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Edge of Collapse #6
Edge of Survival
The nation is crumbling. The world is unraveling. The EMP is only the beginning...
Three months after an EMP attack destroys the U.S. power grid, starvation, disease, and the brutal cold have killed millions. With the end of winter finally in sight, the town of Fall Creek, Michigan balances on the precipice of collapse.
They have suffered and sacrificed. But to forge a future worth living, they will have to face the darkness within themselves. Each must decide--will they retain their humanity or choose survival at any cost?
Preorder the riveting sixth installment in the Edge of Collapse survival series now!
When the country goes dark, ordinary people find themselves facing the end of the world as they know it. With society collapsing before their eyes, they'll have to risk everything to protect their home and the people they love.
From USA Today Bestselling author Kyla Stone comes Edge of Collapse, a riveting EMP survival series featuring flawed, complex characters and high-octane action adventure. Perfect for fans of Ryan Schow, Grace Hamilton, Harley Tate, Jack Hunt, and Boyd Craven.
Three months after an EMP attack destroys the U.S. power grid, starvation, disease, and the brutal cold have killed millions. With the end of winter finally in sight, the town of Fall Creek, Michigan balances on the precipice of collapse.
They have suffered and sacrificed. But to forge a future worth living, they will have to face the darkness within themselves. Each must decide--will they retain their humanity or choose survival at any cost?
Preorder the riveting sixth installment in the Edge of Collapse survival series now!
When the country goes dark, ordinary people find themselves facing the end of the world as they know it. With society collapsing before their eyes, they'll have to risk everything to protect their home and the people they love.
From USA Today Bestselling author Kyla Stone comes Edge of Collapse, a riveting EMP survival series featuring flawed, complex characters and high-octane action adventure. Perfect for fans of Ryan Schow, Grace Hamilton, Harley Tate, Jack Hunt, and Boyd Craven.
10 pages, Audible Audio
First published January 15, 2021
5944 people are currently reading
3066 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 469 reviews
October 10, 2024
100 DAYS AFTER THE EMP & THE STRUGGLE TO LIVE ISN'T ANY EASIER IF NOT HARDER HAS EACH DAY COMES
Edge of Survival : A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Survival Thriller (Edge of Collapse Book 6) by Kyla Stone is a well written tell of a small town in Michigan that is trying to band together with their community to survive the aftereffects of an EMP on Christmas Eve just over a 100 days ago which took down the power grid and most of all the electronics. They're not only having to fight to survive the freezing weather of upper Michigan but corrupt local leaders, gangs, and rogue military thugs.
This book and series is about hardships, struggles, and loss. It's also about friendships, family, love, and determination to help those who are unable to defend and take care of themselves. The characters are well defined and you'll find yourself routing for Liam, Hannah, Bishop, Quinn, Molly and all the other cast of characters in the small town and their local communitie of Fall Creek, Michigan. You will also find yourself cheering when the bad guys are taken out.
I have enjoyed reading this book and the previous five books (6 books if you include "Edge of Collapse" the prequel that gives you the background on Liam before meeting up with Hannah) and have already started the seventh and final book in the series. I hope you, too, will enjoy reading this book and series.
Edge of Survival : A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Survival Thriller (Edge of Collapse Book 6) by Kyla Stone is a well written tell of a small town in Michigan that is trying to band together with their community to survive the aftereffects of an EMP on Christmas Eve just over a 100 days ago which took down the power grid and most of all the electronics. They're not only having to fight to survive the freezing weather of upper Michigan but corrupt local leaders, gangs, and rogue military thugs.
This book and series is about hardships, struggles, and loss. It's also about friendships, family, love, and determination to help those who are unable to defend and take care of themselves. The characters are well defined and you'll find yourself routing for Liam, Hannah, Bishop, Quinn, Molly and all the other cast of characters in the small town and their local communitie of Fall Creek, Michigan. You will also find yourself cheering when the bad guys are taken out.
I have enjoyed reading this book and the previous five books (6 books if you include "Edge of Collapse" the prequel that gives you the background on Liam before meeting up with Hannah) and have already started the seventh and final book in the series. I hope you, too, will enjoy reading this book and series.
January 5, 2021
I know people get wrapped up in their love of a series and an author and it's hard for them to give reviews of less than 5 stars, but I just can't. This was my second least favorite after the second in the series. It's just so. much. plot.
Also, I was incredibly annoyed when I got to the end and realized it wasn't the last in the series. This series has drug onnnnnnn for SIX books now and a seventh on the way.... Bruh. Adding in so many new and unnecessary characters and so. much. drama. And STILL LIAM AND HANNAH HAVEN'T EXPRESSED THEIR LOVE FOR ONE OTHER.
Now enters the General... In a world of no communication he just happens to receive a call from his daughter before she died. That's annoying. I'm sorry, but I am so uninterested in this last book besides Liam and Hannah's love affair. Honestly, the entire last book should just be about them falling in love and being happy. There are plenty of best sellers about this very subject.
Also, it irks the shit out of me that there is no cussing in these books. *B.S. *jerkface... A full grown man at the end of the world who's been through 30 years of combat would say Bullshit. Am I wrong? Am I reading this book while I'm PMSing? Yes.
Also, I was incredibly annoyed when I got to the end and realized it wasn't the last in the series. This series has drug onnnnnnn for SIX books now and a seventh on the way.... Bruh. Adding in so many new and unnecessary characters and so. much. drama. And STILL LIAM AND HANNAH HAVEN'T EXPRESSED THEIR LOVE FOR ONE OTHER.
