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Existence #1

Existence

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What happens when you're stalked by Death? You fall in love with him, of course.

Pagan Moore doesn't cheat Death, but instead, falls in love with him.

Seventeen year old Pagan Moore has seen souls her entire life. Once she realized the strangers she often saw walking through walls were not visible to anyone else, she started ignoring them. If she didn't let them know she could see them, then they left her alone. Until she stepped out of her car the first day of school and saw an incredibly sexy guy lounging on a picnic table, watching her with an amused smirk on his face. Problem is, she knows he's dead.

Not only does he not go away when she ignores him, but he does something none of the others have ever done. He speaks. Pagan is fascinated by the soul. What she doesn't realize is that her appointed time to die is drawing near and the wickedly beautiful soul she is falling in love with is not a soul at all.

He is Death and he's about to break all the rules.

202 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 4, 2004

1130 people are currently reading
53277 people want to read

About the author

Abbi Glines

114 books86.4k followers
Abbi Glines is a #1 New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Rosemary Beach, Smoke, Sea Breeze, Vincent Boys, Field Party and Existence series. She never cooks unless baking during the Christmas holiday counts. She believes in ghosts and has a habit of asking people if their house is haunted before she goes in it. She drinks afternoon tea because she wants to be British but she now lives in New England and that's as close as it is going to get. When asked how many books she has written she has to stop and count on her fingers. When she’s not locked away writing, she is reading, watching Netflix and all the introverted stuff.
You can connect with Abbi online in several different ways. She uses social media to procrastinate.

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5 stars
23,736 (37%)
4 stars
19,352 (30%)
3 stars
12,615 (20%)
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1 star
2,306 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,719 reviews
96 reviews494 followers
October 26, 2012
I'm done, I'm done, I'm done. I refuse to continue this torture. I refuse.

EXISTENCE is over three-hundred pages of lust romance that came out of nowhere, countless sentences describing how Pagan's heart has been "broken beyond repair", a douchebag love interest, and so many grammatical and constructional mistakes I wondered how this even got published.

Dear characters in EXISTENCE,
Profile Image for Jessica's Totally Over The Top Book Obsession.
1,223 reviews3,675 followers
July 29, 2018
4 It is appointed Stars



I was in the mood for a YA. Something like my beloved Twilight or VA, so when I seen this series on the Audible romance package I thought why not. I have to say that I really enjoyed Existence. The only thing I didn't like about it was the fact that Pagan had a boyfriend that wasn't the hero the whole book. That is why I took off one star from my rating. I loved the plot of Pagan being able to see dead souls. I really liked Dank I did however hate his name. Leif on the other hand was too good to be true. For some reason he rubbed me the wrong way and I don't like or trust him. I liked the budding love between Dank and Pagan. I will say I wish they would have been together more although I understand why they couldn't be. Overall a really good read it ends on a cliffy so I am off to book 2.
Profile Image for Jennifer Kyle.
2,597 reviews5,390 followers
September 1, 2015
4.5 ”It is appointed.” Stars

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Being an Abbi Glines fan, I realized that I have read all her books but this series. Who isn’t interested in seeing what Abbi can do with a paranormal storyline? Going in, I thought I was getting another gorgeous teen girl in cut off shorts and tiny tops with a bunch of issues falling for some sort of para entity, but Abbi Glines surprised me!

Pagan Moore is a great heroine, nothing like the heroines in her other books and the storyline while based in her senior year of high school was totally not predictable!

description

Pagan can see lost souls bumping around our world but she can't talk to them. She doesn’t cross them over, she just pretends she doesn’t see anything because there’s nothing for her to do for them. Until the day that a hot guy soul actually speaks to her and the Harbor High’s star quarterback asks for her help with his speech class.

Pagan finds herself drawn to Dank Walker and things get even crazier when he makes his presence known at school and it turns out he’s a rock star??

”I can’t tell you what I am. I’ve broken enough rules already.”

There’s action and the good type of drama as Pagan struggles with her feelings for Dank and her safe relationship with sweet Leif.

”Why couldn’t I love him instead?”

What a dilmena! The story does end with an AWESOME cliffhanger and so this reader is onto the next book with great anticipation as to what is to come for this well constructed love triangle of SOULS!!

”I’m not a man so I do not have a heart that loves as a human does. I’m an immortal god that dwells with supreme power because I hold the keys to death. But you are my existence. I am yours.”

