BookNook —; Young Adult book reviews
The biggest mistake I made with The Edge of Never was reading it on an airplane. I was okay for the first half of the book, but once I hit the 50% mark, things got embarrassing. When I reached the hot sex scene, I was giggling, blushing, tingling, squirming, and desperately trying to hide my Kindle from wandering eyes. When I got to the end of the book, I was fighting back tears and hiding behind my Kindle so that the people sitting next to me wouldn't see my watering eyes. When I burst out into giggles, everyone stared at me. And nobody gets it. Nobody gets how books like The Edge of Never are so awesome that they can make you crazy in public.
"I don't think you ever really fall out of love with someone. I think when you fall in love, like true love, it's love for life. All the rest is just experience and delusions."
—Andrew, The Edge of Never by J.A. Rredmerski
It's safe to say that The Edge of Never was everything I hoped it would be and more! It's heartbreaking, it's romantic, it's wild, it's spontaneous, and Andrew is all kinds of sexy!! Oh, and this book is fucking hilarious. Period. I have 20 "pages" of highlights on my Kindle—almost all of which are funny lines or scenes that made me laugh out loud! The rest are sweet, meaningful quotes that had me pondering everything from true love, to fate, to the meaning of life.
I know I touched on this before, but I have to say it again: ANDREW IS HOT! He's so sweet, so swoony, so bad boy-esque, and the perfect book boyfriend! I love how he had a bit of bad boy in him—tattoos and a protective streak that got a little violent—but for the most part he was just a really sweet guy. A lot of books these days have a guy who's mostly that violent, scary, one night stand bad boy, with a tiny bit of sweetness, but Andrew was the other way around. He was mostly the sweet, philosophical (without being cheesy), live-in-the-moment kind of guy, but had a tiny bit of that bad boy in him. This made him the PERFECT book boyfriend! Not like those too controlling, annoying jerk faces. Sometimes I love those guys too, but Andrew was more than just a thrilling bad boy. He was actually boyfriend material! Or, hell—husband material.
"If you were to let me fuck you, you would have to let me own you."
—Andrew, The Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerski
The romance in this book is very, very slow building, hot, passionate, and will rock your world! I mean, they do fall in love kind of quickly, since they meet on a road trip and that's their romance, but it doesn't feel quick at all. It's 426 pages of indifference, interest, friendship, slow building trust, hesitant more-than-friendship, and finally, a full-powered knock-you-over head-over-heels ROMANCE! The progression from strangers, to acquaintances, to friends, to lovers is FABULOUS! You will love every second of it. I was mentally screaming, cheering for them, and egging them on. It was epic.
And those sex scenes... YEESHH!! Honestly, there weren't as many sex scenes as I thought there would be, but the ones that were there were positively delicious. I kept glancing around the airplane to see if people could tell I was reading some epic hotness dripping with lust. I was all self-conscious about it. WAS I SMILING TOO MUCH?? DID I LOOK HORNY?? COULD PEOPLE TELL??
Also, I had no idea that we would get to read from BOTH characters' points of view. That was awesome! I loved getting inside Andrew's head. Of course, Camryn was great too, but there's something really mysterious about a boy's mind.. since I'm not a boy, and all that. But both characters were brilliant narrators!
I really love the way the plot line tined into the characters. Camryn and Andrew are both on the run. They're trying to escape their lives and run away from the difficulties, and they're doing it in the form of a road trip! There was something so sweet about them helping each other along the way and experiencing new things together. Through the road trip experiences, they pushed each other to the edge, did things they never thought they'd get the chance to do, and came out better for it.
"There's no such thing as a bad bus ride when you're in the company of something beautiful."
—Camryn, The Edge of Never, J.A. Redmerski
The Edge of Never is beyond powerful. It's so full of love, loss, hope, desperation, and an insanely sweet and hilarious romance. As much as it's about a heart-stopping romance, The Edge of Never is also about finding yourself, learning how to live, not being afraid to speak your mind, and overcoming traumas from your past. I just loved how Andrew and Camryn changed and empowered each other. There was never a dull moment in this story—especially in the second half—and the ending will make you cry, smile, and jump for joy!
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