Review: Eden at the Edge of Midnight by John Kerry

Eden at the Edge of Midnight by John Kerry 4/5


The author John Kerry sent me an e-copy of this book, in return for an honest review, after I entered a giveaway on goodreads. I was drawn to this book initially more for the title than the synopsis which made the book sound like some thing which had been done before, but the title stuck in my mind, I think there is something beautiful about it so I was very happy for the opportunity to read the book.This is actually the first fantasy by an English writer that I've read (despite being English myself) and I was pleasantly surprised. What sprung to mind when I was reading this was Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland, a blonde girl accidentally ends up in world of giant mushrooms and other absurdities and has to stop an evil from enveloping the realm, but she doesn't believe she is the chosen one.

The characters in the book are very original and relate-able. I loved the fact that the main character, Sammy, who was sarcastic and despite the fact her inner conversations seem weird they're actually quite realistic when you think of the things you say in the privacy of you own head. I did however think a sixteen year old girl that likes to play with light-sabers and such was a little odd but considering the fact the author is male it was more understandable and it was a refreshing change for the protagonist to be a nerd rather than the normal ditsy girls you come across in other YA novels. I also enjoyed watching the characters conflicting emotions and the way John Kerry kept you at the edge of your seat trying to anticipate their plans and motives. The characters where very well constructed and did a great job sucking me into the story.

I enjoyed the story line John Kerry created, I liked the fact that it didn't centre around romance but I did find myself rooting for Sammy and Mehrak and would of liked to have seen more of their relationship. The writing flowed easily and made for addictive reading, also the dialogue between people from different worlds was actually believable, which is hard to achieve in some circumstances when one of the characters would mention something which didn't exist in the others world. I found the unconventional use of the story of the Garden of Eden as the origins of Persopia very interesting but I couldn't help visualising a car every time Ahura Mazda was mentioned, even though I know their is an Ahura Mazda in some religion.

My only problems with the novel where firstly that it ended so abruptly, and secondly I felt the ending was a little disappointing and not to give anything away a bit of a cop out but it didn't spoil my overall enjoyment of the novel. In conclusion I am really looking forward to to the sequel, whenever it's coming out hopefully soon. I would recommend this book to fans of YA and fantasy. John Kerry is a great new author and I'm sure he will release more great novels in the future.

                                                               Goodread ~ Amazon