Now enters the General... In a world of no communication he just happens to receive a call from his daughter before she died. That's annoying. I'm sorry, but I am so uninterested in this last book besides Liam and Hannah's love affair. Honestly, the entire last book should just be about them falling in love and being happy. There are plenty of best sellers about this very subject.
Also, it irks the shit out of me that there is no cussing in these books. *B.S. *jerkface... A full grown man at the end of the world who's been through 30 years of combat would say Bullshit. Am I wrong? Am I reading this book while I'm PMSing? Yes.
December 26, 2024
Christmas morning, gob full of shortbread, coffee beside me, all set to jump into this world again. Addicted 📖
I’m so glad I stumbled across this author, ticks all the boxes and then ones I didn’t know I craved, I love this group of misfits.
Going by the last book and that cliffy I don’t think this little township is out of the woods yet, something wicked their way comes.
I’m so glad I stumbled across this author, ticks all the boxes and then ones I didn’t know I craved, I love this group of misfits.
Going by the last book and that cliffy I don’t think this little township is out of the woods yet, something wicked their way comes.
February 18, 2025
4,5
This book surprises me because it’s a great spiderweb where everyone is a target in a world totally crazy.
It’s worth reading.
This book surprises me because it’s a great spiderweb where everyone is a target in a world totally crazy.
It’s worth reading.
December 14, 2024
Awesome
This addition to the series is so action packed, it keeps you on the edge of your seat. I'm heading to the finale book and can't wait to read it. An EMP which knocked out all power source with electric components has caused the country to go insane. When will they be working again or is this the world to continue?
Highly recommended.
This addition to the series is so action packed, it keeps you on the edge of your seat. I'm heading to the finale book and can't wait to read it. An EMP which knocked out all power source with electric components has caused the country to go insane. When will they be working again or is this the world to continue?
Highly recommended.
May 27, 2025
The town is in a transitional period after the death of the tyrant Rosalind Sinclair. Hannah is emerging as a new leader. Meanwhile, new murderous enemies are developing in the region. And Liam goes off on a personal mission as does Quinn. Their adventures give rise to most of the action in this book. Book 6 appears to be setting up the ultimate confrontation coming in Edge of Valor.
February 25, 2023
Genres: Dystopia/Sci-fi
This is book #6 in the Edge of Collapse series. This series has been a pleasant surprise and it is very highly rated here on Goodreads. I tend to trust the masses when it comes to ratings....and I can trust them the majority of the time.
I love the action, the characters, the relationships, the story, and the writing. After finishing the installment before this one, I wondered where the story could possibly go after that. I liked where it picked up and where it went.
I'd recommend you get all the books before starting this series because some of the cliffhangers had me immediately picking up the next one. So 4.5 stars.
This is book #6 in the Edge of Collapse series. This series has been a pleasant surprise and it is very highly rated here on Goodreads. I tend to trust the masses when it comes to ratings....and I can trust them the majority of the time.
I love the action, the characters, the relationships, the story, and the writing. After finishing the installment before this one, I wondered where the story could possibly go after that. I liked where it picked up and where it went.
I'd recommend you get all the books before starting this series because some of the cliffhangers had me immediately picking up the next one. So 4.5 stars.
December 30, 2020
I love the cover of the book as with all the other book covers this one reflects the damage and destruction that has been done to the surrounding buildings. I’d say the person on the cover is Liam and of course the huge white dog is Ghost.
When the book begins Liam is not in Fall Creek, he is travelling, alone, to find his sister-in-law Jessa’s parents, Mr & Mrs Brooks and the nephew he delivered both into the world and then into their arms. It soon becomes apparent that the Amish community that the Brooks travelled to is no longer their home. Unfortunately, the Amish area has been taken over by rogues who have also overrun and taken the nearest FEMA compound by force too. Liam is feeling torn, he feels he must check that his nephew is safe, he owes that to his brother Lincoln and his sister-in-law Jessa. Liam also feels like he should be in Fall Creek protecting Hannah, Milo & baby Charlotte. That is one of the reasons Liam is carrying out this search alone, he feels better knowing that Ghost is around to add extra protection along with the other Fall Creek residents he has helped to train to guard and protect each other.
Liam luckily meets an elderly man who appears to be painting graffiti on homes. It turns out the elderly man has a really good reason for doing this. It is to make his home blend in with the other destroyed, and damaged homes. It is this elderly man that Liam talks to and finds out about where everyone has disappeared to the now rogue controlled FEMA compound. This rogue element are well organised tough guys who call themselves the Syndicate. Liam offers to collect this man who has helped him with information on his way back to Fall Creek but the man seems somewhat resigned to his fate of staying alone and dying in his own home surrounded by his memories and photographs of his family.
