This is the first book I read of Grainne Murphy. Where the Edge is, is a different book then I usually read. It was good. It starts slow but gets much better in the end. I love books set in Ireland, it is such a beautiful country and the people are amazing. Just like the characters in this book. This book will stay with you for awhile.

This novel is written with infinite care, in the choice of words and images and the modeling of each character. The common denominator among the primary characters is trauma, some of which is the worst imaginable. The event that happens in the present time of the novel is a sudden accident that brings nearly twenty-four hours of torturous waiting to loved ones. This period brings forward an intense reliving of loss by two characters in particular, Tim and Nina, and the doubling of their trauma is very dark indeed. The question of suffering, its meaning, the acceptance of deep change in one's self and others who are affected by even the radiating shock of what has happened...all of these and more are treated by Ms Murphy with great delicacy, imagination, and characterizations that ring true to an exquisite degree. For those interested in metaphors, the "edge" in the title is echoed repeatedly in various examples of delineations in life, some barely noticeable, others catastrophic.

I am afraid I struggled with this book.I didn't find it very interesting,and it didn't hold my attention.The characters didn't resonate with me, and considering the subject matter I thought it lacked tension because I wasn't engaged by it.I am so sorry and hope other readers find it more captivating than I did.

This is a hard book to read, not because of the writing but because of the subject matter. Major themes are grief and loss and how people deal with what is arguably the worst loss of all - the death of a child.

Nina is a journalist and she and Tim had a child Aisling who died around eleven months old. It broke up their marriage and Tim is now with another partner, Deb. Nina has recently returned to work and covers a bus accident which has fallen into a sink hole trapping most of the passengers inside. Retrieving the passengers safely is incredibly difficult after managing to get out two - the bus driver and a Muslim woman, both of whom Nina interviews. Using a crane proves to be fruitless because of its weight and so much time is wasted while trying to find an effective strategy. Tim is with emergency services and now works in a more public relations role rather than at the coal face and so he and Nina need to work together at times during the assignment which leads them to reflect on the death of their daughter and how each has managed their grief.

The story could easily be lifted off the nightly news and so the humanity is expressed through the characters who take turns in telling the story from their own position as part of the bus tragedy. It's well written and structured but for me there seemed to be something missing. I found it hard to really visualise the characters and although the story gripped enough to keep reading, it didn't stay with me when I took a break. Perhaps this was my own doing in subconsciously distancing myself from the gruelling subject matter or perhaps the author intentionally structured it so that some distance was built in because who can bear being immersed in loss and grief?

Ultimately it's a successful story exploring these difficult themes from multiple points of view. But from a personal perspective the subject matter was tough to read in these Covid-19 times.

Interesting take on how people react in tragic circumstances and there were some good parts, I particularly liked the relationship between Orla and Lucy. But all in all, it felt like reading a Grey’s Anatomy episode. I felt manipulated by circumstances but never delved deeper into any individual character.

Sadly I only made it 27% of the way through before admitting defeat....
This isn’t something I ever do if I can help it, as I know that some stories are growers and need a little time to develop.
However, by almost a 1/3 of the way through I had to admit that I had no idea where it was going and I just felt lost and a little bored.
It just wasn’t for me :(

This book by Irish author Grainne Murphy is about a group of bus passengers that crash into a crevice of some sort, which leads to a dramatic rescue mission and an evacuation of nearby school and hospital.

I struggled with this one. The writing style is unique, and as a Canadian I can see how there were certain words or stylistic choices that might have been a struggle for me. I think the writing is still sharp, and Murphy is a great storyteller - I just personally had a hard time buying into this story. It was a bit of a slow drag for me, and I didn’t connect to every character.

I wished I loved this book like others, but it wasn’t for me. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Wow... what an incredible book, thank you so much to NetGalley for giving me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am literally blown away by the writing: the insightfulness, the authors’s ability to stop time, hold space, reflect and prospect almost at the same time, the exquisite way complex and controversial subjects are discussed, normalised and etched into your memory for ever.

