Reviews

Girls at the Edge of the World by Laura Brooke Robson

everemembered's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

chasereadsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

bookmarvel's review against another edition

5.0

I love the setting, how aerial silks (they call it flying) is an integral part of their society/culture, the old local beliefs and stories (hate how they’re purposefully suppressed by the colonialist religion tho). Also just the right amount of lesbian yearning, and as happy of an ending I could ask for from a book where the whole premise is that there’s an impending flood that’s gonna swallow the whole entire world and most people will drown.

kait_unicorn's review against another edition

3.0

Love me some queer content but also wanted more of a twist. The plot lags a big in the middle. But I loved the world building and the romantic tension was good!

ninamartinez94's review against another edition

4.0

This book was really enjoyable and unique! I loved the two main characters Natasha and Ella and found this one so hard to put down as I just needed to know how it ended! I am a big fan of morally grey characters, so I enjoyed that the motivations of so many of the characters were really layered and had you sympathizing with a lot of different viewpoints. I liked that this was a story of survival and hope, but it also let you see what people are capable of when their backs are against the wall and when they think they are out of options. Again this comes back to the morally grey aspect that I liked!

Thank you to @netgalley and @penguinteen for the #gifted e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

stressedspidergirl's review against another edition

3.0

This is the kind of book that I get super invested in, and then the ending hits me with a two by four of... well. Nothing?
What happens?
I personally hate these vague kinds of endings. As always, that doesn't make it a bad story, or make it not good enough for other people.

I just feel like nothing was resolved or tied up or solved or acknowledged and for me I want there to be a point. And the point feels like the character realizing she's a lesbian (or something along those lines) and that's about it. They don't figure out the storms, they don't figure out so many things, or how to survive, or anything, they're in a little boat probably going to die in that little boat and we have no idea if Nicolai did jack to get rid of Godsopin etc. If he ever stepped up. I was so invested I personally feel like the ending was a slap to the face.

But I know some people enjoy stories like this, so it is what it is.

davianana's review against another edition

4.0

the last 0.5 star is conditional it's only a 3.5 if we don't get a sequel

tymarie's review against another edition

5.0

so beautiful
overall i would say 4.5 but i was so full of this wistful love and longing by the end that it has to be a 5

landofkait's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Okay. Okay. A fantastic and hopeful look at falling in love as the world starts to end. I was rooting for Natasha and Ella separately and together at all once; when those two worlds collided it felt earned and rewarding. I imagine they found Tulero and lived and loved for the rest of their new lives. 

sashahc's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 “Girls at the Edge of the World” by Laura Brooke Robson is hard to classify.  Fantasy but not high fantasy.  Queer.  Just pre-apocalypse.  Solemn and sweet.  It has some predictable beats, but in the end, isn’t at all.  It is an intimate story within a larger catastrophe that leaves a lot deliberately unexplained.  Anyway, I enjoyed it.