Far Far Away
By Tom McNeil
About:
It says quite a lot about Jeremy Johnson Johnson that the strangest thing about him isn't even the fact his mother and father both had the same last name. Jeremy once admitted he's able to hear voices, and the townspeople of Never Better have treated him like an outsider since. After his mother left, his father became a recluse, and it's been up to Jeremy to support the family. But it hasn't been up to Jeremy alone. The truth is, Jeremy can hear voices. Or, specifically, one voice: the voice of the ghost of Jacob Grimm, one half of the infamous writing duo, The Brothers Grimm.
Jacob watches over Jeremy, protecting him from an unknown dark evil whispered about in the space between this world and the next. But when the provocative local girl Ginger Boultinghouse takes an interest in Jeremy (and his unique abilities), a grim chain of events is put into motion. And as anyone familiar with the Grimm Brothers know, not all fairy tales have happy endings...
Source: Goodreads
My rating: 4.7/5
My Thoughts:
*I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley*
A little boy called Jeremy who lives
with his father, and can hear the ghost of Jacob Grimm. The town folk think
Jeremy is strange, which I guess he kind of is, but he finds a friend in
Ginger, another poor child who loves adventure and mischief, but has a very
kind heart.
Jacob, the ghost, cannot pass on until
he has fulfilled his unknown mission, and protected Jeremy from the finder of
occasions. Very few people can hear the ghost, but none as clearly as Jeremy.
And Jacob helps Jeremy in many occasions, mostly giving him comfort and telling
him stories when things look bad.. and likewise, Jeremy is the only companion
Jacob has.
This book showed me that appearances
can be deceiving. Who would have thought that the fat, jolly baker has evil
intentions and kidnaps, starves and kills children?
I really enjoyed this book, the
characters felt very real, and the story was very well written. A highly
recommended read.
Zed (:
Favourite Quotes:
So why not mercy and justice to a sweet youth from an omnipotent and benevolent Creator? There are only three answers. He is not omnipotent, or he is not benevolent, or-the dreariest possibility of all-he is inattentive. What if that was what happened to my nephew? That God's gaze had merely strayed elsewhere?
Ginger said, "My grandfather says there's no point in travelling. He says all that happens when you go far, far away is that you discover you've brought yourself along."
Some in the town believed there was something askew in Jeremy's mind, some believed he was suggestible, and some believed his silver tooth fillings received transmissions from distant radio stations.
"Zounds," Ginger said. "They're almost too beautiful to eat." Then, smiling at the baker, she added, "Notice I said almost."
Marjory said, "I noticed you said Zounds, which I hope to God you will never say again."
Ginger regarded her. "How do you feel about Egads?"
"Worse."
Ginger smiled and sprang her little trap: "Then Zounds it is."
"Please don't let Grandpa find out I was gone last night, because I didn't do anything and he will think I did." She was quiet a second or two. "God bless Jeremy," she whispered, "and help me figure out a way to help him. And God bless Grandpa, but please don't put off calling him to you on my account."
Another boom of thunder, sharper, almost crackling.
Ginger looked up at the sky. "Maybe my granddad will get hit by lightening."
"Seems unlikely."
She shrugged and grinned. "A girl can hope."
Finally, I said, Jeremy, what is the matter?
"Everything's the matter!" he blurted. "Every single freaking thing!"
Ah. And may we consider them particularly, one by one?
The baker was nodding now, as if liking the plan more and more, but Mrs Bailey said, "No, no. A good-bye two hours before dawn or two hours after-it's all a good-bye."
After a long silence, Jeremy said in a quiet voice, "What did you do when your nephew died?"
I died a kind of death. My heart shrank and blackened and I died. Though I did not quite know it at the time. But of course I could not tell Jeremy this. I went on, I said. My life had changed and I had changed, but I went on.
After a time, Jeremy whispered, "The thing is, in fairy tales, when the heroes are chopped up or eaten by the wolf, they still come back to life at the end and live happily ever after. But this isn't like that. If we die, we stay dead."
Nothing, it seemed, was too cruel to be true.
"I don't know," Jeremy said, as if to Ginger, though I knew he meant it for me, too. "You can try to be different, but in the end we always are who we are."
