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katieinca's review against another edition
4.0
Yay, the smart ass cousin from the last book gets his own book! And yay, the kids are back. And we have... a heist plot? Kind of?
brendalovesbooks's review against another edition
5.0
I'm really enjoying this series. After reading the first book, I was a little bummed that the series wasn't continuing on with the same characters. But I've come to like that each book has new main characters, and we get to revisit the old characters a bit too. This makes the series not feel stale, and I don't get as tired of the characters as I have in other series.
kzimm2024's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Re-read April 2024, original read was 2018 and 5 stars with no review.
Man, I really liked this story this time around. I have the privilege to see the story arc into the Innkeeper series as well as see George, Jack and Gaston as young troublemaking punks. It bends my brain a little, since Innkeeper is more alien with other worlds and Edge is more magic on 1 planet, but somehow they made it work!
Kaldar was terrific, 38 highlights! The whole story was well balanced with adventure, romance, blood & gore and the snappy dialogue we have come to know and love from IA.
Spoilers & highlights ahead:
Audrey wanted a legit life, no more scams and cons.
Her family was a problem:
But she was Seamus’s daughter, and twenty-three years of grifting made her voice calm and light.
“How did you find me?”
“I have my ways.” Seamus opened the bag and poured some flour into the batter. “I’m making my patented silver-dollar pancakes. You remember those, don’t you?”
“Sure, Dad. I remember.”
He was in her kitchen, touching her things. She would bleach it all after he was gone.
She gets roped into 1 last heist and boy it is a doozy. It leads to all kinds of trouble.
George- this is where he learns his scheming ways!
George shook his head again. “They will send you to Hawk’s after that for sure. No, we need an actual plan.”
“Well, I don’t have one,” Jack growled.
--------------
Jack looked at the wyvern. It was a large cabin. Large enough to hide in, especially if it was packed with crates and bags.
“Let me talk to Gaston. We can’t pull it off without him. If it goes well, we pack tonight,” George said. “We’ll tell Declan and Rose we have an overnight camp for school. By the time they realize we’re gone, we’ll be in California.”
“Gaston won’t help,” Jack said.
“Let me worry about that.”
--------------
George sank a fist into Jack’s ear. Pain exploded in his head. Ow.
Jack punched him in the ribs.
A huge fist landed on his head. The world got fuzzy for a second, and Jack went down.
Half a second later, George sprawled next to him, clutching the back of his head.
“Nothing, just some crates shifting,” Gaston called out.
Jack pointed to the front of the cabin and put his fist into his palm. George nodded. When they got out of here, Gaston would be in for a treat.
--------------
“THIS wasn’t one of my better ideas,” George murmured.
“Yes, but it’s fun.” Jack strode down the street.
The sun shone bright, and he squinted at it. Kaldar’s scent floated on the breeze, spiced with the deep, resin-saturated aroma of eucalyptus. “When was the last time you’ve had fun, George?”
He stretched “George” out the way Adrianglian blueblood girls did.
George looked sour. “I’m too busy making sure that you don’t kill anybody or get killed to have fun.”
“Blah-blah-blah.”
Kaldar discovers the stowaways and they all beat a hasty retreat:
Kaldar adjusted the rearview mirror until Jack’s face swung into view. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“They were torturing the cat,” Jack said. That explained volumes and nothing at all.
“Who else knows you’re here?”
“Why are you asking?” George asked.
“So I would know if I could kill you and dispose of the bodies.”
Kaldar reluctantly includes the boys in his plans to meet Audrey and they hit up a thrift store for clothes:
In the backseat, George wore a gray hoodie with a pocket in front and ripped jeans that needed to be thrown away. Kaldar had also bought him a used skateboard, a plank of wood on four wheels. George caught him looking. “What?”
“You look ridiculous,” Jack told him.
“This from a guy who strips naked and runs around in the woods.”
and on it goes! Its so good. Basically Kaldar has to find these magic bracelets but its a crumb trail to follow and along it he meets Audrey who is more than a match for him.
