PageHabit Book Club discussion
The Edge Of Everything
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Readalong Part 3 (2/14 - 2/20)
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Agreed!Really enjoy Zoe as a main character!
Also don't hate the insta love either! Like you said it admits to being instalove, so it's good with me!
The only qualm I have with the book is Zoe's Mom. She seems so free flow as a parent which isn't a bad thing but I think with all the situations that are going on in their lives right now, she needs to be a little bit more present and active in their lives. Maybe that's just me though!
Excited to see how it ends because it's getting so intense!
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READING RECAP:
We’re back to Zoe’s point of view in Part Three, which I was really happy about. Her voice is so relatable and therefore easily readable. She’s grieving over X’s departure from her world, and she’s having a difficult time coping. Jonah is also really upset, but for a different reason. X leaving was a reminder of their father leaving this world as well. With the thoughts of his late father in his head, he refuses to leave the house. Zoe, swarmed by her own unhappy thoughts, tried to get him out of the house without understanding the true nature of his grief. When she realized that Jonah was more upset about their father than about X, horrific guilt set in. This part made me cringe because it was so real. Everyone’s grief is so different, and it’s hard to comprehend another person’s troubles when you’re grieving yourself. Once Zoe was able to comprehend what Jonah was going through, she felt terrible for putting her sadness in the same box as his.
After apologizing to Jonah, she and Val went to the police station to confront them about never finding her fathers body at the bottom of the cave. After some shouting and a bit of a blow out, we find out from the level headed cop that it was Zoe’s mother that asked for the investigation to cease. Zoe then confronts her mother, who seems to be hiding the truth. Her mother says the her father wasn’t the best husband, and frankly not the best father. Zoe’s already aware of this, since her father was never around, but regardless she and Jonah loved him for who he was. She told her mother the same thing she told the police. If they don’t continue the investigation, she was going to go down to the cave to find the body herself.
She recruited Dallas’ help to find her dad’s body in the cave. Dallas was happy to do so, as it’s obvious he’s still kind of crushing on her. I love Dallas as a side character, he’s just an airhead with consistent good intentions. They decide to do a trial cave first, to make sure they felt confident enough to handle the real one. Dallas and Zoe prepare for the caving excursion, and just a few pages later, they’re there. Zoe is terrified, doesn’t have the approval of her mother, and is still upset that X isn’t by her side. As they’re walking towards the cave, Zoe falls, leans of Dallas for support, and he ends up spraining his wrist, leaving Zoe to face the cave by herself. She spends this time reminiscing over times she's caved with her father. At one point she slipped and had a terrifyingly close call, but it seemed like the kind of breaking point she needed. She had a lot of emotions inside, and this experience allowed her to face a fear, sob her brains out, and come up with much more confidence than before. She now feels completely prepared to take on the next cave.
On the way back she heads to one of her mothers three jobs to make amends. Her mother was worried sick, and admitted to Zoe that she’d been afraid that her father had wanted to end his life, and that’s why he never made it out of the cave. Zoe consoles her mother, gives her the night off and finishes the rest of her mother’s shift at the spa. After a while, Zoe spots a strange man in one of the cameras. A worker claimed that this man knew her, and when she walked over she came face to face with Banger, X’s comrade from the Lowlands. Zoe offered him a vending machine smorgasbord and he told her everything that has taken place in the Lowlands since X’s return, and the possibility of him returning to her world.
There’s only one part left, folks. I’m very nervous about this ending, because i’m going to want so much information, and I know it’s going to end on a cliffhanger, and i’m going to be SO upset.
THOUGHTS:
I really really love how this is written. I’ve been seeing some reviews about the romance, claiming that it’s ‘instalove’ as though it’s a negative part of the story. But the story itself ADMITS to the instalove, and I think that’s great, it fits with the wacky story so perfectly. It’s not like any of this is happening in real life, so why should the love aspects be realistic, you know? As Zoe says to Banger, “Do not even make fun of my star-crossed supernatural love.” (252)
I definitely prefer Zoe’s point of view, but it’s just because her actions are so impulsive and charged with emotion, and she’s such an easy protagonist to read from. And within her section see Jonah more often, who’s just amazing.
I was SO happy to see that Val and Dallas had their own sort of ‘spotlight’ scenes where their personalities could since through. I really like them both as secondary characters. Now I just want more of Rufis! He seems so great! Maybe the mom will cave in (ha-see what I did there) and have him stick around more often so I can see more of his wood carving character.
Again, I just LOVE how this is written. When Zoe was isolated in the blizzard in Part One, looking for Jonah, she used that time to reflect on past experiences that led to her that moment. She did the same exact thing when she was again isolated, heading down the cave. I love that that time was used for reminiscence, rather than pointless descriptions of the cave itself or something. I can’t wait to see how this ends! Again though, I’m totally terrified. I know i’m going to want more right after. UGHH.
Let me know your thoughts, please! Have a great week!