Reviews - Verge | The StoryGraph

56 reviews for:

Verge

Nadia Attia

3.51 AVERAGE

pagesofash's review against another edition

2.5

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Not the book for me.
No explanation for the Kingdom. No explanation for why pagan beliefs have become wide spread again. Just a hodgepodge dystopia of old and new without explanations.
Characters I didn't like and a story that I didn't find engaging until the last 30 or 40 pages.

I thought I'd love it, the road trip, the potential for character growth and the Pagan belief system seemed like they'd make for my kind of read. Unfortunately the characters and the setting annoyed me.

Content Warnings

ele_walton's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

hiking_pages's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A timely tale of folk horror set in a divided kingdom in the wake of the impact of climate change.

Rowena is sent on a journey to be ‘cured’ of her curse - death has marked her from birth and she must return to her grandmother to seek help before her 18th birthday.

Halim is tasked with driving Rowena, though he faces demons if his own as he is struggling with the idea of returning to his rich family. Together, both embark on a journey that will change their worlds as they know them.

There were elements of this book that were brilliant and it certainly got better as the story unfolded. The folk horror tropes were well written but, in my opinion, they were too fleeting and I would have liked more exploration of these in certain parts.

I didn’t find either character likeable - but did find myself invested in their individual destinies as the book progressed.

Overall, some great elements of horror and a timely depiction of a kingdom divided.

irritablepowell's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

el_viral's review against another edition

2.75

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I really wanted to like this book, but it was just problematic to me. A violent angry man having sex with a teenager and getting her pregnant doesn't seem like it leads to a happy ending to me. Especially as Rowena seems to believe that Halim is a better person than she is. Given it 2.75 as the imagery was good, and the world building was reasonably realistic.

Content Warnings

lyn__sea's review against another edition

3.5

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

sweetling's review against another edition

3.0

This book got a lot better the more you read - and the last 80 or so pages are very interesting and keep you hooked! I did however find it slightly boring and I wasn't very interested in the characters wellbeing.