I’m so glad I gave this book a go because friends ratings are everywhere from one star to five star reviews. The ending has me ignoring today's new releases and jumping right into book two!
Profile Image for Kandise.
178 reviews57 followers
November 20, 2012
I’m completely dumbfounded that this book has so far rated at an average of 4.01 stars…

Pagan is a selfish and mentally unstable bitch. I wanted to slap her, slap the holy living shit right out of her face.

So she sees souls and it has been like that since she was a wee babe, but they don’t usually speak to her except for the gorgeous guy with awesome blue eyes and black dreamy hair. Yeah, he talks to her and he sings for her and she is already feeling this kid, like yeah but she knows that even though she is attracted to him, that she can’t ever really be with him because he isn’t real, so she does the sane thing and gets a boyfriend, Leif.

Then Dank (what the hell kind of name is that anyway?) manifests into a real life boy! Hence the beginning of shameless Pagan; she stares at him, she steals quick glances across the lunchroom and she has the nerve to get mad that he is chatting up the high school floozy…all while her BOYFRIEND is sitting right next to her with his hands on her hips! She doesn’t even care! And to top it off, she only gives a fleeting thought to whether or not she should break up with him! Why? Oh because he was “normal”…so she just strings him along.

Ok, so let me part with this piece of sage advice: Just because you admit you’re being a bitch doesn’t make it right..or make you less of a bitch. You are still a bitch. You are still a raging bitch. Got it? Ok, let's move on.

Then the pièce de résistance! She gets herself admitted into a mental hospital! Yes! A MENTAL HOSPITAL! Because SHE LOVES DANK TOO MUCH and she can’t have him and now he is ignoring her after their makeout session, which by the way happened at prom when she was there with LEIF, then she had the balls to make her date drive her home and let him believe it was his fault she was in such a pissy mood…with pouty face and all. Bitch. Oh and the hole, that grand canyon sized hole on her heart is just so immense, she just can’t take being without Dank, she can’t eat or breath and life needs to just end (boo hoo!) and yet she still doesn’t end it with Leif. That's right, she lets him come and visit her at the institution, she even holds his hand and nuzzles her nose in his neck knowing damn well that she doesn’t feel anything for him. Effing Bitch.

Ooo Ooo, best part? When the Psychiatrist tells her that she doesn’t belong at the institution because she is normal and healthy…What?! She belonged in that institution dummy! Sitting right next to that Southern country bumpkin stereotype!

Oh but wait though, she then has the audacity to try and kill herself for Dank! You may now begin to wonder if she even gave a second thought to the other people in her life. Let me save you the effort, NO, she didn’t. Dank is all she cared about, she was going to just disappear off the face of the Earth for a guy that she had known for roughly, ehhh 2 minutes?

Are you feeling the warm and fuzzies yet?

Cause if you didn’t already, the ending will get ya and I’m not talking about the “twist”. I’m talking about the bitch tearing out of the school without a second glance to her boyfriend while she makes out with another dude 2 feet away from the school entrance without any shame…just shameless.

And was that “twist” supposed to make me feel better about how she treated Leif? Cause it didn’t.

Bottom line: It was just too much over the top drama. That most definitely wasn’t love; it was a chemical imbalance that requires medication. Pagan you need medication.

But I'm going to read the second installment, cause I want to know what's up with my man. I don't know why exactly seeing as my WTS was in full effect and I was at a level 9 with the ERS, but I want to know what Leif does to make her life shitty, because I wont hold it against him.
Profile Image for Marina.
447 reviews469 followers
January 13, 2013
“It’s pretty impossible to hurt what Death
protects.”



Meet Dank "Death" Walker.





So what do you do when Death is stalking you?
(If only Death would look like that..)
*snaps back to reality*

This a supernatural story of romance between a girl that has spent her whole life seeing spirits, and the Death God that saves her from an accident that should have been fatal. How does a 17-year-old girl safeguard her sanity when everything screams for her to let go of reality? How does a man keep his distance from the only soul that calls to him incessantly?And how do they survive the forces that drag them apart when their love demands them together?


“You tempt me. I can’t be tempted. I’m not made to be tempted but you, Pagan Moore, you tempt me. From the moment I came for you I was drawn in. Everything about you…” One of his hands left my waist and moved up to gently caress my arm. “You make me crazy with
need. With want. I didn’t understand it at first. But now I know. It’s your soul calling to me. Souls mean nothing to me. They aren’t supposed to. But yours has become my obsession.”

*****

“I love you,” I said, causing his face to contort in pain.
“I’m not a man so I do not have a heart that loves as a human does. I’m an immortal god that dwells with supreme power because I hold the keys to Death. But you are my existence. I am yours.”
Profile Image for Kim.
759 reviews1,885 followers
May 15, 2012
Well I can't say nobody warned me.

