Beautifully written book. This is a heavy story but it is told with such care that it’s easy to get through. I wish at some times there had been a bit more detail about the accident and other moments throughout the story, but overall it was a good read. The characters were well developed.

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Where the edge is
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Gráinne Murphy
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When a road subsides to leave a bus and passengers trapped beneath, Gráinne Murphy takes the reader on a journey to tell the story of how one random event can cause not only the physical, but the metaphorical crumbling of foundations beneath the surface of the characters involved.
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The novel explores themes of trauma, faith, strength and resilience, and identity. It explores how shared fear and trauma can unite and divide, and can bring to the surface old wounds that have not fully healed.
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Murphy creates a character focussed novel...portraying honest, believable, flawed but endearing characters. Taking it in turn to tell the story from the perspective of five different individuals, sometimes with overlapping chronologies, Murphy elegantly reflects the same sequence of events or conversations from alternate viewpoints.
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I did feel that there was not a strong enough voice from those trapped within the bus, or their families, which in my opinion should have taken on a far bigger aspect of the novel. The opportunity here was missed to build a greater level of suspense, fear and anticipation in the reader, with Lucy’s narrative (representative of this group of individuals) included only from part 2 onwards and the choice of storyline creating an alternate focal point.
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I could draw parallels with this, and After the End by Clare Mackintosh...if you enjoyed After the End I would strongly recommend this novel.
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I would like to thank @Legendpress and @Netgalley for providing me with this e-book in exchange for an honest review, and congratulate Gráinne Murphy on a wonderful debut novel.
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I found Where The Edge Is a very moving book. Ostensibly it tells of a serious bus accident when it falls into a sinkhole and its aftermath but it is also a story of relationships, loss, redemption and grief. The writing is beautiful.

The story is told from the point of view of passengers, their families, rescuers and the media, and they are well characterised. A great read and highly recommended. Many thanks to NetGalley and Legend Press for the opportunity to read and review Where The Edge Is.

Thank you to NetGalley and Legend Press for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This story is about the rescue of the passengers that are on board a bus that has been in an accident. It also tells the story of the on scene reporter and her ex husband. There is a lot of sadness in this book and I did find it to took me until about half way through to get into it but was glad that I did.

3.5 stars 🌟

#netgalley #legendpress #wheretheedgeis

This is certainly a well-written, intelligent and insightful novel about a bus accident in rural Ireland and its aftermath, and an enjoyable and entertaining read, but I didn’t feel it amounted to much more than that in spite of the exaggerated claims that have been made for it. The accident itself is well-handled but it’s the aftermath that is the core of the book and Murphy approaches this with compassion and understanding. However I didn’t feel that she brought anything new to the table and for that reason I found the book disappointing overall. One of the survivors is Muslim so inevitably there are conspiracy theories, rumours and murmurings about terrorism. The road collapses thus causing the accident and predictably there are murmurings about corruption and inadequate planning controls. Politicians are wheeled out to murmur the usual platitudes then scurry away again. The media behaves with its usual lack of conscience. “Lessons will be learnt” is the inevitable cry. So far so good, but not so new. I think it would have been better to concentrate on fewer characters as Murphy spreads her net wide making for a fractured narrative and leaving no time to really get to know or identify with any single person. However, I did enjoy it on the whole and it mostly kept me engaged, so that’s a big plus.

This was a great premise for a story, like none other that I have read. We have a city bus with 8 passengers aboard when it falls into a sinkhole. A couple escape and there are 6 left. Each chapter depicts the lives of the news reporter, her ex-husband (fire department liaison) and several of the passengers.
It was interesting to get to know and listen to everyone’s story. Hearing from a news reporter’s view, then the rescue teams view, a survivor and then the family members. I thought the author did a great job of representing them all. Some I liked, some I didn’t. My only con is that I wish she would have given a bit more detail in the actual accident and more detail in the rescue. Other than that, this is a heartfelt tale covering multiple emotional situations of loss, love, forgiveness and especially hope. I enjoyed it.
I want to thank Legend Press and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book for my honest unbiased opinion. This is a 5-star review. Highly recommend.

I was trying to get interested in the descriptions and details. I liked the characters and feel of the book. Very heart warming

Well, this was a book with a difference and a refreshing read that I really enjoyed. Totally unexpected in so much as the different emotions it stirred in me. This is a brilliant plot and if you like a book to kick off with a bang this is one for you. The pace is then fast all the way to the end. I read this in one enjoyable sitting.

As a sleepy town in rural Ireland starts to wake, a road subsides, trapping an early-morning bus and five passengers inside. Rescue teams struggle and as two are eventually saved, the bus falls deeper into the hole.

Under the watchful eyes of the media, the lives of three people are teetering on the edge. And for those on the outside, from Nina, the reporter covering the story, to rescue liaison, Tim, and Richie, the driver pulled from the wreckage, each are made to look at themselves under the glare of the spotlight.

Do you save yourself before others? A split-second decision opens up one heck of a can of worms in this story.

Imagine, you are trapped in a bus that has sunk into the ground as the road gives way on a perfectly normal day. Horrendous. This book really portrays how the media can influence and misdirect public opinion. Everybody seems to have their view on this disaster and those involved.

We here from many voices. The most harrowing being the voices of those trapped in the bus. Oh my. I could really feel the terror and there are some very moving parts in the book that will no doubt touch your heart. It's both a novel with excitement, pace tightly intertwined with characters with flaws, emotions and both hope and grief.

A really great read, highly recommended if you love a page-turner!

