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Discover the beloved New York Times bestseller about two lost souls who embark on an epic road trip and find love along the way. Twenty-year-old Camryn Bennett thought she knew exactly where her life was going. But after a wild night at the hottest club in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, she shocks everyone-including herself-when she decides to leave the only life she's ever known and set out on her own. Grabbing her purse and her cell phone, Camryn boards a Greyhound bus ready to find show more herself. Instead, she finds Andrew Parrish. Sexy and exciting, Andrew lives life like there is no tomorrow. He persuades Camryn to do things she never thought she would and shows her how to give in to her deepest, most forbidden desires. Soon he becomes the center of her daring new life, pulling love and lust and emotion out of her in ways she never imagined possible. But there is more to Andrew than Camryn realizes. Will his secret push them inseparably together -- or destroy them forever? show lessTags
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Just a quick warning: this book has a fair bit of sex in it and so I will be talking about sex in this review. Maybe don't read this if sex talk makes you clutch your crucifix in horror or, you know, combust.
I've been reading quite a few indie novels lately; some were good and some not so good. But I've remained safe from anything outrageously bad until now. [b:The Edge of Never|16081272|The Edge of Never (The Edge of Never, #1)|J.A. Redmerski|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358810128s/16081272.jpg|21880254] is one of those books which has a crazily high average rating, it is a "New York Times, USA Today, and Wallstreet Journal bestselling blockbuster" and it managed to offend me at least once in every single chapter. I found it to be a show more mere step away from [b:Beautiful Disaster|11505797|Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful, #1)|Jamie McGuire|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358259032s/11505797.jpg|16441531] in the misogyny department and what it lacked in that area was made up for in the extremely bad writing. Honestly, it was so bad it was kind of hilarious.
I finally feel that I have read enough to safely make the claim that this "new adult" genre thing we've got going on now basically, well, sucks. It seems to be a combination of all the annoying, cliche elements of the young adult genre and a bunch of sex scenes and/or coarse language. In terms of the writing, this book is pretty awful. The author seems to favour certain words for a short period of time to the extent that they appear in every other sentence and then switch to a new favourite and the pattern repeats. Some writers have that annoying habit of telling rather than showing but Redmerski does something that I found much worse - she shows, then tells. She uses body language to express certain emotions but insults the reader's intelligence by adding the tells afterwards. I opened the book again just now to find an example and came across one on the second page; this is by no means the worst but hopefully it will help express what I mean: "Cam," she says, cocking her head to one side to appear thoughtful.
But there's no need for me to get nitpicky about language. This book provides much more glaring problems.
Like the fact that every girl/young woman in this book is called a slut except the protagonist. If you wanted to play a drinking game with this book, you would only need the word "slut" to get completely trashed. "Slut" is even used twice in chapter one. In fact, I wish I'd counted how many chapters didn't use the word slut; I can certainly guarantee it would be fewer than how many did. Camryn (MC) talks about her ex as "the jerk who cheated on me with some red-haired slut" and her best friend (lol jk) is constantly called "slutty" and is only there so Camryn can compare the two of them. Natalie is promiscuous where Camryn is a good girl, Natalie wears revealing clothing where Camryn likes her pastel cardigans, Natalie thinks about sex where Camryn muses about life, the universe and everything.
And what a lot of it comes down to: I hated Camryn. Absolutely hated her. I put this quote in my status update but here it is again so we can all marvel at the stupidity:
Instead of sitting around dreaming up new sex positions, as Natalie often does about Damon, I dream about things that really matter. What the air in other countries feels like on my skin, how the ocean smells, why the sound of rain makes me gasp.
When I read that, I did some weird combination of eye-rolling, cackling laughter and general despairing that so many people are happy to buy into Camryn's philosophical bullshit. Camryn, you're not deep, you're a fucking moron. A misogynistic, holier-than-thou moron.
