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Thirty Seconds to Die #1
Thirty Seconds to Die
Lexi Flynn thought she could hide from her dreams.
She thought her fears were all in her imagination.
She couldn't imagine that after everything she'd been through, she could fall in love.
She was wrong.
An ancient society, one extraordinary letter, and the secret Alexandra Flynn would die for - again - to protect.
For Lexi, life had always been - normal. But it only took one moment to change everything. Her life quickly becomes the opposite of normal when Ren Miller moves to the small community where she lives. Mysterious, handsome, and dangerously charming, Lexi discovers Ren is no stranger. They've met before - in another life.
When Ren pulls her into his bizarre world of past lives and secret societies, all bets are off. They become the targets of the Sentori, an ancient, secret society who believes it must protect the sanctity humankind by killing those like Lexi and Ren, those who are reborn.
In an effort to protect Ren from the Sentori, Lexi is forced to enlist the aid of the most unlikely of all allies. Her decision ignites a series of events that lead to a heartbreaking decision and a devastating conclusion.
If your life was all you had to give, wouldn't you give it to save the only person you ever loved?
THIRTY SECONDS TO DIE draws the reader deeply into a story of danger and flight, of love and hate, and of the extraordinary power of the spirit - human or otherwise.
She thought her fears were all in her imagination.
She couldn't imagine that after everything she'd been through, she could fall in love.
She was wrong.
An ancient society, one extraordinary letter, and the secret Alexandra Flynn would die for - again - to protect.
For Lexi, life had always been - normal. But it only took one moment to change everything. Her life quickly becomes the opposite of normal when Ren Miller moves to the small community where she lives. Mysterious, handsome, and dangerously charming, Lexi discovers Ren is no stranger. They've met before - in another life.
When Ren pulls her into his bizarre world of past lives and secret societies, all bets are off. They become the targets of the Sentori, an ancient, secret society who believes it must protect the sanctity humankind by killing those like Lexi and Ren, those who are reborn.
In an effort to protect Ren from the Sentori, Lexi is forced to enlist the aid of the most unlikely of all allies. Her decision ignites a series of events that lead to a heartbreaking decision and a devastating conclusion.
If your life was all you had to give, wouldn't you give it to save the only person you ever loved?
THIRTY SECONDS TO DIE draws the reader deeply into a story of danger and flight, of love and hate, and of the extraordinary power of the spirit - human or otherwise.
364 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 15, 2013
12 people are currently reading
2613 people want to read
About the author
S.G. Holster
8 books112 followersS.G. HOLSTER lives in California with her husband and their two daughters. She is the author of the THIRTY SECONDS TO DIE series. The third and final book in the series, Heartlines, was published in 2014.
Her Thirty Seconds To Die series includes:
Thirty Seconds To Die
Terrible Lies
Heartlines
Daisyphobia (2019)
Samona, Found (Kindle Vella 2021)
Upcoming releases are:
To The Edge Of The Earth (standalone)
You can also find more about her here:
Pinterest/sholster1
Facebook S.G. Holster
www.SGHolsterAuthor.com
www.instagram.com/sgholster
Her Thirty Seconds To Die series includes:
Thirty Seconds To Die
Terrible Lies
Heartlines
Daisyphobia (2019)
Samona, Found (Kindle Vella 2021)
Upcoming releases are:
To The Edge Of The Earth (standalone)
You can also find more about her here:
Pinterest/sholster1
Facebook S.G. Holster
www.SGHolsterAuthor.com
www.instagram.com/sgholster
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
April 20, 2013
“Will you die for him?”
- S. G Holster, Thirty Seconds to Die
In the Preface we meet a mysterious girl. The deep voice repeatedly asked her the same question, “Will you die for him?” This is when we meet Ren. At this point we don’t know much about them or their relationship, but we know it has to be a serious bond for someone to give their life away.
Once the book starts, we meet Lexi, a seventeen year-old who’s mentally and emotionally recovering from a vicious attack from her past. We learn that Ren is actually a new student at Lexi’s school, and for some reason unknown to her, they have an instant connection. But as the reader, you suspect that Ren has some knowledge about why.
Every night, Lexi has this reoccurring dream. In the dream, she’s about seven or eight, and she’s with a little boy who’s a few years older. He does this thing with her where they lock pinkies together, and tells her, “My dad says that when we die our soul becomes a star.” Was it a coincidence that Ren did the same thing, and mentions a story about the Northern Lights?
“The Inuit people believe that the lights are souls on their way to a second life. Part of the myth is that the soul only has thirty seconds to die. If there’s a force strong enough, like enduring love, the soul will be drawn back to the earth.”
Lexi knows Ren is keeping something from her, but whenever she questions him about something, he has an answer prepared. But after the night at the dance, everything changed. Ren declared his love for her, and confirmed her suspicions of him knowing her from somewhere.
Ren explains to her that those dreams are real. That they are actually memories from her past, and the more that they are together, the easier it will be for her to remember. But then Ren tells her about the Sentori, and how they are after him. The Sentori’s job is to kill any reborn soul, and now that they’ve acknowledged the fact that Ren is a reborn, they have to kill him. But the Sentori doesn’t know about Lexi. The only choice Ren has is to leave Lexi behind. But he only leaves on the promise that one-day, he will come back for her, and that she never forget who he is.
But this is when the fun really begins in the book. Lexi’s position has been compromised, and the Sentori are officially after her. She has the flee them, and make her way to London where Ren is waiting for her. They spend most of the book running from the Sentori. She finally learns the whole truth after their trip to Zürich.
The further the story progressed; I was hoping Lexi would learn to trust her instincts, instead of questioning everything. I think at the end, she learned to look past her fears, and stand up.
I won’t tell you what else happened. But I really encourage you to read this book. The story of Ren and Lexi is inspiring when it comes to the matter of love. This book is full of car chases, romances and adventure, the ups and downs of love; lies, but also truths. I’m glad I had a chance to explore the depth of this book. It took a little time before it really got into the core of the plot. But it is worth the read. It might’ve changed my bias of paranormal fiction also. We’ll see when the continuance comes out sometime Fall of 2013.
- S. G Holster, Thirty Seconds to Die
In the Preface we meet a mysterious girl. The deep voice repeatedly asked her the same question, “Will you die for him?” This is when we meet Ren. At this point we don’t know much about them or their relationship, but we know it has to be a serious bond for someone to give their life away.
