Edge of Escape by Debra Chapoton

Release Date: June 28, 2010
Publisher: CreateSpace
Pages: 244
Review Source: eBook from author for honest review

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)
EDGE OF ESCAPE reveals the fractured heart of Eddie, an emotionally impaired 18-year-old who has spent most of his school years in special education classes. Placed there by an over protective mother who also blames her son for his unintentional part in his father's death, Eddie is kept separated from normal student interactions.

Eddie's guilt and his place among the unaccepted serve to keep him invisible to the rest of the students, especially the popular ones. His uncontainable obsession for the popular Rebecca compels him to devise a plan to pull her into his world and win her over. What should have been appropriate advances become, for Rebecca, the terror of stalking and abduction. She wakes up trapped, she escapes, and then she makes a wrong choice and is trapped again.

Throughout her ordeal as she escapes again and again, there are flashbacks into both Rebecca's and Eddie's lives and how those lives have been intersecting all through their school years. If she falls for the fragile spirit who stalks her, does love erase evil intent? If she fails to see the innocent infatuation for what it is, will she be responsible for the inevitable tragedy that foreshadows their tangled fate?

My Thoughts:
If you want to read a great story that’s fast paced and full of action, definitely check this one out. The whole book is quite atmospheric, with some very tense moments. You wonder what will happen, whether Rebecca will escape, and why Eddie kidnapped her in the first place.

At times the narrative was a bit confusing, as it featured flashbacks and changes in perspective. This might bother some readers, but I found it generally easy enough to figure out, though I did have a few “Wait, what?? … Ohhh!” moments. These didn’t detract from the overall story, however.

The book also features some very interesting psychological aspects, including questions and observations of how trauma, neglect, and abuse can change people. These things made me wonder if there are excuses for horrible, illegal behaviour, or if every person is responsible for their actions, no matter what.

My only frustration with this book, and it is a large one, was Rebecca’s opinion of Eddie at the end. I don’t want to give anything big away, but if I were her I would have had a completely different attitude. Perhaps it’s because as a reader we get to see so many people’s perspectives, but Rebecca seems naive and clueless in those moments, which really upset me, because she was such a strong, fighting character throughout the book.

I would definitely recommend this cat and mouse story to all readers. It features lots of twists and turns and unexpected happenings. Up until the end you will wonder what exactly happened, which makes for a great book, in my opinion. If you’re looking for a quick, action-packed read, then look no further.

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Find Edge of Escape by Debra Chapoton on Goodreads, Book Depository, & Amazon.ca

Debut Author Challenge 2011

I've held off on joining this until now for some reason, but I think it will be a fun challenge.

The goal of the challenge, for those of you who don't know, is to read at least 12 books from debut YA and Middle Grade authors.

Click on the link above to find out more about the DAC -- the deadline to sign up is today!!

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Release Date: March 22, 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Pages: 356
Review Source: eARC from S&S GalleyGrab for honest review

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)
What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.

My Thoughts:
I was so struck by Wither that I just had to read it within one day. I couldn’t put it down! Honestly, the prose is so hauntingly beautiful. There was something incredibly Gothic-like about the mansion setting.... so physically beautiful, yet restrictive and full of secrets. The characters are so interesting as well. I instantly liked Rhine: she was strong and tough, but she was also smart. Each character is so well developed and distinct, and they all have hidden elements of themselves. Linden is a character that you’re set up to despise, yet despite his lack of backbone there’s something likable in him somewhere under the surface. Housemaster Vaughn is really the only character who felt a bit flat to me; it would have been nice to have more background on him in order to understand his motivations.

There is something so horrifying yet fascinating about this book. There are terrible things that happen, but they’re so different and foreign from the world we experience, that you can’t help but be intrigued as well. The fact that Cecily, one of Rhine’s sister-wives, is only 13 years old as she's excited about having sex with her new husband is incredibly disturbing, but these are the topics that DeStefano isn’t afraid of tackling. I never thought I would read a book about polygomy and enjoy it, but this uncomfortable topic is handled so well.

I’ve read reviews where people have trouble with the premise of the story or with the whole world that has been created. I saw it questioned why young men who are going to die soon anyway would bother having children, and I think this is a valid question. The biggest problem people seem to have with the book is that Rhine would bother even thinking of escape when life in the mansion is safe and privileged, and the outside world is dangerous and scary. I guess it all comes down to the question of free will and whether you think choice makes all the difference. Even though Rhine has life in the mansion easy (perhaps to an unexplainable level), should she be expected to prefer safe captivity to the alternative of freedom with her brother? I choose to believe that freedom matters more, and perhaps that's why these issues didn't hinder my love of this book.

This book isn’t perfect, and I can understand the qualms that people have with it, but I have to say that I was blown away with the imagination of the plot, the gritty truths, and the characters. I was completely swept up in this book; there was something day-dreamy and magical about the prose, and I absolutely cannot wait to see what happens to Rhine and Gabriel in the next book.

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Find Wither by Lauren DeStefano on Goodreads, Book Depository, & Amazon.ca