On the Verge

by Garen Glazier

Art, demons, and death. Seattle is On the Verge.

2016 BookLife Prize Quarterfinalist

"The sinewy plot...provides a solid matrix for imaginative insights into the relationship between art, creativity, and myth that hold the tale together." - Critic's Report, 2016 BookLife Prize

Freya is just a university student worried about grades and tuition until a gorgeous succubus interrupts her post-exam latte with a proposition: come work for her boss, Seattle’s reclusive heiress and antiquities collector Imogen Beldame. Eagerly agreeing despite a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach, Freya finds herself swept up in a deadly quest at the behest of her psychopathic new employer. Beldame has given her until Halloween to collect three magical pigments that hold the key to crafting mesmerizing portraits that can access the Verge, a borderland on the edge of human reality, and the powerful beings that call it home.

Freya’s reluctant journey takes her to a goblin stronghold in the Cascades for the color blue, to the Seattle Underground to request the color red from Baba Yaga, and to the Fremont home of a beautifully gruesome Cambodian ahp, or spirit of the night, for the color yellow. Working together with Rusty, an enigmatically disfigured man intimately connected with the Verge, and a motley crew of mercurial demons, Freya must come up with a plan to stop Beldame and preserve the fragile balance between fantasy and reality that is at its most vulnerable on Halloween.

Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 16, 2015

About the author

I'm a lifelong resident of Seattle. I married my Russia-born-America-raised high school sweetheart, and we have a four year old and a new little one born in February.

I like coffee shops, bookstores, dancing in my living room and singing in my car. The opening scene of Up always makes me cry. The Three Amigos always makes me laugh. Fashion magazines, croissants, and long, long baths are my guilty pleasures. They might occur separately or together. I prefer boxing classes to yoga, and I get some of my best ideas when I'm running. I loved school and spent more time than one really should getting a business degree in marketing and a master's in art history. In an ideal world I'd go to bed at 2am and wake up at 10am. I've never been an early bird, and I feel strongly that alarm clocks kill dreams.

Learn more about me and read my blog, Scriven by Garen, at garenglazier.com.

Reviews

[Nina ✿ Looseleaf Reviews ✿ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review also appears on:


I received a copy of this book from Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

On the Verge is one of the few books I've received for review that makes me sad - sad that such a phenomenal book probably won't get the attention it deserves. Because let me tell you, this book was addicting!

The star of Glazier's novel is Freya, a senior art history major who is lost among so many others like her in the Seattle art scene. Her bland work-school-sleep existence seems to spice up when Ophidia, a representative for a well-known reclusive art dealer, offers her a part time job - but what she doesn't know is that this job throws her head first into The Verge.

"The Verge is a borderland that surrounds your world. It's an undiscovered frontier on the edge of human reality wherein exist all the creatures and beings of myth and legend. We[...]are the dreams and nightmares, gods and devils of the human imagination."

The Verge is essentially a dimension of energy that, when touched by the human imagination, spits out the creatures that mankind has imagined; everything from incubi and sucubi to vampires and werewolves exist because mankind imagined it and The Verge spawned them.

I love this twist that Glazier gave to the creation of legend because what she created for herself was an infinite world of possibilities. Literally any creature or power can exist in this book so long as someone generated it. But what's particularly well thought out is that it's not like Chalk Zone where anything created comes to fruition. In order to be created from The Verge, a certain level of love and passion must go into the creation of the art of fiction. So, to use examples from her book, something like Grimm's Fairytales or a Munch painting would come to life, but a toddler's doodle would not.

The other incredible thing that Glazier set up is that the beings themselves do not fully comprehend or understand the power that is The Verge. Without spoiling too much, there is a race of being who, once deprived of their signature horns, are sent back to The Verge, not as sentient beings, but as theidentity-less forms of energy from which they originated.