Once the book starts, we meet Lexi, a seventeen year-old who’s mentally and emotionally recovering from a vicious attack from her past. We learn that Ren is actually a new student at Lexi’s school, and for some reason unknown to her, they have an instant connection. But as the reader, you suspect that Ren has some knowledge about why.
Every night, Lexi has this reoccurring dream. In the dream, she’s about seven or eight, and she’s with a little boy who’s a few years older. He does this thing with her where they lock pinkies together, and tells her, “My dad says that when we die our soul becomes a star.” Was it a coincidence that Ren did the same thing, and mentions a story about the Northern Lights?
“The Inuit people believe that the lights are souls on their way to a second life. Part of the myth is that the soul only has thirty seconds to die. If there’s a force strong enough, like enduring love, the soul will be drawn back to the earth.”
Lexi knows Ren is keeping something from her, but whenever she questions him about something, he has an answer prepared. But after the night at the dance, everything changed. Ren declared his love for her, and confirmed her suspicions of him knowing her from somewhere.
Ren explains to her that those dreams are real. That they are actually memories from her past, and the more that they are together, the easier it will be for her to remember. But then Ren tells her about the Sentori, and how they are after him. The Sentori’s job is to kill any reborn soul, and now that they’ve acknowledged the fact that Ren is a reborn, they have to kill him. But the Sentori doesn’t know about Lexi. The only choice Ren has is to leave Lexi behind. But he only leaves on the promise that one-day, he will come back for her, and that she never forget who he is.
But this is when the fun really begins in the book. Lexi’s position has been compromised, and the Sentori are officially after her. She has the flee them, and make her way to London where Ren is waiting for her. They spend most of the book running from the Sentori. She finally learns the whole truth after their trip to Zürich.
The further the story progressed; I was hoping Lexi would learn to trust her instincts, instead of questioning everything. I think at the end, she learned to look past her fears, and stand up.
I won’t tell you what else happened. But I really encourage you to read this book. The story of Ren and Lexi is inspiring when it comes to the matter of love. This book is full of car chases, romances and adventure, the ups and downs of love; lies, but also truths. I’m glad I had a chance to explore the depth of this book. It took a little time before it really got into the core of the plot. But it is worth the read. It might’ve changed my bias of paranormal fiction also. We’ll see when the continuance comes out sometime Fall of 2013.
April 25, 2013
This book was a wreck, only watching a train crash and explode would be a lot more exciting than this book. It tickled me at first to see how much worse the story would turn out, and I wanted to read at least a hundred pages, just to be fair. Once I hit that mark, I was too eager to stop and write a review.
I kept telling myself, maybe you ought to go easy. Thirty Seconds to Die is, after all, a self-published novel, and boy does it come with the stigma.
The plot as I understood it was that a normal (read, boring) teenage girl meets a mysterious new guy at school, and they have a sudden attraction toward each other. Lexi (said boring girl) has seen this boy in her dreams, and it turns out that she was seeing visions of a past life. Ren (said mysterious boy, I actually had to look up his name ‘cause, hell, he might as well be named Edward) admits to Lexi that he and his aunt had been looking for Lexi, because they’re reincarnations of past lovers.
Sounds like something right out of Twilight, huh?
Then there’s this whole thing that, according to Inuit religion, souls are passing through the Aurora Borealis and have thirty seconds to die, unless they reach their loved ones, then they are brought back to Earth.
It sounds interesting, but the execution sucks.
My most occurring through within the first two chapters was, “This sounds like a blatant rip off of Twilight.” Only—could you believe it—it’s worse than Twilight.
For one, the main character is clumsy! Ooh! Just like Bella! She also has this really annoying habit of squealing, “Oh how embarrassing!” whenever something good happens to her, like 1) having an Audi, but it’s too showy, 2) getting into Stanford, but getting congratulated in front of class, 3) talking to Ren, because she’s totally into him and she’s not used to stuff like that. It’s like these traits were written to differentiate Lexi from all the other boring protagonists, but it feels too forced.
You know what else feels forced? Their relationship. It’s like forcing two magnets of the same polarity together, like, “Come on, magnet friends, kiss, kiss!” And so you force the magnets to kiss. But once you place them on their own on a surface, they skid faaar away from each other, ‘cause that’s their nature. Don’t force magnets together when they aren’t supposed to attract.
Anyway, how it follows Twilight: The fact that it takes place in northwestern foresty region of the United States, and that a mysterious outsider falls in love with the boring main character for no good reason, but the author wants them to get together so she writes up some mysterious force forcing them to be attracted to each other. (Also she was so ridiculously clumsy that she nearly burned her hand off in art class ‘cause they were welding—aren’t you supposed to sign some kind of permission form for crap like that?—and Ren offered to take her to the nurse, then offered to take her home ‘cause he’d feel so much better. Isn’t there a scene like that in Twilight during the blood test scene? And then there’s an “animal attack!!” in the forest just before Ren takes her out on an adventure, only there’s no scene where she’s like, “I know what you are,” and he says, “Just say it,” and she says, “VAMPPPIIYAAHH!!”)
One thing that I found to be somewhat pleasant was that Ren’s family wasn’t huge. He only has his aunt Roslyn. Why is this a good thing? Less characters for me to try to keep track of, ‘cause heaven forbid I’ll care about them.
On the more technical side of the book, this story could have been probably a fifth of the size it is, and could have told a much more interesting story. If Holster had a good editor, we could have changed the story from “mundane high school story with a hint of supernatural” to something more touching about past lovers trying to find each other.
Only, no. There’s too much extraneous detail about high school life, how Lexi knows this person, how she feels about this person, how handsome Ren is, then some other crap about spaghetti and going shopping for boring high school dances nobody gives a shit about when they’re my age.
The writing is also very awkward and doesn’t flow well. Just read the first paragraph:
The pacing is awful. Instead of happening over maybe the course of a few weeks, it drags on, and in between are summaries of what had happened. But Lexi decides that she’s fallen in love with Ren before the summaries happen. There is something very wrong here…
And to complain about even more technical details, the punctuation and capitalization is inconsistent. Early in the book, “Boring high” was written as such, and then it appeared as “Boring High School.” Jeep was more consistently lower-cased than it was rightly capitalized. Of course, there are the occasional typos (like Lexi had to drive all the way to Ren’s house to see if he resembled a tree, ha, what?), and in the pdf I read, each chapter began at page one.
