Review: "The Edge of Forever" by Meghan P. Browne

The Edge of Forever by Meghan P. Browne
Published May 2026 via Feiwel & Friends
★★★★

Maisie had plans for the summer, and they didn't include being dropped with her aunt for the summer while her mother pulls their lives back together. But it's been a hard few years, and Maisie doesn't have a choice—and so she finds herself in Heaven, Texas, where the rules are a bit different than she's used to in the city.

There are a number of interlaced plotlines here: Maisie's family situation and her feelings about being away from her mother for the summer (and what she learns as the story goes on); Maisie's love for the library and books; her budding friendship with a local boy; some bits about his family; a plan she uncovers to turn a rural gem into an overpriced hotspot; adjusting to rural life; her aunt's background in the entertainment industry; and on it goes. Most of it intersects one way or another, even if it doesn't all tie in directly.

Maisie as a character is great—she has a lot going on upstairs, even if she doesn't let it all out (...most of the time). She's curious about the world around her, and although she's still a kid and doesn't always see things with the perspective that she might see when she's older, she has her head screwed on right. I wouldn't have minded seeing her spend a little more time with kids her age (there's Walt, but that's it), and also for that matter more about her aunt Gertie; we eventually learn some about Gertie's past, but Maisie is able to quietly slot into Gertie's life without much friction or information. (Perhaps along these lines, I might have preferred one fewer plotline, to give the others a bit more space.)

But I love this kind of relatively quiet story, with kids figuring it out and safely stretching the bounds of their independence. I can see this one having wide appeal.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.