Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

Going Too Far

Jennifer Echols

Published March 17, 2009

MTV Books

Summary:  Just before the start of Spring Break her senior year, Meg is arrested.  As punishment, John After, her arresting officer causes her to miss her week of fun in the sun in Florida and makes her perform a week of community service by riding along with him.

While the two couldn't be more different, the collision of their two worlds, push them both beyond their limits.  Will they survive the week?  Or will one of them go too far?

Review:  I had the most difficult time writing this review because I could not put its brilliance into words.  All that came to mind was wow, amazing, marvelous, wonderful, fabulous, fantastic.  But none of these words truly describes how remarkable this book is!  It truly blew me away!

Jennifer Echols has an astonishing way with words.  I found so many beautifully written passages in this novel.  Her descriptions of the characters and setting go beyond physical descriptions, and I found myself connecting to each mentally and emotionally.  

Meg is such a raw character.  She is full of rage and hurt, yet is so beautifully vulnerable that I found myself cheering for her and hoping that her story would end happily.  Her transformation is inspiring and she is the perfect example as to why we should never judge a book by its cover--because she is so much more than what her hard exterior would have you believe.

John, on the other hand, comes across as this cookie cutter gentlemen, which he is!  But again, he is more than meets the eye--sensitive, intelligent, fun, but hard to put your finger on.  His complexity makes him intriguing and I couldn't put the book down because I wanted so much to find out what would become of John's future.

Jennifer Echols has awed me with this amazing (there goes that word again) story of second chances, forgiveness, and love.  

We are only preparing to enter April, and there are many books left to be released; however, I know Going Too Far is going to be one of the top 10 (if not top 5) BEST books of 2009!

My score: 10 Stop what you're doing...No, I'm not kidding.  Drop everything and read this book!