The other power that is above their heads the physical manifestation of their creation. In the case of Ophidia and Dakryma, the two main demons, they are bound by portraits, and whomever owns the portraits controls them, which is the issue that becomes the crux of the plot.

For such a rich and fantastical world, Freya is the perfect heroine. She has the traditional hero's journey going as she is thrust into this world of fantasy and forced into a series of tasks that threaten her life. But she has a good balance between skepticism and "how is this honestly my life" comments that make her believable and relatable. Honestly, the best thing that Glazier did was to make her a Seattle art student hipster. She's a stock personality, for sure, but a fun one that you don't see too much in fantasy. Even the side kick she picks up along the way, Rusty, is far from your leading man. To use Freya's words, he is a "truculent mountain man" who stands at 6'2" with a meaty frame and a half-disfigured face. Not exactly the drop dead gorgeous hunk that authors usually spin out these days.

The only - and I do mean only - qualm I have with this novel is the author's propensity to whip out her thesaurus. It's perfectly fine when the characters are making intellectual quips at each other, but sometimes it was just ridiculous in the narration.

"Hers was a more crepuscular circadian rhythm; sunrises just didn't seem as natural as sunsets."
"Her congenital perspicacity."
"He thrived in the disconsolate ambiance of modernity."

Though to be fair, she did give me a brush up on my SAT words.

For this and this alone I'd give this book a 4.5, but for the sake of ratings I'm giving it a 5/5. Great characters and rich world building, plus, as an art history major herself, she really took the sentiment of "write what you know" to heart and created a lush and well-researched landscape of the "On the Verge" Seattle art scene (gettit?). Let's hope this fantastic debut get's some traction!

[Kari (BookandCoffeeLover) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.
To begin, I have to say that this cover is gorgeous! Lucky for me, I also found the book wonderful. Filled with complex and intriguing characters, On the Verge will leave you wanting more. This paranormal world was enchanting and there wasn't a character I didn't like. The only teeny-tiny issue I had was the author inadvertently flipping the meaning of stalactite and stalagmite (but that's a pretty minor thing). The writing was absolutely wonderful. Garen Glazier has a way with words that are both lyrical and entrancing. Highly Recommended. 4.5/5

[Chocomeiske · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this! The full review can be found here:https://chocomeiske.wordpress.com/201...

I received a copy from the author through Sage's Blog Tours for a review as part of a Blog Tour.

The author successfully weaves a dark tale of revenge,spurned love and obsession and one human’s determination to end up as victor instead of victim and I found the story to be both unconventional and entertaining.

[Donnielle Tyner · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the Verge is a supernatural adventure filled with macabre thrills and a dark, sensual energy that will leave you turning the page well into the night. How do I know this? Because I lived it.



Prepare yourself for a lot of quotes because if there was any book deserving of a million quotes in its review it’s On the Verge.

“The best art is a spiritual experience that unites us once again with our true selves, and often what we see on the canvas is raw, unsettling, and even disturbing, because it’s true. Art reveals to us the divine and the damned in all of us.” – On The Verge, Garen Glazier

Freya is a senior in art history who drifts between school and sleep without much regard to anything separate of Seattle’s art scene. Enter, Ophidia, a representative for a popular, albeit eccentric art dealer with an offer of a part-time job that although against her instincts, Freya accepts. This job leads Freya to the Verge:

"The Verge is a borderland that surrounds your world. It's an undiscovered frontier on the edge of human reality wherein exist all the creatures and beings of myth and legend. We[...]are the dreams and nightmares, gods and devils of the human imagination." – On The Verge, Garen Glazier

The Verge is an alternative dimension where beings of human imagination and passion are brought to life before they emerge into our world. Every creature known to mankind. Glazier is a genius to create this world with the Verge because there is no limit to what can happen or what creatures from mankind’s legends she could bring to life. Within the world of the Verge, beings can be either bound to physical objects in our realm and they can be sent back to the darkness of the Verge if something vital is taken, making them lose their identity.

