On the Edge

On the Edge 
by Ilona Andrews
Ace Books, 2009. 326 pgs. Science Fiction

On the Edge is a story about Rose Drayton who live in the Edge, the land between The Broken where people shop at the Neighborhood Walmart, and the Weird, a land still ruled by aristocracy and magic. Rose is 18 and lives with her two little brothers her mom died when she was young and her dad skipped out a few years ago. Living in the Edge means that you have some magic not enough to thrive in the Weird and you never really fit in when visiting the Broken. Rose thought that if she practiced her magic enough then she would be able to change her station in life. That did not go according to plan. Everything changed when Declan came knocking on the door one day. They will have to work together to defeat a danger that has crossed over from the Weird and will take everything they have to survive.

I had a lot of fun reading this story. I have found that for me Ilona Andrews books takes me about 80 pages before I really get interested but once that passes I devour them in hours. I enjoyed what I felt was the realness of Rose’s character. They write her as being an imperfect mom to her brothers which totally makes sense because she is just barely an adult herself and is struggling to figure her own life out let alone how to help her brothers cope with the magic they were born with. Overall it was a good read.

MH