On the Edge

Edge Series, Book 1

By: Ilona Andrews

Narrated by: Renée Raudman

Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Rose Drayton lives on the Edge, between the world of the Broken (where people drive cars, shop at Wal-Mart, and magic is a fairy tale) and the Weird (where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny). Only Edgers like Rose can easily travel from one world to the next, but they never truly belong in either.

Rose thought if she practiced her magic, she could build a better life for herself. But things didn't turn out how she planned, and now she works a minimum wage, off-the-books job in the Broken just to survive. Then Declan Camarine, a blueblood noble straight out of the deepest part of the Weird, comes into her life, determined to have her (and her power).

But when a terrible danger invades the Edge from the Weird, a flood of creatures hungry for magic, Declan and Rose must work together to destroy them - or they'll devour the Edge and everyone in it....

Contains mature themes.

©2009 Andrew Gordon and Ilona Gordon (P)2021 Tantor

Great story by Ilona Andrews

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the narrator. As Ilona Andrews is one of my favorite authors, I automatically wanted to listen to this book and it did not disappoint! Living in an area hidden to normal people (called the Edge), and working in the regular world (called the Broken) to support her brothers has its challenges. Add in a man from a third area (called the Weird), claiming she is his bride and the adventure begins. If you like magic, strong heronies and conquering challenges, I think you'll enjoy this book. Happy listening!,

Complicated, awesome, well-done

It’s difficult to open up a new series and explain the alternate world and all the odd ways things work, but this story manages it quite well. The story makes sense on the surface, but when re-read, subtle details appear, making the story better. George comes back in other stories as an adult, and having met him as a child makes the other stories even more powerful.
That’s what I love about the world of Ilona Andrews. It’s a place a want to visit. The characters feel like people I’d like to talk to. In this one, the main character is a strong woman who has assumed responsibility for her younger brothers. A “Prince Charming” shows up one day, but not to save her. She gets to save him. My very favorite part is at the end, because it hints at everything to come without being a cliffhanger.
The narrator is one of my favorites. Awesome book.

I love Illona Andrews but...

Listen - This may be an awesome book - I only made it about 7 hours in before I returned it. The Writing team Illona Andrews is one of my favorites, Hidden Legacies, and Kate Daniels are both winners in my book and Blood Heir is a great start to a series BUT.... In all the books listed above the world-building is engaging and draws you in. In this book (at least till hour 7), there are gross rednecks, ill-defined magic's, and a Blueblood mage that comes across as kind of rapey (I am sure that gets better but his introduction is not great). but what really got me was...


Spoilers...











About 7 hours in when Rose has to give her suiter a challenge she sends her brother, who was almost killed by monsters in the forest the day before, into the forest for a game of cat hide and seek. I mean it would make sense if she was the bad guy and wanted her brother to "Accidentally" die but other than that, what it just seems like... bad writing, I guess.

I understand that the book may get better as it goes on but I am going to give this series a pass.

Sucks

I'm not into stories that starts off forcing a girl to fight a man who is trying to bed her

Disappointing

On the Edge has a very interesting premise and there’s a lot of potential with it, but regrettably it was disappointing overall. I bought it because in general I’m a fan of Ilona Andrews, especially the Innkeeper Chronicles and the Hidden Legacy books. But On the Edge had a more juvenile feeling, and it also seemed as if the final rewrite/polishing/editing was never done. It was as if the Ilona Andrews team had rushed their normal writing process and, for some reason, this book was cut short one or two steps too soon. It just never reached its full potential.
The narrater, Renee Raudman, did as good a job as can be expected, but I think because of the book’s problems it wasn’t her best work either.

I don’t plan to buy the others in the series.