On the Edge

The Edge, Book 1

By: Ilona Andrews

Narrated by: Renée Raudman

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.

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

Critic reviews

"[E]ngaging urban fantasy....Andrews has created a complex plot and convincing characters that will keep the pages turning." ( Publishers Weekly)

entertaining

Decent enough story, kept me interested. Narrator was very good, with the exception of having the worst southern accent ever. Fortunately, this was only a small part of the dialogue.

Stellar Series Start

A new Ilona Andrews' world to encounter, a tough, irascible heroine, a warrior hero, delightful side characters, and a very drastic and dangerous situation narrated by the incomparable Renee Raudman made for a delightful experience.

After catching up on the three currently released The Innkeeper Chronicles and encountering some intriguing figures in the second of those books, I decided my next venture would be to go back and get this series when those characters were still children (George, Jack, Gaston, and Sophie).

As I have come to expect with this pair of writers, On the Edge offered a clever and colorful new series world. The Edge is a place of half-magic where lesser magic users live between the broken (our world) and the Weird (the noble magic world). Parallel earth dimensions it seemed with the boundaries thin in this place of the Edge.

The characters were just as fascinating as the setting and the magical world. I took a while to warm up to Rose because she has a chip on her shoulder, but then I got to know why and that helped tremendously. She's had it rough and her trust has been broken so many times; it was amazing she was not a bitter thing. Rose is full of inner strength, a strong sense of duty, and a great love for her family. She has no idea what to do when Weird nobleman, Declan shows up and has an interest in her.
Grandma and the children are great side characters. Jack and George are adventurous boys and I loved encountering them here as children after seeing them full-grown in the Innkeeper series. Declan seems straight-forward, but he has some great twists in his story and and his actions when it comes to Rose. He seems to figure out that he needs to work extra hard to gain her trust and she is worth it under all her prickles.

It was exciting and had a great build of tension in the plot. Its the first book in a series so the set up took its time, but even then there was quite a bit going on. My only niggle was the ending. It was abrupt. Not like a cliffhanger; just came to a stop before I was ready. I'm going to give it a little leeway though because this is a series and a few questions I still had are likely addressed in future books.

Renee Raudman's narration was stellar stuff. She nailed Rose's character and did all the others well, too. I was so glad to find out she was narrating this series after I fell in love with her work in the Innkeeper Chronicles.

All in all, great series start and I highly recommend it to paranormal romance fans.

Good book

Would you listen to On the Edge again? Why?

Oh yes! I found the book intriguing with a strong plot and character development.

What was one of the most memorable moments of On the Edge?

The guy dangling from the tree wrapped in plastic like a gift.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes!

Very entertaining book

I enjoyed this book very much. The narration was great. I would definitely recommend this book(set).

not my favorite of Mrs. Andrews, but a great listen.

So my first listen for Mrs. Andrews was the Innkeeper Chronicles. By far my favorite of her books so far, this is a great listen. Gets a bit dirty in the middle, which I wasn't expecting, but still listen and rate for yourself. I will be finishing this series.