And then, of course, we have the real reason this book is a bestseller. Andrew. I get it, actually, I really do. He's gorgeous, he's sexy, he likes to talk all naughty, he loves to go down on you and doesn't ask for anything in return, in fact, his mission in life is nothing more or less than to make you come. I know why you ladies all love this and at least he's not Travis screw-loose Maddox. But he comes with his own set of problems too and, even if he didn't, he still wouldn't be anywhere near hot enough to make up for the rest of this mess. One thing that I suppose comes down to my personal taste in guys and how they speak to me is lines like this:
"if you were to let me fuck you, you would have to let me own you."
I mean, is this hot to you? For me, it's somewhere halfway between gross and hilarious. But each to their own, I guess. To be honest, a lot of the sex scenes that I assume are supposed to be knicker-twistingly hot just made me laugh. Camryn faces deep moral struggles with the P-word, which she later hilariously overcomes
"Well, when... Dominique Starla," he picks the name from the air, "does it, it's just to some random guy lookin' to get off behind a keyboard." His green eyes fall on me. "that guy's not dreaming about anything with her except her face in his lap." Then he looks back at the road. "But when someone... I dunno... like a sweet, sexy, completely un-slutty girl does it, the guy is thinking about a lot more than her face in his lap."
Ugh. No more words on that. I just... can't.
I think I've had enough of talking about this book. But one more thing I will say is that part of the reason I kept reading was because so many reviews promised a big heart-breaking twist towards the end. Well, maybe I've been watching Sherlock too much, but I saw it coming a mile off. Just sayin'. show less
Oh my!
What a journey. In a lot of ways this book reminded me of On The Island.
Superb writing, great character development and so much emotional depth throughout the book, I can't not recommend this read to anyone willing to listen.
Camryn Bennett is hurt by the one person she never thought would hurt her, and as the final straw, she packs a small bag and gets on a bus to nowhere.
Andrew Parish gets on that same bus a few stops later, on his way to see his father for the last time, on his deathbed.
What Camryn never expected is to be liberated; emotionally, physically and spiritually, but that's exactly what Andrew does for her.
I absolutely loved this one!
What a journey. In a lot of ways this book reminded me of On The Island.
Superb writing, great character development and so much emotional depth throughout the book, I can't not recommend this read to anyone willing to listen.
Camryn Bennett is hurt by the one person she never thought would hurt her, and as the final straw, she packs a small bag and gets on a bus to nowhere.
Andrew Parish gets on that same bus a few stops later, on his way to see his father for the last time, on his deathbed.
What Camryn never expected is to be liberated; emotionally, physically and spiritually, but that's exactly what Andrew does for her.
I absolutely loved this one!
FUCKING EPIC
This book ruined me. I can't get it out of my head. THE BEST LOVE STORY I HAVE EVER READ.
SO GOT AHEAD GRAB YOUR HANKIE, YOUR VIBRATOR AND MAKE A STRONG POT OF COFFEE BECAUSE YOU ARE GOING TO NEED ALL OF THEM. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PUT THIS BOOK DOWN!
Whew first off what a ride. I cried, I laughed...the people at the gym probably thought I was a crazy person bawling my eyes out on the bicycle.
We start off with Cam, a 20 year old girl who has been dealt a shitty hand. Her first love died in a car crash at 16, her brother is in prison and her friend just told her to take a flying hiatus. Loves country folk music and keeping her hair in braids and decides one day that she has had enough and hops on a bus to Idaho.
I think Tamsin show more Egerton makes a perfect Cam
In walks in Andrew who happens to hop on that same bus to Wyoming to see his dying father.
I think a young Tom Welling
Fist off the chemistry is dynamic. It reminds me of the first time I fell in love....the way that the author can put you in the story takes my breath away.
Their love for each other is amazing and you are like come on get on with it already....you two are made for each other!!!!
My heart goes out for these two and I LOVED LOVED LOVED the ending.
So run don't walk to get this book and start reading it. show less
This book ruined me. I can't get it out of my head. THE BEST LOVE STORY I HAVE EVER READ.
SO GOT AHEAD GRAB YOUR HANKIE, YOUR VIBRATOR AND MAKE A STRONG POT OF COFFEE BECAUSE YOU ARE GOING TO NEED ALL OF THEM. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PUT THIS BOOK DOWN!
