The Brink

By: Jaime Andrews

Narrated by: Jaime Andrews

Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

Andrews unblinkingly delivers this tale of her troubled adolescence, detailing her descent into depression, promiscuity, drugs, and institutionalization—all before the age of 18. Told from the point of view of a teenage sociopath, The Brink is funny, harrowing, lurid, and absolutely true.

A deep, dark look at growing up in 90s suburbia, The Brink is eminently relatable to the ostracized youth of today, those who have been there, and those who enjoy gawking at car wrecks Jaime Andrews has been a comedic commentator (TruTV’s World’s Dumbest), an album cover-girl (My Chemical Romance), a columnist (Backstage, New Thinking), a commercial queen, a theater manager and, most recently, an award-winning filmmaker (Division). Way before that, though, she was the big mess you’ll find in this audiobook.

©2022 Jaime Allison Andrews (P)2023 Jaime Allison Andrews

A vulnerable tale from a maudlin brainiac...

This is a vulnerable recollection of the author’s troubled youth. One you can’t really believe she survived. And sadly, she was certainly close to not surviving it many times. Her storytelling gives you a sneak peek deep inside her too-smart-for her-own-good brain. From the incident (as a child) with her homework assignment getting the same grade as someone else who did a poor job on theirs - and her utter insistence that life is unfair - is what drew me in. Kid, that’s just the beginning. This little maudlin brainiac. If only she had met an equal counter part to help her get through. Or had a parent strong enough to help pave the way. Her constant acknowledgement that she was silently (and sometimes not so silently) screaming for help from a world that was too confused and scared to deal with her. Jaime’s intellect torments her. If only she knew less or felt it all less. Her only answer seems to be numbing herself because it hurts too much. Some of her actions (drugs, stealing, sex with heartless men) were sometimes hard to live through, but she also somehow had me rooting for her at the same time - which I believe is the perfect weave for any storyteller. I highly recommend the audiobook version as she tells the story with such intent and authenticity. I can’t imagine it’s easy to put something like this out into the world that exposes so many things. I do hope this book helps others who don’t quite fit in and are struggling to find their way.

Riveting

Jaime's story reads like a mix between Larry Clark's 1994 film Kids and Penelope Spheeris's 1983 Suburbia. It is a hard, tragic, at times hysterical, journey of her life that is told in such rawness and truth. Her poetic elegance is riveting.

Move over Euphoria

This is the journal you burned to clear your conscience.

In the truest, most unapologetic voice of a teen, Jaime paints such vivid memories; it is like you are watching the nineties. Honest listeners will reflect on their own missteps made while in cognitive dissonance. We can convince ourselves into and out of so many beliefs as adults and Jaime shows how this habit forms and misfires in our teen years.

This story could’ve only been told in such detail by an artist who kept their journals and used expression to process life during the darkest of times.

This deserves to be in the National Archives. A refreshingly honest, funny, heart-wrenching, coming-of-age journey.

The story telling is incredibly well crafted.

This book feels like the prequel to Girl Interrupted. It takes us back to the Wild West of the late 80’s early 90’s before helicopter parenting existed. Jamie gives us a slice of incredibly relatable content. Her story telling is done beautifully, as a writer she is clearly talented. I wish the end of story would have focused more on what gave her hope that she would be ok after such a rollercoaster of teenage years. I wanted to know how these experiences shaped her into the person she is now. I am very glad she did make it through, I am glad there is hope.

Brace yourself

A tale of 90s suburban teen angst that grips you by the throat and doesn’t let go. Our narrator combines time, place and storytelling seamlessly in this story of bad choices, wild inner voices, counterculture, parental neglect/fidelity and ultimately self-realization. Get ready for an intensely wild ride driven by a manic, self observant, chain-smoking teenage heroine.

Harrowing, moving, and unflinchingly honest

Wry, sardonic and wistful, "The Brink" seems like the chronicle of an average teenage life on Long Island... until it isn't. Jaime Andrews walks us with complete candor through her progression from everyday frustrations to depression and self-destructive impulses to multiple institutionalizations. Like Sylvia Plath in "The Bell Jar," she leads us into her internal darkness so casually, it's a shock when you realize where you suddenly are.

This is not some cleaned-up narrative with events rearranged for dramatization; it's a memoir as she experienced it. Up one day, down the next. Normal teenage concerns of dating and jealousy and conflicts at school resurface between institutionalizations. The chronological telling keeps things as messy as real life.

"The Brink" is a harrowing, moving, and unflinchingly honest tale.

Childhood Journey

Jaime Andrews narrates her life’s journey from childhood to now detailing it step by step as she descends into depression, promiscuity, addiction, and more during the 1990’s. While her experiences are tied to a time decades in the past, they remain relevant today.

The author and narrator, Jaime Andrews shares her experiences of childhood using vivid imagery, her passionate voice, and her ability to connect with others. She provides a level of insight and depth of her experiences, fears, and desires first and foremost. She puts into words what most of us have experienced at some point in our lives. The disappointment, desires, fears, and what we do to deal with everything. Throughout the I found Jaime alternately annoying yet endearing. There were times I wished I could have improved her life and offered her love and non-judgment. Jaime communicated her emotions and essence vividly through her passion and words.

Overall, this book resonates with a wide audience invoking strong emotions including parents, young adults, children, and others who have shared similar experiences either themselves or through another. Her ability to address issues that are not only relevant but cross generations and a variety of backgrounds is stunning.

There were no issues with the production or quality of this audiobook.