In a small town, where nothing ever happens, everything is about to change
-cover
Far Far Away by Tom McNeal
Sup kids. It’s only been three months since I last updated. Ya know. We’re into taking it slow here. Anyways, y’all are in for a treat because this book was rad.
So we’re in the town of Never Better where Jeremy, our hero, is haunted by his own personal ghost, the spirit of Jacob Grimm. Yes, half of the famous brothers hangs around our young protagonist, acting as a sort of father and guardian angel. Because not all spirits are evil, okay? Jacob and Jeremy are pretty tight as far as things go, mostly because their arrangement has been going for so long that they’re both kind of used to it. But Jacob, while he enjoys Jeremy’s company, is looking for a way out. He doesn’t want to be in this world forever. He also knows that something bad is coming, specifically the Finder of Occasions, and he’s hoping that by being around to protect Jeremy from it, his good deed will send him into the Otherworld.
And what is this wicked thing that is coming to Never Better? Well, nobody quite knows yet. Except for a few missing kids, the town is mostly stagnant. And life for Jeremy is pretty boring until Ginger, the lady who stole his heart, takes a bite of an enchanted cake and falls in love with him. After that, things start to get a little more interesting.
I am doing a crap job of selling this story, but if you were perusing your local Barnes and Nobles or what have you, and you happened upon this book, I would definitely recommend reading the teaser on the inside flap, because it’s adorable and fascinating and it sucked me in to the story before I had even started it.
In short, this is basically a modern day fairy tale, told from the perspective of Jacob. It’s wonderfully quirky and, though the ending perhaps could have been a bit shorter, it’s hard to complain about this book. Because I genuinely haven’t experienced a story this good in a very, very long time. You know how many novels I checked out from the library this summer? Like thirty. Do you know how many I could actually get through? Four! I kept trying to tell myself, no, read more, it’s better for you, but kids, life is too short for bad books. Seriously. And I wasn’t going to waste my time stumbling through Shadow and Bone, that Grisha trilogy book. People are going nuts over it and I just don’t get it.
But this book? Oh god, this book. It was such a breath of fresh air. The characters were wonderful, just sweetly-flawed little humans tucked into the pages. The story made no pretensions of being anything other than the fairy tale it was, which was nice because it means I got exactly what I expected from it. But you know what really made this book was the writing. Just, the words. They were so good. Not like me, not like this jumbled mess of a blog post. It was so good to read a book where the author could navigate his way around the English language without sounding like SAT practice. He maintained the simple and understated style that the original Grimm Brother’s had, while making it wholly modern and accessible and just a pure joy to read. This book makes reading fun. You know, it’s less often than you think that I get to say that. But here it is.
If you enjoyed the Book Thief, or Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, then this one is sure to make you smile as well. Because basically, I want to dunk this book in a hot cup of tea and enjoy it every Sunday morning; it’s simply delicious.
And before I head out, I just want to thank all the wonderful people that have been leaving me comments and keeping in touch with me despite the fact that I am the worst updater in the world. I do read everything you guys post on here and it makes my heart sing to know that you guys are still reading after all these years. And, fear not, I’ve got some really great things in store for us this fall as a reward. So I’ll see you guys later (hopefully next week). Cheers!
Ri’s Rating:
4/5
0. Couldn’t get past chapter one for fear of wanting to kill myself. Book induced suicide…
1: Yuck. Ew. Below Average. Probably didn’t even read the middle and skipped to the end.
2. Ok. Would’ve been better if I’d written the ending and everything else.
3. Not bad at all. Very enjoyable. Quite nice. Recommendable.
4. My kind of book. Near ideal, but something was a little off (annoying names, bad ending, that sort of thing).
5. WOW. Makes me wonder why people watch T.V when this is out there. Really liked it. Don’t expect to see this often.
6 and above. What I want my book to be.
The Spotted Mushroom 
Avra-Sha Faohla
/ October 16, 2013Just added it to my reading list. Hopefully I’ll get to it, someday. ;)
Bummerton
/ October 16, 2013look who finally bake mr smoke
Em
/ October 17, 2013Hey Ri! And this book does sound great – I’ll be sure to get a look at it. :)
Robinton
/ October 22, 2013@Avra: Agreed!
@Ri: You are not the worst updater in the world – I haven’t updated the Cubic Chunks mod since at least a year ago! But you’re most definitely welcome! And I’m looking forward to next week!
Another Story Recommendation You’re Welcome To Ignore – have you ever read Harry Potter and the Natural 20? “Milo, a genre-savvy D&D Wizard and Adventurer Extraordinaire is forced to attend Hogwarts, and soon finds himself plunged into a new adventure of magic, mad old Wizards, metagaming, misunderstandings, and munchkinry.” However hilarious it sounds, multiply that by seven. :)