For some reason, the relationship building thing was skipped completely, twice even.

Leif: I'm hot, I've never payed attention to you, but I think you are hot as well. I am confessing all my secrets and my undying love for you, out of the blue, and I never told you because I'm the most popular kid in school and I'm afraid to be shot down by you, but screw that now and let me dazzle the pants off of you. Let's hook up.

Pagan: Errr... OK. Swoooooon. -tries to ignore the hot dead rock star who comes into her room every night-

Dank: (what kind of a name is Dank anyway?) Hey there. I am going to just sit here with my guitar, eyefucking you while looking like the, well, rock star I am. I fell in love with you the minute I laid eyes on you, risked my entire existence for you, did I mention you look ridiculously hot in pale pink, broke all the rules, and spend the rest of my immortal life wanting what I can't have.

Pagan: Errr... OK. Swoo-hooo-hoooooon -cries in her boyfriend's arms because she can't have Dank-

Kim: ZZZZzzzzz....
Profile Image for Kelly Martin.
114 reviews18 followers
February 22, 2015
First, for lack of a better phrase, Dank is hotness incarnate. This is quite possibly the hottest, sexiest, steamiest YA book boyfriend I've ever read.

Second, Dank? I literally smacked myself in the forehead with my Kindle when I realized oh, that's not a typo, THAT'S HIS NAME. To each his own, I guess.

You know how they say don't judge a book by it's cover? With this one, go ahead, it's ok. It's what originally drew me to the book, so kudos to whoever's responsible for that little gift of gorgeous. I'm not surprised to find out it's probably the same duo that graces the cover of Jennifer Armentrout's Lux series, who have caused quite the stir. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, whoever started this list That Girl and Hot Guy from the Obsidian Cover <3

The story was different, interesting, well thought out and not quite what I expected, but the end somewhat confusing. Is this part of a series? Because it seemed a bit cliffhangerish at the end and I would have been REALLY confused had I not read the little prequel from Death's PoV.

***Do yourself a favor and seriously, stop reading if you haven't finished the book, because this is going to get hard core spoilery and take it from someone who always reads the last paqe first, you'll want to be surprised.***



It kept my interest enough that I stayed up all night to finish, and I only spent a fraction of that time gazing stupidly at the pretty cover.

***Edit: they now have it listed as part of a Trilogy, which explains soooo much~! Also, hell yeah, I can't wait for book 2.
Profile Image for Shauna.
112 reviews94 followers
December 22, 2011
Girl meets stalker.
*Insert a couple of angry exchanges here*
Stalker stops coming round like he used to.
Girl misses stalker.

This is the part where something big and *cough* unexpected *cough* happens.. oh say, a near-death experience where stalker steps in and saves the day.

Stalker takes this time to insinuate himself into girl's Pagan's life; his name we now learn is Dank. Yes, that's right, Dank.
Sexy.

Stalker Dank is a popular fellow. He seemingly enjoys the attention of the queen bitch of Pagan's school, all the while outwardly ignoring her but tossing an occasional enigmatic offering to the poor confused girl.

The plot thickens. Dank claims he's not what Pagan thinks he is. He tells her to run away, far, far away from him. And her response?
“I don’t care what you are,” I said, taking a step toward him. “You can’t scare me off and I’m not running away.
Hmmm…that sounded strangely familiar...

There was even the obligatory preppy love-struck puppy who the girl is determined to be with because he's so real and he makes her feel so safe.

Not once did I feel like I was engaging with the characters of this book. Dank, at the very least, should have been engaging. He's death!
I have loved the idea of personifying death ever since I read The Book Thief and I was really looking forward to this book, but it just fell flat.
As for the romance between him and Pagan…stalking a girl, flashing hot and cold with her, dropping mysterious comments while warning her off of you is a recipe for romance I could really do with seeing less of. Looking back, they can't have exchanged more than a few sentences but there you have it, insta-love. *sigh*

I'm giving this book two stars, mainly because I try to reserve the one star rating for books that I actively dislike but, like I said, I was really looking forward to this book and.. it was a disappointment to say the least.
Profile Image for Sarah Elizabeth.
5,002 reviews1,398 followers
February 16, 2016
Downloaded for free from Amazon.co.uk

This was a really good paranormal romance, and I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did. I thought Dank and Pagan were really hot together, and I was surprised by the mini cliff-hanger ending we got.



8 out of 10
Profile Image for Tarra.
185 reviews25 followers
November 20, 2012
Negative stars. Will a fart suffice?

I'm calling it: BULLSHIT.

4.01 stars???

Pfft.

