Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

Title: Going too Far
Author: Jennifer Echols
Pages: 256
Publisher: MTV
Publication Date: March 17, 2009

How far would you go?

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...

Rebellious and misleading, Meg gets drunk and and finds her friends and herself inadvertently rescued by the police officer arresting them; Officer Johnafter. As punishment, Meg has to ride through the night with him, trying to stop any trouble that might happen. It isn't as bad as she assumed, but the mystery of John's past with the bridge, haunts her. And as she gets closer to him, sparks start to fly. But can two people with two painful pasts come together to create a better future? They just might.

Filled with lies, hurt, and major drama, Going too Far is a beautiful, thought-provoking read that overcomes all stereotypes and leads you to an unexpected ending. Meg and John are both sensitive, three-dimensional characters that try to push each other over the limit. They are completely unfathomable to one another at first, but the more they spend time together, their layers are slowly peeled away and they find themselves completely looking through each other's pretenses.

The emotions swirling through Going too Far are powerful, and raw. Completely layered and entangled, Meg and John's emotions have everything to do with their decisions. They've both had traumatic pasts and they're both broken and hurt, still unrecovered with well-hidden grief. Echols reveals painful truths through this very personal and extremely well-expressed story.

Seeing through Meg's eyes is simply eye-opening. She is such a different and complicated character. Her feelings and relationships with her friends and John are what makes her perspective real and moving. You can see her grow throughout the story and finally find herself where she belongs. A+ :-)

The Bottom Line: Going too Far is a strong and evocative read. It really resonated with me unlike any other book. No words can truly express how I feel about this novel. All I can say is that Jennifer Echols has permanently cemented herself as one of my favorite authors.

---Report Card---
Originality: 10/10
Ending: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Plot: 10/10
My reaction/enjoyment: 10/10
Theme: 10/10
Imagery: 10/10
Setting: 5/5
Voice: 5/5
Style: 5/5
Tone: 5/5
Cover: 10/10
Total Score: 100/100 (A+) !!!This, and Perfect Chemistry are the only title-holders for The Holy Grail: Beholder of the perfect 100!!!