“Freya couldn’t help but note the strangeness of the scene, a grown woman in mourning clothes cradling an enchanted little dolly in the middle of a meat-eating plant menagerie.” – On The Verge, Garen Glazier

Glazier's prose is exquisite, sinuous, and poetic. Making the complex, prodigious plot sing with perfection. Within the unique and vast universe Glazier created, she keeps within her own boundaries and laws – both of which are realistic and interesting. There is plenty of external and internal conflict for the protagonist, as well as, a complex centralized conflict – due to demonic alliances and lack thereof - that affects mankind. From start to finish, this plot – it sucks you in to where putting the book down is akin to climbing Mt. Everest. Not many could pull it off.

“For a bookish girl with artistic sensibilities and a naiveté born from spending too much time alone with her daydreams, she actually felt a bit excited about what might be in store for her.” – On The Verge, Garen Glazier

Freya is an amazing heroine for this fantastical world that Glazier created not only because she has a type of dark sophistication mixed with some skepticism, but because she isn’t like most fantasy heroines that fall into the lost hero or the warrior hero. She’s just some art hipster who finds herself in a life threatening situation that leads to a wild journey through Seattle and the Verge. Freya is a very real, grounded character in a world of fantastic beings. She laments her situations:

“Oh, man, I cannot believe I am here to see a witch about bugs,” Freya said. “How is this my life now?” – On The Verge, Garen Glazier

Her emotions are complex and diverse:

“She woke from these disconcerting visions feeling the excitement of a lover tempted and the mortification of a transgressor caught in the act.” – On The Verge, Garen Glazier

All these things grounding her character and making her relatable.

“The man was tall and imposing with a lugubriousness that pervaded the atmosphere around him. Freya always envisioned him as a kind of Teutonic angel, full of latent wrath and self-righteous superiority.” – On The Verge, Garen Glazier

Other characters, both from the Verge and from our world, fill this book with so much depth. Glazier plays with the notion that nobody – human or creature – is truly evil or good. Both have propensity for either. I don’t want to go into much detail about the characters because I want to leave them as a surprise for you, but I will say that those who fall on the side of evil are wondrously creepy and take a sick pleasure from the results of their actions.



Then there is Rusty, he is not your typical love interest. He’s a meaty, mountain man with a disfigured face – not exactly the muscular man-models seen in almost any novel with a romantic subplot. At the beginning, I was actually expecting for Freya and the sexy-but-moody professor to get together because that is was usually happens. I was pleasantly surprised for Freya and Rusty.

“She had found that the truth was sometimes hard but always real…” – On The Verge, Garen Glazier

My only and I mean ONLY complaint - because this novel is in itself a work of art - is Glazer’s tendencies to overuse her descriptions. I understand that the characters are all intellectuals, the scene is set in the art community of Seattle, and the main character is a deep-thinking hipster. But there’s no need for an excess of words such as “lugubriousness” and “crepuscular” to be thrown into the narrative. It makes the passages seem longer – probably because I had to use the dictionary function on my Kindle often.



Garen Glazer is a mistress of written word and I am so thrilled to have had the pleasure of reading her work. Fans of fantasy and adventure will love this tale of an art student’s incredible journey through an extraordinary world. It’s a story that has been told a million times, but Glaziers refreshingly modern retelling will capture and engage readers from start to finish. Although the book ends solidly, with all major plot lines tied up nicely, due to the complex world and the nature of the Verge itself there is room for a sequel. One I hope to see.

[Awesome Indies Book Awards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome Indies Book Awards is pleased to include ON THE VERGE by GAREN GLAZIER in the library of Awesome Indies' Badge of Approval recipients.

Original Awesome Indies' Assessment (5 stars):

On The Verge is a fantasy adventure with a supernatural mystery feel and some romantic elements. While reading the author’s descriptions of the environs and their contents I couldn’t help but think of films like The Ninth Gate, The Devil’s Advocate or End of Days. The tone is very sexual and ominous, and the book’s characters possess as much dark magic as they do dark secrets. If this sounds like the tone of a book you’d enjoy reading, On The Verge is probably right for you.