Audrey slapped a piece of duct tape over his lips.
He growled and lunged at her, but his arms didn’t move. She’d zip-tied him to his chair. He’d been had. She’d tricked him like he was a sucker. Like he was a child.
The moment he got free, she would regret it. He would make her deeply regret it.
-------------
The way she sat now, leaning forward frowning, biting her pink bottom lip, her shirt dipping to reveal a hint of her cleavage . . .
He wondered idly if he could get her to bend over a little farther . . .
“Just what are you staring at, exactly?”
Kaldar snapped back to reality. “You. You’ve been thinking hard for the last five minutes. It’s not good for you to strain your pretty little head like that. I’m waiting for the steam to shoot out of your ears to relieve the pressure on your brain.”
“Aha.” Audrey glanced at Jack and George. “What you have here is a man who was caught gaping at my breasts, and now he’s trying to cover it up with rudeness.”
Kaldar lost it and laughed.
Gaston was great in this story too:
Kaldar kicked some bushes, forcing them to rustle.
“Hurry up, Gaston!”
His nephew pushed to his feet, swiped the buckets off the ground, and croaked in a choked-up voice. “Yes, master.”
Kaldar rolled his eyes and carried the buckets to the wyvern’s mouth to feed him.
------------------
Audrey tapped Gaston’s shoulder with her finger.
“Think you can get into that barn?”
Gaston shrugged his muscular shoulders. “Sure.”
“I need you to get down there, open the stalls inside, and panic the horses.”
“ ‘Panic’?” Gaston asked.
“Smile at them or something.”
He gave her an insane grin. “I can do that.”
“What about me?” Kaldar whispered.
“You lie here and look pretty. I’ll be back.”
Kaldar and Audrey are perfect together as they plan a con on a preacher:
“How long will you need at the mall?” Kaldar asked.
“At least four hours.”
He blinked.
“Manicure, pedicure, wax, hair, makeup, clothes, jewelry. You’ll be lucky if I’m out of there by three in the afternoon.”
“I’ll count my blessings,” he said. “Don’t buy anything tasteful.”
“Shut up. Do you think this is my first time?”
and so many more good highlights- stopping here. I really liked how Audrey was able to swindle her way into getting Kaldar rescued there at the end!
Question though...
Did William find out that Spider survived? Would have loved to peek in on THAT conversation between Kaldar and William.
Man, I really liked this story this time around. I have the privilege to see the story arc into the Innkeeper series as well as see George, Jack and Gaston as young troublemaking punks. It bends my brain a little, since Innkeeper is more alien with other worlds and Edge is more magic on 1 planet, but somehow they made it work!
Kaldar was terrific, 38 highlights! The whole story was well balanced with adventure, romance, blood & gore and the snappy dialogue we have come to know and love from IA.
Spoilers & highlights ahead:
Audrey wanted a legit life, no more scams and cons.
Her family was a problem:
But she was Seamus’s daughter, and twenty-three years of grifting made her voice calm and light.
“How did you find me?”
“I have my ways.” Seamus opened the bag and poured some flour into the batter. “I’m making my patented silver-dollar pancakes. You remember those, don’t you?”
“Sure, Dad. I remember.”
He was in her kitchen, touching her things. She would bleach it all after he was gone.
She gets roped into 1 last heist and boy it is a doozy. It leads to all kinds of trouble.
George- this is where he learns his scheming ways!
George shook his head again. “They will send you to Hawk’s after that for sure. No, we need an actual plan.”
“Well, I don’t have one,” Jack growled.
--------------
Jack looked at the wyvern. It was a large cabin. Large enough to hide in, especially if it was packed with crates and bags.
“Let me talk to Gaston. We can’t pull it off without him. If it goes well, we pack tonight,” George said. “We’ll tell Declan and Rose we have an overnight camp for school. By the time they realize we’re gone, we’ll be in California.”
“Gaston won’t help,” Jack said.
“Let me worry about that.”
