Title: On the Edge Series: The Edge #1
Author: Ilona Andrews
Published: September 29, 2009
Genre(s): Romance: Paranormal
Page Count: 309
Rating:
Summary from Goodreads: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.
While not the most outstanding piece of fiction I’ve ever read, On the Edge by Ilona Andrews is a fun, entertaining paranormal romance that’s definitely a good way to pass the time. I didn’t walk away from this book with the feeling that I’d found a truly special or noteworthy novel, but neither was I seriously disappointed. Personally, I found this book to be a lot of fun, which always makes for a decent book, at the very least.
Firstly, I liked the world-building and magic system Andrews has created with this series. The non-magic world (the Broken) and the magic world (the Weird) are mirror images of each other geographically, but are very different in terms of people, government, and values. The boundary between the two worlds is known as the Edge, and some truly strange stuff goes down in that narrow strip of land. Not being a particularly huge reader of urban fantasy, I can say that the set-up presented in On the Edge was a new one for me, and though I would have liked to see more from this world, I was happy with what I got.
This is a paranormal romance and/or urban fantasy—the line’s a little blurred. There’s the “primary” plot dealing with magical bad guys and saving the Edge from the evil dudes, but the “secondary” romantic plot is dealt with in a very focal way, in a similar style to a genre romance. The balance between the two storylines was okay for me; I didn’t think the two were integrated in the best way, but they weren’t overly clunky.
The romance itself presents itself as problematic but is cleared up by the end. Andrews’ protagonist, Rose, is dirt poor and struggling to raise her two younger brothers. Along comes Declan, who apparently wants to marry her because of her special magical abilities. Rose and Declan make a bet: she challenges him with three tests and if he completes them, Rose has to go with him and become his possession.
Now, it’s really hard for me to accept that aspect of On the Edge, because I do have a hard time with the romantic interest bargaining to make the protagonist his possession. Obviously, the book doesn’t turn out that way, but the fact that this option was ever on the table is somewhat unsettling. The entire issue wasn’t a huge detractor and it was resolved in a way that satisfied me and didn’t seem like a cop-out, but still.
As characters, Declan and Rose didn’t make the biggest impression. Declan, for one, is unnaturally perfect: a true Prince Charming. And while I admire Rose and her strength of will, I didn’t think that On the Edge gave me a full picture of her personality. Rose was a bit bland, which doesn’t work for me.
In general, my problem with this book is that it could be much more polished than it is. Ilona Andrews’ writing is not particularly good; the prose in this book is immature and slightly sloppy, and doesn’t carry the story forward in a purposeful way. Likewise, the plot and characterization and world-building didn’t quite do it for me, and the only real problem is that those things are shallow, not as fleshed out as they could be.
All in all, I simply felt that On the Edge could have used more work. The story is there, the characters are almost there, and the world-building has serious potential. Rose and Declan’s story is definitely not bad, and I had fun with the book, but it could be better. So my overall impression is one of a good book that’s very close to being a great one.