Beautifully written with words that dance around the page, On The Verge does a great job of providing the reader with detailed imagery and a number of interesting allusions to keep them invested. Seattle is painted accurately and the setting fits the tone well. Freya’s reflections on the novel’s set pieces help characterize her early on and give the reader a view into her artistic and social tastes throughout the whole.

The book is well researched and other than a few instances (the alternative use of the Russian word koshmer, for instance) where I couldn’t tie the book’s nomenclature to our own I found that the novel either taught me a fact or made a suggestion for something interesting to look up every few pages. If you like that element in a book, this one does it well and the author’s tastes (like Freya’s) are well informed.

The plot is strong and remains firmly within the rules of the book’s universe, which are fleshed out early on. The boundaries of the demonic and how they exist within the laws of reality are interesting, and the way the incubus and succubae are simultaneous aligned and at odds with one another and humanity give the book a complex and interesting central conflict. There are shades of Oscar Wilde in the book’s logic, which will appeal to fans of his work. The quest that the heroine is tasked with is standard fantasy fare, with Freya traveling to three different lands, each with their own cast of characters that are a combination of the bizarre and the divine to retrieve an item. She travels with a companion who becomes more, as heroines on quests tend to.

Throughout the story, the reader learns of The Verge, its inhabitants, and how Freya the art student navigates this strange world as it approaches a major event surrounding Halloween. Without ruining the ending, the book provides solid final punches and wraps up its main threads nicely. There is space for a sequel here and the world this novel develops has plenty of monsters and the monstrous, begging to be revisited.

If there is one criticism to be made of the novel’s style, it is that it pushes its descriptions too much at some points. Some go on a bit long and can lead to confusing sentences. An early example in the book is the line “the words slipped out of Ophidia’s mouth like velvet”, which, while a beautiful sentence suggesting smoothly spoken words, doesn’t fully land as a logical simile.

Mature fans of fantasy, the demonic and classic adventure tales will find this book the most appealing. It is beautiful and bedeviled. It is sexy and surreal. While there are a few stylistic hiccups and some longer, dryer passages that slow the pace, On The Verge is generally a well-written and exciting tale of one art student’s journey through a remarkable world. While the territory has been well worn, the author has provided enough modern twists on old concepts to keep readers engaged from start to finish. As a bonus, you will learn something from this book. I give On The Verge 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 for reviewing purposes.

[Aldii - perfectioninbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5/5 stars*

The Writing:
For me, this book was not an easy or fast read. I didn't expect it to be kind of dense. I also didn't expect it would take me so much time to read it.
We have different POVs which was good to be in the character's minds because they are quite different.
One thing I would have liked to read more were dialogues. I wanted more of them, more direct interaction between the characters.

The Story:
If you like art, specially paintings, you will definitely enjoy this.
But this is not only about art, this is about mythological, fantasy creatures.
We follow the main character Feyre, who is searching three specific colors but to obtain them she will have to face many obstacles, all of them supernatural.
I really liked the world in this book. At the beginning it was kind of difficult to understand but I ended up really liking it. When you finish the book you understood the world, all the book is a kind of explanation. That was great because you are discovering new things everytime.
The world basically is about what humans believe. We have The Verge, the 'line' between our world and the supernatural world. There are all the creatures that we read in fairy tales, myths, mythology, religion, everything. If humans in that moment of time, remember them, talk about them, they have them in their culture, that is when one of the creatures becomes 'real' in gets into our world, the human world.
This was new for me, that humans are the ones who give life to these creatures just with their beliefs.
There are many different creatures, from Sin, to Devil, Demons ( incubus and succubus), Witches,Goblins and more supernatural creatures are mentioned.
The prologue for me was great because it was interesting, with elements that attract my atention and got me into the book from the first pages.
There were some retellings elements that were good too.

