The Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerski (Review)

Release date: November 15 2012

Publisher: Createspace

Number of pages: 426

My rating: 2/5

After I finished this, I thought it was good. However, the more I think about it, there are a lot of low points in this book too, and it definitely could have been improved in many aspects.

The Edge of Never is told from two perspectives. We have Camryn, the sweet girl with depression who hopped on a bus to find herself. We also have Andrew, the bad boy who is traveling by bus to see his father. So, they meet, and they soon end up traveling together. They fall in love, find themselves, have some sex, and so on.

I’m sick of formulaic books about the good girl that makes the bad boy good (or vice versa). Sure, this book isn’t that bad, but it was nothing new. The commonly found plot may annoy readers who aren’t big fans of romance.

Camryn bored me. She was nothing new or interesting; just the typical good girl that you can find in most books. She did have her moments of dumbassery. This is pretty much how her biggest one went:

Camryn: Oh, look at me! I’m a pretty young girl sitting in a bus station all alone.

Scummy dude: HOT GIRL. MUST RAPE.

Andrew: Oh no you don’t! *beats scummy dude up*

Scummy dude: Ow, you beat me up!

Camryn: Oh, no!

Andrew: Come with me and we can travel together.

Camryn: Well, given the fact that I almost got raped, getting in a car with a total stranger is a great idea! Ok, Andrew, I’ll come with you!

I know that Camryn is a grown up, independent woman, but is getting into a car with a complete stranger after almost getting raped really a good idea?

But Andrew. Stupid Andrew. Not only is he a shallow bad boy (with a hidden soft side, of course), he also proceeded to piss me off for most of the book.

Now, I don’t know if possessive boys who beat up other people if they look at their girlfriends are considered attractive to other people, but it sure isn’t to me.

So, how did I feel about Andrew beating up 2 or 3 people because they wanted to rape Camryn?

*bangs head against wall*

The fact that three people were close to raping Camryn really rubs me the wrong way. Honestly, I found the theme of rape to be unnecessary, and Andrew’s way of dealing with it made his character seem overly possessive, aggressive, and brash.

The plot was also nothing new. I’ve read a few road-trip books, and they were all much better. The plot is very common, and I felt that it was too slow at times. This book could definitely be cut down.

The best thing about this book is the romance. Even though I felt very neutral about Camryn, and Andrew pissed me off to no end, I can’t argue that the romance is well developed and fleshed out.

Also, Camryn has depression. This was never really brought in properly, and it seemed like a half-assed plot device to make up feel sympathy for her. After suddenly giving up her depression meds, you’d think that she’d be having trouble, but no. After making a huge deal about her boyfriend dying, this is pretty much how the depression sub-plot goes:

Camryn: Oh, my life is so sad! I am clinically depressed, and it’s just so sad!

Me: Oh, ok.

Camryn: *goes on depression free for the rest of the book*

How does someone get rid of depression so quickly? Severe depression (as Camryn claims she has) is usually a lifelong thing. It’s incredibly hard to go through, and if it does go away, it takes a long time. The author should have done some more research on this before bringing such a sensitive and serious plot point into the story.

Also, due to sexual content and coarse language, I would not recommend this book to anyone under sixteen.

The Edge of Never is nothing new. It’s hugely popular, and many people will enjoy it. Beware of this book if you do not often enjoy romances, of if “bad boy” types set you off.

To end my review, here is one face-palm inducing quote from Andrew:

“If you were to let me fuck you, you would have to let me own you.”