BOOK REVIEW: The Edge of Always by J.A. Redmerski

 Five months ago, Camryn and Andrew, both dealing with personal hardships, met on a Greyhound bus. They fell in love and proved that when two people are meant to be together, fate will find a way to make it happen.

Now, in the highly anticipated sequel to The Edge of Never, Camryn and Andrew are pursuing their love for music and living life to the fullest as they always swore to do. But when tragedy befalls them, their relationship is put to the ultimate test. As Camryn tries to numb her pain, Andrew makes a bold decision: To get their life back on track, they'll set out on another cross-country road trip. Together they find excitement, passion, adventure-and challenges they never could have anticipated. - goodreads


The Edge of Always is the sequel to The Edge of Never (which I always get mixed up) - if you click on the link you can read my review of that one.

Anyways.... I only give this one 3 stars. And not because it wasn't good, or the same writing style as the first installment, but because I felt like it wasn't needed. The Edge of Never was a good book, it ended happily, no real cliffhangers or things unanswered in my humble opinion.  This book felt like it was written just for the fact that the first one did well with the reviewers.

 

My other issue that others seem to forget is that Andrew and Camryn only have known each other for 5 MONTHS!! 5 months, and they are preggo and engaged. UMMM!!!! What?!?!?! I get it, you meet your soul mate and love of your life, but slow the fuck down.

And that's what I guess this book was about. Camryn started freaking out that life with a baby meant a life of picking a place to call home and sticking put. She still wanted to travel the world and sing, basically be a normal 21 year old. 

This is my problem: she sees it that once you have a baby, your life stops, that you can't travel, that you can't do shit all. Umm... NO. I'm not preggo nor have kids, so I know my opinion in this matter isn't seen as valid, but come on. Just because you have a child does not mean you have to give up on your dreams. Of course they may come about a little differently and travelling will be a bit harder, but don't just become a back seat to your kids. That's definitely not a lesson I want to share.

Back from the rant: After one of my worst fears happen, she goes into a downward spiral. And to make her feel better, Andrew plans this road trip. Reminiscent of their greyhound bus meeting, only 5 months prior. (yup.... the time frame again). So they slow it down. They get back to the two of them in the relationship ( I realize I may have just given a spoiler...sorry), learn more things about their history and what they want the future to hold.

 I love Andrew. He is portrayed like such a  caring, supportive and decent guy. A guy you would definitely like to have for your own.  The author does a great job at developing the characters in the novel, so you feel like you have a connection with them wanting to be like 'yo man, stop punching the tree you are going to hurt your beautiful knuckles' (just me....? no?)

This book also had a lot more sex in it, so there's that plus.

So 3 stars. I do recommend this to people who have read the first of the series. Do you need to read it to feel closure? No.  Definitley not. The plot did kind of fall short and dragged on or it jumped from one day to a month to 15 years in the future.... so theres that problem of continuity. Like the author wanted to make sure everything was answered for sure this time because she was running out of ideas to ever create a third book (which I am grateful for actually). Again, I feel like this book wasn't needed at all. Still entertaining though.

“You’re the world to me,” I whisper onto
her lips. “I hope you never forget that.”
“I’ll never forget,” she whispers back.. “But if I ever do, for
whatever reason, I hope you’ll always find a way to remind me.”
...“Always.” 

 

BOOK REVIEW:The Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerski

Get in bitches! We are going on a road trip! (seriosusly I just really liked ths .gif and wanted to put it in a review somewhere!)

So The Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerski was actually a pretty good read. It was another netgalley one, but its already been released and I do recommend it for you peeps to pick up.

The basic plot according to Goodreads:

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?

I liked the dulaity of the narrative in the novel. Its a great way to see eaxactly how each of the characters are feeling.

Camryn, yes she was a little flighty and her deep thoughts got a little annoying. But hey, we all have flaws. Speaking of flaws I get your boyfriend dies, and you think you will never love again. I can't even imagine that. But vowing to yourself that you will never love again because it hurts to much, come on. You are 20 freakin years old!  I did like how she questioned things though, she just didn't fall into bed and fell head over heels.


I liked Andrew as a character. Mainly for the Justin Beiber bashing:

“She got pissed when I accused her of having Bieber Fever (it pisses me off that I even know “what the fuck that means—I blame that on society”

And also the fact that he wasn't the typical rich guy in all the rest of these romance novels. He seems like a genuine good guy. Tattooed, hot, and he turned down a modelling contract because he didn't want to sell out.  I'm not sure if this makes him a good guy or stupid. But whatev. Things I didn't like about Andrew is that he needs to calm the fuck down. Keep the fists in the pocket, don't go all protective on everyone.

 
They both were very much closed off to the fact of love.  They didn't want to invest into the feeling in fear of hurting the other, or themselves.  This is where the love story really begins. They both want to deny themselves of this based on certain reasons.
 
The build up was good if not slow. The first half seemed to drag on a little and I found myself contemplating on if it was ever going to get better. Then it did. I think it started with the whole washroom scene and the start of the road trip. See the car .gif does fit in a little bit!
 
As always, I'm critical so here are things I didn't like:


The emotional rollercoaster at the end. I don't mean to give any spoilers but you pretty much go from this:

to this:

 

 (however this made a great plot and ending)
 
-Some of the descriptions of outfits and stuff. Call it what it is. Pigtails, not 2 braids on each side resting over the shoulder. Pigtales.  I know thats really minor, but still...
 
 -Also, the whole  "If you were to let me fuck you, you would have to let me own you ." Whoa, Andrew. Whoa. Calm down. What does this even me? Would you make me a slave? Would I not be allowed to do anything. COuldn't you just say, we can only sleep together if we are exclusivily dating? That surely sounds more romantic. I think if someone said that to me I would definitly be like "peace out man,  I really don't need to have sex right now"

-There were a few lines that could be taken the wrong way as well. I won't get into them but still, something to be mindful of while reading.
 

Overall though, I did really like The Edge of Never. The novel felt like an actual romance, with build up of feelings not just an instnat, boom lets fuck, i love you mentality.  That I liked. Yes, they both had some serious issues, but they meshed well with eachother.  It made me want to get a matching tattoo with G, as well as to go on a long trip. 

(on a side note rant: what is it with people only listening to classic rock? I mean, yes its good but come on give a little of the new stuff a chance. That classic rock wsa new at some point.)

And check out the song  Posion and Wine by The Civil Wars. It made me happy that they mentioned it because, well I love it!