--------------
George sank a fist into Jack’s ear. Pain exploded in his head. Ow.
Jack punched him in the ribs.
A huge fist landed on his head. The world got fuzzy for a second, and Jack went down.
Half a second later, George sprawled next to him, clutching the back of his head.
“Nothing, just some crates shifting,” Gaston called out.
Jack pointed to the front of the cabin and put his fist into his palm. George nodded. When they got out of here, Gaston would be in for a treat.
--------------
“THIS wasn’t one of my better ideas,” George murmured.
“Yes, but it’s fun.” Jack strode down the street.
The sun shone bright, and he squinted at it. Kaldar’s scent floated on the breeze, spiced with the deep, resin-saturated aroma of eucalyptus. “When was the last time you’ve had fun, George?”
He stretched “George” out the way Adrianglian blueblood girls did.
George looked sour. “I’m too busy making sure that you don’t kill anybody or get killed to have fun.”
“Blah-blah-blah.”
Kaldar discovers the stowaways and they all beat a hasty retreat:
Kaldar adjusted the rearview mirror until Jack’s face swung into view. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“They were torturing the cat,” Jack said. That explained volumes and nothing at all.
“Who else knows you’re here?”
“Why are you asking?” George asked.
“So I would know if I could kill you and dispose of the bodies.”
Kaldar reluctantly includes the boys in his plans to meet Audrey and they hit up a thrift store for clothes:
In the backseat, George wore a gray hoodie with a pocket in front and ripped jeans that needed to be thrown away. Kaldar had also bought him a used skateboard, a plank of wood on four wheels. George caught him looking. “What?”
“You look ridiculous,” Jack told him.
“This from a guy who strips naked and runs around in the woods.”
and on it goes! Its so good. Basically Kaldar has to find these magic bracelets but its a crumb trail to follow and along it he meets Audrey who is more than a match for him.
Audrey slapped a piece of duct tape over his lips.
He growled and lunged at her, but his arms didn’t move. She’d zip-tied him to his chair. He’d been had. She’d tricked him like he was a sucker. Like he was a child.
The moment he got free, she would regret it. He would make her deeply regret it.
-------------
The way she sat now, leaning forward frowning, biting her pink bottom lip, her shirt dipping to reveal a hint of her cleavage . . .
He wondered idly if he could get her to bend over a little farther . . .
“Just what are you staring at, exactly?”
Kaldar snapped back to reality. “You. You’ve been thinking hard for the last five minutes. It’s not good for you to strain your pretty little head like that. I’m waiting for the steam to shoot out of your ears to relieve the pressure on your brain.”
“Aha.” Audrey glanced at Jack and George. “What you have here is a man who was caught gaping at my breasts, and now he’s trying to cover it up with rudeness.”
Kaldar lost it and laughed.
Gaston was great in this story too:
Kaldar kicked some bushes, forcing them to rustle.
“Hurry up, Gaston!”
His nephew pushed to his feet, swiped the buckets off the ground, and croaked in a choked-up voice. “Yes, master.”
Kaldar rolled his eyes and carried the buckets to the wyvern’s mouth to feed him.
------------------
Audrey tapped Gaston’s shoulder with her finger.
“Think you can get into that barn?”
Gaston shrugged his muscular shoulders. “Sure.”
“I need you to get down there, open the stalls inside, and panic the horses.”
“ ‘Panic’?” Gaston asked.
“Smile at them or something.”
He gave her an insane grin. “I can do that.”
“What about me?” Kaldar whispered.
“You lie here and look pretty. I’ll be back.”
Kaldar and Audrey are perfect together as they plan a con on a preacher:
“How long will you need at the mall?” Kaldar asked.
“At least four hours.”
He blinked.
“Manicure, pedicure, wax, hair, makeup, clothes, jewelry. You’ll be lucky if I’m out of there by three in the afternoon.”
“I’ll count my blessings,” he said. “Don’t buy anything tasteful.”
