The Edge of Always by J.A. RedmerskiSeries: The Edge of Never #2
Published by: Forever Romance on November 5, 2013
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 464
Source: NetGalley
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Rating: ★★★½
He was taking the long road. She was taking the road to nowhere. It just so happened that they led to the same place…
When everything falls apart, love remains . . .
THE EDGE OF ALWAYS
Camryn Bennett has never been happier. Five months after meeting on a Greyhound bus, she and her soul mate Andrew Parrish are engaged—and a wedding isn't the only special event in their future. Nervous but excited, Camryn can’t wait to begin the rest of her life with Andrew—a man she knows in her heart will love her always. They have so much to look forward to—until tragedy blindsides them.
Andrew doesn’t understand how this could happen to them. He’s trying to move on, and thought Camryn was doing the same. But when Andrew discovers Camryn is secretly harboring a mountain of pain and attempting to numb it in damaging ways, there is nothing he won’t do to bring her back to life. Determined to prove that their love can survive anything, Andrew decides to take Camryn on a new journey filled with hope and passion. If only he can convince her to come along for the ride…
I’m still not 100% how I feel about The Edge of Always, and I feel like that’s going to make it challenging for me to accurately convey my thoughts, but I’ll try my best!
In The Edge of Never I felt like there was a very clear, overall conflict, and that made for a very clear plot. I knew exactly where the story was and I could see where it was headed. But I don’t feel that was quite the case with The Edge of Always. At first I thought there was a clear, central conflict: the one hinted at in the synopsis View Spoiler » . But, that conflict only actually takes up about 30% of the book.
After that, it’s just mindless road trips. It felt different from the first book, because in The Edge of Never I felt like I knew where the story was going. It had an overarching plot driving it. But in The Edge of Always I didn’t know what the endgame was, so I didn’t know where the story was headed, and I didn’t like that uncertainty. Then, at the ~65% mark or so, the book totally switched gears. It went from being a sort of self-contained story to a long epilogue. By that I mean, the first half took place over a series of months, which is typical for a book. But then the second half suddenly spanned like 3 years all on its own. The pacing completely changed and the focus completely changed. It kind of felt like I actually read a book and then a separate, long epilogue. The second half was almost completely dedicated to “what happens after”.
But the main thing I’m getting at is that The Edge of Always lacked a strong direction. It didn’t feel as focused and centered as The Edge of Never did, and that left me feeling a little lost and wondering where it was all going.
BUT, that doesn’t mean I didn’t like the book. For the most part, I did enjoy my time reading The Edge of Always. Andrew was as great as ever. He’s one of my favourite guys in NA because he’s just so damn sweet. He’s a picture-perfect, amazing boyfriend. I love how he never loses patience with Camryn, even when she’s being totally stupid. Although Andrew and Camryn struggle, I love how it never feels like their relationship is in jeopardy. There are so many books out there where the couple gets to an almost-breaking point where they might part ways and it’s z0mg so intense. That doesn’t happen in The Edge of Never—and I love that. There’s never a point where Camryn and Andrew almost break up or almost lose faith in each other. They’re always there for each other 100%, and that’s so refreshing!
And as you might expect from reading The Edge of Never, this book has a few super swoony scenes that will make you melt! 😉 I’ll just leave it at that!
So ultimately, my only issue with The Edge of Always is the lack of clear focus and direction. And once it switched gears, I decided that it was structured a bit… oddly. It really felt like I read two different books with how the narration changed and the timeline changed. Although this book didn’t wow me as much as The Edge of Never it was still a good read. I like how the author left nothing to the imagination. By the end, every single question I could have possibly had got answered, and I really appreciate that! View Spoiler »
Was it a rehash of the first book?
Yes.
The Edge of Always is very, very similar to the first book. Getting over big problems, solving those problems with a road trip, romance, sex… You get the picture. It’s a different version of The Edge of Never.
Was it an enjoyable read?
Mostly.
I found myself constantly questioning, Where is this headed? and I hate that feeling! But the book was still interesting and I loved the characters (except Cam at the beginning).
Is it worth reading?
Yes.
If you fell in love with Cam and Andrew in the first book, I highly recommend that you read The Edge of Always. This book does a very thorough job of recapping Cam and Andrew’s lives together. It will leave you very satisfied and there will be no questions unanswered!
The Verdict
I hope to read this one soon too! 🙂
Ugh, I hate when plots peter out. But I am still excited for this one. I really liked the first book.
Ugh. I am so sad to hear that it lacked focus. And that pacing issue will irk me, I know it. I really detest major changes like that in the middle of a book. However, I really want to read it because I totally loved the first book.
Awww, that sucks! I have been looking forward to this ALL YEAR. I really dislike it when I can’t figure out what the focus is and what the blazes is going on. I’ll still probably read it though because Andrew. *giggles*
Hmmmm. I think I have this first one on my Nook and I DO intend to read it…someday. I’ve heard from people who adored it, and people who hated it so I’m curious to see what I’ll think. It’s such a bummer that this sequel really lacked direction, and especially odd that it jumped forward so far in time. O_o I could see that jolting me right out of the book, but I’m glad you stuck with it and managed to like it, Ashley!
Those were exactly my thoughts! I very long and drawn out after-story without a clear plot. It WAS super swoony though!
I was thinking the exact same thing when reading!