Back in Fall Creek, Molly and Hannah are still heavily invested in trying to arrange the trading day. It’s whilst at the old camp ground where the bartering event is happening that Milo wanders off and ends up surrounded by feral dogs. Luckily for Milo, Quinn and Ghost come to his rescue. Sadly, this sets a chain of events that see’s Quinn meeting the leader of the Death To The Power gang who are destroying everything from what they consider the old world. Apparently, they believe it is the power that corrupted the world and anything left repairable should be broken, they believe that there are no rules, no one owns anything. If anyone tries to stop them, they are dealt with swiftly and violently. The leader of this gang, Xander Thorne seems very taken and interested in Ghost. In fact, Xander is eager for Quinn to join them, bringing Ghost with her too. He even tells her where they will be if she should change her mind. Quinn has no intention of going any where near these strange teenagers who seem like some strange kind of anti-technology cult until she sees an older man hanging further back in the group that she has a large score to settle with. Later after talking to Liam about doing some training with her and Liam finally agreeing Quinn trains hard and begins to plan her revenge. Things work out quite easy to arrange for Quinn as she has been hanging around with a couple of other teens rather than with Milo lately, so all she needs to do is tell her Gran, Molly that she is hunting over the weekend and staying with Jonas, and Whitney. Unfortunately for Quinn, things go bad for her fairly quickly and she ends up having to make a difficult choice about joining and trusting the last person she should trust or want to help to get out of a deathly situation. Luckily for her, Jonas, her alibi has accidentally given away her lie by turning up at her Grans house looking for her. Which means Liam, though not fully recovered from rescuing his nephew has to set off to rescue Quinn. The whole “finding help in the unlikeliest places” scenario happens a couple of times in this book. Some of the lines of who is good and who is bad become blurred for a while, although the bad guys usually return to their bad behaviour sooner rather than later.
In this book we find out who Rosamond has satellite phone contact with and they are also of the mentality that the ones with the largest army and brute force deserve to rule the world as it now stands. This man, known as the General has his own axe to grind and is soon plotting revenge for the death of Rosamond too. Fall Creek may be about to face its worst hostile fault so far.
This book is seriously packed full of action. Poor Liam doesn’t get a minute to rest or recuperate in this book. The relationship between Liam and Hannah is certainly becoming deeper, though what happened to Hannah at the hands of Pike is holding her back from letting Liam in, or admitting her true feelings for him, despite others around them seeing the situation and the love between them clearly. It also seems that poor Fall Creek solves one problem just in time for another to rear its ugly head. The trading day doesn’t go as well as they had hoped. Those surrounding communities that the militia pillaged are blaming the residents of Fall Creek, saying they must have known what was going on. Things are still very tense, and the fact that the Death To The Power gang are wrecking farms and buildings, along with killing livestock isn’t helping as the militia hit communities have got it into their heads it is the Fall Creek residents that are doing the damage and threaten to take “an eye for an eye” type of retribution. In fact, some of the Fall Creek residents have this same “eye for an eye” mentality when it comes to doling out justice to the remaining militia man, James Luther that they have imprisoned. Though it goes against what they would prefer to do both Hannah and Liam end up coming up with an uneasy compromise to solve the situation. They just hope this decision doesn’t come back to haunt Fall Creek.
The characters in this book are still amazing! The older favourites of mine are of course Liam, Hannah, and Molly. Once again Liam pushes himself to his absolute limits, despite being offered help he goes it alone, as he is used to having to do. He braves sneaking into an enemy held FEMA camp. Then you also see the tenderness of the big tough guy, when he holds his nephew Liam Jesse, or when he strokes Charlottes head. He gives Hannah his eternal gratitude when she offers to feed his nephew to try and improve his poor health. In this book I also grew to love Quinn even more, her determination and toughness growing even more, but I also felt like reaching into the book and shaking her and screaming at her not to go off alone! Poor Milo finds himself stuck not wanting to reveal anything about Xander and his gang, yet he also wants to help find Quinn and get her back in Fall Creek safely.
I adored the newcomers to the book of Travis and Evelyn Brooks (grandparents of Liam Jesse.) As soon I read her interactions and dialogue with Liam it reminded me of the forthright manner of Molly. I knew if Liam managed to get Evelyn, Travis & baby Liam back to Fall Creek that they would fit into that community well, and be positive additions. Other newly introduced characters are those guarding, protecting and working at the nuclear plant near Fall Creek. One of the military men guarding the nuclear station served in the forces with Liam.
My immediate thoughts upon finishing reading this book were . .Oh wow….just Oh wow! I am seriously looking forward to the next book, even though it is the last one! I will be really sorry to see this series end but am looking forward to finding out what will happen to Fall Creek.
To sum up I am looking forward to the final battle, to all my questions being answered, maybe most if not all the problems resolved. Will good triumph, over evil? Will all my favourite characters survive? Will there be a happy ending for a certain couple in the book?
When the book begins Liam is not in Fall Creek, he is travelling, alone, to find his sister-in-law Jessa’s parents, Mr & Mrs Brooks and the nephew he delivered both into the world and then into their arms. It soon becomes apparent that the Amish community that the Brooks travelled to is no longer their home. Unfortunately, the Amish area has been taken over by rogues who have also overrun and taken the nearest FEMA compound by force too. Liam is feeling torn, he feels he must check that his nephew is safe, he owes that to his brother Lincoln and his sister-in-law Jessa. Liam also feels like he should be in Fall Creek protecting Hannah, Milo & baby Charlotte. That is one of the reasons Liam is carrying out this search alone, he feels better knowing that Ghost is around to add extra protection along with the other Fall Creek residents he has helped to train to guard and protect each other.
Liam luckily meets an elderly man who appears to be painting graffiti on homes. It turns out the elderly man has a really good reason for doing this. It is to make his home blend in with the other destroyed, and damaged homes. It is this elderly man that Liam talks to and finds out about where everyone has disappeared to the now rogue controlled FEMA compound. This rogue element are well organised tough guys who call themselves the Syndicate. Liam offers to collect this man who has helped him with information on his way back to Fall Creek but the man seems somewhat resigned to his fate of staying alone and dying in his own home surrounded by his memories and photographs of his family.
