Far Far Away by Tom McNeal

“He says that all that happens when you go far, far away is that you discover you've brought yourself along.”

Again, a book has been presented to me with a gorgeous cover, an amazing synopsis, and promise of a really great story. And I walk away very disappointed. 

Don't get me wrong...it wasn't bad. It just wasn't what I wanted it to be.

Stats:

Genre: Fantasy-ish paranormal wanabe

Feelings: No.

Happiness: No, not really.

Cuteness: I honestly could care less about the "romance".

Fast pacing: No

Series: No. 

Read if you like: Grimm fairy tales, light concepts, quick romance

Content: Nothing, other than a few kisses that aren't described and stuff. This could basically be a juvenile fiction book.

In one sentence... A troubled teen aged boy and a feisty redheaded girl try to piece together a mystery, all from the point of view of the ghost of one of the Brothers Grimm.
Thoughts:  A beautifully baked cake, guys. Cake.

Overall:

Rating: 3/5 

This review has NO MAJOR SPOILERS

The Lovely Bits:

Okay. You see that one sentence summary I wrote? It sounds pretty darn cool. The concept itself is awesome. Narrated by the ghost of one of the Grimm Brothers? Um,  yes! Sadly other than the concept there were few lovely things I was happy with.

The writing wasn't bad. There were some characters I actually really liked. I think the "problem" is that this is a modern day story advertised as an old fashioned fairy tale retelling. While that does go well with the voice of the narrator, it left me unsatisfied at the end, seeing as I had been expecting something dark.

Really, this is one of those books where I had a lot of things I disliked but those didn't make it a bad book. So the "Lovely Bits" section is quite short, but I still think other people can enjoy this book as long as they really know what it's about.

The Less Lovely Bits:

First off, as nice as the synopsis sounds, it really ticked me off after finishing the book. Let's take a look.

On goodreads, it tells you exactly what this story is about. The ghost, Jeremy, the girl, and the mystery. But on the book itself it says something along the lines of:

"Then Ginger takes a bite of cake that is said to make that person fall in love with the first person they see...and for her its Jeremy"

Okay. Interesting. And it did happen.

But was not brought up again basically the whole freaking book. What? 

I was told this book was dark and creepy. I like dark and creepy things. I was expecting at least a Kill Me Softly level of creepy. I didn't get it. There were subplots thrown in there that felt forced and contrived, and very out of place in a story that's supposed to be dark and about Grimm fairy tales.

This was such an amazing concept. I just wish they would have done better. I wish they would have made Ginger less of a stereotyped "wild feisty" redheaded girl. She was a fun character. But I felt like she was too much like every other feisty heroine out there. There was nothing that really made her stand out to me.

Overall, it wasn't a bad book. It wasn't a good book. It wasn't lovely or not lovely. I think people can enjoy this if they know that it's really more of a contemporary with some fairy tale stuff thrown in. 

It's just a book that won't be sticking with me personally.