Let’s also talk about the cover. The image itself is quite beautiful, though I don’t know how much it actually represents the story because I didn’t care enough to finish it. As for the title text, it sucks. It’s pretty font, but it doesn’t pop out as a “TITLE!” and looks cheap.
As for the title, who knows where “thirty seconds to die” came from? It sounds pretty, sure, but it’s specific and vague at the same time. Does that mean from the time the soul leaves the body before it goes up into the Aurora Borealis, or can it escape the curtain of light and return to Earth? Is this something from the actual Inuit religion, or is that made up and the author’s own take?
(I did, however, look the Inuit religion and the Aurora Borealis. “The Inuit had long held a variety of beliefs associated with the northern lights, sometimes interpreting them as the dance of the spirits of certain animals or even departed humans.”
Overall, I’m just really happy that I got this eBook for free.
Cue gag reflex.
(Also I made a word cloud for the entire text, just to see which words were most prominent. Oh hello Ren.)
I kept telling myself, maybe you ought to go easy. Thirty Seconds to Die is, after all, a self-published novel, and boy does it come with the stigma.
The plot as I understood it was that a normal (read, boring) teenage girl meets a mysterious new guy at school, and they have a sudden attraction toward each other. Lexi (said boring girl) has seen this boy in her dreams, and it turns out that she was seeing visions of a past life. Ren (said mysterious boy, I actually had to look up his name ‘cause, hell, he might as well be named Edward) admits to Lexi that he and his aunt had been looking for Lexi, because they’re reincarnations of past lovers.
I waited a few minutes before I turned to look at him, just to check his expression. His gaze was intense, his eyes piercing. Why was he looking at me? I ran my fingers through my hair and brushed the back of my hand across my lips, checking for anything out of place. His stare sent a charge of unsettled fear through me. Why? I tensed at the strange and unwelcome feeling.
Sounds like something right out of Twilight, huh?
Then there’s this whole thing that, according to Inuit religion, souls are passing through the Aurora Borealis and have thirty seconds to die, unless they reach their loved ones, then they are brought back to Earth.
It sounds interesting, but the execution sucks.
My most occurring through within the first two chapters was, “This sounds like a blatant rip off of Twilight.” Only—could you believe it—it’s worse than Twilight.
For one, the main character is clumsy! Ooh! Just like Bella! She also has this really annoying habit of squealing, “Oh how embarrassing!” whenever something good happens to her, like 1) having an Audi, but it’s too showy, 2) getting into Stanford, but getting congratulated in front of class, 3) talking to Ren, because she’s totally into him and she’s not used to stuff like that. It’s like these traits were written to differentiate Lexi from all the other boring protagonists, but it feels too forced.
You know what else feels forced? Their relationship. It’s like forcing two magnets of the same polarity together, like, “Come on, magnet friends, kiss, kiss!” And so you force the magnets to kiss. But once you place them on their own on a surface, they skid faaar away from each other, ‘cause that’s their nature. Don’t force magnets together when they aren’t supposed to attract.
Anyway, how it follows Twilight: The fact that it takes place in northwestern foresty region of the United States, and that a mysterious outsider falls in love with the boring main character for no good reason, but the author wants them to get together so she writes up some mysterious force forcing them to be attracted to each other. (Also she was so ridiculously clumsy that she nearly burned her hand off in art class ‘cause they were welding—aren’t you supposed to sign some kind of permission form for crap like that?—and Ren offered to take her to the nurse, then offered to take her home ‘cause he’d feel so much better. Isn’t there a scene like that in Twilight during the blood test scene? And then there’s an “animal attack!!” in the forest just before Ren takes her out on an adventure, only there’s no scene where she’s like, “I know what you are,” and he says, “Just say it,” and she says, “VAMPPPIIYAAHH!!”)
“His name’s Ren - he moved here from England with his aunt.” I was smiling as I spoke; I couldn’t help it.
“Really?” She stopped walking and looked at me strangely as if I had said Ren was a vampire fresh from Transylvania.
One thing that I found to be somewhat pleasant was that Ren’s family wasn’t huge. He only has his aunt Roslyn. Why is this a good thing? Less characters for me to try to keep track of, ‘cause heaven forbid I’ll care about them.
On the more technical side of the book, this story could have been probably a fifth of the size it is, and could have told a much more interesting story. If Holster had a good editor, we could have changed the story from “mundane high school story with a hint of supernatural” to something more touching about past lovers trying to find each other.
Only, no. There’s too much extraneous detail about high school life, how Lexi knows this person, how she feels about this person, how handsome Ren is, then some other crap about spaghetti and going shopping for boring high school dances nobody gives a shit about when they’re my age.
The writing is also very awkward and doesn’t flow well. Just read the first paragraph:
THE STRANGE TINY girl stood in front of me in the blinding white snow and held out her hands revealing the sphere that was alive with swirling colors.
The pacing is awful. Instead of happening over maybe the course of a few weeks, it drags on, and in between are summaries of what had happened. But Lexi decides that she’s fallen in love with Ren before the summaries happen. There is something very wrong here…
And to complain about even more technical details, the punctuation and capitalization is inconsistent. Early in the book, “Boring high” was written as such, and then it appeared as “Boring High School.” Jeep was more consistently lower-cased than it was rightly capitalized. Of course, there are the occasional typos (like Lexi had to drive all the way to Ren’s house to see if he resembled a tree, ha, what?), and in the pdf I read, each chapter began at page one.
Let’s also talk about the cover. The image itself is quite beautiful, though I don’t know how much it actually represents the story because I didn’t care enough to finish it. As for the title text, it sucks. It’s pretty font, but it doesn’t pop out as a “TITLE!” and looks cheap.
“The Inuit people believe that the lights are souls on their way to a second life. Part of the myth is that the soul only has thirty seconds to die. If there’s a force strong enough, like enduring love, the soul will be drawn back to earth. Do you believe that could be true?”
As for the title, who knows where “thirty seconds to die” came from? It sounds pretty, sure, but it’s specific and vague at the same time. Does that mean from the time the soul leaves the body before it goes up into the Aurora Borealis, or can it escape the curtain of light and return to Earth? Is this something from the actual Inuit religion, or is that made up and the author’s own take?
(I did, however, look the Inuit religion and the Aurora Borealis. “The Inuit had long held a variety of beliefs associated with the northern lights, sometimes interpreting them as the dance of the spirits of certain animals or even departed humans.”
