Book review: On the Edge by Ilona Andrews

From Ilona's website:

Rose Drayton lives on the Edge, between the world of the Broken (where people drive cars, shop at Wal-Mart, and magic is a fairy tale) and the Weird (where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny). Only Edgers like Rose can easily travel from one world to the next, but they never truly belong in either.

Rose thought if she practiced her magic, she could build a better life for herself. But things didn’t turn out how she planned, and now she works a minimum wage, off the books job in the Broken just to survive. Then Declan Camarine, a blueblood noble straight out of the deepest part of the Weird, comes into her life, determined to have her (and her power).

But when a terrible danger invades the Edge from the Weird, a flood of creatures hungry for magic, Declan and Rose must work together to destroy them—or they’ll devour the Edge and everyone in it . . .

If you've read any of my previous Ilona Andrews book reviews (Magic Bites, Magic Burns, Magic Strikes), you'll know that I'm a huge fan. I love the Kate Daniels series. LOVE. I love it so much, in fact, that I was scared to read ON THE EDGE because it was something new and different, and I was afraid it wouldn't live up to my expectations. I know. I've got issues. In any case, I shouldn't have worried. It was FANTASTIC.

Rose's world is richly developed; we see enough of the magic of the Edge and the Weird to satisfy our curiosity and get a good, solid sense of how the world operates, but are left with the feeling that there is much more to discover. Rose, her mother, Declan, and especially the boys, Georgie and Jack, are the kind of characters we all pray for when opening a new book: three-dimensional, real--people you feel like you could really get to know, despite the million ways you're different. It doesn't take long before they've each wrapped themselves around your heart in their own way, which makes the rest of the story both better and more difficult. Rose and her family are in dire straits, struggling to make ends meet, raise two young boys who've been abandoned by their father, and now a host of even greater evils set on destroying them and everything around them.

I couldn't get enough of this book. It's a really great read. Highly recommended!! Go! Buy! Love!

Also, you can read the first chapter here, for free.