“Shut up. Do you think this is my first time?”
and so many more good highlights- stopping here. I really liked how Audrey was able to swindle her way into getting Kaldar rescued there at the end!
Question though...
Did William find out that Spider survived? Would have loved to peek in on THAT conversation between Kaldar and William.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Gore
caitybell's review against another edition
4.0
I’ve been looking forward to Kaldar Mar’s book in this fabulous Edge series since he first bet a kid for a rock in Bayou Moon. While at times Fate’s Edge felt a little clumsy, unrealistic even, I still very much liked it. While Audrey and Kaldar’s relationship felt less fluid than other relationships in this series, I can’t deny that I still love them as a couple. Their constant bickering and thieving shenanigans had me smiling and laughing. We also meet a new and terrifying villain, one as ruthless as this dangerous world requires.
The scenes in the Broken (our world) felt flat, but once Kaldar and Audrey ended up in the Edge or the Weird (magical world), all seemed right again. Maybe I just didn’t care for the mundane of our magicless world, but I enjoyed the second part of this book more than the first. We also got a lot of interactions with other characters from the past books, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
I’m sad only one more book remains, but I’m also excited to see how everything wraps up!
The scenes in the Broken (our world) felt flat, but once Kaldar and Audrey ended up in the Edge or the Weird (magical world), all seemed right again. Maybe I just didn’t care for the mundane of our magicless world, but I enjoyed the second part of this book more than the first. We also got a lot of interactions with other characters from the past books, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
I’m sad only one more book remains, but I’m also excited to see how everything wraps up!
cosmictantrum's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
katyanaish's review against another edition
3.0
I don't know why, but I just couldn't get into it. I kept putting it down and finding something else to do, which NEVER happens with Ilona Andrews and me. *shrug*
stephxsu's review against another edition
3.0
My favorite Edge novel was probably the first one, and subsequent novels in the series just haven't quite been doing it for me. I wish I liked George and Jack more than I do, but I don't, and thus the book dragged whenever they were messing around in a scene. It's cool how Kaldar and Audrey work together to pull off one last big con. As always, Ilona Andrews shows her prowess in developing a convincingly complex world of magic and weird things. I just wish this book had been shorter by a chunk, to really hold my attention.
mollywetta's review against another edition
I didn't like this one nearly as much as the first in the series. The plot was slow to start.
sophiarose1816's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The world of the Edge is captivating, magical, and full of gritty adventure and romance. I was excited to come back to it after several years away when I spotted the audio edition.
Fate’s Edge is the third in the Edge series and could be treated as a standalone Paranormal Romance, but it was much more satisfying getting it in order since there is a clear connection of characters and overall series story that come with the hero’s side of things.
With a few years since reading book two, Kaldar’s cousin Cerise’s story, I was a bit hazy on some bits in the beginning. There was enough explained to jog my memory about the world and the previous stories. I love these stories of the Edge a rough, living place between the non-magical human world and the fully magical Weird. There is danger and intrigue as well as some memorable characters. I was particularly taken with first the Draytons in the first book, On the Edge, and the intro to another Edger family, the insane, quirky Mars clan in book two, Bayou Moon.
Audrey Callaghan is the newest character introduction and she comes from another shady Edger family. She’s gone legit after giving up on her family to ever change, but she has a bit of larceny in her. I loved her complicated personality. She associates the larceny in herself with the pain her family has brought her and sees Kaldar as just another manipulative user like her dad and brother so she resists the pull of what she’s good at and thrills to even while needing to set right a wrong. Kaldar is exactly what she thinks he is, but also more. He’s a natural, but his dark painful past also shaped him as much as Audrey’s did her. Kaldar’s a swashbuckling charmer and sees Audrey’s resistance as a challenge at first and doesn’t even get that there is more to the pull of attraction between them until his glam smile and smarmy words convince Audrey there is nothing behind all the dazzle and he had his work cut out for him for most of the book. While I liked this pair as mission partners and individuals, and, I could even see them happily together eventually, I did feel that their actual romance needed a bit more time to get there and it felt rushed at the end.