Overall, I’m just really happy that I got this eBook for free.
The boy locked his pinky finger with mine and we continued running into the forest where it was dark.
Cue gag reflex.
(Also I made a word cloud for the entire text, just to see which words were most prominent. Oh hello Ren.)
July 1, 2013
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
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
July 1, 2013
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.
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.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 28, 2013
For reasons unknown I went into this book with absolutely no idea what to expect. I trusted the girls of my book group who raved about it and began the book without even reading the blurb or other reviews. I genuinely believe that it is this reason I liked it so much. It was a complete mystery from the offset and I found myself hooked as the story unraveled.
The premise is something I've never read about before. The notion of reincarnation or souls living on is romantic in itself, but the drama added to this story with the obstacles that lay in their way is what makes the book so good. Couple that with the incredibly likeable characters and you have a winner. My only disappointment was how much I cared for Brett more than Ren. But that's personal taste and no reflection on the author. I simply like an underdog.
It's not often I hope for a book to be made into a movie; I normally prefer to rely on my own imagination, however, this book would be AMAZING on screen. There is so much more that could be explored through script and cinematography. I will keep my fingers crossed! And if it is made into a movie I will be practicing my smugness.
The premise is something I've never read about before. The notion of reincarnation or souls living on is romantic in itself, but the drama added to this story with the obstacles that lay in their way is what makes the book so good. Couple that with the incredibly likeable characters and you have a winner. My only disappointment was how much I cared for Brett more than Ren. But that's personal taste and no reflection on the author. I simply like an underdog.
It's not often I hope for a book to be made into a movie; I normally prefer to rely on my own imagination, however, this book would be AMAZING on screen. There is so much more that could be explored through script and cinematography. I will keep my fingers crossed! And if it is made into a movie I will be practicing my smugness.
June 22, 2013
In the beginning of this book, Twilight came to mind even though it had nothing to do with vampires. It’s just the vibe I got from it. Mid way, I thought I had the book figured out. I was wrong. Towards the last quarter of the book, the plot takes on a different feel. I appreciated and was stressed with the unexpected turn of events. Overall, the book was different and had a good plot. The only reason I’m not giving this book a five star rating is because I prefer more dialogue. I really liked the characters, even though Ren remained a mystery until the end, but up to that point, he came across as sweet, overprotective, and intense. I’m looking forward to reading the next book.
January 22, 2013
“Will you die for him?”
- S. G Holster, Thirty Seconds to Die
In the Preface we meet a mysterious girl. The deep voice repeatedly asked her the same question, “Will you die for him?” This is when we meet Ren. At this point we don’t know much about them or their relationship, but we know it has to be a serious bond for someone to give their life away.
Once the book starts, we meet Lexi, a seventeen year-old who’s mentally and emotionally recovering from a vicious attack from her past. We learn that Ren is actually a new student at Lexi’s school, and for some reason unknown to her, they have an instant connection. But as the reader, you suspect that Ren has some knowledge about why.
Every night, Lexi has this reoccurring dream. In the dream, she’s about seven or eight, and she’s with a little boy who’s a few years older. He does this thing with her where they lock pinkies together, and tells her, “My dad says that when we die our soul becomes a star.” Was it a coincidence that Ren did the same thing, and mentions a story about the Northern Lights?
“The Inuit people believe that the lights are souls on their way to a second life. Part of the myth is that the soul only has thirty seconds to die. If there’s a force strong enough, like enduring love, the soul will be drawn back to the earth.”
Lexi knows Ren is keeping something from her, but whenever she questions him about something, he has an answer prepared. But after the night at the dance, everything changed. Ren declared his love for her, and confirmed her suspicions of him knowing her from somewhere.
Ren explains to her that those dreams are real. That they are actually memories from her past, and the more that they are together, the easier it will be for her to remember. But then Ren tells her about the Sentori, and how they are after him. The Sentori’s job is to kill any reborn soul, and now that they’ve acknowledged the fact that Ren is a reborn, they have to kill him. But the Sentori doesn’t know about Lexi. The only choice Ren has is to leave Lexi behind. But he only leaves on the promise that one-day, he will come back for her, and that she never forget who he is.
But this is when the fun really begins in the book. Lexi’s position has been compromised, and the Sentori are officially after her. She has the flee them, and make her way to London where Ren is waiting for her. They spend most of the book running from the Sentori. She finally learns the whole truth after their trip to Zürich.
The further the story progressed; I was hoping Lexi would learn to trust her instincts, instead of questioning everything. I think at the end, she learned to look past her fears, and stand up.
I won’t tell you what else happened. But I really encourage you to read this book. The story of Ren and Lexi is inspiring when it comes to the matter of love. This book is full of car chases, romances and adventure, the ups and downs of love; lies, but also truths. I’m glad I had a chance to explore the depth of this book. It took a little time before it really got into the core of the plot. But it is worth the read. It might’ve changed my bias of paranormal fiction also. We’ll see when the continuance comes out sometime Fall of 2013.
- S. G Holster, Thirty Seconds to Die
In the Preface we meet a mysterious girl. The deep voice repeatedly asked her the same question, “Will you die for him?” This is when we meet Ren. At this point we don’t know much about them or their relationship, but we know it has to be a serious bond for someone to give their life away.
Once the book starts, we meet Lexi, a seventeen year-old who’s mentally and emotionally recovering from a vicious attack from her past. We learn that Ren is actually a new student at Lexi’s school, and for some reason unknown to her, they have an instant connection. But as the reader, you suspect that Ren has some knowledge about why.
Every night, Lexi has this reoccurring dream. In the dream, she’s about seven or eight, and she’s with a little boy who’s a few years older. He does this thing with her where they lock pinkies together, and tells her, “My dad says that when we die our soul becomes a star.” Was it a coincidence that Ren did the same thing, and mentions a story about the Northern Lights?
“The Inuit people believe that the lights are souls on their way to a second life. Part of the myth is that the soul only has thirty seconds to die. If there’s a force strong enough, like enduring love, the soul will be drawn back to the earth.”
Lexi knows Ren is keeping something from her, but whenever she questions him about something, he has an answer prepared. But after the night at the dance, everything changed. Ren declared his love for her, and confirmed her suspicions of him knowing her from somewhere.