Back in Fall Creek, Molly and Hannah are still heavily invested in trying to arrange the trading day. It’s whilst at the old camp ground where the bartering event is happening that Milo wanders off and ends up surrounded by feral dogs. Luckily for Milo, Quinn and Ghost come to his rescue. Sadly, this sets a chain of events that see’s Quinn meeting the leader of the Death To The Power gang who are destroying everything from what they consider the old world. Apparently, they believe it is the power that corrupted the world and anything left repairable should be broken, they believe that there are no rules, no one owns anything. If anyone tries to stop them, they are dealt with swiftly and violently. The leader of this gang, Xander Thorne seems very taken and interested in Ghost. In fact, Xander is eager for Quinn to join them, bringing Ghost with her too. He even tells her where they will be if she should change her mind. Quinn has no intention of going any where near these strange teenagers who seem like some strange kind of anti-technology cult until she sees an older man hanging further back in the group that she has a large score to settle with. Later after talking to Liam about doing some training with her and Liam finally agreeing Quinn trains hard and begins to plan her revenge. Things work out quite easy to arrange for Quinn as she has been hanging around with a couple of other teens rather than with Milo lately, so all she needs to do is tell her Gran, Molly that she is hunting over the weekend and staying with Jonas, and Whitney. Unfortunately for Quinn, things go bad for her fairly quickly and she ends up having to make a difficult choice about joining and trusting the last person she should trust or want to help to get out of a deathly situation. Luckily for her, Jonas, her alibi has accidentally given away her lie by turning up at her Grans house looking for her. Which means Liam, though not fully recovered from rescuing his nephew has to set off to rescue Quinn. The whole “finding help in the unlikeliest places” scenario happens a couple of times in this book. Some of the lines of who is good and who is bad become blurred for a while, although the bad guys usually return to their bad behaviour sooner rather than later.
In this book we find out who Rosamond has satellite phone contact with and they are also of the mentality that the ones with the largest army and brute force deserve to rule the world as it now stands. This man, known as the General has his own axe to grind and is soon plotting revenge for the death of Rosamond too. Fall Creek may be about to face its worst hostile fault so far.
This book is seriously packed full of action. Poor Liam doesn’t get a minute to rest or recuperate in this book. The relationship between Liam and Hannah is certainly becoming deeper, though what happened to Hannah at the hands of Pike is holding her back from letting Liam in, or admitting her true feelings for him, despite others around them seeing the situation and the love between them clearly. It also seems that poor Fall Creek solves one problem just in time for another to rear its ugly head. The trading day doesn’t go as well as they had hoped. Those surrounding communities that the militia pillaged are blaming the residents of Fall Creek, saying they must have known what was going on. Things are still very tense, and the fact that the Death To The Power gang are wrecking farms and buildings, along with killing livestock isn’t helping as the militia hit communities have got it into their heads it is the Fall Creek residents that are doing the damage and threaten to take “an eye for an eye” type of retribution. In fact, some of the Fall Creek residents have this same “eye for an eye” mentality when it comes to doling out justice to the remaining militia man, James Luther that they have imprisoned. Though it goes against what they would prefer to do both Hannah and Liam end up coming up with an uneasy compromise to solve the situation. They just hope this decision doesn’t come back to haunt Fall Creek.
The characters in this book are still amazing! The older favourites of mine are of course Liam, Hannah, and Molly. Once again Liam pushes himself to his absolute limits, despite being offered help he goes it alone, as he is used to having to do. He braves sneaking into an enemy held FEMA camp. Then you also see the tenderness of the big tough guy, when he holds his nephew Liam Jesse, or when he strokes Charlottes head. He gives Hannah his eternal gratitude when she offers to feed his nephew to try and improve his poor health. In this book I also grew to love Quinn even more, her determination and toughness growing even more, but I also felt like reaching into the book and shaking her and screaming at her not to go off alone! Poor Milo finds himself stuck not wanting to reveal anything about Xander and his gang, yet he also wants to help find Quinn and get her back in Fall Creek safely.
I adored the newcomers to the book of Travis and Evelyn Brooks (grandparents of Liam Jesse.) As soon I read her interactions and dialogue with Liam it reminded me of the forthright manner of Molly. I knew if Liam managed to get Evelyn, Travis & baby Liam back to Fall Creek that they would fit into that community well, and be positive additions. Other newly introduced characters are those guarding, protecting and working at the nuclear plant near Fall Creek. One of the military men guarding the nuclear station served in the forces with Liam.
My immediate thoughts upon finishing reading this book were . .Oh wow….just Oh wow! I am seriously looking forward to the next book, even though it is the last one! I will be really sorry to see this series end but am looking forward to finding out what will happen to Fall Creek.
To sum up I am looking forward to the final battle, to all my questions being answered, maybe most if not all the problems resolved. Will good triumph, over evil? Will all my favourite characters survive? Will there be a happy ending for a certain couple in the book?
August 30, 2021
2.5 STARS
It seemed like this one was a lot of "extra" stuff that didn't really add much to the overall story. Liam suddenly decides he needs to know what happened to his nephew, taking him away from Fall Creek again, getting hurt again.
Quinn, who was my favorite character, decides to lone wolf it, making one stupid decision after another. I got tired of her in this one.
Luckily Ghost and Molly are still awesome, could have used a little more of them in this one.
"The General" is the big bad finally revealed, setting up a showdown for the final book. Not sure how Fall Creek can stack up against an army, but I'm definitely reading it to find out.
It seemed like this one was a lot of "extra" stuff that didn't really add much to the overall story. Liam suddenly decides he needs to know what happened to his nephew, taking him away from Fall Creek again, getting hurt again.
Quinn, who was my favorite character, decides to lone wolf it, making one stupid decision after another. I got tired of her in this one.