The Characters:
Feyre: I liked her. She was stubborn but not so much that I wanted to hit her. Seriously, that's good. She didn't want to do all things alone, she accepted help. She respected herself. I think she is a gret character.
Rusty: I liked him but at the same time I feel like I don't know him a lot. He was very introvert, reserved and I understan why, but I don't feel like I know him a lot. However, as I said before, I liked him, I believe he is a good person.
Ophidia: She was so frustrating. Ughh.
Beldame: Hated her. No more words needed.
Dakryma: I liked him but I didn't know, and still don't know if he is good or bad and that makes me insecure about him.
Now that I wrote this, I feel like and overall feeling is liking the characters but I didn't love any of them and some of the ones that I liked I don't know them that much.

Overall, this is an enjoyable read. For me it wasn't a fast and easy read but I enjoyed it. The world was different and I liked it. The plot and elements were unique too. The characters are good.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had trouble deciding a rating for this one. It was a very enjoyable read, but it had a few glaring issues. The first would be the unnecessary use of obscure words. Reading is a great way to expand your vocabulary, and in general I like it when a book teaches me a new word, but here it is grossly over-used. I feel like the author just combed through this book with a thesaurus and replaced random words with more complicated ones in order to make the whole thing seem more sophisticated and artsy. Sometimes the word choice just seems off. Let me give you an example - at one point the protagonist's temperament is described as one "that swung between pensively optimistic and gloomily saturnine" How did my Kindle define 'saturnine'? "(Of a person or their manner) slow and gloomy. So she's gloomily gloomy, got it.

Other than the unnecessary verbiage, I really liked Freya. It is annoying when she describes herself as having a "crepuscular circadian rhythm" instead of just saying she's a night person, but she's not spunky or quirky so I'll take it. I also really liked Rusty. I thought both characters made an interesting team.

There's nothing worse than watching characters carry around the idiot ball, which is probably why I hated the ending. Without spoiling it, let's just say both the main characters (especially Rusty) suddenly act like complete morons in order to force a big confrontation.

The side characters really shine in this. Each one seemed very unique, and I thought the concept of the Verge was an intriguing one. Although I had mixed feelings about On the Verge, I would definitely read more books if this becomes a series. This is a complete story, but it's open for more books.

[Bea Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hey guys! I finished this book days ago. Though due to many book tours happening, I forgot to post this review on time. So sorry for that! Buuut now, here goes my book review.


*Just want to thank the author for giving me the chance to review this book for free. Thank you so much!


Starting off, I really like Freya. We do have lots of similarities—specially with the ‘grade concious’ feeling. I liked the story a lot though sometimes, I find it a little slow. The story’s intense and I love the concept slash the idea that was used to create the world. The characters are well developed as I read the book. Some changed, some don’t.

I read this book without knowing what it would be like. I always do, in the first place. Haha! Just you know, to make myself surprised to the events happened. This book did a great job on making an impact. To be honest, I read lots of books right now for reviews and I can hardly start a new one ‘cause I’m experiencing a total book slump from many books I’ve read. I finished this for two days and I think that’s a record.

I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars! I recommend this book to those of you who wants intense and cool story. The plot and characters are well organized so yes! The book’s worth it and you’ll not regret buying it. Soooo what are you waiting for? Grab the book now and start reading. (:

[Jessica Bronder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Freya agrees to work for Imogen Beldame collecting pigments from supernatural characters to create an access to the Verge. This job sounds a little odd but she still goes through with it. She meets several different characters and has help from demons and friends alike to gather the pigments. But the real question is what does Beldame want them for and will Freya give them up once she has all three.

I really liked this book, it was not what I was expecting. I loved the whole concept behind the pigments and the Verge. I really liked all the different characters that Freya meets and how you really just can’t tell who is good, bad, or just working for their own goals. And the description of Seattle, I just makes me what to go there.