This book was awful. Completely awful.

The writing sounded like a tween took a part of a dream that lasted three minutes and tried to spin it into a book. Then some really awful publisher, the kind that secretly hates literacy, published it in its unedited, repetitious glory.

Also the book mostly only uses two sassytime adjectives: growl and shiver. As in, "He growled" and "I shivered". No, lie. I wouldn't lie to you like that.

Lets start with our protagonist Pagan because really no one else matters:

She is the worst kind of selfish bitch. The story begins with her being judgmental to the hot kid because well, he's hot, duh. He then melts her super mature exterior and she starts to date him. Then, then, watch closely now, she proceeds to squat over his super hot self and rain the worst kind of super-D-duper, molten lava, shit all over him for the remainder of the book.

She is manipulative. She is a liar. She is so shallow she's basically non existent. She has the typical YA disease of the Me-Me's. Exhibit A: While she was exhibiting profoundly annoying behavior, from pages 15 to 162, she would say things like "I feel bad" but she really fucking did not because she just kept on keeping on. Exhibit B: Everything in her world was "Me". " I can't live without him!!", " My heart has a hole in it", "I don't care who I hurt to get/keep him!", "I don't love this kid that loves me, treats me so well, takes on guilt because he thinks he's causing my shitty behavior when he's not but I'm going to use him for comfort" And that my friends was the worst one. Exhibit C: She does something she thinks is soooooooooo romantically "sacrificial" but it's really just her not being to wrap her immature mind around anything past the space that is two inches in front of her nose. Disgusting.

Leif: What was the point of Leif? Was it just so Abbikins could stretch this wretch of material not fit to wipe my ass into three or more books? Because that's what I'm smelling. You don't get to write a lovely character such as Leif, make him the punching bag all book long and then dum-dum-dum leave a "cliffhanger" that's supposed to, what, excuse Pagans shit-tastic behavior?? No sell. No goddamn sell, That girl was straight up asshole and you know it.

Dank: WHAT? For starters what in Sam Hill is a Dank? It sounds like it smells wet. I.e.: The rain sure is bringing out a dank smell. See? It doesn't sound like it smells good.

What was the point of that part close to the end? You know what I'm talking about, Peggy Ann. Oh, you know. Was it so the author could reinforce that we were in fact supposed to like the protagonist? We were supposed to remember the qualities about her that we long since forgot when she went super C-U-Next-Tuesday? Again, no sell.

All in All: Boo. Super Boo. The writing was awful and Pagan ruined everything.

P.S. People who live on farms have freckles, buck teeth, speak unintelligently and have stringy hair. #Truth. I was unaware that that was widely known but as they say: you learn something new everyday.
Profile Image for Ꮗ€♫◗☿ ❤️ ilikebooksbest.com ❤️.
2,832 reviews2,624 followers
October 26, 2021
Pagan and Dank? Where do authors get these names?



The following ratings are out of 5:
Narration: 🎙🎙
Romance: 💋💋💋💋💋
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📙📕📗📘
World building: 🌎🌏🌍🌎
Character development: 👨🏻👱🏻‍♀️🧔🏻👩🏻

The heroine: Pagan - she sees ghosts though she doesn’t acknowledge them since they can’t talk to her. However, when she sees a handsome ghost outside her school and he talks to her, she doesn’t know what to think.

The Hero(es): Dank - he is Death, not a ghost. He isn’t surprised that she can see him but he is surprised that she sees other souls. He is fascinated by Pagan and inserts himself into her life. He breaks a rule for her.

The Story: Dank sometimes appears as a ghost to Pagan and sometimes appears as a real person, a rock star who starts attending her school. Pagan, thinking Dank is just a ghost, falls for and begins dating a guy named Leif, the football star at her school.

The story is original and interesting though I really disliked the narration. The narrator Ashley Litz has a fine voice for the heroine, Pagan and even when she does the guys voices it is pleasant, but her voices for other girls actually hurt my ears. They were high and extremely screeching, absolutely grating.

Though now that I am invested in the story, I plan to listen to the next book. I am just hoping there aren’t as many supporting characters that are girls.

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Profile Image for Stacia (the 2010 club).
1,045 reviews4,099 followers
April 24, 2012
Review Revision 04/12 to add alternate PoV (Dank). GR is not showing a listing for the alternate, so I'm adding it to this review because the story ties to book 1

Even though the alternate PoV covered several scenes from Existence, it was not a full length book. Think of this as a highlight reel.

