Faults by Tudor Robins (Review)

Release date: November 2016

Publisher: Tudor Robins

Number of pages: 260

My rating: 4.5/5

The fourth book in Tudor Robins’ Island series, Faults, offers a fresh perspective on The Island. I was expecting something quite different to what I got. The first two books of the series were centred around Meg and Jared. The third was centred around Lacey, who appeared regularly in the first two books and is Jared’s cousin. This one takes a step away from the usual characters in the first three books and chooses to focus on two new characters, Austen and Rand. It follows the two characters as they work through the summer and explore their budding relationship. Oh, and there’s a horse, too. There’s always a horse. :)

Austen is the ultimate good girl. With two overprotective parents and a sick sister, she always has to be available for her family. She always does what is best for her family, even if she doesn’t want to. Rand, after getting in trouble back on Toronto, gets sent to The Island for the summer to live with his uncle and find a job. They both find work for Meg and Jared. Austen is also given a horse, Mac, to work on.

I was quite surprised when I began reading the book and realised that the two protagonists were entirely new. I had to admit, I’ve grown comfortable with Meg, Jared, and Lacey. I was even more surprised when I discovered that the book was told from an alternating POV. Austen was a fantastic character. She’s the typical good girl, but certainly not a boring one. She tries her hardest to take care of her family and do what is right. I really liked Austen, and she proved to be funny, strong, and not boring at all.

I liked Rand equally as much as Austen. He’s a bit rougher and has some attitude issues at times, but I found him relatable and likable. As usual, Tudor does a good job of creating likable, realistic characters. The issues that Rand and Austen faced were quite genuine.

I feel that the main focus of Faults is on Austen and Rand, rather than on horses. This is not necessarily a bad thing, although if you’re looking for a book that focuses heavily on horses and competing, you might feel a little disappointed. There is a fair bit of horse stuff in there, with Austen being offered a horse to work with as well as working at a horse riding camp, but the book mainly focuses on the characters and their problems. Lacey, who was the main character in the previous book, Join Up, also worked at a horse camp, although Tudor does not focus as heavily on the camp in Faults.

Tudor focuses on some difficult issues in this book. They are not confronting or graphic or anything, but they are difficult issues that are not necessarily have clear cut solutions. Austen’s sister’s illness is portrayed incredibly well. Tudor addresses the complexity of the situation from Austen’s family’s point of view, as well as addressing how Austen’s sister herself feels. I found the conflict that both characters faced to be really interesting and definitely the biggest selling point of the book.

As usual, I love how Tudor portrays “the Island”, where the Island Series is based on. All of the books in the series, minus Join Up are set on the Island, which is based on Wolfe Island (I read Tudor’s blog as well :) ). Tudor describes the island beautifully, and she makes me feel like I’ve literally been transported to this awesome, summery, country island. The author includes little details which make the island seem like a real, tangible place. Interestingly enough, because the Island series has been told from so many perspectives (Meg’s, Lacey’s, Austen’s, and Rand’s), the island is viewed differently from each person. Which is actually great, because the Island isn’t really shown as a perfect, unrealistic place. Throughout the series, it’s also been described as a “hick” island, as a place where gossip travels fast, and even proves to be isolating/boring at times. Tudor really captures the intricacies of living in a rural area as well as its impracticalities.

I do wish that Faults was a little more cohesive with the rest of the series though. The first two books were told from Meg’s point of view, the third was from Lacey’s (who was a fairly major character in Meg’s books) point of view. Austen and Rand do not appear elsewhere in the series… They just appear and end up renting Meg’s family’s cottage. I understand the reasoning behind this, as perhaps there was not much more to be explored with Meg and Lacey. However, I wish Austen and Rand had linked in a little better with past characters, or had appeared in one of the previous books. It’s a little jarring to change characters completely, but have the same setting and feature old characters. I did end up loving Austen and Rand, but I did wish that Faults was told from a more familiar character. I would have loved to see something from Bridget, Carly, Slate, or even Lacey or Meg again.

I very much enjoyed reading faults, with the characterisation and the issues that both main characters face to be the best parts of the book. The book has a lovely setting and does feature a fair bit of horse related stuff. I only wish that the book had tied in with the other a bit better. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone looking for a horse book or a contemporary novel.

(BTW who else is looking forward to the next book in Tudor’s Downhill series?)

A copy was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.