On Edge

Freerunner Mystery #1

by Gin Price

When a serial-killing graffiti artist starts painting your picture all over town it puts a girl On Edge. Emanuella "LL" Harvey puts her gymnastic skills to good use as a member of her brother's Parkour group. Freerunning, jumping, and climbing over their corner of the city like it's an obstacle course gives them something to take pride in and keeps them out of trouble-sort of. But trouble finds LL when she runs into Haze, a talented graffiti artist whose sister Heather was murdered two years before. Freerunner and Writer promptly fall in love, but they decide to hide their relationship till they're sure it's the real thing-and until they can find a way to placate LL's hotheaded brother, who has it in for Haze and his gang. But when portraits of LL-done in Haze's distinctive style-start popping up on city walls, all hell breaks loose. LL's brother threatens a gang war, which LL tries to avert by identifying the Writer who is really responsible for the paintings. But when another teen is murdered, it looks bad for Haze, especially when LL discovers that Heather's killer and her portrait-painter are one and the same."

Genres: Mystery

272 pages, Paperback

First published February 2, 2016

Reviews

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was not what I had anticipated, it was way better. I was caught in the middle of a “who-did-It” and I felt it wasn’t who the characters were suspecting but heck when it all came tumbling down; I was left shaking my head. Ah, I loved it! I will call her Ellie as she had so many nicknames depending on who her current companion was, but Ellie was smitten with Haze. Haze was from the rival school so they had to keep their relationship secret or there was going to be a trouble. These rival schools were forced to merge together as there was not enough money to keep everyone afloat. Putting two rival schools together inside another school that was already dealing with gangs, a shooting and other issues was not a good mix. Everyone was just waiting for someone to make a move. Ellie’s talent is parkour and Haze wanted to learn it. Having no idea myself on this skill, I was surprised by the intensity and expertise one might need to undertake such a technique. Ellie has Surge, one of her friends help her teach Haze parkour at night, as it is much safer this way. Haze is a talented graffiti writer and as I read about this art, I learned about style and technique that each specific artist has. Ellie’s father is gone for long periods of time and her brother Warp, assumes the role of her father, a job he takes seriously. Haze and Ellie are careful about their relationship but it isn’t long before someone has created a graffiti image of Ellie on the side of a wall. Fingers are being pointed and accusations are being spread about who the artist was and they’re sure about this artist’ style. Everyone is thrown into the mix, people feel that they have the answer and the voices get louder and louder. Their relationship can no longer be hidden and there are so many feeling being played out on the table. Betrayal, hatred, anger and then there is Haze and Ellie own feelings about their relationship. I was caught up in the writing, trying to decipher who was behind all this commotion. Who was doing the graffiti, what was their purpose in causing this rif inside the school and how did they know about this relationship of Haze and Ellie? There seemed to be no clear-cut pattern and the confusion of the characters was wonderful as it helped me in my own confusion. I enjoyed the book, I thought the writing was good, great intensity especially in the middle of the novel. The ending of the novel was a bit drawn out, a bit wordy for me. I highly recommend this novel. 4.5 stars
I received a copy of this novel from NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for sending me this copy to read.

[Kricket · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of love for this local author, who gave up a Saturday afternoon to talk to my library teens about getting published! I have to admit this isn't something I would normally pick up (gangs...graffiti...parkour?) but got a few chapters in and I was hooked. Did NOT see that ending coming.

[Emily K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I look forward to reading a book at night, I know it's a good one for me. Edgy, fun, interesting characters, unique voice.

[Cissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gin Price's On Edge is very much a young-adult book, and it will likely appeal to its target audience more than it did to me.

I did find the glimpses of the graffiti and parkour enthusiasts interesting ... although the book is oblivious to the effect these activities have on the community at large, focusing only on the rivalry between them.

I also liked that the groupings described are not strictly racially based.

Still -- even though the protagonist is a girl -- the "crews" are almost entirely male; she is the only girl in the parkour group, and there are apparently no girls in the graffiti group. There also is NO mention, except for glancing references to the gymnastics group, to anything girls do together. And, naturally, our protagonist is both better than and rejected by the gymnastics group; a typical "exceptional female" story, where "you're not like all the other girls" is high praise indeed.

The romance was also really problematic. Haze/Bren (almost everyone has an array of names) supposedly adores her, but goes into a jealous fury whenever he sees her interacting with another male. And, worse, she finds this adorable. Since such unreasonable jealousy and attempts to restrict her from interacting with other males is a serious warning sign of future abuse, I did not find it cute at all.

Also, in the tradition of the very worst romances, her lust for this guy overwhelms all the danger signs he's displaying. Since the kisses are fabulous, he is OBVIOUSLY a Good Guy.

It would have been a better book if it had taken this stuff seriously, rather than just glossing over the issues and offering a "solution" that made very little sense in the end.

In short: it is edgy in many ways, but it is also seriously retrogressive (and borderline misogynist). I could have forgiven some of this if the plotting had been tighter and led to a more coherent resolution.

I received this book in exchange for writing an honest review.

[Patricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Five stars for a star-crossed story of a runner (parkour enthusiast) and a writer (graffiti artist). I also really appreciated the urban Detroit setting. Unfortunately, the stars start to drop as the story progresses. The romance, while convincingly written, had a love-at-first-sight origin that was not really believable. This was advertised as a mystery, but the mystery didn't get going until halfway through the book. My largest criticism has to do with the actions of the person who did the deed. That person is the epitome of a 1950's cliche and was not well received by me. We've moved beyond that particular stereotype.