It's too bad the entire (original) book wasn't written in Dank's PoV because he was more interesting to read. I can't say that I'm surprised. These days I'm finding myself drawn to male protags because they're able to dial back some of the obsessive intensity without losing the emotion completely. I wasn't 100% sold on Dank's voice as sounding male but I much preferred being inside of his head over being in Pagan's.

Dank, you're not half bad...
I let my eyes travel down her dress and enjoyed the simple fact that she'd bought it for me. I'd suggested this color. The dress hadn't been bought for the quarterback. The need to growl my approval was overwhelming.

This one's a bit spoilerish if you haven't read Existence yet, so read at your own risk. I will say that this one spoiler made me ache for Dank even more than I did.


The alternate PoV was a huge improvement over the original book itself but there wasn't enough content for me to want to raise the star rating on my original review. However, it does make me a little more hopeful about book 2.

I mentioned in my Existence review that Pagan and Dank have to be some of the worst names ever. On the cover of Existence, you have a couple of glorious models (who happen to be all over the place right now on a multitude of various stock book covers). Aren't they beautiful? Do these people look like a Pagan and a Dank?

I didn't think so either. When I think of Pagan and Dank, this is more the image that comes to mind.

Who's with me here?

Original Review for Existence - 02/12

2.5 stars. I had a very hard time getting past the names Pagan and Dank. With all the names in the world, this was what we got stuck with? When I read the following sentence in the book, I swear I read the name as Dank Wanker at first (I wish I was kidding) : The soul, my soul, was Dank Walker the rocker? Hmmm...Walker. Let's see - Walker the Rocker. Yes, that's much better. Argh.

Before I veer off into a possibly cranky rant about what I didn't like about this book, let me say what I did like.

I like stories where Death is an actual character. Who wouldn't want to see Death in action?

I liked watching Death's internal struggle when you could tell he wasn't having an easy time letting go of what he knew he needed to. His little possessive growls were kind of sexy.

I liked the end, and not because the book itself came to an end and I was ready to be done. I actually liked the plot twist and setup for book 2, even though I guessed what was coming very early on in the story. This book may have not been anything to write home about in the first half, but I found myself having a lot of fun reading the second half. If the next book in the series gets better, I could easily see myself going up a full star or two on the rating. This type of book has a good concept and good bones...we're just drowning a bit in some of the writing that could stand to be taken down a notch.

Now on to what I didn't like.

The name thing, as witnessed by my opening paragraph.

Most of the first half of the book. I didn't connect to any character at all, other than Death (Dank Wanker).

The sappiness was done in such a way that it was bordering on cheese. The "you are my reason for existence" spiel was painful to read. I am a huge fan of love stories and romance, so you know something's got to be off when even I'm having to fight wanting to put a fake 'finger gun' to my head and fake 'pull the trigger.'

The love duo/triangle/square/WTF is this thing? I am not a hater of love triangles and will not automatically write off a book which has one, but if there's going to be one, it needs to be worth the read. One of the love interests had the appeal of a box of stale cereal. From what I can tell, the triangle might be dead now, so here's hoping. *cross fingers*

Case in point about the love triangle - it's probably time to call it quits with one of the people you're hooking up with, when someone is able to observe this :

"The emotion he evokes in you is not strong. There is only comfort, not passion, running through your thoughts when he holds you."

Believe it or not, even with my complaints about the first half, I did enjoy the second half of the book, even to the point where I'm sincerely (no sarcasm here) looking forward to the next book. Once the story finally got to a point where I was interested, I started to enjoy where it was going. The "looney bin" and following scenes were entertaining to read. We might even get rewarded with some good conflict or fight scenes in book 2 if the end of book 1 is any indication. If so, you might even see me break out a tentative happy dance.

Before you decide whether or not to read Existence, I'd first ask what you're looking for in a book. If you prefer your romances more subtle when it comes to declarations of undying devotion, this probably isn't the book for you. Fans of 'true love conquers all' stories will probably enjoy the book. I'd have an easy time recommending this one to a few friends who I know love books which have a protective hero type, or who I know like themes in which love seems to be the driving motivation of why people make the decisions that they do.