Whew first off what a ride. I cried, I laughed...the people at the gym probably thought I was a crazy person bawling my eyes out on the bicycle.
We start off with Cam, a 20 year old girl who has been dealt a shitty hand. Her first love died in a car crash at 16, her brother is in prison and her friend just told her to take a flying hiatus. Loves country folk music and keeping her hair in braids and decides one day that she has had enough and hops on a bus to Idaho.
I think Tamsin show more Egerton makes a perfect Cam
In walks in Andrew who happens to hop on that same bus to Wyoming to see his dying father.
I think a young Tom Welling
Fist off the chemistry is dynamic. It reminds me of the first time I fell in love....the way that the author can put you in the story takes my breath away.
Their love for each other is amazing and you are like come on get on with it already....you two are made for each other!!!!
My heart goes out for these two and I LOVED LOVED LOVED the ending.
So run don't walk to get this book and start reading it. show less
I always thought depression was so overrated, the way people toss the word around (a lot like the L-word that I will never say to a guy again for as long as I live). I never like to see someone hurting, but I admit whenever I heard someone play the depression card, I'd roll my eyes and go about my business.
Little did I know that depression is a serious disease.
Sometimes you read a book that is so bad, it actually becomes entertaining. After a pretty awful day, I decided to read The Edge of Never thanks to all the god awful reviews.
Needless to say, the only reason I got this book is because it was free. Thank you, shop that was closing down and was giving copies away.
Camryn is a fucking idiot. There's no nicer way to say it. She thinks show more every girl who isn't her is a slut, every man who she doesn't fancy is a rapist and believed depression was something people made up for attention. By page five, I'd rolled my eyes hard enough to irritate a nerve, thanks to little gems like this:
Instead of sitting around dreaming up new sex positions, as Natalie often does about Damon, her boyfriend of five years, I dream about things that really matter. What the air in other countries feels like on my skin, how the ocean smells, why the sound of rain makes me gasp. 'You're so deep, Camryn' Damon always says.
I must be pretty deep, too. I wonder about things like why dogs smell like dogs and if they smell different in other countries.
When Camryn's best friend's boyfriend, Damon, forces himself upon her, and when Camryn does the right thing and tells Natalie, her best friend, she is accused of being a "lying bitch" and told never to contact her again...
So she decides to do the most mature thing ever and run away, destination unknown, on a bus without telling anyone. Because, apparently, running away from problems that aren't so problematic if she actually talked to people is the answer to everything.
The Edge of Never is a good example of interesting plot but executed awfully with terrible characters and terrible writing.
He looks gently offended
I'm quietly stunned
He points gently
He is softly amused
My mouth parted with an offended spat of air
We both laugh gently
My face sours delicately
It's very much like the author just randomly picked out words from a hat, jumbled them together, and hoped they made sense.
Well, they don't. Stop it.
Not only is the writing pretty bad, but the love interest? He's the creepiest fuck I've ever had the displeasure to read about. The kind of guy who has been talking to Camryn all of FIVE MINUTES, and thinks she is his "property" and "territory".
I resist the urge to watch her, noticing how soft and innocent she looks, which makes me that much more primal, more protective.
The pervert seems to have stopped watching her when he saw us sitting together inside the last terminal. In the eyes of men, he probably sees her as my territory now, my property.
The kind of guy who thinks this is hot:
"If you were to let me fuck you, you would have to let me own you."
The kind of guy who takes stalking to whole new level:
"When you were in the bathroom the next morning and I gave you two minutes to get ready..."
"Yeah, I remember. What did you do?"
He smiles nervously. "I sort of took a picture of your driver's license with my phone."[...]"I just wanted to make sure I knew how to find you again," he confesses.
And of course, instead of running for the hills, Camryn thinks that is the SWEETEST, MOST ADORABLE THING EVAAAA!1!!!!1!ONE!
Camryn is the sort of cute you want to high five in the face with a shovel. Andrew is the sort of hot you want to roast on a BBQ, not sleep with.
