Malin gave me this book several years ago in the CBR Book Exchange, promising that I would like it. And then I proceeded to not read it for a very long time. In my defense, it’s one of 215 (as of June 2018) books on my physical and digital bookshelves that I own but have yet to read. One of my reading goals for 2018 was to make a serious dent in my already-owned books, and that included reading all of the books I’ve gotten in the CBR Book Exchange over the years. So far I am making okay progress, but I still have six months to go, so I’m not beating myself up too much.
I went for this one as one of the first in this project because Malin gave it to me like four years ago, and also because I knew I could zoom through it. And sure enough, I did. And I figured I would like it, since Malin has excellent taste, but a part of me also I think expected not to like it, because oh my god that cover is terrible. Just look at that guy in the corner with his big stupid face, and he’s clearly not wearing a shirt, but you can’t see his nipples so what is even the point. NIPPLES OR IT DOESN’T COUNT. Or you know, he can just be wearing a shirt. I think I am going to print out an attractive man who matches my mental picture of Declan and paste him over that guy. The rest of the cover is okay, but the magic swirlies coming out of Rose’s hand make me laugh.
So this is basically a paranormal romance, one of my first, I think. It’s equal parts romance and fantasy/adventure (it felt like a hybrid urban and traditional fantasy). That makes sense, because the entire premise of the book is that Rose and her family (two younger brothers and grandmother) live in a place called the Edge, which is an in-between place on the borders of our world, which they call the Broken, and the magical land they call the Weird. Rose is the main source of income for her family, as she finds work in the Broken, being paid under the table to work as a maid. They are very poor, and Rose is constantly on the verge of financial disaster, wondering how much money she can afford for new shoes for her brothers, or their food, or gas for their truck (which she regularly has to abandon on the side of the road when it’s on empty). Many people in the Edge are born with magic, and that includes Rose and her family. Rose actually has powerful magic, but it has made her as much a target as it has helped her, and one of her brothers is a shifter. He was born as a cat, and has a hard time maintaining human form over his natural lynx form. I’m not usually a fan of children in books, but I found myself falling in love with Rose’s brothers, who felt like real small humans to me. I especially loved the shifter, Jack.
The plot really gets going when Declan Camarine, a noble from the Weird, comes to Rose’s property and initiates a chain of events that will mean she either has to go with him to the Weird and marry him, or face the weird magical villain who he seems to have chased out of the Weird. At first, I thought Declan was a real bag of dicks and I was not happy that Rose would be falling in love with him. But something happens midway through to change the reader’s initial impression of him, and Rose is so feisty and protective of her brothers and her way of life, it was satisfying to read even when I thought Declan should go shove his head up his own buttocks.
Immediately after finishing this, I went out and put a hold on the next book, and got very excited about having so many Ilona Andrews books to read in my future. She* really is extremely prolific. And this supposedly isn’t even her best series.
Thanks, Malin!
*Ilona Andrews is a penname for a husband and wife writing team.
*Does happy dance that you a) finally read this and b) liked it*. As someone who loves Harry Dresden, you really do have to read the Kate Daniels books. Here, only the first book is not-great, then the series gets good, and later excellent. Seriously, the writing team of Ilona Andrews are probably on my top 3 favourite authors writing right now, along with Rainbow Rowell and Courtney Milan.
Normally, children in books are hit and miss, the Andrews’ are great at writing family relationship (both biological and found families) and their kids are usually a lot of fun. There is more Jack and George in some of the later Edge books, when they are a bit older.
After I finish out The Edge books, I’m going to start Kate Daniels. Skipping around out of series pings my OCD hardcore. I’m glad I liked this, too! I’m excited to read the rest of the books. I’ve got Bayou Moon out from the library right now.
So.
I guess I’m going to have to read these now.
Yep!
We can be newbies together!
I am boggled both that you had not been reading the Kate Daniels series with us and also that you could resist reading a book that Malin gave you for 4 years. Ok. I’m not that boggled about this book, the cover is really bad and I have not read it. I’m pretty sure he’s either wearing a v neck or some sort of leather harness/bandolier thing.
But I am still mind boggled that you haven’t read Kate Daniels. You have so much fun ahead of you once you get past the rockiness of the first book
For this book, it was honestly the cover, or I would have gotten to it a lot sooner. For Kate Daniels, I think I was waiting either for it to be done so I could just read all of them, or for a time when I was craving a large, sprawling fantasy series (that thing has like fifty million novellas and spinoffs) that I could make into a little reading project. I think I’m finally ready to do that, but it’ll be closer to the end of the year.
OK, first of all, it is essential NOT to judge Ilona Andrews books by their covers, because dear God, most of their covers are varying degrees of hideously awful. Which is a shame, because they’re probably the best writers of paranormal fantasy out there right now, with four different flavours of creative world building and excellent characterisation. There’s the Kate Daniels books, which they’re wrapping up this year; there’s the Edge series (of which On the Edge is the first) – already completed; there’s the Innkeeper books that combine fantasy and sci-fi (and have a slight connection to the Edge books) , and then there are the Hidden Legacy books, where they completed the first trilogy last year. There’s a novella coming out later this year to bridge the gap to their second trilogy in the same world – commissioned by Avon fairly recently
Secondly, waiting to start the Kate Daniels books until later this year is wise, as the main series will be completed by then (book 10 – the final one – is out in August).
Oh, wow, I didn’t realize it was ending so soon. I shall be pretending it was always my plan all along to start them this year! What wonderful timing.