Far Far Away - Tom McNeal - A Short Summary & Review
Far Far Away - Tom McNeal - A Short Summary & Review
By: a.d. elliott | Take the Back Roads - Art and Other Odd Adventures
A Rite of Fancy Book Recommendation and Review
A short summary:
Far Far Away blends fairy-tale undertones with modern suspense. The novel follows Jeremy Johnson Johnson, a socially isolated teenager haunted, quite literally, by the ghost of Jacob Grimm. As Jeremy navigates small-town cruelty, grief, and adolescence, the story takes on an ominous edge, hinting at darker folklore beneath the surface.
Tom McNeal weaves classic fairy-tale themes, danger, abandonment, kindness, and fate into a contemporary setting. What begins as whimsical slowly shifts toward menace, creating tension between innocence and inevitability. At its core, the novel asks whether goodness can endure in a world that often tests the vulnerable.
My favorite quote from the book:
Questions I pondered while reading:
My review:
This novel feels like a fairy tale told in twilight, beautiful, strange, and edged with threat.
McNeal captures the isolation of adolescence with quiet precision. Jeremy’s outsider status makes him sympathetic without making him passive. The presence of Jacob Grimm as narrator adds both charm and gravitas, grounding the story in literary tradition while heightening its eerie tone.
What stands out most is the novel’s belief in kindness as a form of strength. In many of the old tales, heroism is not brute force but moral clarity. That thread runs through this story, even as danger creeps closer. The suspense builds gradually, creating a mood that is more unsettling than overtly violent.
Far Far Away is not a simple young adult fantasy nor purely adult literary fiction; it sits somewhere in between, reflective and haunting. It lingers because it taps into something primal: our childhood understanding that stories can warn us, guide us, and sometimes break our hearts.
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About the Author
a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller traveling through life
She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.
You can also browse her online photography gallery at shop.takethebackroads.com.
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