Speaking of sex, the scenes were incredibly cringey and awful.
"Lick my pussy! Goddamnit, Andrew, lick my fucking pussy!"
And, of course, there is a TERRIBLE tragedy, because it wouldn't be cheap, "heartbreaking" New Adult without a tragedy, amirite? I mean, what happened to HEAs? And OF COURSE the TERRIBLE TRAGEDY is easily resolved in like two pages and everything is fine and dandy, which really begs the question: what was the point in including it in the first place?
It was really sickening, actually, how Andrew didn't tell Camryn he had a tumour and might die. That was the most selfish thing I've ever heard. She only found out when he had a goddamn seizure. What the fuck? That's romantic, not telling someone you're dying, that you have cancer?
Well done on being a Class A Dickwad, Andrew. Really.
ZERO STARS. show less
I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say this is the worst book. Of all time. Trite dialogue, misogynistic, offensive, potentially racist. Just terrible.
I really only read this book because it popped up in my recently acquired Amazon Kindle account (reading on my new smartphone). And it was only $1.99. So I thought, why not? How could any book not be worth $1.99?
It may be a bit harsh to say, but that might be a bit steep of a price for this book. This is coming from someone who can find something redeeming in almost every book. I felt a bit crazy for a moment, because I went on GoodReads and there were PAGES of reviews with 5 stars. Out of 5 stars! I thought, “Surely, all of these must be from those tween girls who also love show more Twilight.” I’ve mentioned my general abhorrence of Twilight several times before, and this book is on par with that series. Turns out, nope. Even grown up women are loving this book. What the hell? Do they have no appreciation for writing or finesse of language?
Then I kept reading and I figured it out. It’s because of the sexy times between Cam and Andrew. I mean, who doesn’t love a good sex scene? I know I do. But it’s definitely not worth reading the other 400 pages to get those 10 cumulative pages of sex. (The line that most people seem to love is preceded by Andrew offering to…help Camryn, but not actually sleep with her and she asks him why and he responds: “If you were to let me fuck you, you would have to let me own you.”) I would suggest that if you’re looking for romance or even just sexy time books, there are far better alternatives.
The premise of the book is essentially that this girl feels that her life has gotten off track and so she runs away. On her trek cross-country on a bus, she meets this boy. Of course there are sparks and they take off on a road trip together – after he saves her from an attempted rape, of course. Towards the end, after they actually start sleeping together – we learn that (SPOILER ALERT) Andrew has a brain tumor and is probably dying. His father, coincidentally enough, also died of a brain tumor. Ugh. Gag me.
To me, it seems that in the guise of attempting to create dialogue that is “realistic,” Redmerski has created stereotypical characters who say things in a completely inorganic way. It’s also eminently obvious that she is a woman attempting to write in the voice of a male character, during those portions of the book when she is writing for Andrew. She tries so much to make him seem hard, seem as she thinks a typical (read: stereotypical) man should be. It reads so false to me.
Not only that, some of the dialogue is downright offensive, most especially when we’re looking at things from Andrew’s point of view. Some other guy is flirting with Camryn (before she and Andrew actually start sleeping with each other) and he thinks to himself: “How insanely pathetic was that? She’s not even mine and I just got raped by a crazy-jealous reaction.” Um, I’m sorry, what?! You got “raped” by a reaction? I suppose I understand that the concept is the emotion came over you without your control. However, I do not think that the term “rape” should ever be used in this context, and it especially shouldn’t be used so flippantly by a male character.
In addition to all of this, she seems intent on setting women back about fifty years. The female lead, Camryn, is maybe sexually awakened, or at the very least loses her inhibitions with Andrew. Then after that night, because she became more aware and actually asked for what she wanted, she says that he turned her into “a foul-mouthed, perverted, nymphomaniac.” Why is a girl who is in touch with her sexuality a pervert and a nymphomaniac? She also asks Andrew if he would think she was a slut if she had a one night stand. He says it depends: girls who have one or two one-night-stands are probably fine, but any more than that, and you definitely run the risk of becoming a whore.
