Gone Too Far
Sourcebooks Fire
January 6, 2014
304 pages
Keeping secrets ruined her life. But the truth might just kill her.
Piper Woods can't wait for the purgatory of senior year to end. She skirts the fringes of high school like a pro until the morning she finds a notebook with mutilated photographs and a list of student sins. She's sure the book is too gruesome to be true, until pretty, popular Stella dies after a sex-tape goes viral. Everyone's sure it's suicide, but Piper remembers Stella's name from the book and begins to suspect something much worse.
Drowning in secrets she doesn't want to keep, Piper's fears are confirmed when she receives an anonymous text message daring her to make things right. All she needs to do is choose a name, the name of someone who deserves to be punished...
REVIEW
Piper is a 'normal' high school girl. She isn't popular but she isn't an outcast, either. A devoted (and talented) photographer she always has a camera at the ready, leaving many conscious of how they appear around her.
It's what is beneath how her classmates appear, though, that soon becomes Piper's focus.
What causes Piper to view her friends differently, what diverts her from the path she was on, is one little notebook. Filled with transcriptions of her classmates wrongdoings (with pseudonyms, of course) and mutilated photographs, the notebook is nothing Piper ever expected to encounter. And what she does with it is something far different than even she expected.
I love that the notebook is this unassuming thing that Piper finds in such an unspectacular event that results in something so monumental. It makes the whole series of events, everything that happens to Piper, that she does, that she is a part of, something readers can easily identify with.
It is also great the Piper's feelings about the notebook, about the punishments aren't black and white. Things seem clear cut to her, but the more involved she becomes, the more questions she has and the more we see her internal turmoil. Both good and bad, liking what is happening and being a part of it and doubting it, wanting no more.
Piper is an easily relateable character and her emotions throughout everything that happens in Gone Too Far are realistic and believable. Her relationships, both those already established and those begun during the book are well done. They add to the story - the unfolding of events - and the unraveling of the mystery of who the 'anonymous' messages are from while also giving us insights into the different characters. Not everyone is who we - or Piper - think they are . . . and Piper may not be who she believed herself to be, either.
Gone Too Far managed to say something about human nature, about the choices we make and what they mean about us - or don't - while also having a cute romance and a great central character.
DREAM CAST
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| Kaya Scodelario as Piper |
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| Jeffrey Licon as Manny |
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| Colton Haynes as Nick |
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| Grant Gustin as Harrison |
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| Allie Grant as Tacey |
ABOUT AUTHOR NATALIE RICHARDS:
At seven, Natalie D. Richards wrote about Barbara Frances Bizzlefishes (who wouldn't dare do the dishes.) Now she writes about awesome girls, broody boys, and all things dark and creepy. Natalie lives in Ohio (Go Bucks!) with her techno-wiz husband, three amazing kids, and a seventy pound dust-mop who swears he's the family dog. Her psychological thriller, Six Months Later, will be released in October 1, 2013 by Sourcebooks Fire. Until then, you'll probably find her writing her next book or trying to wade through the towers of dog-eared paperbacks that have taken over her bedroom.
Details: Win (1) finished copy of Gone Too Far, a copy of Six Months Later and some swag (US Only)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Gone Too Far received from publisher via NetGalley for this tour & review
Oh man. This review is just a little mind-blowing. I have the worst cold ever and this is SUCH a great way to cheer me up and start my blog tour -- thank you SO much for having me and for your incredibly lovely review. In other news...YOUR PIPER PICK IS FREAKING AWESOME!! I adore her!! :-)
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