Come to the Edge

Come to the Edge

by
3.76 of 5 stars 3.76  ·  rating details  ·  771 ratings  ·  181 reviews
The Love Story of JFK Jr. and Christina Haag

An elegy to first love, a lost New York, and a young man who led his life with surprising and abundant grace

When Christina Haag was growing up on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, John F. Kennedy, Jr., was just one of the boys in her circle of prep school friends, a skinny kid who lived with his mother and sister on Fifth Avenu...more
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published March 29th 2011 by Random House Publishing Group (first published June 1st 2010)
more details... edit details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne CollinsCity of Fallen Angels by Cassandra ClareHush, Hush by Becca FitzpatrickBeastly by Alex FlinnThe Book Thief by Markus Zusak
What Should I Read in 2011?
175th out of 564 books — 750 voters
The Cost of Hope by Amanda   BennettMy Sergei by Ekaterina GordeevaAll Too Human the Love Story of Jack and Jackie Kennedy by Edward KleinCome to the Edge by Christina HaagOnce Upon a Time by J. Randy Taraborrelli
Real Couples - Non Fiction
3rd out of 30 books — 15 voters


More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 1,557)
filter  |  sort: default (?)  |  rating details
Sara
I won an advanced copy of this memoir through the FirstReads program. The author, who grew up in New York with a circle of friends that included JFK Jr., details her friendship, and later relationship, with him. She is a wonderful writer; her descriptions of people and places sucked me right into the tale. I could easily picture the settings ad the situations as they unfolded, and the details she provided brought people to life. The narrative flowed between the years with little warning; this is...more
ABookVacation
I won this through goodreads first reads on Feb 22nd.

I am on the fence with this memoir. I liked it, but I don’t think the style of writing is necessarily for me. This is the very beautifully told story of Haag’s relationship with JFK Jr, and I learned a lot of information about the Kennedys. Haag writes beautiful descriptions and creates breathtaking visuals. However, as a lot of this story banks on description, I found myself having difficulty pressing on within the memoir. I am more interest...more
Cheryl
Christina Haag writes eloquently about her friendship and love affair with John F. Kennedy, Jr. What began as a childhood friendship grew into romance as the two became older. In her heartfelt memoir, Christina never stoops to exploitation of the Kennedys. Her reflections allow the reader to see the deeply human side of John F. Kennedy, Jr. and his mother, Jackie Onassis. It's an intimate and haunting story about first love and lost dreams. For me, the only drawback of the book occurs in the way...more
Jane
I have studied the Kennedy family/myth/gossip for more years than I care to recall. Some of the books about them have been strong, some weak, some just plain awful (A Woman Named Jackiewould fall into the last category, in my estimation).
This book soars above any other I have read....Ms Haag loved John Kennedy, Jr and her writing reflects that emotion. She respects him, his sister and mother, she celebrates her relationship with John, she relates enough of him to solidify the idea that he was a...more
Mary Miller
Never in recent memory has a story brought me such a strong sense of time and place as Christina Haag's Come to the Edge.
I bought the book in anticipation of learning things I hadn't known about John Kennedy Jr., which I absolutely did. What I didn't expect was to connect so much with Christina's story- from her Sacred Heart schooling to her close bond with her father; her college days as a thoughtful, free spirit; and the years following when she and John finally became a couple and came of age...more
Kara
Offers a glimpse into the life of John F. Kennedy Jr. when he was young. The author sometimes hung out with him when they were in high school, then later at Brown they shared an apartment with several other students. Once both were back in New York they dated for a while. The author brings you into his apartments, his mother's apartment in New York and houses in Virginia, New Jersey & Martha's Vineyard, and his family's houses in Palm Beach & Cape Cod with many descriptions. She also tak...more
Debbie
Overall, I enjoyed this book. Since I'm a similar age and very familiar with many of the areas she described, I was able to relate to a lot of what Ms. Haag wrote. She seems like a lovely person, not overly impressed with herself, and it's clear that her intention was to write a story that omits scandal and unkindness. I thought there was a little too much about her own life, specifically her family history. I realize that this book is her perspective and we need that in order to really know her...more
Sharon Raphael
Mar 25, 2012 Sharon Raphael rated it 5 of 5 stars
Recommended to Sharon by: amazon
Come to the Edge by Christina Haag is beautifully written and the title is very apt as it describes not only
the relationship between the two, Christina Haag and JFK Jr. but also a way of life that JFK Jr. represented.
As Haaag describes " He liked to see what he could not see" even if that meant risking his life and hers and others to see whatever it was in natural world he wanted to not only to see but also to experience. I think this is the first written material about JFK Jr. that really captu...more
erica
I picked this up because of the cover photo, during my last days working at a dying bookstore. There was ample time for reading and I finished this hardcover quickly.
Most people will simply read it because they are Kennedy voyeurs. But the writing is better than most books that fall into the celebrity category- there are some pretty passages and the title comes from a poem.
Of course, to flesh out an entire book, the story covers Haag's own upbringing. The viewpoint of a seemingly pretty normal...more
Jayne Martin
A book that touched my heart... and shall remain forever imprinted there. With writing as intricate and exquisite as finely-woven lace, Ms. Haag weaves a powerful story of a great and passionate love with a figure whose life was chronicled endlessly from the day he was born and yet remained a mystery to most of us long after his tragic death. The book succeeds on many levels: On a personal note, like so many of my generation who also fell in love with the three-year-old John-John, watched him gr...more
Judy
This book, in its gentle prose, shares the author's dreams and deep love as a youth and young adult, and her growth into an accomplished, thoughtful woman. It happens that Ms. Haag's love was JFK, Jr., an American iconic figure, but so much of her book resonated with my own "love story". Her reflections are filled with insight into how life can take us away from the love with whom we were meant to share our life. Ms. Haag tells us of her own dreams and passion for acting, her love of literature,...more
Cindey
Why do I feel so connected to the Kennedys? Could it be that I am 2 days older than Caroline, that John-John was born on my birthday, that their father was buried on my and John-John's shared birthday when I was in 1st grade? I used to imagine that they were really my brother and sister, separated at birth, living such a different life from mine. I lived vicariously through them.

