Review ~ The Edge of Never by J. A. Redmerski

ebook received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: November 15th 2012

Publisher: Harper Collins

Description:
Twenty-year-old Camryn Bennett had always been one to think out-of-the-box, who knew she wanted something more in life than following the same repetitive patterns and growing old with the same repetitive life story. And she thought that her life was going in the right direction until everything fell apart.

Determined not to dwell on the negative and push forward, Camryn is set to move in with her best friend and plans to start a new job. But after an unexpected night at the hottest club in downtown North Carolina, she makes the ultimate decision to leave the only life she’s ever known, far behind.

With a purse, a cell phone and a small bag with a few necessities, Camryn, with absolutely no direction or purpose boards a Greyhound bus alone and sets out to find herself. What she finds is a guy named Andrew Parrish, someone not so very different from her and who harbors his own dark secrets. But Camryn swore never to let down her walls again. And she vowed never to fall in love.

But with Andrew, Camryn finds herself doing a lot of things she never thought she’d do. He shows her what it’s really like to live out-of-the-box and to give in to her deepest, darkest desires. On their sporadic road-trip he becomes the center of her exciting and daring new life, pulling love and lust and emotion out of her in ways she never imagined possible. But will Andrew’s dark secret push them inseparably together, or tear them completely apart?

Due to sexual content and language, this book is recommended for 17+ – Adult Contemporary Women’s – New Adult Fiction

My Opinion

Wow, talk about an emotional roller coaster! This book went from light-hearted flirting, playful teasing and a hot romance to flipping and turning into a dramatic, torturous ending that made me cry. I'm still shocked by how many different emotions it brought out of me as I write this now and I've had nearly two days to try and digest this amazing read.

I think the main reason I got so emotional with this book was because of the characters - I just fell in love with them and their story. They were believable, easy to relate to and made me both smile, laugh and cry. I could sympathise with them and connect really well which is what made this book so different from a lot of New Adult books I've read - I actually cared what happened to them!

I also loved the fact that they weren't perfect. They had bad mouth (brilliant), a playful and witty sense of humour and they weren't afraid to challenge each other. Camryn was a bit more reserved and held back with what she thought but I loved how Andrew brought out her confidence and she developed. As well as this I could just tell I was going to enjoy this book when they first met. Camryn was not automatically swept of her feet and was stand-off-ish with him which just made me laugh.

Another thing I really liked about this book was the message about not conforming with society and doing whatever you want that brings you happiness rather than those around you. I could relate well to the message and thought it was a nice change to see characters who actually wanted to follow their own desires. I don't know why but I really like the line "Coincidence is just the conformist term for fate." I think for me it summed up the message that Camryn and Andrew were choosing their own path.

I did see the ending coming a few chapters before the reveal was made, which made it a bit predictable. However saying that it still made me cry, especially Andrew's letter. Oh my God, my eyes just teared up which is something that doesn't happen often. The book just did a one-eighty and my emotions couldn't cope - it was just great and mind boggling.

Overall I can't believe I waited so long to read this. It has been sat on my Kindle for months and having forgotten the blurb that initially interested me I put it off as the cover always looked slightly depressing to me. How wrong was I? I wish I had started it sooner but at least I don't have to wait for the sequel now (which I started earlier today)! I would highly recommend this book.