Ren explains to her that those dreams are real. That they are actually memories from her past, and the more that they are together, the easier it will be for her to remember. But then Ren tells her about the Sentori, and how they are after him. The Sentori’s job is to kill any reborn soul, and now that they’ve acknowledged the fact that Ren is a reborn, they have to kill him. But the Sentori doesn’t know about Lexi. The only choice Ren has is to leave Lexi behind. But he only leaves on the promise that one-day, he will come back for her, and that she never forget who he is.
But this is when the fun really begins in the book. Lexi’s position has been compromised, and the Sentori are officially after her. She has the flee them, and make her way to London where Ren is waiting for her. They spend most of the book running from the Sentori. She finally learns the whole truth after their trip to Zürich.
The further the story progressed; I was hoping Lexi would learn to trust her instincts, instead of questioning everything. I think at the end, she learned to look past her fears, and stand up.
I won’t tell you what else happened. But I really encourage you to read this book. The story of Ren and Lexi is inspiring when it comes to the matter of love. This book is full of car chases, romances and adventure, the ups and downs of love; lies, but also truths. I’m glad I had a chance to explore the depth of this book. It took a little time before it really got into the core of the plot. But it is worth the read. It might’ve changed my bias of paranormal fiction also. We’ll see when the continuance comes out sometime Fall of 2013.
December 11, 2013
"Will you die for him?"
Lex is afraid of falling asleep as her nights are met with terrible dreams, the same nightmare every night. Are her dreams a vision, a message or just that, a dream?
When Lex meets the new guy in town, Ren, she is immediately drawn to him, she knows him. He's a complete stranger that feels like her best friend, that they have known each other for ages. Fate or destiny?
"The soul only has thirty seconds to die. If there is force strong enough, like enduring love, the soul will be drawn back to earth."
There is a force that draws them together, so strong that it can't be denied. Lex falls head over heals in love with this familiar stranger and besides her better judgement telling her to run as far way as she can from Ren, she can't . The pull she has towards him is too great.
Lex can't shake the feeling that Ren is hiding something from her, and when she repeatedly questions him, he seems to have an answer to the questions she asks. Still not convinced she presses him for answers. He confesses that they do know each other, from a previous life, and that the memories and dreams she has been having are real. Giving her just enough information to keep her curiosity at bay, but not letting her in on the whole truth. She needs to remember.
The nightmares she's been having are related to the Sentori, who are out to kill Ren and any reborn soul. Ren decides that the only way to keep Lex safe is to leave her in the promise that one day they will be reunited. The Sentori however get wind of Lex and her life is now at risk too.
This book just got better with each page. The story follows their path to finding each other, falling in love and dealing with the consequences of being found out as to who they really are. I was hooked in the journey these two young loves had to endure just to be together.
S. G Holster has written am amazing story filled with love, and the fight Ren and Lex have to go through to be together once they discover who they are and what is written in their destiny.
The book ends with a real cliff hanger and I can't wait to get into book 2.
Lex is afraid of falling asleep as her nights are met with terrible dreams, the same nightmare every night. Are her dreams a vision, a message or just that, a dream?
When Lex meets the new guy in town, Ren, she is immediately drawn to him, she knows him. He's a complete stranger that feels like her best friend, that they have known each other for ages. Fate or destiny?
"The soul only has thirty seconds to die. If there is force strong enough, like enduring love, the soul will be drawn back to earth."
There is a force that draws them together, so strong that it can't be denied. Lex falls head over heals in love with this familiar stranger and besides her better judgement telling her to run as far way as she can from Ren, she can't . The pull she has towards him is too great.
Lex can't shake the feeling that Ren is hiding something from her, and when she repeatedly questions him, he seems to have an answer to the questions she asks. Still not convinced she presses him for answers. He confesses that they do know each other, from a previous life, and that the memories and dreams she has been having are real. Giving her just enough information to keep her curiosity at bay, but not letting her in on the whole truth. She needs to remember.
The nightmares she's been having are related to the Sentori, who are out to kill Ren and any reborn soul. Ren decides that the only way to keep Lex safe is to leave her in the promise that one day they will be reunited. The Sentori however get wind of Lex and her life is now at risk too.
This book just got better with each page. The story follows their path to finding each other, falling in love and dealing with the consequences of being found out as to who they really are. I was hooked in the journey these two young loves had to endure just to be together.
S. G Holster has written am amazing story filled with love, and the fight Ren and Lex have to go through to be together once they discover who they are and what is written in their destiny.
The book ends with a real cliff hanger and I can't wait to get into book 2.
May 13, 2013
What can I say about this book?
Let me begin with the characters. I have to admit that as much as I wanted to love the characters, I didn't. I liked the characters just fine, but something for me was missing. I did not make a connection with any of them and I can usually make a connection with at least one character. Lexi to me was too anxious and stressed for me to like her character. She had a hard time trusting anyone and that made it kind of hard for me to like her. I wouldn't necessarily trust people I just met either, but her feeling of distrust toward her family was weird for me. I didn't like her mom at all she was way too overprotective. I get what happened to her would make any parent uneasy, but she made Lexi second guess herself and I think that is why she had the trust issues. Ellie didn't really bother me too much.
Now about Ren, I didn't swoon like I did when I met Edward. He was a decent male character nothing really special about him. I didn't like that he always kept disappearing without any real explanation. I wished that Ren would have explained more to Lexi instead of trying to keep her safe from knowing too much too soon. I think her character could have handled more, instead of waiting until she reached Zurich to have everything explained. Leaving Lexi to figure things out on her own just made me more confused because her assumptions weren't all right. I also think the martyr role has been overdone, I am over the whole I will die to save him/her bit.
The ending was as I expected and it still managed to piss me off. I was hoping she would have at least listened to what Ren had to say and let him explain everything. I was also hoping she would have told him about what deal she made with Brett, instead she did the typical martyr thing and hurt him to protect him. She pulled an Edward move that didn't sit well with me when Edward did that to Bella in New Moon.
I am hoping the second book will answer the rest of my questions. As a first installment it was good, but too wordy and not enough detail to get a higher rating from me.
Let me begin with the characters. I have to admit that as much as I wanted to love the characters, I didn't. I liked the characters just fine, but something for me was missing. I did not make a connection with any of them and I can usually make a connection with at least one character. Lexi to me was too anxious and stressed for me to like her character. She had a hard time trusting anyone and that made it kind of hard for me to like her. I wouldn't necessarily trust people I just met either, but her feeling of distrust toward her family was weird for me. I didn't like her mom at all she was way too overprotective. I get what happened to her would make any parent uneasy, but she made Lexi second guess herself and I think that is why she had the trust issues. Ellie didn't really bother me too much.