Profile Image for Ferdy.
944 reviews1,283 followers
December 27, 2011
1.5 stars - Spoilers beware
Another YA book with the same old formula.. why do I keep punishing myself reading books like these..because I keep hoping that I'll find characters that I'll fall in love with even if the story maybe similar to every other paranormal YA book.
Anyway we have our protagonist Pagan who can see souls/ghosts.. but can't communicate with them. One day she sees a soul/ghost who talks to her.. needless to say she's shocked.. and also fascinated by his oh so beautiful beauty..
Pagan is weak, she cries, moans, breaks down, runs away every chance she gets. She starts to tutor the highschool quarterback - Leif and for some strange reason Leif likes her and starts to date her - maybe he hurt his head at a football game and lost his senses.. who knows. Anyways Leif and Pagan become closer but the beautiful soul - who wait for is called Dank- WTF?? turns up at her school as a student and starts flirting with Kendra, Leif's ex.. of course Pagan is heartbroken that he's flirting with Kendra who she labels as the 'school slut' which just makes her seem bitchy.
Leif is a good boyf but Pagan doesn't appreciate him and just pines for our dear Dank - the only reason I can think of for her pining after him is that he's hot and plays her music, oh and he's wrote her a lullaby a la Edward and Bella.
Pagan finds out that Dank is actually Death and he saved her life when she should have died.. Pagan loves him now more than ever, but still doesn't break up with Leif.. Dank goes away to protect her.. blah blah blah.. Pagan has a breakdown because Dank said bye bye and ends up in a mental hospital because she's a weak, self pitying, self centred fool.. Leif is there for her.. Pagan still doesn't break up with him.. stuff happens.. more stuff happens.. Dank and Pagan kiss and make up.. and then she finally decides she should break up with Leif of course after she's kissed and declared her love to Dank.. the last line we find out Leif's not human?!!! so because of the last line I must read the next book to find out what my favourite character is.. sigh..
Profile Image for Shelly Crane.
Author 36 books5,829 followers
December 26, 2011
Ahhhh! Abbi!!! What are you doing to me with that ending! Gah.
Ok, I officially want a Dank! ;) And a Leif.
I worried about this book. I'm not into love triangles, but aye! I love them both. Abbi made this story work, which is really hard to do with a love triangle for me. If I could smack them together and make a Dank and Leif sandwich, I'd have one. Equal parts yummy and sweet, but in completely different ways.
And Pagan wasn't annoying!! I was so happy to realize that. Usually, MC females annoy the crap out of me, but Pagan was so normal and sweet. She wasn't idiotic in her actions the whole book and she wasn't hot and cold. I could totally feel her pain and confusion and felt for her, though it was 'wrong', some of the things she did, I understood them and wondered if in the same situation, what I would do.
Congrats, Abbi!
5 solid, sweet, swoonworthy stars!
Profile Image for Sasha Alsberg.
Author 8 books64.8k followers
April 20, 2014


I really like existence by abbi glines. I usually dont read books less the 300 pages because to me you can't get a good story and a plot down in anything less but existence pleasantly surprised me. I am a fan of abbi's writing and this is my favorite of them all! She has a way of getting to the point of the subject in a few paragraphs and has good sized chapters. The characters are lovable and easy to like. The hole "death" finds love pulls you in and keeps you reading. It's a quick, easy and fun read and I defiantly would recommend it. I give it a 5/5 stars :)
Profile Image for Shambhawi P..
Author 1 book65 followers
November 17, 2012
Before reading:
Voice of Reason: You know Shambhawi, you will probably hate this book. Just look at the character's names - Dank(TEEHEE!). And you already know it has a love triangle. This is not your cup of tea at all.
Masochistic Side: You will never know until you try do you? Go on Samba, read it.

Beginning:
Voice of Reason: This sucks already. How can you even stand being inside Pagan's head. I'm bored.
Masochistic Side: Read on Samba, read on. It might get better.

Some few chapters in:
Voice of Reason: Singing lullabies in the corner while watching the girl sleep. Where have I seen this before? This shit stopped being romantic ages ago.
Masochistic Side: Read on Samba, read on. It might get better.

Some more chapters in:
Voice of Reason: No. NO. This is not even funny. You know what will happen Shambhawi, you have read the same fucking story more times than you can count. Dank(TEEHEE!) is probably ignoring her for her own safety because of some great paranormal reason he cannot explain. I think it has something to do with testing their love and powers of sacrifice. And she is still not creeped out by the corner-lullaby-singing? Oh yeah, Dank(TEEHEE!) he stopped doing that and she's sad about it,
Masochistic Side: Read on Samba, read on. It might get better.

Some more chapters in:
Voice of Reason: Why are you still torturing yourself? You are worse than Pagan sulking over Dank(TEEHEE!)
Masochistic Side: Read on Samba, read on. It might get better.

Some more chapters in:
Voice of Reason: I am fading... into darkness.. have no strength.. listen..throw this book...it makes no sense... maybe Dank(TEEHEE!) has come for me
Masochistic Side: Dank (No! Don't snicker at his name!) could be hot you know if you just give up this whole pretense of making sense of what you are reading. Go on Samba, this is the book for you.