Alongside the mission and romance of Kaldar and Audrey, there are the grisly villains of The Hand led by a beautiful aristocratic woman who likes to skin her victims and has her sights on revenge against any Mar she comes across. The formidable villains ups the ante on the action and I was excited to see what happened when the inevitable clash came after a laborious series of tasks the heroic band had to complete before they could get where they needed to be.
What grabbed me most was George and Jack. Originally, I spotted them as crossovers- years later- in another series, The Innkeeper Chronicles, by the authors and I was so curious that I wanted to come back and find them in this series. On the Edge introduced them in their sister’s story, but they held the secondary storyline in this one and I could see how they came to be the men they were later and had the career they did as well. They are a pair of rascals, but their magical lethal talents saved the day more than once.
As to Renee Raudman’s narration work, it was superb as always. Her distinct voicing of characters, rhythm and tone kept me deeply engaged. This was a larger cast and I had no trouble distinguishing individuals, where they were from, and what was going on.
All in all, it was an exciting, enthralling venture back into the world of The Edge and I won’t wait long to snatch up the last book featuring more of the Mar family and another gritty, paranormal romantic adventure. Solid Paranormal Romance that I can easily recommend.
Fate’s Edge is the third in the Edge series and could be treated as a standalone Paranormal Romance, but it was much more satisfying getting it in order since there is a clear connection of characters and overall series story that come with the hero’s side of things.
With a few years since reading book two, Kaldar’s cousin Cerise’s story, I was a bit hazy on some bits in the beginning. There was enough explained to jog my memory about the world and the previous stories. I love these stories of the Edge a rough, living place between the non-magical human world and the fully magical Weird. There is danger and intrigue as well as some memorable characters. I was particularly taken with first the Draytons in the first book, On the Edge, and the intro to another Edger family, the insane, quirky Mars clan in book two, Bayou Moon.
Audrey Callaghan is the newest character introduction and she comes from another shady Edger family. She’s gone legit after giving up on her family to ever change, but she has a bit of larceny in her. I loved her complicated personality. She associates the larceny in herself with the pain her family has brought her and sees Kaldar as just another manipulative user like her dad and brother so she resists the pull of what she’s good at and thrills to even while needing to set right a wrong. Kaldar is exactly what she thinks he is, but also more. He’s a natural, but his dark painful past also shaped him as much as Audrey’s did her. Kaldar’s a swashbuckling charmer and sees Audrey’s resistance as a challenge at first and doesn’t even get that there is more to the pull of attraction between them until his glam smile and smarmy words convince Audrey there is nothing behind all the dazzle and he had his work cut out for him for most of the book. While I liked this pair as mission partners and individuals, and, I could even see them happily together eventually, I did feel that their actual romance needed a bit more time to get there and it felt rushed at the end.
Alongside the mission and romance of Kaldar and Audrey, there are the grisly villains of The Hand led by a beautiful aristocratic woman who likes to skin her victims and has her sights on revenge against any Mar she comes across. The formidable villains ups the ante on the action and I was excited to see what happened when the inevitable clash came after a laborious series of tasks the heroic band had to complete before they could get where they needed to be.
What grabbed me most was George and Jack. Originally, I spotted them as crossovers- years later- in another series, The Innkeeper Chronicles, by the authors and I was so curious that I wanted to come back and find them in this series. On the Edge introduced them in their sister’s story, but they held the secondary storyline in this one and I could see how they came to be the men they were later and had the career they did as well. They are a pair of rascals, but their magical lethal talents saved the day more than once.
As to Renee Raudman’s narration work, it was superb as always. Her distinct voicing of characters, rhythm and tone kept me deeply engaged. This was a larger cast and I had no trouble distinguishing individuals, where they were from, and what was going on.
All in all, it was an exciting, enthralling venture back into the world of The Edge and I won’t wait long to snatch up the last book featuring more of the Mar family and another gritty, paranormal romantic adventure. Solid Paranormal Romance that I can easily recommend.