Now about Ren, I didn't swoon like I did when I met Edward. He was a decent male character nothing really special about him. I didn't like that he always kept disappearing without any real explanation. I wished that Ren would have explained more to Lexi instead of trying to keep her safe from knowing too much too soon. I think her character could have handled more, instead of waiting until she reached Zurich to have everything explained. Leaving Lexi to figure things out on her own just made me more confused because her assumptions weren't all right. I also think the martyr role has been overdone, I am over the whole I will die to save him/her bit.
The ending was as I expected and it still managed to piss me off. I was hoping she would have at least listened to what Ren had to say and let him explain everything. I was also hoping she would have told him about what deal she made with Brett, instead she did the typical martyr thing and hurt him to protect him. She pulled an Edward move that didn't sit well with me when Edward did that to Bella in New Moon.
I am hoping the second book will answer the rest of my questions. As a first installment it was good, but too wordy and not enough detail to get a higher rating from me.
April 19, 2015
I read this book around 2 years ago and I'm glad to say I still remember the story so well. I believe this was my first real paranormal/fantasy read. I read this book, because besides the beautiful cover, the author was going to be at a book signing I was going to attend. I'm pleased I gave this first book in the series a try.
I won't be too specific to the story because I don't want to accidentally spoil anything. ;) So, in general terms, this story starts off with a young high school girl knowing deep within herself that she is not like the other kids her age. She deals with visions of a past life. Whose past life? We don't know. She's a spectator in her dreams in a story of great love, sorrow, mystery and betrayal. And she makes it a mission to find out who these people, who star in her dreams, were.
She deals with eternal love and with the crazy thought of reincarnation. I was impressed how well the author introduced this subject. Holster explains reincarnation and fate in a way that makes you question whether the existence of it is possible. Even while you're reading about it, it makes you think, how can it not be?
S.G. Holster does her research. She paints a beautiful background for you to live in while you read this story and follow the journey of these characters. The book will leave you wanting and needing more of the journey of the characters you've grown to love.
Holster makes you care about the characters and their individual journeys, which you later learn are all intertwined since before you could even imagine. The author will take you on an adventure that will have you glued to your book, rooting for the underdog and making you wish the bad guys weren't really bad.
Great book for young readers looking to be introduced to the world of fantasy!
I won't be too specific to the story because I don't want to accidentally spoil anything. ;) So, in general terms, this story starts off with a young high school girl knowing deep within herself that she is not like the other kids her age. She deals with visions of a past life. Whose past life? We don't know. She's a spectator in her dreams in a story of great love, sorrow, mystery and betrayal. And she makes it a mission to find out who these people, who star in her dreams, were.
She deals with eternal love and with the crazy thought of reincarnation. I was impressed how well the author introduced this subject. Holster explains reincarnation and fate in a way that makes you question whether the existence of it is possible. Even while you're reading about it, it makes you think, how can it not be?
S.G. Holster does her research. She paints a beautiful background for you to live in while you read this story and follow the journey of these characters. The book will leave you wanting and needing more of the journey of the characters you've grown to love.
Holster makes you care about the characters and their individual journeys, which you later learn are all intertwined since before you could even imagine. The author will take you on an adventure that will have you glued to your book, rooting for the underdog and making you wish the bad guys weren't really bad.
Great book for young readers looking to be introduced to the world of fantasy!
May 14, 2013
I had the same reaction to the ending of this book that I had after reading pieces of lies by Angela Richardson! My Reaction: NOOOO please don't do this to me..... seriously! This was heartbreaking though... #TeamRen I have faith!! .....
"Would you die for him?" ..... Lexi thought her fears were just her imagination. After everything she's been through one thing she didn't imagine was Ren. Normal life? Pssssh not anymore!
QUICK QUESTION: (Can you imagine a love so strong it brings back life?)
Hello Ren! Mysterious, handsome, nice and dangerously charming. But he's no stranger- In another life she was his one! It was only a matter of time and now everything is changing. Good thing its Lexi's senior year! Ren pulls her into his bizarre world of past lives and secret societies.
The Sentori are out to kill them. Think its because forbidden love? Nope! Its more complicated than that. Its the Sentori's job to kill people like Ren and Lexi, the reborn. They will stop at nothing. And the same goes for Ren in protecting Lexi.
But!!... is there more? You bet your ass flap jack it is! In an effort to protect Ren from The Sentori, Lexi is forced to aid in an unlikely allies. I swear she kept pissing me off! IDC that she had to do it. I wanted to throw my tablet! .... anyway...
Her decision ignites a series of events that lead to a heartbreaking decision and a devastating conclusion. YES IT DID!! Cant wait to read the next!
"Would you die for him?" ..... Lexi thought her fears were just her imagination. After everything she's been through one thing she didn't imagine was Ren. Normal life? Pssssh not anymore!
QUICK QUESTION: (Can you imagine a love so strong it brings back life?)
Hello Ren! Mysterious, handsome, nice and dangerously charming. But he's no stranger- In another life she was his one! It was only a matter of time and now everything is changing. Good thing its Lexi's senior year! Ren pulls her into his bizarre world of past lives and secret societies.
The Sentori are out to kill them. Think its because forbidden love? Nope! Its more complicated than that. Its the Sentori's job to kill people like Ren and Lexi, the reborn. They will stop at nothing. And the same goes for Ren in protecting Lexi.
But!!... is there more? You bet your ass flap jack it is! In an effort to protect Ren from The Sentori, Lexi is forced to aid in an unlikely allies. I swear she kept pissing me off! IDC that she had to do it. I wanted to throw my tablet! .... anyway...
Her decision ignites a series of events that lead to a heartbreaking decision and a devastating conclusion. YES IT DID!! Cant wait to read the next!
May 9, 2013
S.G Holster.....What can I say...
I was hooked after the first chapter.
You never knew who the hell to trust. I found myself questioning every decision that Lexi made. Who to run too, who to trust, and who to love.....For a second there I thought she was going to end up with Neko. Its sure seemed like there was something pushing them together.
I can't believe I'm left hanging to find out the fate of Lexi and Ren.