Luckily Ghost and Molly are still awesome, could have used a little more of them in this one.
"The General" is the big bad finally revealed, setting up a showdown for the final book. Not sure how Fall Creek can stack up against an army, but I'm definitely reading it to find out.
December 6, 2024
Quinn was so annoying oh my hell
June 9, 2024
It's not my favorite of the series, a tad slow for me at the beginning! Definitely, a build-up novel. Towns are recovering, coming together, yet still struggling. I love the characters and the story overall. The ending, Quinn and Liam...I can't get enough!
June 6, 2025
Audiobook 🎧
August 28, 2025
Winter is almost over in Southwest Michigan, and we’re three months into the electronic magnetic pulse that destroyed the US power grid . Hannah and Liam continue to fight to make a community and survive. This is book 6 in a seven book series. If apocalyptic thrillers are your jam you’re definitely gonna wanna check out the series. I love it!
#bestestbookclubever
#bestestbookclubever
April 23, 2021
The saga continues... Just when you thought there may be hope, random gangs of thugs and militia and other loose cannons who have pretty much lost their bearings come out to pursue their own agendas. We get entangled into these encounters, some personal, some political, some doing anything to survive. In the meantime, as always, there are good, committed people trying to get through this and survive, and hatch a plan for the future which is not looking so imminent. After an EMP, its thought it takes about ten years to get back to a “normal life, normal world.” Yikes
One more book to go in this series! I’ve been so invested in reading these, I don’t want it to end. 😧
One more book to go in this series! I’ve been so invested in reading these, I don’t want it to end. 😧
December 27, 2020
The penultimate book in the series mainly focuses on the aftermath of the battle with the militia in Fall Creek. Especially Quinn has severe difficulties reliving her actions. Liam is focused on finding his nephew and new threats appear on the horizon everywhere around our heroes. I'm very much looking forward to the finale of this amazing series.
June 9, 2024
This is just getting dragged out now 🙃
May 9, 2025
One more really good book! So glad I found this series. As I mentioned, I'm so invested in these characters, this town everything. Sad only one more to go.
November 16, 2025
Auch der 6 Teil war super Spannend und ich freue mich jetzt auf den letzten Teil 👍
January 19, 2025
That lowkey wrapped up faster than I expected but I'm curious as to how the characters will deal with the new threat. Also I'm surprised that Quinn is really growing on me??
January 4, 2024
These books are 100% plot, mostly related to battles of increasing scale, with extremely light romantic subplot. They have an interesting and compelling story that kept me reading through all 8 books (1 - 7 plus the prequel), but they were somewhat poorly written.
I felt like I was a teenager reading Twilight again, with Edward's features constantly being referred to as cold and chiselled as though from marble, every other page. Every single time Hannah experienced anxiety, blood rushed in her ears, her vision would narrow, she'd look desperately around the room for something, anything, to count, and she'd slowly come back to herself. We'd get the same word-for-word schpiel every time. When characters experience pain, pain "exploded" in their ___. Why is the pain always exploding? Liam was always described as "ruggedly handsome". After reading the same description for the 100th time, you start to ask yourself whether an editor ever looked at it. Liam has striking gray blue eyes. I get it. We get it. We know. Yes, Milo loves peanut butter. Does he have ANY other traits? Do the people in this story know a single thing about this child other than a single food he likes to eat? Does he eat citrus and vegetables? Are you going to give this boy scurvy? Did you know that everyone loves classic rock? Do you? Do you? Do you wanna hear Black Bird again? Have we mentioned the song Black Bird by the Beatles?
Probably because so much of the material is re-explaining what happened in the prior books, and copying and pasting the exact same descriptions of pain, fear, anticipation, anxiety, and the major characters, this 8-book-long-series feels like it drags on and should have been abridged into one longer novel.
Throughout the first books, it also transformed from what appeared to be a slow-burn romance set during the apocalypse to a play-by-play military fiction with the slightest hint of romantic undertones. If you're reading it for the romance aspect, I wouldn't. It was weirdly sanitized and slightly religious, without any hints of anything remotely sexual, and without any swearing of any kind. One climactic moment is completely ruined by calling the evil-doer "jerkface" like it's some extremely insulting gotcha. I've read some criticisms that say, "You really think that a battle-hardened 30-something man would never say 'shit' or something similar?" I honestly find that more believable than the idea that a teenage girl with blue hair and piercings is going to unironically call someone a jerkface.
It's not all bad. Some characters had some interesting character development, like Noah. I loved the character of Quinn. Most people fail to write teenage girls with any sense of humanity, whereas Quinn was extremely interesting, complex, and subverted expectations. That said, other characters -notably, Liam and Hannah, the main protagonists - don't seem to grow all that much and were pretty one dimensional. I enjoyed the multiple perspectives, especially since it was some of the "minor" characters were the most interesting. I also enjoy it when they give perspectives of the "villains" of the story, though most of the villains were fairly one dimensional, pure-evil people. I noted that there were people of every background and nationality included in the story, without leaning into any tropes. They were just written like any people would be written. I like that approach, it makes for more believable people.
I read this in audiobook format and the narrator was great. One of my pet peeves with narration is when someone tries to transform their voice into another age, gender or regional accent that they can't accomplish, and it completely takes you out of the book. Think, a man suddenly reading in an extremely light and airy voice like he's trying to be a little girl, or a woman suddenly talking in an extremely low and gruff voice like she's trying to be a huge burly man. She changed her voice slightly to make it clear that it was a new character, and it was always clear that it was, but not in a way that took you out of the story. There's also quite a lot of shooting and carrying on, and she even made that interesting, reading out each "boom" "bang" and "pop" in a way that actually sounded pretty accurate and didn't make me physically cringe. I think the narrator saved the writing a lot of the time, honestly.