When Cam and Andrew get to New Orleans, they meet several natives; however, it’s interesting that only the black man has a “Cajun” accent. Now, I’ve never been to New Orleans, so it’s entirely possible that it’s actually a Cajun accent. But it’s very suspicious to me that all of the white New Orleans residents somehow managed to evade that particular accent. For example, the fun loving, jazz-playing black man, Eddie says to them, “Ga, dere come Parrish!...Galee! You look like dem lad’es in dem magazines, you do!” WHAT?!
In addition to the ridiculous, offensive writing, there’s also just lazy writing. Instead of ending quotation marks in order to add something that is happening out of the dialogue. Example: “I’m giving you advance warning that I’m not going to be your next lay, or fall in love with you (he’s grinning from ear to ear right now and it’s very distracting) or anything like that…” (emphasis mine)
I cannot even adequately express my anger after reading this book. Please avoid it if at all possible, or if you’re in the mood to be infuriated, this is the book for you, definitely. show less
I really only read this book because it popped up in my recently acquired Amazon Kindle account (reading on my new smartphone). And it was only $1.99. So I thought, why not? How could any book not be worth $1.99?
It may be a bit harsh to say, but that might be a bit steep of a price for this book. This is coming from someone who can find something redeeming in almost every book. I felt a bit crazy for a moment, because I went on GoodReads and there were PAGES of reviews with 5 stars. Out of 5 stars! I thought, “Surely, all of these must be from those tween girls who also love show more Twilight.” I’ve mentioned my general abhorrence of Twilight several times before, and this book is on par with that series. Turns out, nope. Even grown up women are loving this book. What the hell? Do they have no appreciation for writing or finesse of language?
Then I kept reading and I figured it out. It’s because of the sexy times between Cam and Andrew. I mean, who doesn’t love a good sex scene? I know I do. But it’s definitely not worth reading the other 400 pages to get those 10 cumulative pages of sex. (The line that most people seem to love is preceded by Andrew offering to…help Camryn, but not actually sleep with her and she asks him why and he responds: “If you were to let me fuck you, you would have to let me own you.”) I would suggest that if you’re looking for romance or even just sexy time books, there are far better alternatives.
The premise of the book is essentially that this girl feels that her life has gotten off track and so she runs away. On her trek cross-country on a bus, she meets this boy. Of course there are sparks and they take off on a road trip together – after he saves her from an attempted rape, of course. Towards the end, after they actually start sleeping together – we learn that (SPOILER ALERT) Andrew has a brain tumor and is probably dying. His father, coincidentally enough, also died of a brain tumor. Ugh. Gag me.
To me, it seems that in the guise of attempting to create dialogue that is “realistic,” Redmerski has created stereotypical characters who say things in a completely inorganic way. It’s also eminently obvious that she is a woman attempting to write in the voice of a male character, during those portions of the book when she is writing for Andrew. She tries so much to make him seem hard, seem as she thinks a typical (read: stereotypical) man should be. It reads so false to me.
Not only that, some of the dialogue is downright offensive, most especially when we’re looking at things from Andrew’s point of view. Some other guy is flirting with Camryn (before she and Andrew actually start sleeping with each other) and he thinks to himself: “How insanely pathetic was that? She’s not even mine and I just got raped by a crazy-jealous reaction.” Um, I’m sorry, what?! You got “raped” by a reaction? I suppose I understand that the concept is the emotion came over you without your control. However, I do not think that the term “rape” should ever be used in this context, and it especially shouldn’t be used so flippantly by a male character.
In addition to all of this, she seems intent on setting women back about fifty years. The female lead, Camryn, is maybe sexually awakened, or at the very least loses her inhibitions with Andrew. Then after that night, because she became more aware and actually asked for what she wanted, she says that he turned her into “a foul-mouthed, perverted, nymphomaniac.” Why is a girl who is in touch with her sexuality a pervert and a nymphomaniac? She also asks Andrew if he would think she was a slut if she had a one night stand. He says it depends: girls who have one or two one-night-stands are probably fine, but any more than that, and you definitely run the risk of becoming a whore.