I just wanna slap the fuck out of Lexi for running away from him. Did she do it to protect him? or protect herself? GAH!!!!!
I was hooked after the first chapter.
You never knew who the hell to trust. I found myself questioning every decision that Lexi made. Who to run too, who to trust, and who to love.....For a second there I thought she was going to end up with Neko. Its sure seemed like there was something pushing them together.
I can't believe I'm left hanging to find out the fate of Lexi and Ren.
I just wanna slap the fuck out of Lexi for running away from him. Did she do it to protect him? or protect herself? GAH!!!!!
December 28, 2013
This book isn't what I normally read and I had no idea what it was about going into it, but It hooked me in from the beginning and I needed to know what was going to happen next. I did however find myself skimming a bit over parts that were repeated and the ending seemed a little rushed. Over all though I enjoyed their story and the love they had for one another.
July 2, 2014
This book was all kinds of wonky. Too much time was spent describing emotions of the chsracters, who felt an obnoxious amount of feelings, and not enough on the story itself. It also seemed to just jump ahead in some parts with no rhyme or reason.
April 11, 2013
I really enjoyed this book. Holster is a very creative thinker. The book got better and better with every page.
May 26, 2015
loved this book! the story is so original, and Lex and Ren are amazing! I'm a little heartbroken for the situation at the end but I still have hope.
February 25, 2017
The main reason that I did not like this book was because Ren, the love interest, was stifling Lexi, the main character. Their relationship had red flags constantly popping up, but Lexi always had an excuse for Ren's behavior. The unhealthy relationship became evident early on in the book, so I quickly made a new theory about a new direction the story should take. I was disappointed by the things that Lexi allowed Ren to do that prevented her from growing and reaching the potential everyone was telling her she could reach.
June 21, 2013
"The Inuit people believe that the (Northern ) lights are the souls on their way to a second life. Part of the myth is that the soul only has thirty seconds to die. If there's a force strong enough, like enduring love, the soul will be drawn back to earth. Do you believe that could be true? ..."
I never heard about this myth until now..Thinking about the wonderful Aurora or the Northern lights , about souls finding each other...I think it's quite romantic but giving me a little " goosebump-py" feeling. What if there's really somebody out there .. our soul mate desperately looking for us? But we don't even have a clue?
" If you reach up to the lights, some people - will see their soul mate, a lost love from a previous life-the one they are destined for, the one they come back for. Their souls will touch for the second time and they'll find each other in this life.. "
This was the first book I got without a blurb. Looking at the cover and an interesting title "Thirty seconds to die" made me more intrigue than ever! As I browse through the pages , I was captivated! The idea of soul mates, reincarnation really fascinated me. Moreover , the main characters Lexi and Ren are old souls that are bound for each other!
The story started with Lexi having frequent dreams about this boy whose name is John. In this dream, she was Charlotte and it always end up bad... leaving Lexi terrified and had caused sleepless nights.
Then, she met Ren. Ren reminds her of John. And the moment their eyes locked.. she felt the intense , magnetic pull that made her heart all aflutter! Yes, Lexi was drawn to him! And so was Ren to her! Sounds like a cliche boy meets girl kind of story? Not at all. This was just the beginning!
*****if you want more of my review , please visit my Pink Blog at http://sparklingpinkpages.blogspot.co...
I never heard about this myth until now..Thinking about the wonderful Aurora or the Northern lights , about souls finding each other...I think it's quite romantic but giving me a little " goosebump-py" feeling. What if there's really somebody out there .. our soul mate desperately looking for us? But we don't even have a clue?
" If you reach up to the lights, some people - will see their soul mate, a lost love from a previous life-the one they are destined for, the one they come back for. Their souls will touch for the second time and they'll find each other in this life.. "
This was the first book I got without a blurb. Looking at the cover and an interesting title "Thirty seconds to die" made me more intrigue than ever! As I browse through the pages , I was captivated! The idea of soul mates, reincarnation really fascinated me. Moreover , the main characters Lexi and Ren are old souls that are bound for each other!
The story started with Lexi having frequent dreams about this boy whose name is John. In this dream, she was Charlotte and it always end up bad... leaving Lexi terrified and had caused sleepless nights.
Then, she met Ren. Ren reminds her of John. And the moment their eyes locked.. she felt the intense , magnetic pull that made her heart all aflutter! Yes, Lexi was drawn to him! And so was Ren to her! Sounds like a cliche boy meets girl kind of story? Not at all. This was just the beginning!
*****if you want more of my review , please visit my Pink Blog at http://sparklingpinkpages.blogspot.co...
June 21, 2013
30 Seconds to Die by S. G. Holster
Rating. 4****
This book was provided from the author in exchange for honest literary review
Lexi has dreams that haunt her. Always waking before they totally unfold, she seeks to figure out the whole story. Her dreams are so lifelike....it is almost as if she is watch someone else's life play out right before her sleeping eyes. Nothing made sense until Ren moved into town. Ren is just dreamy and Lexi finds herald simply drawn to him.
What seems like the perfect case of teenage love is anything but. There is people set out to do anything to keep these two from ending up together. Love quickly becomes a matter of life and death and a journey just to stay alive. Staying alive may just cost Lexi everything.
This is a thrill ride of adventure and romance wrapped into one. I like how the author blended the story of reincarnation with Native American folklore. The plot really grabs your attention and flows well. It remains at a fast pace throughout the novel.
I really admire Lexi. To be a teenage, she possesses so much wisdom and strength. All the characters have depth and purpose. In fact they are all well done. I will say I really really didn't like Brett at all!!!!!
This seems to be the first book in a new series. It has a new concept, blending native folklore and reincar-nation. The suspense keeps your attention and makes it so you just can't put this one down. I will say that this is a definite must read. I can't wait for the second one here! The way Lexi had to end book one (which I will not give away) was absolutely brutal.!!!
As always happy reading!!!!!
Michelle McQueen
YATR REVIEW PANEL
Rating. 4****
This book was provided from the author in exchange for honest literary review
Lexi has dreams that haunt her. Always waking before they totally unfold, she seeks to figure out the whole story. Her dreams are so lifelike....it is almost as if she is watch someone else's life play out right before her sleeping eyes. Nothing made sense until Ren moved into town. Ren is just dreamy and Lexi finds herald simply drawn to him.
What seems like the perfect case of teenage love is anything but. There is people set out to do anything to keep these two from ending up together. Love quickly becomes a matter of life and death and a journey just to stay alive. Staying alive may just cost Lexi everything.
