Thirty Seconds to Die

by S.G. Holster
Rating: 1/5

So, this book gets a definite thumbs down! This was by far the worst book I've come across in many years. If not for this challenge I would never have read past the first couple chapters.  This is a self published book and it's obvious why. No publisher would ever have accepted it. The writing in the book is extremely amateurish and much of the story is a Twilight ripoff, right down to coming very close to plagiarizing lines.

The concept of a story of two reincarnated souls that were in love in a past life finding each other again would make a great, sweet romance, but unfortunately the author has to throw in this whole story line about another group of super powered beings that are out to kill the souls. Why? That's never really explained. Most of it is never explained and what is doesn't make sense. It doesn't seem like the author really thought it all through.
The story drags on and on with many detailed scenes that do nothing to move the story along. The main character Lexi seems to whine about everything and cries every five minutes. Of course the the male main character, Ren, is impossibly good looking and extremely rich and all around "perfect".

I am very glad I only payed a couple bucks for this book on my kindle and I'll be deleting it off there as I will never be reading it again! (and I'm a believer that any book worth reading, is worth reading again!)
-K

*****

Rating: 2/5

Warning: Spoilers-I just can’t help myself!

Let me start by saying the only reason I gave this book a rating of 2 and not 1 is because I liked the idea of the myth it was based off of, and because of that it had potential. That potential just plunged deeper into this books sad abyss the further into it I got. I’m not sure what was going on in the authors head but she clearly has no original ideas for her writing. I know to some extent no idea is truly original, but she could at least try to be a little creative.

Let me tell you what I mean; Picture in your head a combination of the Twilight and Hush, Hush series…got it? Good! Now strip away most of the characters, vamps, wolves and angels. Add Inuit myth of reincarnated souls and voila, there you have it! Some of the scenes were almost exactly what they were in Twilight and it was almost unbearable to read. Not to mention the Sentori attack the Ren and Lexi constantly like the Nephilim do in Hush, Hush. You know, the fight of good vs. evil except no angels.

Here are some examples:

• Strange boy in school staring at Lexi, and of course he’s madly in love with her and is always concerned about her well-being down to every little scratch. He even adds art class at school so he can be with her more.
• Lexi seems to always be blushing uncontrollably, literally throughout the whole book.
• She hurt her hand with a welding torch, and guess who escorted her to the nurse? That’s right Edward, oh sorry I mean Ren.
• You may be wondering if there’s a Jacob to complete the love triangle, well you’re in luck! There’s Brett, who Lexi used to be with in her souls past life, but she really loves Ren. *Wink, Wink*
• Remember that heart wrenching scene in New Moon when Edward tells Bella he’s leaving and leaves her in the forest? Wel,l Ren tells Lexi he’s leaving her at the beach and the puts her in his aunts car. Of course he wasn’t saying goodbye forever but you get the general idea here.
• After moping around until graduation, Lexi goes to London to be with Ren and you’d never guess what’s in his garage. That’s right a row of very classy and expensive cars. Sound familiar?
• This one is so incredibly close to Twilight it actually made me angry when I read it. There’s not a good enough way to explain it so I’ll just quote the excerpt instead.

Quote: “I turned my head to the side. My heartbeat raced at the sight of Ren, whose beautiful face was resting on his arm next to me. The beeping sound became fast and annoying. Ren looked like an angel, my angel. I was still trying to figure out if I were dead or alive. I reached out to touch him, dragging along with me tubes and cords that I fought against to reach farther. Finally, I made it to his face. I brushed my fingers across his cheek, even though I was afraid he’d disappear if I woke him.

               My touch and the accelerated beeping seemed to catch his attention. I watched as his long eyelashes fluttered before revealing his liquid brown eyes. He backed away to look at me, and the smile that always made me feel as though I needed to catch my breath spread across his face. He traced his fingers down my cheek and across my lips.

               “You’re awake,” he whispered, touching his lips to my forehead. I could see tears form in his eyes when he looked at me.

               “I’m so sorry.” My voice was only a whisper, and my throat felt very dry. I wasn’t sure why I said it, but the sad look in his eyes made me feel responsible for the pain. Immediately his look was confused, and he held my hand in his.

               “You don’t have anything to be sorry for.” He shook his head slightly.

               His voice took me back to the sounds of the fighting.

               “What happened? How’d you find me?” Anxiety from the memory rose up from the pit of my stomach.

               Ren pushed a button on the side of the bed, and a nurse opened the door and came rushing in.

Blah, blah, blah….

”I’ll never let this happen again. This was my fault.”

“Stop!” I insisted, putting my fingers to his lips.”

You get the idea. No more comment necessary.

After that he of course sweeps her off to a tiny island off the coast of France that Ren’s family owns half of. Sound a bit like Isle Esme? Just a bit.

One last thing to add, this author relentlessly repeats herself with dialogue. In fact the dialogue is just bad. No one talks that way and if they did I think I would never be able to stop laughing when someone spoke.

I could probably continue but I’m tired of typing and I’ve already wasted enough of my life on this book. Read at your own risk and if you’re a Twilight fan, be warned, you’ll probably just get pissed off.

L-

This book is part of our 50 states reading challenge.
State: Alaska
*This book isn't really set in Alaska but the myth comes from the Inuit's in Alaska, so we're counting it. I think the second one will have more of a setting there.