When Cam and Andrew get to New Orleans, they meet several natives; however, it’s interesting that only the black man has a “Cajun” accent. Now, I’ve never been to New Orleans, so it’s entirely possible that it’s actually a Cajun accent. But it’s very suspicious to me that all of the white New Orleans residents somehow managed to evade that particular accent. For example, the fun loving, jazz-playing black man, Eddie says to them, “Ga, dere come Parrish!...Galee! You look like dem lad’es in dem magazines, you do!” WHAT?!
In addition to the ridiculous, offensive writing, there’s also just lazy writing. Instead of ending quotation marks in order to add something that is happening out of the dialogue. Example: “I’m giving you advance warning that I’m not going to be your next lay, or fall in love with you (he’s grinning from ear to ear right now and it’s very distracting) or anything like that…” (emphasis mine)
I cannot even adequately express my anger after reading this book. Please avoid it if at all possible, or if you’re in the mood to be infuriated, this is the book for you, definitely. show less
Simply put, words have not yet been invented to adequately describe how I feel about this novel. As jumbled emotions course throughout my veins, my heart tries to put itself back together. Music plays in the background, singing of millions of dreams, and the sound of a song when it hits you just right. I zero in on the story as I try to coax the thoughts from my head and to do this book the justice it so rightly deserves. I won’t allow myself to move on until this is finished, I won’t move from this spot, as if I could even if I wanted to.
Depression is pain in its purest form and I would do anything to be able to feel an emotion again. Any emotion at all. Pain hurts, but pain that’s so powerful that you can’t feel anything show more anymore, that’s when you start to feel like you’re going crazy.
I loved the way this book allowed me to move slowly along with them, making discoveries of my own as they did, falling deeper into bliss. It wasn’t filled with needless drama, but trust me when I say you will be swept away from the very first page. I found myself looking down at the percentage, dreading that surely it must be over, only to find out there was so much more story to experience. I felt as if I had known Camryn and Andrew forever and I wasn’t ready to let them go.
“Pain is pain, babe.” Every time he calls me ‘babe’ I notice it more than anything else he says. “Just because one person’s problem is less traumatic than another’s doesn’t mean they’re required to hurt less.”
There are so many layers to Camryn and Andrew, and I found myself falling in love all over again. I’ve read this story three times now, and I feel as if I not only get to know them better each time, but learn new things I didn’t notice before. I am going to try to do this review a little differently, and mainly just speak about how they made me feel. I don’t even want to give away small details, for this is truly a journey you must experience with them, and come to your own conclusions. This story left me contemplative, and it echoed in my soul. But isn’t that what we want out of a book? To make us think? I know the ones that stick with me surely do, floating around in my subconscious, waiting for the seeds to take root.
“I think I’ve been afraid most of my life to be myself.”
The despair I felt for a good portion of the book was incalculable. How do you measure what another is going through when they put on a happy face? I can honestly tell you that the ones that appear to have it all together are usually the ones who need a helping hand the most. We all need that human connection. We need to feel as if there is someone out there that cares whether we live or die. We need validation that we have some worth in this world. But most of all, we just need to love and be loved in return. Yes, I just went Moulin Rouge on you
I just stare breathless across the space, letting Andrew’s voice course through every loft and bone in my body. It’s like irresistible poison: I’m mesmerized by the way it’s making me feel though it has the potential to crush my soul and I drink it down anyway.
This is a story that will resonate to your core, to your very essence. Whom among us cannot relate to being at a point in your life where you aren’t really sure of which direction to go. Unsure of your thoughts, you know you have to do something, ANYTHING, and knowing that it will likely change the course of the remainder of your years. All too often, in fear of making the wrong choice, we choose to do nothing, choose to do what is expected of us. But the brave ones? They set sail, lifting their feet into the air, going wherever the wind may take them. This isn’t just a story about a road trip. Oh no, it is SO much more than that. It is a journey of self discovery, of coming to terms with the past, of embracing the future.