When Pagan was taken to psychiatric ward:
Voice of Reason: FUCK THIS! BURN THIS BOOK! LOONY BIN? THAT IS NO WAY TO DESCRIBE PATIENTS! NON ACCEPTABLE! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ARE STILL READING THIS! I'M DISAPPOINTED SHAMBHAWI, REALLY DISAPPOINTED!
Masochistic Side: Umm.. okay, there is a limit to hurt yourself... ummm.. but you know you are kind of so close to the end, so finish it. Right?

The ending:
Voice of Reason: It's over? Please don't make me go through this again. I beg you. Dank(TEEHEE!) sucked. Pagan sucked. Don't. Pleasee...
Masochistic Side: Can you really let that last line stay hanging? Can you Samba? Are you not even a little bit curious? You know, the sequel is right there waiting for you. It even has a higher rating..


GUESS WHOM I WAS LISTENING TO?

I am a failure as a human being.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Meli.
698 reviews474 followers
February 14, 2014
Reseña en el blog, donde me desquito completamente con este libro :P

En un rapto de generosidad vamos a ponerle tres, pero tira para las dos.
Es entretenido y por partes me gustó. Pero es muy básico y clicheoso (?), Pagan es insufrible y egoísta, Dank se recibió en la escuela de arte dramático de Edward Cullen y como galán no me compró, me quedo con Leif, a pesar de que es obvio que lo van a convertir en villano para que Pagan no quede como la inmunda que es por usarlo el libro entero.

Algunos giros me sorprendieron, pero otros tantos... fueron confusos, como que es todo medio rebuscado y poco convincente.

El misterio de qué tipo de ser era Dank me enganchó y estoy segura que, aunque era predecible, me hubiera gustado más el libro de confirmar mis sospechas por mí misma. Pero alguien tuvo la generosidad de revelarme el misterio (sin que se lo pidiera, simplemente comenté en mi blog que estaba leyendo este libro) y la historia perdió toda la gracia al saberlo. Mis maldiciones a todos aquellos desconsiderados que tiran spoilers y a sus descendientes.

Por último, el final abierto era cantado, y esas cosas me irritan.
Profile Image for Jenn.
1,034 reviews256 followers
December 4, 2013
5 Wow Me Stars

Warning: All I can say is, have book 2 ready.

what I loved:
1. NO regular HS b.s. drama.
2. NO major drama with the "mean"girl.
3. Wyatt - what's not to love ?
4. Pagan's posse of friends.
5. Dank!!!
6. Pagan
7. Sometimes I was in love with Leif too
8. The unexpected Gee
9. No major teenage HS drama/angst with Pagan.
10. Dank singing Pagan lullabies.
11. The deep connection between Dank and Pagan.
12. Loopholes


Why did it take me so long to get to this book? Seriously kicking myself over here.

I couldn't put it down. I read this book in one night. I absolutely loved it. I don't care what anyone else says, it was pure awesome. It was totally what I needed as I was starting to hit a book funk. It captured my attention the entire book. It was well paced. And for once I loved being only in one persons head the entire story. And I never felt the desire to peek ahead. This book pulled me in so much, played on my heart strings and let my emotions flow too many times through tears. I definitely didn't anticipate such an awesome story, one that was different from everything I've read lately.

Profile Image for Simcsa.
92 reviews93 followers
December 27, 2011
*sigh* It should have been a fun read!! What I got instead is a silly cliché story that leaves you hanging with an abrupt cliffhanger. It took a lot of effort to read it and I skimmed the whole second half of the book stopping only when I saw Dank's name. And I warn you that it contains yet another stupid love triangle. Our heroine (see that sarcasm?) toys with feelings of one boy while she is totally pinning for another one (may I add that the boy is mysterious and impossibly gorgeous with a dimple?)
Profile Image for Sammi.
71 reviews15 followers
April 14, 2013
OH MY GOD YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME? I ran with this book trying to be forgiving, I kept telling myself not to be so spiteful and hateful toward it as I believed this was self published. I mean… if grammar was a living, breathing person, I’m pretty sure he would go and jump off a cliff after reading this.

But really??? Someone read this and decided to publish it? I’m pretty sure the family cat could have done a better job at editing. For example… is it really necessary to say three times in a paragraph how someone’s eyes made her feel? There was just SO much waffle.

Don’t even get me started on the characters names…. Pagan, Leif & Dank????? Wth kinda name is that? It doesn’t say mysterious, sexy, intriguing or death … it makes him sounds like a problem you’d have at home with leaky pipes. “Honey, the pipes have burst, we have Dank in the basement again.”

