We first met William in On the Edge. He is a changeling, a shapeshifter, who has been rejected his entire life. He was given up at birth, raised in a We first met William in On the Edge. He is a changeling, a shapeshifter, who has been rejected his entire life. He was given up at birth, raised in a heartless facility, then forced into military service. He is estranged from his only friend, Declan, and he simply doesn't believe that he'll ever have love or a family of his own.
He's been living in the Edge for two years now, largely cut off from his old life. But he is pulled back in, when given the chance to finally track down and kill his old nemesis, the Spider. That mission takes him into the bayous of the Mire and it's there he meets Cerise.
Cerise has her own issues to deal with. Her parents have been kidnapped. The Spider is responsible, which gives her and William a common enemy. There's a lot more going on.... a family feud between Cerise's people and a neighboring clan, a mysterious monster, a secret journal. But the the single biggest draw in the book is William. He is such a heartbreaking tortured hero. Watching his tentative steps towards a relationship with Cerise is riveting. Seeing him find his first feelings of happiness is lovely. And getting the payoff on the phenomenal sexual tension was awesome. (A very, very satisfying love scene.)
But there were times I got lost. There were too many characters. I understand that it's sort of the point that Cerise's clan was really, really big. But it was really hard to keep track of everyone. And once we started learning the names and skill sets for the Spider's enhanced soldiers, my retention skills were kaput. I applaud the idea of big and sweeping world-building in theory, but I just couldn't keep up in some parts, which took me out of the moment more than once. It was also hard to keep track of the geography in my head.
It was still good. Especially the parts of the story that focused on Cerise and William. It was also a treat to revisit Declan, Rose and the boys to see how they are doing. 4 stars.
I read somewhere that Gordon Andrews once called this series "rustic fantasy." It kind of fits. It's decidedly not urban. The setting is kind of backwI read somewhere that Gordon Andrews once called this series "rustic fantasy." It kind of fits. It's decidedly not urban. The setting is kind of backwoods, really. But it's quirky; it's kind of charming; and while it took me a little while to connect with it, the book grew on me more and more as I continued to read.
This series is nothing like the Kate Daniels books, except for this: the world building takes some getting used to. It's not really hard to understand, but it's also not like anything else out there. In this case, there are essentially two parallel worlds. The Broken is the regular world we live in: a world of Wal-Mart and electricity. Magic is just a myth. Whereas, in the Weird, there is a world of nothing but magic. There is, however, an in-between place. The Edge is a little of both worlds, and somehow neither, at the same time. This is where Rose and her two brothers live.
Rose has more magic than most other people in the Edge, or perhaps it's more accurate to say, she is better at using it. So everyone wants to breed with her, or sell her, or profit from her in some other way. She is raising her little brothers, working a menial job, and has given up hope that her life could be more. When Declan appears, she assumes the noble from the Weird is there to force her into marriage. But at the same time, strange and dangerous creatures begin showing up. Rose has to work with Declan to fight the threat. And as they spend more time together... well, you know how these things go.
Like I said earlier, I didn't love it right away. Maybe it was the backwoods thing; maybe I just had to get used to the concepts. But either way, I ended up rather engrossed in it. Notably absent was the trademark Ilona Andrews snark, but there was a pretty hot sex scene which helped me get over that. There are some interesting secondary characters... especially William. I hope we see more of him in later books. I'm curious to see where the series goes next, since the ending felt pretty settled for Rose and Declan. There is only one way to find out.
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