Two Halves, One Brian

Book Stats

• Series: Book 1 of The Edge of Darkness trilogy
• Publication Date: 07/31/25 (audiobook)
• Format: audiobook
• Narrators: Teddy Hamilton; Lucy Rivers; Shane East; JF Harding; Michelle Sparks; Zara Hampton-Brown; Roxelana Waters
• Chapters:
• Length: 10 hours & 12 minutes
• Narrator POV: 1st Person POV, alternating between the MMC (Kade) and FMC (Stacey)

Book Rating

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

Summary & Review

Okay, well this cast of narrators should be more than enough to convince you to listen to this book. But if for some reason it’s not? The story is fan-fucking-tastic.

Please, please, PLEASE be mindful of the content and trigger warnings. This story is dark with a lot of intense topics and themes. If the warnings aren’t a concern of yours, then please dive right in. This story is difficult, beautiful, tense, anger-inducing, and so much more. It’s unlike anything I’ve read before and cannot ever be compared to another story.

There are a few negative reviews I saw but just ignore them. They must be miserable humans, honestly. This book is art. Dark, difficult-to-stomach art.

So, this story follows Kade and Stacey. Right from the start, we get current and past glimpses of their relationship. In the past, they’re innocent and sweet and discovering themselves. In the present, they are enemies. Something clearly happened to destroy their past, innocent relationship and we NEED to know why. Leigh Rivers has the talent to write a story that just pulls you in immediately and refuses to let you go until you’ve suffered thoroughly and completely.

Man, when Leigh Rivers wants you to love a character, despite how flawed and unredeemable they seem? You love them. And when she wants you to hate them with such a burning passion that you can’t move on until they’ve suffered sufficiently and met the most tragic of ends? Well, you hate them. Her words are magic. Truly powerful and all-encompassing. I initially listened to these books months ago, but I never really moved on. I love when an author’s work sticks with you, in the best and worst of ways. I love when they have such an intense impact. 🖤

And her cast of narrators? I mean, I don’t actually know if she had a say or hand-picked them or anything, really, but they were perfect. All of them were exactly what they needed to be for their roles. They didn’t just bring their characters to life – oh no. They became them. If you think I’m exaggerating, listen to the book. Seriously, they WERE the characters while they performed this book for us. It’s such a wonderful experience that I couldn’t imagine having read this book for the first time without experiencing the powerful narration.

Okay, let me just add real quick that there isn’t a single, poorly written character. The ones we love and the ones we hate? They’re all written so perfectly. You know exactly how the author wanted you to feel and you understand it, deep in your bones.

Clearly, I loved this book, based on my raving above. But it’s so well-deserved! I love, love, LOVE this book. The writing and the cast of narrators? It’s absolute perfection. Though, keep in mind that you won’t leave this book feeling happy or satisfied. Oh no, it’ll destroy you, but in a way that makes you immediately want to come back for more and continue the story in book 2.

Another thing to keep in mind – this book is spicy. The plot is wonderful and the smut doesn’t take over the story, but it’s definitely still there. I kept going back and forth between 3 and 4 peppers, but ultimately settled on 4. 🔥