This is a thrill ride of adventure and romance wrapped into one. I like how the author blended the story of reincarnation with Native American folklore. The plot really grabs your attention and flows well. It remains at a fast pace throughout the novel.
I really admire Lexi. To be a teenage, she possesses so much wisdom and strength. All the characters have depth and purpose. In fact they are all well done. I will say I really really didn't like Brett at all!!!!!
This seems to be the first book in a new series. It has a new concept, blending native folklore and reincar-nation. The suspense keeps your attention and makes it so you just can't put this one down. I will say that this is a definite must read. I can't wait for the second one here! The way Lexi had to end book one (which I will not give away) was absolutely brutal.!!!
As always happy reading!!!!!
Michelle McQueen
YATR REVIEW PANEL
May 25, 2013
My rating was really 3.5 stars. This was my first dive into the urban fantasy/paranormal world. I've been a fan of the twilight franchise with the vampires and werewolves, but could never make myself read the novels that came before. Well this book had none of that (thank The Lord!). I loved the story between Ren and Lexi, two souls from a previous life meeting up again in our time to be together again as a part of their "destiny". Reminder that line in Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark." We'll something is definitely not what it appears to be. So pay attention! This book game you plenty of action, twist, love triangles and suspense. I will be honest it did lose me for a bit in the middle, but of course it picks right back up towards the end. Not a bad read at all. I would definitely recommend it.
May 28, 2013
**I was given a copy in exchange for an honest review**
First of,my thoughts about the cover and the title.. Well I loved it. It's eye-catching, interesting and intriguing. The title was intriguing and you will definitely be asking what the story is all about..
I love the characters' personalities. For me, it's fresh and they are easy to relate with..
The story, well, it was good and when I read the first chapter (not the Prologue part) I was kind of imagining Twilight.. I know, crazy right? Haha.. Anyway, I love the story.. The last part broke my heart and almost made me cry.. Gosh, I can't wait for the next book to come..
(review on my blog >>http://msme28.blogspot.com/2013/05/re...)
First of,my thoughts about the cover and the title.. Well I loved it. It's eye-catching, interesting and intriguing. The title was intriguing and you will definitely be asking what the story is all about..
I love the characters' personalities. For me, it's fresh and they are easy to relate with..
The story, well, it was good and when I read the first chapter (not the Prologue part) I was kind of imagining Twilight.. I know, crazy right? Haha.. Anyway, I love the story.. The last part broke my heart and almost made me cry.. Gosh, I can't wait for the next book to come..
(review on my blog >>http://msme28.blogspot.com/2013/05/re...)
May 13, 2014
Like other reviews, my initial thought that this was going to be another Twilight... set in Pacific Northwest (well, northern California), girl meets boy and he's dangerous, there's ancient Alaskan beliefs,... etc. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I realized the premise was very different. I've always believed in reincarnation, so I liked the idea that the soul has 30 seconds to die. An interesting area I haven't really seen in YA.
Although my list of "read" books would seem otherwise, YA is not really my preferred genere. Because of that it took me a while to finish it (I'm not a strong reader). I would recommend this book to it's target audience... Young Adult (ages 14 - 18).
Although my list of "read" books would seem otherwise, YA is not really my preferred genere. Because of that it took me a while to finish it (I'm not a strong reader). I would recommend this book to it's target audience... Young Adult (ages 14 - 18).
December 3, 2014
I loved the book! I think Holster did a great job with the characters and the story line. I immediately got pulled into it and couldn't put it down. She did a great job in letting you feel like your right there with Lexi ( the main character) as the storyline progressed. And the storyline has a nice forward flow, without repeating passages, or unnecessary scenes, which I really appreciated. I know a book is good when I'm already frantically trying to download the next in the series just so I can keep reading.
Caution....this book is part of a series, and so this book will end with a lot of unanswered questions. I knew that fact before I started reading , so it wasn't a big deal to me.
Overall I really loved this book. I highly recommend reading it.
Thanks SG Holster:)
Caution....this book is part of a series, and so this book will end with a lot of unanswered questions. I knew that fact before I started reading , so it wasn't a big deal to me.
Overall I really loved this book. I highly recommend reading it.
Thanks SG Holster:)
August 27, 2016
Although the idea of this story was interesting, it did not engage me. I did not find Lexie and Ren's love believable. It drove me crazy how they didn't communicate, Lexie could never be mad at Ren, but he was frequently angry with her. There were no deep conversations held between the two of them. And the question was never answered why Ren's parents were safe from the Sentori. Lexie need asked questions! She rarely expressed emotion unless it was to sob. I just couldn't connect with her character and therefore, her story.
April 29, 2013
This is a free book from Goodreads First Reads. I could not understand why Lexi wouldn't ask Ren to explain. Every time he told her to just wait - she did. I like books with a strong female character and she was finally at the end but came to late for me. I realize this book would have gone in a different direction had she been told the answers to her questions. I bought in to the storyline just not with the characters.
June 23, 2013
This is my first book to read that involved reincarnation, and this style, for sure. There is plenty of action and romance (nothing erotic) as they seem to fall for each other quickly as teenagers tend to do. I found myself to be confused some of the time as the characters would jump from one place to another. It took me quite awhile to get into this story and a while to finish it. I would not read a sequel as it's just not my style.
I received this book in a giveaway.
I received this book in a giveaway.
March 9, 2014
This book took me almost two weeks to read, at 349 pages it should have taken two days at the most. The writing was choppy, with a multitude of typos and grammatical errors. I kept going with it because the storyline was intriguing and the characters were created with depth and feeling. I feel that the author needs a better editor and maybe to take more time making sure that the material flows. I really did like the story, enough to get to the end. 2.5 stars for me.
March 11, 2014
This book took me almost two weeks to read, at 349 pages it should have taken two days at the most. The writing was choppy, with a multitude of typos and grammatical errors. I kept going with it because the storyline was intriguing and the characters were created with depth and feeling. I feel that the author needs a better editor and maybe to take more time making sure that the material flows. I really did like the story, enough to get to the end. 2.5 stars for me
May 7, 2013
What a great, exciting storyline! I truly loved it and the suspense was there the whole time! I cannot wait for the next book! If you're looking for a fun, summer book to pick up, I would highly recommend this one! Way to go Holster! Keep them coming!!
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