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

Title: The Edge of Never

Author: J.A. Redmerski

Kindle Edition

Amount of Pages: 427 pages

Release Date: March 12, 2013

Publisher: Forever

Meant for: Adults

Source: I received my copy of The Edge of Never from Netgalley for review.

Overview:

Twenty-year-old Camryn Bennett thought she knew exactly where her life was going. But after a wild night at the hottest club in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, she shocks everyone-including herself-when she decides to leave the only life she's ever known and set out on her own. Grabbing her purse and her cell phone, Camryn boards a Greyhound bus ready to find herself. Instead, she finds Andrew Parrish.

Sexy and exciting, Andrew lives life like there is no tomorrow. He persuades Camryn to do things she never thought she would and shows her how to give in to her deepest, most forbidden desires. Soon he becomes the center of her daring new life, pulling love and lust and emotion out of her in ways she never imagined possible. But there is more to Andrew than Camryn realizes. Will his secret push them inseparably together-or destroy them forever?

My Review:

I had received this book for review and I didn't really know anything about it. I had seen it all over goodreads, but I didn't really get ready to sit down and read it until I saw one of my favorite booktubers say that it was her favorite book of the year . Then I went and I read this book in literally one sitting. I couldn't get enough of it. Even now writing this I need the second installment of the series, The Edge of Always. I have to wait all the way until November!

Characters:

First off I have to say I love every character in this book. Sometimes I get really turned off from a book if I don't really connect with the character's personality, or their actions. But in this book, I enjoyed both Cam and Andrew, thoroughly.

Minor characters fit well into the story, but I loved how Cam and Andrew remained in a bubble while on their road trip. No distractions, the open road before them, deciding for themselves how they were going to lose inhibitions and really just live their life. I really appreciated how real and true they were together.

Relationships:

Obviously Cam and Andrew are the main focus of The Edge of Never, and their relationship shines. Andrew helped Cam grow as a person, and taught her how to learn to trust herself and not care what anyone else thinks. She finally started to live for herself, and along the way, the reader gets to see how Cam rediscovers herself, and questions what she used to think before.

While Andrew is there to help Cam heal, she is also there for one of the hardest times of Andrew's life. More so than what the reader thinks at first, and their relationship grows stronger from what a casual one they had before.

End Thoughts:

This book really hit a place with me, I have to say. It makes me want to go out and do whatever the hell I want and really live my life. I think this book covers a lot of bases and many people will be able to get something out of it. I thought Redmerski's writing was just flawless and her style was just spot on, and made her character's all the more likeable and realistic and definitely more unique than what's out there at the moment.

I will definitely without a doubt read the sequel, and read some of Redmerski's other books while waiting. I fully recommend this book to everyone. Thanks again to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book, it was a pleasure. I give The Edge of Never 5/5 stars.

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris Review

Title: Red Dragon

Author: Thomas Harris

eBook Edition

Amount of Pages: 434 pages

Release Date: December 24, 2008

Publisher: Berkley; Reprint edition (January 6, 2009)

Meant for: Adults

Source: Amazon

Summary:

A second family has been massacred by the terrifying serial killer the press has christened. The Tooth Fairy. Special Agent Jack Crawford turns to the one man who can help restart a failed investigation. Will Graham. Graham is the greatest profiler the FBI ever had, but the physical and mental scars of capturing Hannibal Lecter have caused Graham to go into early retirement. Now, Graham must turn to Lecter for help.

My Review:

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I always knew that I would read the Hannibal Lector books, because I had always loved the movies. But it was never on my top priority list. So when NBC made the show Hannibal, I was hooked. I watched faithfully every week. Halfway into the season, I knew I had to read what had inspired the screenplay. While it was hard to get into at first because of the detached sounding monologue, near the middle to the end, I was racing through the pages. I had to know everything about the Tooth Fairy.

Characters:

While the series is named after Hannibal Lector, there are only a few scenes with the man himself. I found that to be quite disappointing, but the scenes where he was incorporated into were very well-written and I thought really moving toward the plot itself and our antagonist of the story.

Surprisingly, the antagonist was my favorite character of the entire book. Will Graham didn't even come close. While dubbed as the 'Tooth Fairy' by police, the killers real identity is Francis Dolarhyde, a man who works developing pictures. While born with a cleft lip, he is shamed on by his mother who gives him away to an orphanage, and somehow is found and adopted his grandmother.

I couldn't help but feel so sympathetic for Dolarhyde during the sequence when his childhood is brought to life. This along with another scene involving Freddie Lounds, a crime magazine reporter, are my absolute favorite. And let's not forget about the one woman that Dolarhyde finds himself attracted to, a blind coworker who can't see his deformity.

Relationships:

While Will Graham's relationship with his wife Mandy isn't really focused on throughout the book, the tidbits of conversation between them long distance was well appreciated as our Tooth Fairy is after all looking to murder Will Graham and his family to complete his sequence of becoming the 'dragon.'

I particularly enjoyed Dolarhyde's relationship with his coworker, whose name escapes me at the moment, as even through the monster within him, he deeply cared and enjoyed her company. He even goes as much as not to kill her, even when his 'dragon' demands that he do so.

End Thoughts:

While Harris' writing was at times awkward and choppy in some sections, his story-telling makes up for it. I read this book in two sittings, completely immersed with Dolarhyde and wishing his story line could go on further than the first book.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone whose seen the movie, show and are crime read fanatics. I give this book 4/5 stars.