So lets start on Pagan…. She’s a moany, whiney, selfish, bitchy waste of space. Through pretty much this whole book she’s seeing this guy called Leif, star quarterback and really good boyfriend, sweet, kind & thoughtful. Pagan decides she doesn’t love him and she only has eyes for Dank. However she decides to string him along for the whole story. She uses him to make herself feel better and the poor guy doesn’t have a clue. This is the same girl who actually has the gall to call another girl ‘Kendra’ the school slut? Pfft. At least she’s honest instead of trying to pretend she’s a timid, good little girl.

I was genuinely going to rate this as a 1* …I have only rated this as 2* due to the last 2 chapters. Its just a shame Pagan didn’t actually die and end of this selfish farce.


You can also find my reviews here:
http://lilythenovelnerd.wordpress.com/ (tho they are alot more colourful)
Profile Image for Jalyn.
319 reviews44 followers
July 10, 2017
Brief summary
Pagan sees souls that wander the earth. She ignores them until she meets a boy named Dank, who is the first soul to ever speak to her. She knows something is different about him, but she can't figure out what it is. Things get even more confusing for Pagan when Dank is suddenly a student at her school that everyone can see.

What I liked
This is a unique story. I read a lot of young adult paranormal books and this is one type that I don't come across very often. I thought I knew what was going to happen next, but I was wrong a number of times and that was refreshing too. I did know what Dank is, but that's about all I guessed correctly.

What I didn't like
There were a few things I wished were different. I wasn't a fan of the names of the main characters. I think I understand why she used the name "Dank", but it was odd enough to distract me from the story every time I read it. The middle kind of dragged a bit and it bothered me how much Pagan used Leif.

Brief thoughts
Existence is a decent read. The last 20% of the book was really good and I was completely shocked by the last sentence (I really, really did NOT see that coming!). I was planning on reading book 2 before I reached the end anyhow, but that last sentence made me want to start Predestined now.
Profile Image for Julie.
195 reviews458 followers
December 20, 2011
Yes, this cover does Death justice. Every time his eyes are mentioned, remember the cover and swoon. This book has the feel of an Abbi Glines romance with a shift to the paranormal.

Overall: I enjoyed this book very much. I read it within two night sittings and couldn’t wait to keep reading. Book one, to me, feels like more of a YA love story with paranormal elements, because the plot doesn’t revolve around paranormal activity like other paranormal romance books I’ve read. Glines can write some romance, that’s for sure! However, we haven’t reached the full plot or what is really going on yet in this story overall. I think there is more to some of these characters and story than we learn in book one. I’m looking forward to the sequel!

You can read my full review here: http://www.ataleofmanyreviews.com/ind...

Profile Image for Christy.
4,470 reviews35.8k followers
September 28, 2014
What can I say? I loved this book! The only thing good about me not reading it until now is that I can jump right into the second one!!!!

I loved Dank- and now I'm really excited about this next book and to see what's going on with Leif... Kinda left us hanging on that one!
Profile Image for Maria.
318 reviews42 followers
December 24, 2011
This is the most weird,most annoying,most interesting book of this genre i have read for the 2011..

First Kudos for the lovely and weird cover look at how cold and like ice the guy eyes are..

I have to warn you that you will get several feelings while reading this book. You will get interest, you will get annoyed,you will scratch your head with the fact you have not a single clue whats going on,you will feel you will want to smash your head at your laptop with the things you will read,you will go totally GAGAA (like lady Gaga)

This is the first book i read from Abbi Glines and for sure it wont be the last. It totally hooked me by reading and dont be supriced with the number of pages there are so many things thats going on,so many guesses at what on earth happening that you wont even realise how fast you will read the book

Very interesting concert about ghosts,souls and the ability of Pagan actually seeing. (You might think the movie too as i did) and Kudos for Pagan too for Holding up so well because if i was in her shoes... oh boy!

Dank/Pagan relationship : What you can say?Its weird,its odd,its annoying you will feel like a blond girl with zero IQ with the relationship with how it started,most basicly because of Dank as a character... So complex so bizzard but i think Abbi did that on purpose right? the only thing that i didnt get and didnt understand is how those two involved specially because of Dank... Everything is about Dank and you will get frausting and you will scream for more about him because if you ask me we dont have so many clues about him.... I personally want to find out do you? I mean you will get what he is but you will wonder for sure for some actions he made..

Feeling comfused about some spesific things which i would really want to have a reasonable explanation : Appearing human and then wipe out all humans memories and then come again? I mean WHY?

Leif issue and the ending : WHAT ON MOTHER OF GOD just happend in the end?

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