All in all, I read this series because my mom said they were her favourites and while I feel like I'll never get that time in my life back, I also can't give it less than 3 stars, because to sit through 8 books of anything says they must have been at least entertaining.
I felt like I was a teenager reading Twilight again, with Edward's features constantly being referred to as cold and chiselled as though from marble, every other page. Every single time Hannah experienced anxiety, blood rushed in her ears, her vision would narrow, she'd look desperately around the room for something, anything, to count, and she'd slowly come back to herself. We'd get the same word-for-word schpiel every time. When characters experience pain, pain "exploded" in their ___. Why is the pain always exploding? Liam was always described as "ruggedly handsome". After reading the same description for the 100th time, you start to ask yourself whether an editor ever looked at it. Liam has striking gray blue eyes. I get it. We get it. We know. Yes, Milo loves peanut butter. Does he have ANY other traits? Do the people in this story know a single thing about this child other than a single food he likes to eat? Does he eat citrus and vegetables? Are you going to give this boy scurvy? Did you know that everyone loves classic rock? Do you? Do you? Do you wanna hear Black Bird again? Have we mentioned the song Black Bird by the Beatles?
Probably because so much of the material is re-explaining what happened in the prior books, and copying and pasting the exact same descriptions of pain, fear, anticipation, anxiety, and the major characters, this 8-book-long-series feels like it drags on and should have been abridged into one longer novel.
Throughout the first books, it also transformed from what appeared to be a slow-burn romance set during the apocalypse to a play-by-play military fiction with the slightest hint of romantic undertones. If you're reading it for the romance aspect, I wouldn't. It was weirdly sanitized and slightly religious, without any hints of anything remotely sexual, and without any swearing of any kind. One climactic moment is completely ruined by calling the evil-doer "jerkface" like it's some extremely insulting gotcha. I've read some criticisms that say, "You really think that a battle-hardened 30-something man would never say 'shit' or something similar?" I honestly find that more believable than the idea that a teenage girl with blue hair and piercings is going to unironically call someone a jerkface.
It's not all bad. Some characters had some interesting character development, like Noah. I loved the character of Quinn. Most people fail to write teenage girls with any sense of humanity, whereas Quinn was extremely interesting, complex, and subverted expectations. That said, other characters -notably, Liam and Hannah, the main protagonists - don't seem to grow all that much and were pretty one dimensional. I enjoyed the multiple perspectives, especially since it was some of the "minor" characters were the most interesting. I also enjoy it when they give perspectives of the "villains" of the story, though most of the villains were fairly one dimensional, pure-evil people. I noted that there were people of every background and nationality included in the story, without leaning into any tropes. They were just written like any people would be written. I like that approach, it makes for more believable people.
I read this in audiobook format and the narrator was great. One of my pet peeves with narration is when someone tries to transform their voice into another age, gender or regional accent that they can't accomplish, and it completely takes you out of the book. Think, a man suddenly reading in an extremely light and airy voice like he's trying to be a little girl, or a woman suddenly talking in an extremely low and gruff voice like she's trying to be a huge burly man. She changed her voice slightly to make it clear that it was a new character, and it was always clear that it was, but not in a way that took you out of the story. There's also quite a lot of shooting and carrying on, and she even made that interesting, reading out each "boom" "bang" and "pop" in a way that actually sounded pretty accurate and didn't make me physically cringe. I think the narrator saved the writing a lot of the time, honestly.
All in all, I read this series because my mom said they were her favourites and while I feel like I'll never get that time in my life back, I also can't give it less than 3 stars, because to sit through 8 books of anything says they must have been at least entertaining.
June 11, 2025
I could definitely tell going into this book that Kyla Stone had originally intended to end the series after book 5 - Edge of Defiance. There was nothing wrong with this book, but it did feel very drawn out and overly introspective for all of the characters. I also found it very off-putting to add a whole new character's perspective to the story this late in the game. The way she writes though, you need that "bad guy" to see their behind the scenes scheming, and when she keeps killing them off there is a need to replace them with someone new.
I did enjoy the action the last 15% of the book brought, but I'm surprised it took that long to get to it. But like I already mentioned, there was more setup involved because she wasn't originally intending to continue the story. A lot of time was spent hashing out the same information we've already heard over and over again, we know, Liam ALWAYS wishes he had a full recon and tactical support team whenever he goes into a sketchy situation, and it's starting to get old and worn out, like a broken record. There's no benefit to going over those thoughts in his head multiple times within the same book, especially this far along in the series.
One thing I wish we would have gotten was a perspective from Xander, I found myself oddly drawn to his twisted ideology. He makes sense, but I am happy to say I'm one of the addicted puppets he would have hated.
I'm almost done with this series and I really hope the ending brings more of the gut-wrenching heartache the rest of this series has so far, the promise and build-up of one last deadly battle has me itching for the action!
I did enjoy the action the last 15% of the book brought, but I'm surprised it took that long to get to it. But like I already mentioned, there was more setup involved because she wasn't originally intending to continue the story. A lot of time was spent hashing out the same information we've already heard over and over again, we know, Liam ALWAYS wishes he had a full recon and tactical support team whenever he goes into a sketchy situation, and it's starting to get old and worn out, like a broken record. There's no benefit to going over those thoughts in his head multiple times within the same book, especially this far along in the series.