I guess I should also mention that I don't like romance books. One person's idea of "romance" is another person's gagg...more
Michelle
3.5 stars. Oh, JFK Jr. why do you still fascinate me more than a decade later? Basically this book is a love story told by John’s college/twenties girlfriend Christina Haag. That this girlfriend is now in her 50s is somewhat disconcerting. But that’s neither here nor there. The memoir starts out extremely slow, to the point I thought “this is the most boring book about the Kennedys ever written.” The first few parts are about the author’s early, privileged, easy days as a young girl in Manhattan...more
Adele Stratton
(Unabridged audiobook read by the author). I was surprised at how much I liked this; it was an impulse grab from the library, not something I went looking for after reading reviews. She writes—and performs—exquisitely with honesty and tenderness about how things were, and still are for her, just as often from what she doesn’t share as what she does. As the first and, due to his untimely death, longest-lasting love affair of the American icon who was JFK, Jr. Haag shares vividly, yet kindly about...more
Libby
Compulsively readable (I finished it in 2 days) memoir about CH's 5-year on-and-off relationship with JFK Jr.--who doesn't love to read about the Kennedys? JFK Jr. emerges as a charming, daredevilish, confused young man who encourages a timid Christina to take risks. However, it also seemed that he was aware of how he was constantly testing the limits, as he told her if she didn't want him to do something, all she had to do was say so and he would cease and desist. Several foreshadowings--a play...more
Esther Bradley-detally
Well, I'm a memoir addict and also have a soft spot in my old Boston heart for the Kennedy Family. That said, i never have eulogized them. This was a tender tale of a love that couldn't be in a sense. It is written with grace, delicacy, and love, and it is written well. John Kennedy seemed like a lovely young man. I think everyone wanted John and Caroline to succeed in life.

It seems he remained more of a boy, and I wondered if Christina Haag had married him, whether their relationship would hav...more
Monica
An interesting book about Christina Haag's 5 year personal relationship with John F. Kennedy, Jr. They grew up in a similar area and she attended the same private elementary school as his sister Caroline. Later, after college their relationship grew and the bulk of the narrative is about the 5 years they spent as a couple. It did not reveal much about the Kennedy family and she was mostly very kind in what she wrote about them (save crabby Aunt Ethel). Christina and John traveled around the worl...more
Tessia
Apr 13, 2011 Tessia rated it 3 of 5 stars
Shelves: own, 2011
My Dad sent this book to me as a surprise from Amazon one day. I'm always intrigued by love stories, especially that of celebrities (Royal Wedding, two weeks away! Anyone?). I thought this book started off beautifully, and the way Haag writes is very vibrant. I ate up her delicious descriptions of her childhood and growing up. Although I did enjoy her stories with Kennedy, I didn't enjoys it nearly as much as the beginnings of her story.

Reflecting over the whole book, I was disappointed with th...more
Laurie
I relished this love story of Christina Haag and JFK, Jr. Her writing pulled me in and cast a spell.

"It was that time in late spring that aches with possibility, the time when it's forever cold in the shade, sometimes warm in the sun, and hovering always is the errant promise that there will be more."

She travels with John to exquisite places full of grandeur and beauty and she takes you there.

"There are places one falls for as deeply and as devotedly as for a lover. For reasons you can't quanti...more
Jean
Apr 01, 2012 Jean rated it 3 of 5 stars
Shelves: 2012
I am not a romantic and I was never really "into" JFK Jr. It just wasn't ever an interest of mine. I do like memoirs though, so Christina Haag's story was interesting to me. Honestly, my first thought was, OK, this chick knew him a little and decided to sensationalize it, but that is NOT the case at all. She in fact came very close to marrying him. I enjoyed the parts about Jackie O. because I do enjoy reading about her.

