On the Edge is the first of Ilona Andrews' The Edge series. Ilona Andrews, the pseudonym for a husband and wife writing team, is author the of one of my favorite series, The Kate Daniels series. The Edge is the place between the world of magic, the Weird, and the world of the mundane, the Broken. People who live in the Edge have magic, but not as strong as those in the Weird. In the Edge, power is measured by your Flash, the liter the color of your Flash, the stronger the magic.
Rose Drayton lives in the Edge. She works under the table as a maid for a cleaning company, and she takes care of her two younger brothers, George and Jack, since her mother died and her father left. Rose had very strong magic, she Flashes white, but that does not place food on the table. When it can out that she Flashed white, both Edge and Weird families sought to have her, either for breeding or soldiering. It isn't easy raising two boys, especially when one can raise the dead and the other can change into a lynx.
When a Blueblood, a Weird noble, shows up in the Edge, Rose becomes worried, especially once he appears at her house. Declan is the Earl of Camarine, and he binds Rose to an agreement where she is to give him three challenges, and if completes all of them then she will be his. But Declan is more than what he seems. After his arrival, he saves Jack from a magic eating creature, and some Edgers from the same creatures, Rose really begins to wonder about the real Declan.
The creatures are controlled by madman from the Weird with delusions of grandeur and who is quickly losing his hold on reality. He must be stopped or the people of the Edge are doomed to die or move to the Broken. Rose and Declan work together to stop him, and are developing feelings for each other.
I love Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniel series, so I had high expectations for this book. Good news, there was not disappointment to be had in this book. I loved the unique world that has been created with this book, where magic and mundane are parallel worlds. The characters are so well developed and wonderful. I think that being a husband and wife writing team helps to make the male characters so much more believable that some other series with female writers alone.
There are so many great characters in the book. Not only are Rose and Declan fantastically developed, but George, Jack, William, and Grandma Eleanor are such wonderful additions. In fact, Jack might be my favorite character. They did such are great job of balancing the little boy in him and the cat in him. I think my favorite scene in the book is when William discovers that Jack is a changeling, and the conversation they have. I really felt it showed how well Jack is written, and it also showed what a wonderful guardian Rose has been for Jack.
Speaking of Rose, she is so great. She really loves her brothers, and is super loyal to them. It would be so easy to bitter about her situation, but she makes the best of it, even after everything she has gone through. She is smart, and as demonstrated when she practices her Flash with Delcan, she is a very fast learner.
Declan, talk about yummy awesomeness in a character. He is obviously very loyal, as demonstrated by him wanting to save William. He is also caring, which is not necessarily what I would expect from a former soldier like himself. He works hard to keep Jack and George safe and to earn their trust.
William is a character I find myself wanting to know more about, so I am super excited that the next book, Bayou Moon features him as a main character.
I am can't wait to read more from this series, and learn more about the world that Ilona Andrews has created in it.
Currently Reading:
Shadow and Bone
by Leigh Bardugo
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