One thing I wish we would have gotten was a perspective from Xander, I found myself oddly drawn to his twisted ideology. He makes sense, but I am happy to say I'm one of the addicted puppets he would have hated.
"They want their phones and tablets and TVs to come back so they can deaden themselves, numb themselves, like a drug addict to their drug."
I'm almost done with this series and I really hope the ending brings more of the gut-wrenching heartache the rest of this series has so far, the promise and build-up of one last deadly battle has me itching for the action!
January 17, 2021
It feels like things are coming to head quickly now and they all want to get their loved ones around. I wasn't sure about Liam going to find his nephew and their grandparents, not sure it was worth it, but understood why he had to do it. Things weren't easy for him, but he was successful and good thing too because where they were was a nightmare and only going to get worse. Back in Michigan they would have a better chance, especially the baby.
Quinn seemed at a crossroads, dealing with what she did and still wanting to hurt those that hurt her and her family. When the chance arose she took it. The group she ended up with were horrible, mean little shits doing horrible things just because. I was glad that she got out of it, but it came at great cost to her, even if the one nugget of info will help the town.
I can't wait to see what comes next for them all and how they deal with it.
Quinn seemed at a crossroads, dealing with what she did and still wanting to hurt those that hurt her and her family. When the chance arose she took it. The group she ended up with were horrible, mean little shits doing horrible things just because. I was glad that she got out of it, but it came at great cost to her, even if the one nugget of info will help the town.
I can't wait to see what comes next for them all and how they deal with it.
March 1, 2023
The build up continues.
More excitement and more build up continues in this fight for survival. Quinn fights to find herself and in doing so joins the wrong group of psychos that almost gets her killed. Through determination she struggles and comes out on the other side of truth. Killing Sutter doesn't get rid of her darkness. Now the General is coming after them and its going to be brutal, political, and personal. I'm looking forward to the last book, the final climax.
Fantastic characters keep you glued to the pages with page to page visionary actions.
Excellent Read.
More excitement and more build up continues in this fight for survival. Quinn fights to find herself and in doing so joins the wrong group of psychos that almost gets her killed. Through determination she struggles and comes out on the other side of truth. Killing Sutter doesn't get rid of her darkness. Now the General is coming after them and its going to be brutal, political, and personal. I'm looking forward to the last book, the final climax.
Fantastic characters keep you glued to the pages with page to page visionary actions.
Excellent Read.
March 25, 2024
An Addictive Series That Gets Better and Better!!
My heart won’t stop pounding like a rampage of panic and sadness. This was an emotional book. I just keep asking myself, how does someone survive all this? Well the title says it all… Edge of Survival…Quinn was definitely on the edge of survival! Love that girl. She is strong and a survivor! I adore Liam, if anyone knew what Quinn was suffering through, he did!
On to the conclusion in book 7!! This is a phenomenal Post Apocalyptic Thriller, with found family, romance and lots of action. A pure adrenaline dump.
My heart won’t stop pounding like a rampage of panic and sadness. This was an emotional book. I just keep asking myself, how does someone survive all this? Well the title says it all… Edge of Survival…Quinn was definitely on the edge of survival! Love that girl. She is strong and a survivor! I adore Liam, if anyone knew what Quinn was suffering through, he did!
On to the conclusion in book 7!! This is a phenomenal Post Apocalyptic Thriller, with found family, romance and lots of action. A pure adrenaline dump.
November 18, 2024
I enjoyed this book, but not as much as the book before this. The author still had a story to tell, but as I said in my last review, I feel like this could've easily been a 5 books series and it would've ended on a great note. I don't really feel like there was a lot of depth to this book, just a lot of mindless killing. I am rally hoping the final book really just ties up all the loose ends and still has purpose.
December 31, 2020
This is book six of the Edge of Collapse series and apparently the penultimate one as well. It is three months after the EMP attack hit in the middle of winter, and spring is finally on the horizon. Those that have managed to survive through the upheaval that has occurred in the last long and hard months, have had to change in so many ways. Some have fallen into deep depression, with no hope for the future, while others such as Molly, have proven how people can still survive and adapt to the changes forced upon them, with a bit of knowledge, common sense, hope for the future, and a strong sense of family. Her granddaughter Quinn has a massive struggle in this book, to accept what she had to do in the last book and to face the darkness within her. She has to decide what her future is going to be and what she will do. She pulls more into herself and ignores Hannah’s son Milo to some degree, as she fights against the feelings from within, which she feels she cannot speak to anyone about. It may lead her to dangerous decisions, but she has to face the fears this darkness brings and find out what sort of person she actually wants to be.
Fall Creek is now better organised and is finally forming its own committee to make decisions, but this brings back all the inbuilt prejudices between different residents and those who expect something for doing nothing, those who think they should be able to move into the Winter Haven homes, which have electricity and comfortable living conditions, compared to living in older homes with no heating or the school gymnasium floors. Now that Rosamund Sinclair and the last of the militia are gone, life should have been easier, but lack of supplies, constant guard duties for many and the remains of winter, are still making life difficult. There is word of other dangerous groups roaming the area and they need to be aware of any other dangers coming their way. Their state of Michagan is still falling apart and some areas are worse off than others. Word has reached the town of a criminal who has taken advantage of the situation and has overrun large areas of a neighbouring state and even the Federal Guard and local government, such as it is, cannot force him back. A general who wants more power and will use this situation to his advantage and another group who wish to destroy anything to do with the past lives of technology, with ‘death to power’ being their rallying call, lots of dissatisfied younger people are drawn to his cause, causing wilful damage for no real reason.
