Far Far Away

*Book source ~ NetGalley

Title ~ Far Far Away

Author ~ Tom McNeal

Publisher ~ Knopf Books for Young Readers

Published ~ 11 June 2013

Genre ~ YA | Paranormal | Fairy Tale Retelling

Pages ~ 384

My Rating ~ 4 bites

Jeremy Johnson Johnson of Never Better can hear voices and ever since he made the announcement as a child the townspeople have treated him like crap which got worse after his mother skipped town and his father became a recluse. But Jeremy usually doesn’t let it get him down. He has the ghost of Jacob Grimm as his companion and a goal to go away to college to keep him going. Until one day Ginger Boultinghouse turns her considerable charms on him and things go mostly downhill from there. With one of the Brothers Grimm by his side, do you think Jeremy has a happy ending?

This fairy tale retelling is a weird one to follow. Jeremy is kinda boring except for his ghost friend Jacob and his daring friend Ginger. But the tale is told from Jacob’s POV so it’s actually more interesting than it starts out. Jacob is supposed to be protecting Jeremy from someone or something called The Finder of Occasions. As the story is told, Jeremy goes about his fairly unremarkable life, trying to figure out a way to keep from getting evicted and the tension builds and builds and builds because this sinister-sounding Finder takes plenty of time (nearly the entire book!) to show up. The suspense was almost unbearable! I kept wondering when the shoe was going to drop. And when it does? Holy shit! Yeeeks! I can’t really go into detail without giving it away, so I’ll just say I was unsatisfied with the Finder’s part of the story. The why is left hanging. Or maybe I missed it. Not sure which. Anyway, this is still a decent read.