The heart always wins out over the mind. The heart, although reckless and suicidal and a masochist all on its own, always gets its own way. The mind may be what’s best, but I don’t give a shit what my mind is telling me anymore. Right now, I just want to live in the moment.
I’ve only given this rating to one other book before, but The Edge of Never, without a single doubt, belongs in this category. So nice I rated it twice = 10 soul-searching, heart-breaking, life-affirming stars! Though I don’t know where the road will take them, they will forever have a home in my heart. show less
Depression is pain in its purest form and I would do anything to be able to feel an emotion again. Any emotion at all. Pain hurts, but pain that’s so powerful that you can’t feel anything show more anymore, that’s when you start to feel like you’re going crazy.
I loved the way this book allowed me to move slowly along with them, making discoveries of my own as they did, falling deeper into bliss. It wasn’t filled with needless drama, but trust me when I say you will be swept away from the very first page. I found myself looking down at the percentage, dreading that surely it must be over, only to find out there was so much more story to experience. I felt as if I had known Camryn and Andrew forever and I wasn’t ready to let them go.
“Pain is pain, babe.” Every time he calls me ‘babe’ I notice it more than anything else he says. “Just because one person’s problem is less traumatic than another’s doesn’t mean they’re required to hurt less.”
There are so many layers to Camryn and Andrew, and I found myself falling in love all over again. I’ve read this story three times now, and I feel as if I not only get to know them better each time, but learn new things I didn’t notice before. I am going to try to do this review a little differently, and mainly just speak about how they made me feel. I don’t even want to give away small details, for this is truly a journey you must experience with them, and come to your own conclusions. This story left me contemplative, and it echoed in my soul. But isn’t that what we want out of a book? To make us think? I know the ones that stick with me surely do, floating around in my subconscious, waiting for the seeds to take root.
“I think I’ve been afraid most of my life to be myself.”
The despair I felt for a good portion of the book was incalculable. How do you measure what another is going through when they put on a happy face? I can honestly tell you that the ones that appear to have it all together are usually the ones who need a helping hand the most. We all need that human connection. We need to feel as if there is someone out there that cares whether we live or die. We need validation that we have some worth in this world. But most of all, we just need to love and be loved in return. Yes, I just went Moulin Rouge on you
I just stare breathless across the space, letting Andrew’s voice course through every loft and bone in my body. It’s like irresistible poison: I’m mesmerized by the way it’s making me feel though it has the potential to crush my soul and I drink it down anyway.
This is a story that will resonate to your core, to your very essence. Whom among us cannot relate to being at a point in your life where you aren’t really sure of which direction to go. Unsure of your thoughts, you know you have to do something, ANYTHING, and knowing that it will likely change the course of the remainder of your years. All too often, in fear of making the wrong choice, we choose to do nothing, choose to do what is expected of us. But the brave ones? They set sail, lifting their feet into the air, going wherever the wind may take them. This isn’t just a story about a road trip. Oh no, it is SO much more than that. It is a journey of self discovery, of coming to terms with the past, of embracing the future.
The heart always wins out over the mind. The heart, although reckless and suicidal and a masochist all on its own, always gets its own way. The mind may be what’s best, but I don’t give a shit what my mind is telling me anymore. Right now, I just want to live in the moment.
I’ve only given this rating to one other book before, but The Edge of Never, without a single doubt, belongs in this category. So nice I rated it twice = 10 soul-searching, heart-breaking, life-affirming stars! Though I don’t know where the road will take them, they will forever have a home in my heart. show less
WHAT? WHAT?
I don't feel like my thoughts are coherent enough to even write this review but I have to talk about it somewhere!
This is, hands down, one of the best books I've read this year! Not just because of how original, emotional and brilliant the story is, and not because I'm a huge sucker for road-trip/traveling stories, but it's written in exactly the way I like it and I am just blown away by it.
Actually, I'm writing this on zero sleep because I got the "one more chapter" disease reading it - I really just wanted to read the first chapter while getting ready to go to bed to see if I'd like it...and see how that turned out!