Everyone needs to decide what is most important to them and what they can live with doing to retain the life they want and the future they can only hope for. Liam is in search of family and faces a dangerous path. He is still Hannah’s hero, but her past mental scars are making it difficult for her to accept anything else from someone. She has Milo and baby Charlotte to care for and they may be enough for her, but she finds herself facing difficult situations where she needs to be the voice of reason, but also sacrificing a chance for her own future and a new family, for the protection of others. This book is definitely a bit of a change from the ones before it, with a lot of events occurring outside of the town of Fall Creek, but still involving characters we know from the past books and also introducing you to some new ones. Some characters, one in particular, has to face the darkness they can feel getting a hold onto their very soul, being unable to forget what they have had to do to survive, but also having a huge impact on their very mood and thoughts for the future. What everyone has faced so far, could be nothing in comparison to what may come, especially as the reality of how long it may take to get back to any sort of normal from the past, becomes a reality.
This is a very deep and heart wrenching book in the series, with some of the main characters having to examine what they have become and whether they can retain any sense of humanity after what they have had to do and whether it was really worth surviving if this was the outcome. It is not a time to start to rest or relax, as there will always be unknown dangers to face at every turn. The world is no longer as they were accustomed to and some cannot come to terms with that. Millions have died from the aftermath of the EMP, and starvation and disease have killed many more. There are those who want to survive at the cost of anyone else and they want the power this situation can give to them, by force and manipulation. Fall Creek has already experienced some of this, but there are others much less fortunate, who are under the thumb and control of these sort of people, suffering in lots of new and atrocious ways. Some thrive on this sort of life choice and the power they gain, but others will need to think hard about what sort of person they want to become and what actions may be a step too far and one from which they may never recover. So good, I read it straight through in one go and didn’t put it down. Very different for so many reasons and some very unexpected actions. I can’t wait to read the last book of this series, it has brought so many characters to life and left me wanting more. I received an ARC copy of this book from the author and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
Fall Creek is now better organised and is finally forming its own committee to make decisions, but this brings back all the inbuilt prejudices between different residents and those who expect something for doing nothing, those who think they should be able to move into the Winter Haven homes, which have electricity and comfortable living conditions, compared to living in older homes with no heating or the school gymnasium floors. Now that Rosamund Sinclair and the last of the militia are gone, life should have been easier, but lack of supplies, constant guard duties for many and the remains of winter, are still making life difficult. There is word of other dangerous groups roaming the area and they need to be aware of any other dangers coming their way. Their state of Michagan is still falling apart and some areas are worse off than others. Word has reached the town of a criminal who has taken advantage of the situation and has overrun large areas of a neighbouring state and even the Federal Guard and local government, such as it is, cannot force him back. A general who wants more power and will use this situation to his advantage and another group who wish to destroy anything to do with the past lives of technology, with ‘death to power’ being their rallying call, lots of dissatisfied younger people are drawn to his cause, causing wilful damage for no real reason.
Everyone needs to decide what is most important to them and what they can live with doing to retain the life they want and the future they can only hope for. Liam is in search of family and faces a dangerous path. He is still Hannah’s hero, but her past mental scars are making it difficult for her to accept anything else from someone. She has Milo and baby Charlotte to care for and they may be enough for her, but she finds herself facing difficult situations where she needs to be the voice of reason, but also sacrificing a chance for her own future and a new family, for the protection of others. This book is definitely a bit of a change from the ones before it, with a lot of events occurring outside of the town of Fall Creek, but still involving characters we know from the past books and also introducing you to some new ones. Some characters, one in particular, has to face the darkness they can feel getting a hold onto their very soul, being unable to forget what they have had to do to survive, but also having a huge impact on their very mood and thoughts for the future. What everyone has faced so far, could be nothing in comparison to what may come, especially as the reality of how long it may take to get back to any sort of normal from the past, becomes a reality.
This is a very deep and heart wrenching book in the series, with some of the main characters having to examine what they have become and whether they can retain any sense of humanity after what they have had to do and whether it was really worth surviving if this was the outcome. It is not a time to start to rest or relax, as there will always be unknown dangers to face at every turn. The world is no longer as they were accustomed to and some cannot come to terms with that. Millions have died from the aftermath of the EMP, and starvation and disease have killed many more. There are those who want to survive at the cost of anyone else and they want the power this situation can give to them, by force and manipulation. Fall Creek has already experienced some of this, but there are others much less fortunate, who are under the thumb and control of these sort of people, suffering in lots of new and atrocious ways. Some thrive on this sort of life choice and the power they gain, but others will need to think hard about what sort of person they want to become and what actions may be a step too far and one from which they may never recover. So good, I read it straight through in one go and didn’t put it down. Very different for so many reasons and some very unexpected actions. I can’t wait to read the last book of this series, it has brought so many characters to life and left me wanting more. I received an ARC copy of this book from the author and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
May 2, 2024
I’m quite invested in these characters now, but the plots are getting a little too repetitive like the long running fight scenes in an action movie. Just stop already, you can’t keep fighting through every situation and injury!
February 6, 2025
Another solid offering by K. Stone. Admittedly I was disappointed at the end of the 5th book that things were not wrapped up. However about 1/2 they this book the action picked up & Quinn’s struggles came to light. I look forward to reading the final book in the series.
January 14, 2026
100% the vibes of when The Governor lost Woodbury, hid for 6 months with a new group as someone else and came back to blow up the prison. But in a good way? Definitely not mad that it was nearly the exact same premise with a different ending..
May 20, 2021
I love this series so much! There is so much excitement, heartache, and also hope. I highly recommend this series!
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