On the Edge of Gone

Corinne Duyvis

Mar 2016 · Abrams

About this ebook

A thrilling, thought-provoking novel from one of young-adult literature’s boldest new talents.
January 29, 2035. That’s the day the comet is scheduled to hit—the big one. Denise and her mother and sister, Iris, have been assigned to a temporary shelter outside their hometown of Amsterdam to wait out the blast, but Iris is nowhere to be found, and at the rate Denise’s drug-addicted mother is going, they’ll never reach the shelter in time. A last-minute meeting leads them to something better than a temporary shelter—a generation ship, scheduled to leave Earth behind to colonize new worlds after the comet hits. But everyone on the ship has been chosen because of their usefulness. Denise is autistic and fears that she’ll never be allowed to stay. Can she obtain a spot before the ship takes flight? What about her mother and sister? When the future of the human race is at stake, whose lives matter most?

Ratings and reviews

2.5 Stars. Found the protagonist frustrating. She jumps to conclusions, makes speculations, over thinks every situation, and makes pointless assumptions. Its a 400 page book, but seems as if less than 75 pages of it are meaningful dialogue. I liked how it starts, and I liked how it ended. However, reading this book felt like a laborious task. I have not felt this way about a novel since I was back in high school.

I could not put this book down (or rather, with the digital copy, I couldn't close my browser)! It's a fast-paced, intriguing story with complex, delightfully believable characters. Corinne Duyvis handles intersections of race, ability, and what it means to be human with grace, sophistication, and good humor. Sixteen year old Denise's distinct voice would be enough to drive the story on its own, but the incredible end-of-the-world setting is thought-provoking and riveting -- the perfect dynamic backdrop to balance the introspection of the main character. I want more! I will definitely be checking out Duyvis' other work.

A powerful and moving story about an autistic protagonist in a world devastated by a cometary impact. It's not a boys own action thriller, but a deeper story about the human condition. The only thing I couldn't suspend disbelief over is the generation ship, which comes across as a sort of magical realism plot device rather than a believable spaceship (which is fine too). Other than that, this is one of the best written books I've read in a long time.

About the author

Corinne Duyvis is the critically acclaimed author of the YA sci-fi/fantasy novels Otherbound, which Kirkus called “a stunning debut;” On the Edge of Gone, which Publishers Weekly called “a riveting apocalyptic thriller with substantial depth;” and The Art of Saving the World, which Kirkus called “impossible to put down.” She is also the author of the original Marvel prose novel Guardians of the Galaxy: Collect Them All. Corinne hails from the Netherlands. She’s a co-founder and editor of Disability in Kidlit as well as the originator of the #ownvoices hashtag.