This book is unique, fast-paced, and engaging. I look forward to finishing it when it is released.

The Edge of Everything was not what I expected, in a good way of course. I thought by the description it was a YA romance but was pleasantly surprised to find it to be a superb fantasy book too. The Lowlands, the world created by the author, was creepy and wonderful. To me it felt like a combination between purgatory and hell. The plot was unique and suspenseful which kept me turning the pages. The characters were all fabulously fleshed out and I loved every one of them, even the bad guys. The author asked me which one was my favorite but since they are all so well written I had a hard time choosing. I chose the main character’s mom. She is the one I related to the most. This book was dark and light, love and hate, and made me laugh and scared all at the same time.

WOW WOW WOW! I am not sure where to start. This book was fantastic in so many different ways. I was very excited to read this as there has been a bunch of buzz going on for it lately. I am a tiny bit conflicted so I apologize if my review is scattered. I am going to start with everything I loved.

The characters are off the charts wonderful. Our male lead X is our brooding supernatural character, however cliché it sounds he has his uniqueness. I love the way he speaks, he was raised by one of our other side characters Ripper who was alive in the 1800s so you can imagine how lovely he sounds. Zoe is our badass female lead. She is sarcastic, fierce, and real. She has her issues that she is working through but does her best to look strong. Val is Zoe best friend. She is a diverse fun character that I am DYING to see more of! Between the two of them the dialogue feels so authentic. They talk about tumblr, instagram, and social media in general. It is really great to see that in a book because teens and adults are using these things on a regular bases in real life. It makes the characters seem very real. This is something to makes a fantasy world for possible.
Her mother and little brother give me life! The relationship with her mom is well done. She is struggling to hold the balance of being close to her mom especially since the death of her father but also the anger she finds herself stuck with as she learns more and more throughout the series that her mother was holding back secrets. Sweet Jonah our little bug! I just loved the relationships everyone built with him. He is like the glue to everything. Okay okay I could go on forever about all of them Dallas, Ripper, Banger, Brian, EVERYONE!
The story line was great it is split perspectives so for the better part of the book it was almost like having two stories in one. I was on the edge of my seat wanting to know what was going on. I could not put the book down because I was so invested in the plot and how things were unraveling.
NOW there is some SUPER insta love going on. I do not hate or like insta love. Sometimes the romance is so heady and great that I do not care if it makes since. With this story it seems like it comes out of absolutely no where. Yes he saved Zoe and Jonah but that is not enough in my opinion. I needed more development. We had such little time with them that I feel like I didn't see them develop the chemistry I was looking for.
All that being said I still loved the book and cannot wait for the next one. PLEASE LET THERE BE A NEXT ONE! This book would have been five stars if it had just a little more relationship development. Four stars!

See review at my blog

Zoe has had a tough year. Her father died in a caving accident, and her elderly neighbors who were like grandparents to her were murdered in their home by an unknown assailant. Difficult as this has all been for Zoe, it's been even more so for her younger brother, Jonah. So when Jonah disappears during a blizzard, Zoe panics. She's able to rescue out of the snow and get him to the safety of shelter. But safety is a fleeting concept. Soon, she and Jonah find themselves face to face with the madman who murdered their beloved neighbors, and there's no telling what he'll do to them next.

Zoe and Jonah are saved by a mysterious young man who can turn a frozen lake into fire. X is from the Lowlands, or what humans might call hell. He is a bounty hunter who is tasked with capturing souls who escape human justice. X is not supposed to allow people to see him do his dirty work, but there's something about Zoe that makes him break all the rules, including showing mercy to the damned. The punishment for failing to capture his target might keep X from Zoe forever. If it doesn't get them killed first.

The insta-love in this book is too much for me, and I'm not usually bothered by it. Zoe just isn't anything special, and it's never explained why X would be willing to throw away everything he knows upon first glance of her. They are madly in love after spending five minutes together but had no genuine chemistry. As a character, Zoe oscillated between boring and annoying. She acted reckless and selfish more times than I could forgive. There were some pacing problems early in the book, and the big plot twist is obvious. I did enjoy several of the side characters, from the chainsaw sculpture artist to Zoe's ex-brofriend who lives for his job at an imitation Benihanas, but it wasn't enough to save this book for me. At times, the story really just dragged, and the second half felt like a chore to read. I was most interested in X's story, but that was left unresolved and half-explored. I would have to assume this book will be expanded into a series. I'll pass.

When I saw this book on Netgalley, it caught my eye because of the cover...because I am 100% a shameless cover judger. I read the synopsis and it sounded pretty interesting and I added it to my wishlist - not knowing when or if I would be approved to read it. Then I was. I randomly chose it from my queue because the title made me think it was a contemporary romance. So I was a little surprised when the fantasy/supernatural aspect started.

This story follows 17 year old Zoe who is "watching" her little brother when he disappears from her sight. She eventually finds him in the woods with their two dogs, but he is very cold and she is too, so she decides to go to their neighbors' house because it is closer than theirs. Their neighbors were an elderly couple that went missing in a very suspicious manner, so there is no one home. A hostile man shows up and tries to attack the dogs, Zoe, and her little brother before a mystery younger man shows up. He is a bounty hunter and is going to take the man's soul to the Lowlands (pretty much Hell) until Zoe asks him to spare his life. The nameless younger man, dubbed X by Zoe, has broken many Lowlands' laws by revealing himself and speaking of the Lowlands.

The rest of the novel basically follows the aftermath of X's decision to not bring back his bounty and him falling in love with Zoe. It was a very good read. I really enjoyed all of the story from X's perspective. Zoe was harder to read from because she was making a lot of really poor and selfish decisions - out of grief from losing her father and the various issues in her family that loss has caused for each person. I really really loved Banger and Ripper, X's two nearby cellmates in the Lowlands. They were both very rich characters. I am finding that when I read stories with characters around 8 or 9 that they are being written in a younger voice, in my opinion, and should be closer to 5 or 6. My two oldest kids are currently 8 and 9. Just a little BEC :)

This was a wonderful story that can be appreciated by both girls and boys of any age. Giles’ tale is full of love, action, terror, and thought. His characters are well developed and interact with one another in a manner that feels like the reader is right there beside them. Giles’ themes are deep and will create thoughtful discussions in, or out, of the classroom. The imagery was well done. The lowlands are brutally terrifying while the winter Montana landscapes are breathtaking. I was quickly caught up in this book and look forward to a hopeful follow up in the future. This will definitely be a hot pick for my teens at the library.

I LOVED this book! The main character was wonderfully developed and the pacing was perfect. I thought the dystopian elements were a little under developed but it only made me that much more excited for a sequel.