Allison van Diepen

From Allison van Diepen, author of Light of Day, Snitch, and Street Pharm, comes a sexy, dangerous novel—perfect for fans of Simone Elkeles and Paul Griffin—about a teen who witnesses a murder and gets caught up in the seedy world of Miami's gangs. Maddie Diaz never should have taken that shortcut through the park. If she hadn't, she wouldn't have seen two members of the Reyes gang attacking a homeless man. Now, as the only witness, she knows there's a target on her back. But when the Reyes jump her on the street, Maddie is protected by a second gang and their secretive leader, Lobo, who is determined to take down the Reyes himself. Lobo is mysterious and passionate, and Maddie begins to fall for him. But when they live this close to the edge, can their love survive?

On the Edge

Cindy Lee

Reviewed on The Book Belles.

I gotta say On the Edge sounded pretty interesting from the synopsis. How it was is a completely different story. With an unrealistic gang scene and an instant love story, I couldn't really find myself to like this book that much.

The main character, Maddie, got on the Reye gang's hit list. She then got help from the mysterious Destinos gang and the leader Lobo. No one really knows who Lobo is, but from the moment he saved her, she was instantly attracted to him and wanted to get to know him more. From there, it grew into a I-want-you-but-I-can't type story. It wasn't even that hard to guess what Lobo's true identity was. I actually figured it out the very start, but doubted myself because I thought the character would pick up on the same voice and same body physique as someone she actually knows in person. The relationship itself is all nice and sweet. I just thought that they hopped on the I-love-you-let's-be-together-forever bandwagon waaaay too fast.

Now, let me elaborate on the unrealistic gang scene I spoke of. I honestly think that it should've been more scary and bloody. Of course, you'd have to censor out some stuff for the YA audience, so I wasn't really going to dock marks for that. What really got me was the fact that the boss (the Reye gang leader) was so easy to track down and eliminate. I don't think that the Reyes got to become the top of the food chain just to be eliminated so quickly. I expected it to be harder than that.

Overall, On the Edge didn't really live up to my expectations. I think the whole story was very average if you took out the fact that it was supposed to be about gangs. The love story was beyond normal like something you would find in a movie. I guess the book just wasn't for me.

Destiny J Tamayo

Maddie makes one decision to take a short cut and that decision changes her perspective for the rest of her novel. 
I really enjoyed this novel, it was a quick and easy read that i just flew through. I wasn't particularly fond of Maddie sometimes I thought she made really idiotic decisions that led her to situations that could have been easily avoided. I thought the big reveal was completely obvious, I already saw the connection the moment the character reappeared in an "unlikely" situation. I went into this book with pretty low expectations so I found it pretty good.

Gracelyn Deutscher

This is another favourite. It covers some sensitive topics, like the sex trade and drug abuse. First of 3 books, but each one can be read as a stand alone

Nia C

Bad, this book was bad. I mean after some excellent literature, I anticipated something lesser. But this was horrible. I only started reading it for the smut, which turned out to be non-existent. Great. And I only completed it because it was only one twenty-nine pages long and I didn't want to leave a book incomplete. [One start because I can't give it a negative or empty rating.]

On the Edge

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