January 13, 2012

Review: Existence, by Abbi Glines

Author: Abbi Glines
Title: Existence
Series: Existence Trilogy (#1)
ASIN: B006LFVZ8E
Publisher: Wild Child Publishing (December 12th 2011)

Buy your copy: Kindle

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“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.” GoodReads’ blurb

Do you know, I had an opinion of this book that changed completely in the last line?

Yep. I mean, from a general public and market point of view, Existence is everything you’d expect it to. I guess it could be defined as a highly emotional romance with an impossible guy, with a perfect triangle thrown in.

The lead guy, Dank, is hot and protective and sweet. The lead girl, Pagan, is very much in love – and unique in that she can see the souls of the deceased, which makes her struggle between the “soul” she is drawn to and the perfect guy who wants to date her, Leif. So far, so good.

What bothered me a little about this title is that, for once, I liked the guy who was going to get the boot better than the guy who was going to get the girl.

Don’t get me wrong: Dank is charming, and did I mention hot? But he pretty much falls in love with Pagan. It’s not exactly instant love, but the feelings are so intense and painful and burning on both sides that at times I arched a brow...

I arched it because Pagan had Leif, who is handsome and popular and sweet, and actually bothers to get to know her and to let her know him. He seems to be one of those heart-of-gold guys that are so difficult to find, and even with the dark allure of Dank factored, I could not understand how Pagan could become so obsessed about that “talking soul”. How the idea of not seeing him could affect her so completely.

I’m not going to elaborate on the exact consequences, because that’d be spoiling it for you, but I must say that while I found them irrational and extreme, I loved that the author dared to take that route. It’s incredibly original. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any other heroine coming close.

And now that I’ve taken this roundabout way of saying that there’s something surprising coming while trying not to destroy the surprise effect... Please, let me complain about the blurb.

Yes, the blurb bought me. Yes, the idea of a Death romance, and the picture on the cover, made me get this book and squeeze it in as soon as possible.

It also spoiled the whole book. In the, Pagan doesn’t figure out that Dank’s Death until the last 5% of the book or so kind of way.

She kept thinking he was a special soul, a soul that could talk, and wondering and trying to guess what was going on... and I’d have loved to be along for the ride, but I already knew all the answers.

The last 5% or so resolves the conflict quite nicely, though. I had an idea of several possible ways it could end, and while I came close I didn’t exactly hit the nail on the head.

And then we got to the last sentence. The one thing I didn’t see coming, I’d not have foreseen ever. The one thing that threw the whole book upside down for me and left me with a “Whaaaat?” expression for minutes on end.

Can’t tell you what it is.

Just saying that this was going to be an “Okay, I’ll read the sequel at some point” book. It now is a “When the heck is that sequel coming out?!?!” book.

So yeah – go and buy. And read. Fast. I want to discuss where this is going with you.

15 comments:

  1. I have this book too & keep wanting to read it but some book I MUST read for an interview comes first.
    Hard life huh? Too many book, too little time! lolz.
    TY for the gr8 review & TY for visiting my latest review :)
    Books&Beyond

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    1. Oooh... Yes, I know how that feels. I have this trick about rewarding myself with a book I really, really want to read if I've been good and made good time on the books I'm supposed to read. It works, more or less.
      I still think that we need days with 26 hrs, though!

      Thanks for the visit!

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  2. Sorry but I was rooting for Dank and Pagan the whole time. I guess I just love the bad boys even though Dank wasn't really bad. I mean he's Death but he can't help that and I really liked that Pagan could see past all his craziness and still love him. I mean Dank is constantly pushing her away but she still fell for him. I absolutely fell in love with Dank I saw a total sweetheart in him and I can't wait til Predestined comes out so I can get more of Dank. I loved how we knew that Dank was Death but Pagan had to figure it out. The ending was a major cliffhanger and definitely has me more curious. Leif was cool but was pretty clingy at times and a lil clueless but still cute and sweet. All the characters were great and I can't wait to see them all again in the next book.

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    1. Hi Caitlin!

      Hey, no reason to be sorry. We all have our different opinions :)

      I did like Dank, though - I'm a dark boy kind of reader, too! I don't think that being Death makes him bad, either. It's just what he is, and he just takes souls. It's not as if he were around killing people on whims. He's necessary. He is super sweet, too, and I get why he'd fall for Pagan. She can see him, after all. I just had trouble relating to her obsession with him.

      The rest of the cast is great, too! And I agree on something else - when's the next one coming out??

      I can't wait, either. Need to see how the cliffy is resolved!

      Thanks a lot for stopping by and commenting! It's much appreciated.

      Ron

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  3. Great review, as usual =) Thank you for sharing. This is actually the first and only review I read about this book and it's interesting to know your opinion. It's quite hard when you're rooting for someone who might not end up with the lead character (that would be frustrating for me). I want to meet this Dank and Leif and Pagan (unusual names) and I'm curious about the story. I hate cliffhanger endings though. It makes waiting even more difficult. I hope I can read it soon (which I think is kinda impossible right now hehehe) and discuss it with you... =)

    P.S. I didn't know there's a reading challenge for Soul Screamers, where did you find out? It would be fun to join with a friend... I'll check it out and see if I can join =)

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    1. Hi April!

      I could say something more about the rooting thing, and what it was so shocking for me... but that'd spoil too many things! Don't worry about your current pile, but I'd love it if you eventually got to this. I want to know who you're supporting! :)

      I heard of the challenge through twitter. Basically, it's about reading the five books that are out before the sixth comes out. Runs from Jan 15 to June 15th... and I think this might be the link:

      Soul Screamers Reading Challenge

      Then again, I'm a disaster with html so it might not work. It's hosted by Ficktshun over at Books over Boys, in case it doesn't work :) Hope we can join together!

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    2. Ok, I'm going to check out the challenge (I think it would be fun, but don't you think it might end up like a disaster for us??? LOL I hope we can catch up if ever we decide to join them LOL)

      Oh, and P.S. Your like works! haha! thanks RON =) XOXO!

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    3. I mean "YOUR LINK WORKS!" sorry for the typo! *sigh LOL

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    4. OK, Ron, let's join the challenge for Soul Screamers! =) I have the Vol 1, so I think it's ok. But I hope to get the whole series (hoping there would be Vol 2). I need to order it soon! Let's get it on! Good luck to us! =)

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    5. Yay! My Soul to lose, here we come!!

      Good luck to us, yes... we're gonna need it! :)

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  4. Hey Ron! You have a button! Is that new? I haven't noticed that before! Yay! I grabbed it for my Blog! =)

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    1. Hehe!! I got the button in December, and the blog roll just this week. I'm slowly adding some html and gadgets, little by little... as I dare to :)
      Thanks for grabbing it!

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  5. I think Predestined is coming out in April but don't quote me on that lol.

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