a way to get to know her mother.
Ah, time travel books get me everytime. This is no exception. I loved the slow build up of this story. We really got to know Faye and why she is so desperate for a connection to her mother. The character development of Faye is wonderful. I was rooting for Faye from the first word to the last. Her struggle between being in the past with her mother and being in the present with her loving family is heartbreaking. 
As always time travel storylines give me such terrible anxiety, I don't know why I do this to myself...but I regret nothing.  
I would definitely recommend this one if you want a heartfelt story with a little bit of magic.

Heartwarming and life-affirming. A book that rejuvenates the soul while pushing the limits of imagination. When reading about time travel it is easy to get twisted into a pretzel. Helen Fisher does an admirable job of presenting Faye's experiences in a straightforward manner while still opening us up to the 'what ifs.' This is a book I will be recommending with relish. I am keeping this short so I don't give away too much and ruin the experience for someone else. It has been compared to 'The Time Traveler's Wife,' but the book I immediately thought of as I started reading was 'The Bookseller' and then also 'The Dream Daughter'.' I also have to say that Stephen King's '10/23/1963' came to mind as far as the timing comparisons, but that is not the feel good read this one was. If you love reading about time travel, you cannot go wrong by choosing to read this book. It is amazing!

Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for gifting me a digital ARC of this wonderful debut novel by Helen Fisher - 5 stars for a thoughtful, faith-filled look into our relationships and connection with the past.

Faye is happy in her life - she has a fulfilling job working with the blind, she is married to Eddie, who is studying to be a vicar, and the mother of two young girls. She is also still mourning the loss of her mom when she was very young. Although she was happily adopted by an older couple, details about her mom and her death were kept away from her. One day, Faye finds a picture of her and her mom in a storage box when something amazing happens - she is transported back to the past a year before her mother died. They are able to connect as adults and Faye is thrilled. Until she goes back to the present and realizes that she can't tell Eddie or anyone else about what happened. She is desperate to go back and spend more time with her mom yet afraid to do anything to alter her present life.

This book is written as if Faye is talking to you, the reader. I loved that connection - it pulled me in and took me along for the ride. I loved how strong Eddie's faith is and how he believed in his path without question. That faith spills out all over this book and these characters and their relationships to each other. There is not an unlikeable character in this book! There is so much wisdom here about reconciling our past and coming to terms with our grief, never veering into the preachy but just so heartfelt. Highly recommended and looking forward to more from this author in the future!

Unfortunately I had to DNF (did not finish) this one for now. The story got off to a really slow start and I just could not get into it despite reading a little over 25%. Some of the lines just felt weird and I didn't care for the protagonist. I do still think the premise of the story is interesting and know others have enjoyed so I may try to pick it up again at a later date and see if that makes a difference.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first read by author Helen Fisher! I recently read the book ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’ and immediately compared this book to it. The author has done a marvelous job of explaining the minute detail of time travel, that it makes you believe in the concept of time travel and the experience of main character Faye, feels very realistic!!

Faye, lost her mother when she was eight and was raised by her elderly neighbor couple. She is married to a wonderful man named Eddie and has two daughters. The loss of her mother, is the subject she has not openly expressed to anyone or has come to terms with. One day while clearing her old stuff in attic, she finds herself traveling through time and meets her mother and 6 year old self. The story beautifully narrates Faye’s emotions, her journey to know and learn more about her mother and living & experiencing two different lives.

This is one of my favorite reads about time travel and love & bonding between mother and daughter!! I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to delve themselves in a gripping story of love, courage, coming to terms with loss and ofcourse time travel!!

Thank you netgalley, gallery books & Helen Fisher for free copy of my eARC in exchange of my honest review!

FAYE, FARAWAY is a beautiful reflection on what it means to be a mother, a daughter, a friend. For Faye, who lost her mother at age eight, finding a way to travel back in time to spend more time with her lovely mother seems like the greatest of gifts. And because she is an adult when she time-travels, Faye has the extraordinary experience of also meeting her younger self, and getting to know her mother as a peer and a friend. Bu Faye's adventures are not without consequence in her present or her past. Sometimes we can know the future, but not understand it or be able to change it. This book was a remarkable read and I plan to buy many copies as gifts just as soon as it is published. Mothers and daughters will love talking about this book!

Like another reviewer, I feel conflicted about this book also. I love the premise and the idea of Faye going back in time to get to know her own mother before her mother died... and also meeting herself as a little child... what a spark to my imagination! And those scenes were written so well! On the other hand, I found the whole story slow going, and to be honest, I didn't really like the ending at all!

Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and publisher, for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.