"High school senior Meg revels in being a rebel. She sports choppy blue hair, and tight t-shirts, cuts class, and is often found where she's not supposed to be. Like hanging out on a railroad-tracks-covered bridge that's off-limits to trespassers. When she and her friends are busted for trespassing and underage drinking, she's sentenced to spend her spring break riding along with a rookie police officer on his nightshift patrol. Compounding the punishment is the fact that the cop, John After, is only two years older than Meg, and a former classmate to boot. He thinks he has Meg's number and has nothing but contempt for her childish rebellion. Meg in turn has nothing but contempt for Officer After's straight-laced, by-the-book attitude. But Meg has her reasons for lashing out, and John has his reasons for his need for law and order. And they're about to discover that they have a lot more in common than either one of them could have dreamed..."
This is the first non-urban fantasy book I've read in a while, and its one I saw by chance on Amazon.com. Never heard of it or the author before, but the cover and title caught my eye so I decided to give it a try. What I found was a gem of a book I completely fell in love with.
Meg is an outwardly tough girl who lives life on the edge, but it doesn't take readers long to realise that most of it is a cover for a much more vulnerable girl. As punishment for a drunken stunt on a railway bridge she's forced to forgo spring break and spend the nights riding around in Officer John After's squad car with him. Something she's initially very unhappy about. Meg likes to break the rules and do as she pleases. John's by the book ways infuriate her.
But John has secrets enough to rival Meg's. As they work together they push each other, hard. Meg determined to discover why John's so set on staying in their small town. John determined to find out why Meg's so set of getting out and staying out. As the story unfolds, and Meg and John grow closer, both their secrets begin to come to light and things get messy.
It's a damn near perfect book in my opinion. Meg's sassy voice and the sharp dialogue kept me hooked from page one until I'd finished it, I could not put it down! Ms. Echols does a great job of capturing these teens emotions and shows how long past events can have lasting and devastating consequences.
There are a couple of good twists that I didn't see coming and the carefully built tension ensures it's a book you can't put down. I love Meg's voice and fell in love with John right along side her. At just shy 250 pages it's a quick read, but that doesn't mean it's impact free. There is a lot packed in to this shorter book. I would highly recommend it to all older teens, and reckon there are plenty of adults who would also get a lot out of it too. One of the very best YA books I've ever read. Can not recommend it high enough! I spent a couple weeks after reading it completely unable to get it off my mind. 10/10
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