Come to the Edge was filled with memorable quotes I have sticky noted throu...more
Christina
I'm not quite sure why I read this book. I'm not a big fan of biographies and their ilk, and I've never been enamored by the rich and famous. I believe I was inspired by Amanda's affinity for non-fiction, feeling keenly the lacuna in my own literary repertoire (also, it was one of a handful of memoirs available electronically). Once started, the writing drew me in as it reads more like a novel than an autobiography. I have mixed feelings. Haag is actually quite a good writer, and the subject mat...more
Heather
I'm not a frequent reader or romance but after hearing such good things about this book, I decided to give it a shot and I'm so glad I did.
It is a story about a young woman who over time, discovers her love for a lifelong friend, JFK Jr. and the lovely tale of their romantic relationship.
The writing style of the memoire is what captivated me most. There is little fluidity, the story is not told chronologically. I thought it was brilliantly done because it was exactly how memories would be recal...more
KS
Christina Haag has written an achingly beautiful memoir. Her respectful portrait of John Kennedy not only reveals him as a flesh-and-blood human being but at the same time captures the larger-than-life aspects of his story. Christina tells of how their paths wove themselves together and apart during their childhoods in New York and beyond, culminating in an intense, five year love affair -- what John called the longest courtship ever. Also of great interest is Christina's portrait of John's moth...more
Kate Childs
This book is captivating. I stayed up until 1:30 AM finishing it last night because I couldn’t bear to put it down, and woke up this morning with a pounding headache because I fell asleep crying after finally reaching the last page. COME TO THE EDGE is beautifully written, universal in nature, and tinged with a bittersweetness because you know how it all ends. Those searching for salaciousness in the pages of COME TO THE EDGE won’t find it. Instead they’ll find one of the most achingly true love...more
Becca
Apr 21, 2013 Becca rated it 3 of 5 stars
Shelves: 2013
A sweet and melancholy book about the author's long relationship (which started in high school as a friendship and became romantic post-college) with JFK Jr. I'm all in for the romance and grandeur of the Kennedys and this book had it in spades. I almost wish the author had expanded on some of her insights regarding the Kennedy women because I think she wrote so well about the balancing act public life required of this family, she really captured the sense of ease and grace that can come with im...more
George Cleveland
OK, so this is not the "kind" of book that I would normally pick up for myself. My prejudice is that a woman writing about her relationship with a man is a "girl book". Nevermind that I might make a much needed discovery about what makes a relationship work, much less thrive.

Add to that another prejudice towards books about Illuminated Celebrities. Not something that perks me up. And with "Come to the Edge", I "know" the ending: she doesn't get the guy.

All my prejudices were seriously tempered w...more
Sarah
I loved having a window into the young JFK Jr from the detailed account of his first love. Christina Haag carefully navigated the path of her story while maintaining the respect due to the infamous family she was closely involved with for the nearly 5 years of her relationship with John Jr. I felt she perfectly recaptured the longing, passion and innocence of first love so well that the reader might find themselves brought back to that life-altering time in their own life. It's no wonder she sti...more
janet Burke
This is an elegant and well written memoir by a woman who, as a peer and childhood friend, hung out in the same group of friends with JFKjr. from the time they were about 14-15 years old and eventually even became one of his housemates in college. A few years after college, while performing together in a play in NYC, they fell in love and had a 5-year romance, which she says, finally ended due to bad timing but not a lack of love. A lot of insight is given into John and his mother but none of it...more
Meagan
This book is beautifully written in some ways - the author creates scenes that are vibrant in color and vivid in language. In other aspects, the book is difficult. The sequence of stories and anecdotes is confusing at times, as I found myself wondering about the chronological placement of particular events. Other times, some anecdotes are difficult to understand because they are not fully explained, as it is an inside joke that the readers are not clued into. Still, the author has a talent for c...more
Lennie
When Christina Haag first met JFK jr. they were both teenagers and hung out with the same group of kids who were students at the private schools they attended in New York City. She thought he was fun and they became close friends. It wasn’t until they became adults did they develop a mutual attraction for one another which led to a five year relationship. As a couple, they traveled the world together and dreamed about the future. He nicknamed her Puppy and she nicknamed him King. But their caree...more
« previous 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 51 52 next »
There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »
Come to the Edge: A Love Story (Paperback)
Come to the Edge (Kindle Edition)
Come to the Edge: A Memoir (ebook)
Come to the Edge: A Memoir (Audio CD)
Come to the Edge: A Memoir (Audio CD)

2876890

Christina Haag is an actress and the author of The New York Times bestselling memoir, Come to the Edge, which chronicles her childhood friendship and five year love affair with John Kennedy Jr. Winner of the Ella Dickey Literacy Award, she was profiled for her book in People magazine and received glowing reviews in the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, and The New York...more
More about Christina Haag...
Middle of the Night

Share This Book

Your website
“That's the thing about timing. It has nothing to do with love.” 6 people liked it
“All will be well. Seventeen years later, I knew her meaning. You will find the courage to walk through whatever life gives you.” 6 people liked it
More quotes…