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

Title: The Edge of Never
Author: J.A. Redmerski
Genre: Young Adult, Chick-lit
Goodreads

Twenty-year-old Camryn Bennett had always been one to think out-of-the-box, who knew she wanted 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 Raleigh, 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 names 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?

Review by Nara


Usually I save my 1 star Goodreads ratings for books that I cannot finish. This book I actually did finish, but the reason why I gave it 1 star will soon be apparent.

After reading Chantelle's review of The Edge of Never, I decided to try it out and see if it really was as bad as she claimed. I began reading with a sense of trepidation and with incredibly low expectations. Perhaps this was why The Edge of Never actually had a surprisingly promising beginning. Probably about up to a third of the way in, I was quite enjoying it, and wondering why Chantelle hated the book so much. I was enjoying the interactions between Camryn and Andrew, and wondering how their relationship would be further developed and really looking forward to reading about said relationship development. Then Redmerski showed her true colours, and there it was: an absolute monstrosity came to life.

Annoying, Shallow Protagonist
I'm sorry to say that I have absolutely no sympathy whatsoever for characters who say things like "I'M NEVER FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN! *sobs uncontrollably*". Characters that say such things appear to be set up by the author like this so that there can be some sort of observable character growth: i.e. they've now gotten over the horrible loss of their previous partner and come to terms with the new love interest etc. etc. But goddammit, you can't control love, that's why it's called "falling" in love. (Yeah, I'm so incredibly deep, lol jks).

Quite honestly, Camryn didn't even seem to be that greatly affected by Ian's (her previous boyfriend) death (don't worry, that's not really a spoiler). She apparently deeply loved Ian and said the above "I'm never blah blah blah" then BAM. Ian is a distant memory, cast off into the land of dreams and suddenly, Andrew is the love of her life. She even says something like "yeah, I don't think I really loved Ian". Well, okay. You forgot him quickly enough...I also really disliked the fact that there was non existent romance and non existent relationship development between Camryn and Andrew. In the span of a few weeks (or possibly even less than that), the two characters go from "Hi, random on the bus" to "OH MY GOD I WUV YOU SO MUCH".

Also, the rough sex? What the bloody hell? That was completely unnecessary, and frankly, off-putting.

In addition, Camryn didn't really seem close to the best friend. When the below event happens (you can find out what is is if you so choose to click the spoiler tag or if you read the actual book DON'T DO IT), Camryn appears to have no regard for the friend's life, and says to her "OMG I NEED YOU HURRY AND GET ON A PLANE AND COME TO TEXAS". She doesn't even think about how inconvenient that is, not to mention the fact that she was at that point in time fighting with her "friend" (because the friend's boyfriend hit on Camryn and told her he had loved her for forever and Camryn told her friend this and the friend didn't believe her). So basically, it went from "I hate you for not believing me" to "I NEED YOU SO COME HITHER".

Stupid, Unnecessary Event(s) to Gain Sympathy for the Couple. (Yeah, no. Just no.) 
WARNING: THIS PART OF THE REVIEW CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS- they're hidden by a spoiler tag though :)

This event was actually disgusting. I think I was probably going to give the book a slightly higher rating (3 or 4) before the author decided to put it in. As soon as it happened, my face exactly: -_-
Time for the spoiler tag:

Click me to read spoilers

BRAIN TUMOUR!? You have got to be kidding me. BRAIN TUMOUR?! Why the hell do authors think that suddenly pulling the terminal illness card is interesting for the reader? Jesus Christ, if you're going to do it, do it well, not as some stupid trick to make the couple seem deeper in love or whatever the f*** is trying to be achieved here....
And if that wasn't stupid enough, wow, MEDICAL MIRACLE! And he's alive!
Oh and now she's pregnant. And she's getting married to Andrew. Stupidest. Ending. Ever.

I really wouldn't recommend this. I found out the hard way. Just don't read it.

Similar Books:
1. Two-Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt
2. Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
3. Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

Hated it

Ratings
Overall: 2/10
Plot: 2/5
Writing: 3/5
Characters: 2/5
Cover: 3/5