This is one of those heart stopping reads that make you stop in your tracks...

I don’t want to say much, if anything of the plot line. You need to read it, be in it, to appreciate the sheer talent of this incredible debut author. Read it slowly, re read sections and take time to digest and feel it’s impact.

I am so very excited as to what he has done here, and to see what else he can offer in the future. Incredible 😮

Well, this is quite a difficult review to write…

First, thank you Ireland for giving us a debut author actually worth reading after we suffered through a couple I won’t name.

An early morning bus accident brings together several people, each in as figuratively a precarious a position in their own lives as the bus literally is: Nina, the journalist; her ex-husband and firefighter, Tim; Richie, the bus driver; Alina, the first passenger rescued; and Lucy, a passenger still on the bus.

This is NOT an action-packed drama. It’s a slow, unravelling drama. The blurb makes it seem like this book revolves around a tense rescue mission to save those still trapped on the bus. It’s not. This is happening in the background, but it is simply the thread tying the other stories together. What the book is actually about is people stuck at a point in their lives and needing to get free before it’s too late – just like the bus.

Some of the issues the characters are facing include bereavement, marriage breakdown, religious intolerance, racism, toxic relationships, and ageing parents. The set-up is a little bit Jodi Picoult, with different voices and an ‘event’ as a backdrop to explore other themes. Maybe too many themes? It was a little bit disjointed at times making the switch from one voice to the next, especially when Nina’s story seemed so much stronger than the rest.

I did like this book and I thought it was exceptionally well-written. There’s so much cliched language filling books today that the imagery in phrases like, ‘he nudged himself along the seat, careful as a full pint glass’ or ‘Kids raised on McDonald’s and the absence of a slap’ really stood out and made a change.

Now for a little bit of nit-picking:

I really liked the character of Lucy. However, she didn’t appear in the first section so by the time we got to her the bus passengers already seemed like background and we didn’t really care enough if they were rescued or not. I wish we could have had more of Lucy, especially at the beginning, or even the opposite: keep the passengers anonymous and the crash more of a setting-the-scene device. It felt strange that I was suddenly supposed to care about them halfway through the book.

Following on from ‘I wish there had been more Lucy’, I think perhaps five voices were too many. I don’t think Tim was necessary as a separate voice from Nina, given that their story was shared. On the other hand, and this really bothered me, when I read a book with five voices, I expect all fives voices in each section! As I already mentioned, I felt like Lucy was introduced too late and Richie’s story felt unfinished as he didn’t appear in the last section. Personally, I think the book would have worked well with just Nina and Lucy exploring the themes of mothers and daughters.

Finally, why do Nina’s sections randomly have parts in the second person? It was very distracting! And in Lucy’s first section, the POV seems to be overtaken by Paul for a while, which was confusing.

As I said, this was quite a hard review to write. I did really like this book, especially the writing – and I read it in twenty-four hours! – but I did have a few grumbles. However, I’m feeling optimistic about Gráinne Murphy and look forward to what she’ll do next, so four stars!

Thank you #NetGalley for this ARC of #WhereTheEdgeIs

Although this book explored the lives of each character involved in great depth, I did not find these individual stories to be particularly engaging. For a story which hinges on the tension around whether the bus passengers will survive their ordeal, very little attention was given to their fates or what they actually experienced, and more of the focus seemed to be on the personal histories of people barely involved. Almost all of the storytelling regarding the accident itself was through the eyes of observers, with updates from TV reports rather than telling what was actually going on. It was jarring to constantly be switching between the characters' own histories and the current day story with only tenuous links.

Where the Edge Is by Gráinne Murphy is a touching story of hope and releasing what isn’t meant to be.

A bus is swallowed into a sinkhole in a small Irish village with rescue efforts underway. The narrative changes perspective with each character and ties past and present together. This was poignant and character driven storytelling at its best, though at times I was challenged by the nonlinear timelines within each chapter.

Advanced copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Packs an emotional punch from all angles.
A small village,and a disaster that impacts all involved.
Beautiful writing,it left me a little emotional at times.