I couldn’t put this book down, I just had to find out what happened next and I loved how it all came together. Make sure to check out On The Verge. It’s a great hidden gem of a book.

I received On The Verge from Sage’s Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

[Laurie P · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was given a copy of this book for an honest review free of persuasion from the author or anyone else affiliated with this book.

SPOILER ALERT

Adventure, close calls, and magical situations, this book has it all.

Freya is sent on a search for magic powders used to make paints with magical properties. To find these paints, she has to cross into the Verge. This borderland with humanity the contains the gods, goddesses and others created by human legend. This search is a life or death situation for Freya.

I really enjoyed this book. It united the current reality of the world with legends of the past. After all, legends contain a bit of truth, right?

When folks get what is coming to them, that is satisfying. Isn't it? Does that change the truth of the legend?

I highly recommend this book! It was a wonderful story connecting "reality" with the stories of ancient history. I like stories of the minor gods and goddesses attempting to recreate their lives in current times. This book is great!

I'm looking forward to reading more by Garen Glazier. Great job!!

[Laura Redmon · Rating 5 out of 5]

***I received a ARC for this book in exchange for a honest review***

On The Verge is a surprisingly good book. You would think it'd be cliche with everything going on, but the author had a way of making it interesting. It's definitely different then other books out there, and different is what we need. Freya is a interesting character in of herself, and the other characters you never truly know where they stand. Are they good, bad, going for their own goals? You never really know. It has you reading more and more, just so you can see how this turns out. I give this book five stars.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an intelligent novel dealing with urban fantasy and an advanced lexicon that made me grateful I was reading it digitally and able to look up words. Not only did I enhance my vocabulary, I learned a lot about art and a unique idea of how the paranormal could play in. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a fun, intellectual read.

[Keith Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable quest style story where retrieval is the name and color pigments are the game. I don’t typically go in for magical realism or mild romance, yet I enjoyed this one. The story came together very nicely. Makes me very excited to read the latest Garen has to offer as she has become an even better writer with time.



——-Fictionalized review———

The instructor speaks liquid sunlight, soft, drinkable. Her painting is tangible, trees you could climb and a cabin that glows. You try to follow the instructions but your trees are too thick and the mossy cabin looks more like a dung heap. I lean across the aisle and whisper loudly.
“Reminds me of a book I just read. About paint. By Garen. The book I mean, not the paint. Well, both I guess.”
You refuse to look at me. This is not a new thing.
“I guess it’s more about color than it is paint. There’s painting in it. Either way, it’s a good book. It’s fantasy, or magical realism, maybe. It’s got like a quest narrative where the main character has to go get stuff. It might not be groundbreaking but it is solid, very well done. I learned quite a bit too, you can tell the author knows her stuff. Like art stuff. And colors.”
You look around. Everyone else is ignoring me much harder than you are.
“My only thing was — oh and no spoilers of course — but my thing was that it felt like the main antagonist got sidelined at the end. They had such compelling and intriguing arguments about art and beauty and collecting. Magical realism or stories with the, the whatever they're called, faefolk, are usually not my type of thing, but I liked this story, plus it incorporates various mythos – mythosis? Mythosees? You know what I mean.”
You do not know what I mean. You begin packing up your things.
“You know, I'm something of an author myself. I've actually written two stories alongside Garen. You know we're going to be in a Thanksgiving horror anthology together too. It's cool. We're cool. And with On the Verge, that's the color book, with that one it's neat to read and see a talented author's strong start, then compare it to their current work and see how much they've grown and gotten better at – hey, where're you going?”

[Garen Glazier · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the Verge is my first book. It’a dark urban fantasy with demons, art, and death set in rainy Seattle. All my loves rolled into one. I hope you enjoy!

[Valery · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF- Nope. Won't finish this. Two chapters in and too dark for me.

For my clean readers: Language, including F-word. Violence. Sexual content.