Book Review - The Edge of Never by J. A. Redmerski

4 ROADTRIP STARS! ★★★★

 

“Just remember to always be yourself and don’t be afraid to speak your mind or to dream out loud." 

I always get a little nervous picking up a book which has been highly rated because I'm a little afraid that I might not enjoy it as much as majority did or the fact that I go in with some high expectations. Well safe to say, I really enjoyed this read with the whole roadtrip idea, coupled up with a 'strangers to friends to lovers' premise and was close to being a winner for me. Sadly, there was something that I simply couldn't overlook which caused me to deck out 1 star overall :(

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The Edge of Never is the story of 21-year old Camryn Bennett, whose life seems rather messed up after a string of events starting from the death of her boyfriend to her family problems and the final straw being a huge fight with her best friend, Natalie. Tired of it all, Camryn decided to buy a one-way bus ticket to anywhere as long as she gets to escape the current life she leads. In a fateful encounter on the bus, she meets 25-year old, Andrew Parrish who is planning to visit his dying father in Wyoming.

What started out a strangers on a bus turned out to be something more for both of them as they embark on a journey of self-discovery in a roadtrip adventure after a twist of event.



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The idea of a roadtrip in a book definitely excites me & I can certainly say that I had a really good time reading all the tiny details of each place they visited & the crazy things Cam and Andrew did throughout their trip! I know the pace of the book came off a little slow in the first half and nothing much wow-ed me but I still enjoyed it for the most part. I liked seeing how their friendship slowly evolved and surprisingly, it didn't bother me that it was a slow buildup romance. Usually I take that as a good sign in a book because it doesn't make me want to skip the filler details.

“Live in the moment, where everything is just right, take your time and limit your bad memories and you'll get wherever it is you're going a lot faster and with less bumps in the way.”

Loved both MCs and I was really happy when we get glimpses of Andrew's POV aside from them being mostly from Camyrn. I felt that it definitely allowed me to connect and relate to their actions, so there was no unnecessary need to feel of frustrated from my end.

What Cam and Andrew shared had brought on some beautiful moments and it really gives you something to think about living life in the moment. ♥♥

“The heart always wins out over the mind, The heart, although reckless and suicidal and masochist all on its own, always gets it way. The mind may be what's best, but I don't give a shit what my mind is telling me anymore. Right now, I want to live in the moment.”

And now I reach the dreadful part of my review that explains why I had to deck out 1 star from my rating. I'll put it in a spoiler tag in case anyone hasn't read the book:







***SPOILERS START***


I was really enjoying the read up to the 90% mark until the author suddenly dropped the bomb twist of Andrew having a brain tumor. Just a disclamer: I'm not going to say I'm an expert in this illness but having witness my dad being diagnosed with brain tumor 2 years ago, I can sorta relate to this; so bear with me here. 

It really didn't bode well with me that the author would downplay the seriousness of a brain tumor event. It is almost impossible that a person suffering from a brain tumor would have the capability to function as well as Andrew did throughout the entire roadtrip, especially if its at a critical stage (I'm assuming the case here since in the book, Asher told Cam that "the chances of survival were small"). 

The brain is literally one of the most vital functioning organ in the human body which has the power to control our emotions/senses/motor actions and a tumor that serious wouldn't have gone unnoticed in his behaviour to outside people. Also it's true that seizures come alongside with the presence of a brain tumor which our neurologist then advised that it would be very unsafe for my dad to drive (other than the fact that the brain tumor made him lose focus easily). And the very fact that Andrew has been driving the entire time (and for long periods of time!) in this book pretty much means that he has been risking both his life and Camryn on the road. Uh so yeah, not sure how I feel about that after the bomb was dropped =\ 

The point is: Probably I would have appreciated it better if the author did some research before using brain tumor or any other illness for that matter. To drop a twist like that at 90% of the book killed the entire reading experience for me a little as it didn't made sense to me for what I've just read in the earlier 90% of the book :( I'm sorry but to me, this was something I simply couldn't overlook.


****SPOILERS END****




However, I would really like to emphasize that the above point is a matter of a personal opinion and probably had I not know better, I believed I would have loved this read as much as everyone else :)

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Overall I still enjoyed and loved the read for the most part; it made me smiled, laughed and got me a little teary-eyed as I read Andrew's letter to Camryn.

“I think that if past lives are real then we have been lovers in every single one of them. I've known you for a short time, but I feel like I've known you forever.”

The ending may have been a little rushed for me, but probably this was done to allow Book 2 to play out more. Well not sure if I'll be reading Book 2 as I glanced through multiple mixed reviews and some DNFs for it. This may be the case of a book better off being a standalone but I can't really judge for sure ;)