Book Review: Going Too Far (Jennifer Echols)

All Meg has ever wanted is to get away. Away from high school. Away from her backwater town. Away from her parents who seem determined to keep her imprisoned in their dead-end lives. But one crazy evening involving a dare and forbidden railroad tracks, she goes way too far... and almost doesn't make it back. 

John made a choice to stay. To enforce the rules. To serve and protect. He has nothing but contempt for what he sees as childish rebellion, and he wants to teach Meg a lesson she won't soon forget. But Meg pushes him to the limit by questioning everything he learned at the police academy. And when he pushes back, demanding to know why she won't be tied down, they will drive each other to the edge - and over...

I was blown away by this novel. It was such a unique read that I was mostly oblivious to every element of change the busy high street around me had undergone. Not even shopping managed to tear me away from this book. It was such a captivating novel.

What I thought the greatest strength of this novel is Echols' heavy characters. Meg and John are one of the, if not the most complex characters I have encountered. Echols' attention to details allows for full attention to her protagonists, a feat not many authors are able to execute. The depth to her characters goes beyond the supercificial and extends on to so many levels. They are well drawn and distinguished without the deprivation of genuine humanity. Best of all, their emotional and psychological intensity makes them a cut above the rest.

Meg's voice was fiercely rebellious and her tone inherently explosive, that combined with the dialogues and exchanges which characterises John in a  completely differently light, comes an inevitable romance that can only be Echols' unique story. Surprisingly, Meg maintains to be a very relatable, very endearing character; one that you may not agree with, but you can never dislike.

My reading experience was one of awe and blind guesses. I found the storyline and pacing different from much of the other novels I have read. The criss-crossing of various elements of the story resulted to a fantastically developed story. There are many twists in the plot that occured at different times - all of which garnered the same shock factor and equal appreciation. I was taken aback and challenged at certain points of the novel; it really was an engaging read.

I found Going Too Far a novel of wonderful surprises and challenging twists and turns, all of which builds this novel to be something of quality. The ending was very satisfactory, much like an account and tangible proof of the lengthy transitions and changes the characters undergo through for and because of each other. Before I forget to mention, Going Too Far is also a novel about a damaged psyche, trauma, fears and inhibitions - its motif include psychological understandings and much more.

I like it so much I even inspected zoomed in on the cover - and I think that little eyebrow piercing is digitally added. :D

Five stars!

PS. Echols' Forget You is coming out in the summer and oh my God, I can't wait!