Andrew is the perfect hero! I have never said this before, and probably never will again, but yeah, he really show more was perfect. He is a genuinely nice guy with just the right amount of cockiness, but there are just so many more layers than that to his character. You seriously can't help but fall in love with him and everything about him!
I loved Cam, too. She is strong but fragile at the same time, and honestly, I admired her bravery to just get away from everything and leave. I love it that she breaks all her rules and doesn't fight herself breaking them.
And I loved their banter and camaraderie, the way they were teasing each other (the pool playing scene? brilliant.) the chemistry between Cam and Andrew was just...perfect. Somehow their relationship progressed in very realistic way and I really really liked that.
So many feelings about this.
You don't see the twist coming at all, at least not one like that. I mean, I guessed there was something going on, but it kind of all comes crashing down when you least expect it with a BAM! and it's a lot to take in.
The last two chapters made me gasp and cry in turns.
At one point I started toying with the idea that there is some secret authors' agenda to stop giving their characters a HEA since I've read so many books with sad endings lately.
No, I actually have to say it: when I read the end of that letter I was sobbing so hard it was hard for me to breathe. Then the last chapter starts and it's so melancholic and then...then I started crying even harder because yeah, b l o w n a w a y...happy tears, though.
I mean, just wow. The pacing of this is perfect, the switching of POV was unexpected but welcomed - I was concerned about this in the beginning, but really, the author handles it perfectly, she gives these two characters two completely different voices! Oh and yeah, some of the best sex scenes I've read in a while.
I haven't read anything by J.A. Redmerski before but I will definitely try to, now that I've seen what she can do! show less
I don't feel like my thoughts are coherent enough to even write this review but I have to talk about it somewhere!
This is, hands down, one of the best books I've read this year! Not just because of how original, emotional and brilliant the story is, and not because I'm a huge sucker for road-trip/traveling stories, but it's written in exactly the way I like it and I am just blown away by it.
Actually, I'm writing this on zero sleep because I got the "one more chapter" disease reading it - I really just wanted to read the first chapter while getting ready to go to bed to see if I'd like it...and see how that turned out!
Andrew is the perfect hero! I have never said this before, and probably never will again, but yeah, he really show more was perfect. He is a genuinely nice guy with just the right amount of cockiness, but there are just so many more layers than that to his character. You seriously can't help but fall in love with him and everything about him!
I loved Cam, too. She is strong but fragile at the same time, and honestly, I admired her bravery to just get away from everything and leave. I love it that she breaks all her rules and doesn't fight herself breaking them.
And I loved their banter and camaraderie, the way they were teasing each other (the pool playing scene? brilliant.) the chemistry between Cam and Andrew was just...perfect. Somehow their relationship progressed in very realistic way and I really really liked that.
So many feelings about this.
You don't see the twist coming at all, at least not one like that. I mean, I guessed there was something going on, but it kind of all comes crashing down when you least expect it with a BAM! and it's a lot to take in.
The last two chapters made me gasp and cry in turns.
No, I actually have to say it: when I read the end of that letter I was sobbing so hard it was hard for me to breathe. Then the last chapter starts and it's so melancholic and then...then I started crying even harder because yeah, b l o w n a w a y...happy tears, though.
I mean, just wow. The pacing of this is perfect, the switching of POV was unexpected but welcomed - I was concerned about this in the beginning, but really, the author handles it perfectly, she gives these two characters two completely different voices! Oh and yeah, some of the best sex scenes I've read in a while.
I haven't read anything by J.A. Redmerski before but I will definitely try to, now that I've seen what she can do! show less
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Author Information
22 Works 2,560 Members
J. A. Redmerski is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.
Some Editions
Series
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Edge of Never
- Original publication date
- 2012-11-13
- People/Characters
- Camryn Bennett; Andrew Parrish
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 1,101
- Popularity
- 23,031
- Reviews
- 96
- Rating
- (4.02)
- Languages
- 8 — English, Estonian, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 23
- ASINs
- 7