Where the Edge is by Grainne Murphy

The book, a debut novel, tells the story of a terrible accident in a rural village in Ireland, in which an early morning bus drops into a sinkhole. The main character, is Nina, a reporter, who is recovering from her own tragedy, the death of her little girl, Aisling, and its aftermath, including the breakup of her marriage to Tim, a firefighter.
The novel focuses on key characters, who have been affected by the accident, including the driver, Richie and Alina, a Lebanese woman, who is suspected of being involved in an act of terrorism.
It is a compelling read, but takes its own time, as it slowly explores how we are all affected by trauma and loss and how we all have our sad stories.
Certainly, it is not an easy read, and ultimately there are not neat happy endings, but there is still a sense of hope, and the belief that we can survive terrible tragedies and loss.

An incredible debut novel an author I will be recommending raving about..A bus accident three people bare trapped.We are told the story through different passengers perspectives.We learn about the passengers life.A tense story that kept me turning the pages late into the night,#netgalley#legend

What a wonderful debut novel! Truly great things are to come from Grainne Murphy!
I truly was not expecting the depth this book provided; I expected a tense, suspenseful thriller, but I got so much more.
Where The Edge Is begins with an early morning bus crash in Ireland; the passengers on the bus, and in truth the people responding to the crash as well, are all literally suspended in a perilous moment.
Nina is a journalist who has just returned to work after a period of time off grieving for a lost child. Her ex-husband, Tim, is also covering this disaster event and their story is compelling and complex. It all unravels slowly, drawing us in bit by bit.
We also meet the passengers on the bus, Lucy, for example. The bus driver and Alina, the first passenger rescued have their own stories, and the common thread with all of these is so intricately woven by Murphy -- each of these people truly and literally discovering "where the edge is" in their own lives.
Don't miss this one!

This was a good story but it needed better editing. Very good writing for debut author but she needs a better editor. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

This book wasn't quite what I expected. It appeared to be an interesting story about a bus that disappears down a sinkhole, with people trapped inside. Two escape immediately, the rest are still trapped.

The story doesn't touch on this much however, instead focusing on the main characters of a female journalist and her ex, a fireman, both who are present at the scene. They've experienced misfortune and sorrow in their lives - their only child dies as a baby - and the focus of the book is around their grief surrounding this event.

I managed to get 60% through before deciding that I wasn't really invested in any of the characters, on or off the bus , and couldn't really care what happened.- so I gave up on it and stopped reading.

If this book appeals to you because of the story about a bus ending up in a sinkhole, be aware that that plays a very minor role in this story.

If you like books examining the grief of others in detail, then this might be a good book for you.

Where the Edge Is has so much of what I’m looking for in a story. The time sensitivity of the bus crash and those trapped inside keep you anticipating what will happen next. As you go through the story you get to go in depth into the lives of the characters you meet and how they intertwine with each other.

It had such a deep message of loss and how we move on from great tragedy in life. I also loved the character brought to these individuals through some of the dialect that would be used in Ireland. Grainne Murphy is a wonderful writer and I would read more from her.

This book told the story of a bus crash over just a few days, and I enjoyed how each chapter was written from the perspective of a different person involved in the tragedy. This kept me interested as I kept wanting to get back to that same character a bit further along the story. Well written and enjoyable.

Where the Edge Is is a moving study of grief, centred around journalist Nina and her estranged husband Tim, who lost their baby daughter Aisling a few years before the start of the book. Nina and Tim are thrown back together when an early morning bus is swallowed by a collapsing road and the rescue attempt for the driver and passenger begins.

The book was well written, but I was far more interested in the bus occupants, particularly Lucy and Orla, than in Nina and Tim. The grief storyline was just too overwhelmingly sad for me, I think I need a bit more hope and/or action in these quarantine times.

A recommended read for fans of Jodi Picoult and tough emotional writing.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

I was excited about this book. I LOVED the cover, the setting, the alternating perspectives, but I just couldn’t get into it.

Get ready for a brand new public transport related anxiety: sinkholes!

I have a thing for these multiple-perspectives-during-a-disaster type books, and this one didn’t disappoint on that part. After a bus collapses into the road, we get an insight into the lives of five characters directly impacted by the crash — three victims, one emergency services staff and one news reporter. Each character background/storyline is just as interesting as the next, but there was one character that I was way more interested in reading about that I just felt didn’t get as much attention...

With themes of grief, tragedy and racism, the emotion in this book hits hard whilst avoiding high drama — when reading books like this I much prefer the plot to be realistic rather than overly dramatic just for the sake of it. The realistic dialogue also really adds to the overall readability.

If you have read and enjoyed A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult, or Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton, then you might enjoy this one too!

This is a story of grief, loss and the complexities of being human.
It’s early morning in rural Ireland when a bus tumbles into a collapsing road trapping five members inside. As rescuers struggle to save their lives and a successful recovery becomes grim, each character is forced to deal with their own personal tragedies.
I had expected this novel to be about the tense scenario caused by the accident, however, through Grainne Murphy’s beautiful prose this becomes an insightful and often emotional read. It becomes so much more than the rescue efforts and the media attention outside of the bus. It is about what happens within each character, the life they live, the decisions they have made and the way they cope. This is a very well constructed, wonderful read.
My thanks to NetGalley and Legends Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This had the potential to be 5 stars but the characters were all over the place after a bus accident. It tells about why each character was on the bus leading up to the accident and then each of their stories in the aftermath of a terrible accident. Some of it was good and some of it was predictable. I really wanted to enjoy this more than I did especially when the premise was so good and the awesome cover. I am a sucker for interesting covers.

Still recommended.

Thanks to NEtgalley, Grainne Murphy and Legend Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 9/15/20