Book Review: Going Too Far

Author: Jennifer Echols

Publisher: MTV

Paperback: 245 Pages

Summary From Book:

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, shes 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 everthing 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....

My Thoughts:

Plot: 5 stars

Characters: 5 stars

Cover: 5 stars

Overall: 5 stars

Again, like Forget You, I was drawn into this story as soon as I started reading it.  After reading Forget You I was eager to go out and buy another of Jennifer Echols books. Instead of buying one more of her books I bought two, Going too Far and Endless Summer, which actually added up to three books since Endless summer is two books in one (a deal? I think so :P ).  I'll do a review for Endless summer when I'm finished reading it, so far it's looking good! Anyway, back to this review.

Really good story and I loved the characters. Meg and John are two very different people who are brought together in this story.  They're so different that you wouldn't think they could even get along until they get to know each other and dive into each others heads and hearts.  Meg, a 17 year old girl who doesn't show much care about her life and what happens in it. Sleeping around, getting drunk, doing stupid things that could put her life in serious danger. She's seen as a troublemaker by many including her parents. Then there's John After, an 19 year old police officer who shows a lot of care in other lives.

After an incident at the railroad track Meg is forced to ride along with John on his night shifts for a week.  At first this is a dreadful thought for Meg who now is missing her spring break.  For John, it's a mission to save Meg.  His fear is that if she continues down the path she's headed she will end up dead. 

I found this story idea very appealing. I mean, Meg and John are so different and I couldn't wait to read how their story progressed. Having to spend a whole week together, what would they find out about each other? Would John be able to help Meg change her ways? Why does Meg act the way she does? And what is it that makes John so attached to that bridge that he drives by it every night during his shift?  All questions that kept me reading.  I found this story to be full of emotion, love, anger, sad, and more love.  Although I can't say I can relate to Meg I did like her character. She was lost and reading the story I felt for her. You can also say I felt for John too. Who can resist a nice, loveable, sexy cop?? Seriously though, he's a great character and there was just something about him that made me feel bad. He seemed trap to me which made me want to jump into the book and give him a big bear hug. I definitly loved how Echols developed these characters as the story progressed.  I love being able to feel with  and for characters as I read a story and that's something I was able to do with this book for sure.

Randomness:

Something strange that I did find, and it is totally my own problem, was that I couldn't quite ever picture John in my head. He is perfectly described in the book so I shouldn't have had this problem but for some reason I was a blank.  Has this ever happened to anyone? It rarely happens to me. Like I said he was described very well in the book and for crying out loud there's an image of a guy on the front cover who I'm sure is suppose to represent John. Yet there I was, a complete blank.  I mean, sometimes on other occasions if I don't like how a character is described I end up just picturing something I do like instead. So you think that if I couldn't get John's image right in my head I would have just made something up myself.  I didn't because I was really set on seeing him the way he was described. The cover of the book only shows half of a mans face, from the chin to just above his mouth.  So when I did look to the cover for some help I'd try to picture what the top of this face would look like.  Guess what?? I stilllll had problems.  I'm not exactly sure what was wrong with me. Considering how well John is described I don't think anyone else will have this problem. It was definitly just my problem. My mind was just being very strange.

Anyway, this was an awesome story and I highly recommend it.

Book Review: Forget You

Author: Jennifer Echols

Publisher: MTV Books, a division of Simon & Schuster

Paperback: 304 pages

Summary from Book:

There's a lot Zoey would like to forget.  Like how her father has knocked up his twenty-four-year old girlfriend.  Like Zoey's fear that the whole town will find out about her mom's nervous breakdown.  Like darkly handsome bad boy Doug taunting her at school.  Feeling like her life is about to become a complete mess, Zoey fights back the only way she knows how, using her famous attention to detail to make sure she's the perfect daughter, the perfect student, and the perfect girlfriend to ultra-popular football player Brandon.  But then Zoey is in a car crash, and the next day there's one this she can't remember at all-the entire night before.  Did she go parking with Brandon, like she planned?  And if so, why does it seem like Brandom is avoiding her?  And why is Doug-of all people-suddenly acting as if something significant happened between the two of them?  Zoey dimly remembers Doug pulling her from the wreck, but he keeps referring to what happened that nights as if it was more, and it terrifies Zoey to admit how much is a blank to her.  Controlled, meticulous Zoey is quickly losing her grip on the all-important details of her life-a life that seems strangely empty of Brandon, and strangely full of Doug.

My Thoughts:

Plot - 5 stars
Characters - 5 stars
Cover - 5 stars

Overall - 5 stars

Really interesting, romantic, sexy and overall a great story that kept my attention the whole way through. While searching for a good book to buy I saw the cover for Forget You. The cover itself drew me in. Come one, how cute is it?? After reading the description of the book I was instantly interested in reading it and bought the book shortly after. Echols keeps the readers guessing and wondering what will happen next.  I couldn't put the book down, I finished it within a day and was disappointed when I realized it was over.


Although I found Zoey to be a bit annoying at first, the decision she makes with Brandon despite the many conversations she has had with him concerning his past relationships, and by relationship I mean sex, with other girls, I did come to really like her. She believes, because her and Brandon were friends before, it will be different for them compared to his previous "relationships".  After a car being in a car crash Zoey finds herself in a mess when she can't remember the accident at all except for Doug, a boy who seemed to hate her for as long as she can remember, saving her and bringing her to safety. Now, not remembering anything from that night, confused about why Doug is now acting surprisingly attached to her, Zoey must put the pieces together to find out what really happened . She gets help from Doug, which isn't always the easiest thing, and along the way becomes closer to him. 


I loved Doug, although he appears to be a mysterious guy with a bad temper he really has a soft heart. It's clear he has feelings for Zoey and I found myself cheering them on, wanting them to be together. I wanted to jump into the story and shake her...orrrrrr just take him for myself  ;). The way Echols described moments between Doug and Zoey really surprised me. It was sweet, funny, and sometimes very hot. I was actually shocked at just how descriptive these scenes were, but hey, I have no complaints about that.  It really showed the emotion and the feelings the characters were having...especially with Doug I found.


I rarely put the book down while reading it.  I found myself wanting to find out what really happened the night of the accident as much as Zoey wanted to too. I wanted to see who she would choose to be with in the end.  Would things work out with Brandon, would things really be different for them compared to his past relationships? Or would she choose Doug, frustrating mysterious Doug?

First Post

Hey! If you didn't get it from the title this is my first post :) yay!. I'm not going to be doing any reviews in this post but I will do one soon.  Possibly later tonight if I'm not too tired. As I said in my profile, I love reading and writing, so I thought "why not write about books that I read and share my thoughts on them". I'm by no means a professional, just someone who loves to read and share her own opinions. Everytime I read a book I find myself wanting to tell someone about it. Sometimes I get carried away and end up telling my friends the whole story. Well, they know how I am, they stop me if they know they're going to end up reading it. I'll be sure not to post any spoilers in my blogs without signifying it first. That being said, I'm really looking forward to reviewing books and hopefully hearing from anyone with comments on my reviews.  I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions whether you agree or disagree with my review. Everyone has their own thoughts, likes and dislikes. Also, I'm open to any suggestions on books you think would be a good read. If there's a book you would like me to do a review on just leave a comment and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. :)