On The Edge

Reviews / Votes

Garrard's writing burns with the intensity of teenage emotions -- Fiona Noble * The Observer * sings an alluring siren song... a beautiful book, as well as an important one. -- Anthony McGowan * Winner of the Carnegie Medal for 'Lark' * This book is magnificent. My heart hurts for Rhys, the beauty and brutality of the British coastal town are so well described I want to take up surfing, and I want to hug all the young men lost there! This book describes perfectly how hurt boys can so easily be radicalized! I love it! -- Katriona O'Sullivan * Author of 'Poor' * Such gorgeous, gorgeous writing! -- Patrice Lawrence A beautiful, immersive read which crackles with tension, heartbreakingly provocative. I felt every emotion of Rhys as Garrard draws us into the coastal beauty of South Devon with such skill. Her remarkable writing weaves powerful themes of family and belonging, and within the despair and heartbreak there's still humour. A brilliant read. -- J. P. Rose * Author of 'Birdie' * This stunning novel is a modern tragedy, a love story and a warning, both political and deeply personal. I found myself immersed in the seaworld of the Fisher boys and their dad, so very real and modern, yet also ancient and of the wild deep blue. This beautiful, important novel washed into heart. I read, gripped with grief and rage, then moved by the gentleness, the love between the boys, and laughing at the fantastically accurate communications between the brothers. -- Astra Bloom * Author * The raw, beautifully observed story of a vulnerable teenager's hopes and dreams as he comes of age in a community blighted by unemployment. -- Emily Bearn * The Daily Telegraph * Tender and angry, salty and sweet... a heartfelt novel shaped by powerful undercurrents. -- Michael Morpurgo An important and powerful story of family, community and love -- Matt Goodfellow * Poet and Author of 'The Final Year' * I LOVED it and am so UNSURPRISED about the [Carnegie Medal for Writing] nomination -- Frank Cottrell-Boyce There's an urgency and directness to the predicaments Rhys faces in this searing rites-of-passage novel. The writing is honed and lyrical offering insightful observation on male emotions and leaving a long-lasting impression. -- Books for Keeps A searing portrayal of loss, grief, challenges to masculinity in the modern world and the strength of friendship and sibling bonds... The reader is constantly on edge as the boys we are so invested in seem to be lurching towards a tragic conclusion and while there is no easy solution, what triumphs is the unshakeable familial love that brings them back from the brink. Original, heartwrenching and highly recommended. * LoveReading4Kids * A hard-hitting, thought-provoking and beautifully told story (Book of the Week) * Armadillo Magazine * I loved the power and clarity of the writing which brings the landscape and characters so vividly to life. -- Liz Flanagan Atmospheric and thought-provoking, packs an emotional punch. Brilliantly captures that time before adulthood when pathways and possibilities feel expansive. -- Jake Hope This book stole my heart, I loved the boys so much. But I also worried for them constantly and as the book progressed this worry intensified... I felt that I was truly there with them and I so much wanted to make things easier for them. Very happy to recommend to all teens and older. -- Fiona Sharp * Independent Book Reviews * On the Edge is a novel of rare power, dazzlingly original and full of heart. This is a tale of extremes: poverty and riches, humour and heartbreak, despair and hope. It's impossible not to fall in love with Rhys and his two younger brothers as they navigate the challenges of life in an out-of-season seaside town. The writing is wonderfully lyrical, yet maintains a raw energy that made me laugh and cry. Prepare to be swept away! -- Juliet West Nicola Garrard evokes fiercely and with skill young male lives unfolding in coastal shadows, battling outside forces with scant regard for their existence. -- John McCullough * Poet * Raw, urgent, lyrical, funny and full of angry power and love. A genuine page turner, stunningly written, with a message both from history and for our time. An essential beach read for kindness, and when thinking about booking your holidays, for any age. I loved these tender, angry, seasalt-on-wounds boys! -- Nicola Chester * Nature Writer and Activist * Raw and lyrical, On the Edge dives into brotherhood, belonging, and a boy's fight to hold on. -- Matthew Tobin * Lecturer in Children's Literature, Oxford Brookes University * On the Edge is a raw, tender story about a boy trying to hold his family together in a seaside town that has been 'left behind'. It showcases the many challenges - seasonal employment, a lack of affordable homes, hollowed-out communities, and a lack of opportunity - that young people living by the coast face. Nicola Garrard writes with heart, humour and defiance, artistically conveying the hidden truths of the English seaside. -- Prof. Sheelah Argawal (On the Edge) had me fixed as soon as I read the first few pages, the story is powerful beyond measure... it just gripped me and held me in its grasp. I recommend it hugely and would say... '"Just buy it!" -- Sue Martin * The Book Monitor website * This is a gorgeously written novel whose characters leap off the page in all their messy, loving complexity. Vividly depicting the consequences of seaside gentrification, neglect, and inequality, it's angry, poetic, funny, and empathetic, and it demands that we see, and that we care. I'll be thinking of these characters for a very long time. -- Sarah Brooks * Author of 'The cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands' * The characters climb off the page and into your heart as you follow their journey about family, belonging and home. A beautifully written novel that will stay with you long after the last page. -- Alison Stockham * Author * Written with such great compassion for her young characters, Nicola Gerrard has the reader surfing atop a wave of hope and familial love. Just beautiful! -- Cauvery Madhavan * Author of 'The Inheritance' * Immersive, haunting, atmospheric. Garrard's storytelling transported me to Devon -- Sarah Harman * Author of 'All the other Mothers hate me' *