How would you live if you knew the day you’d die?Parvin Blackwater believes she has wasted her life. At only seventeen, she has one year left according to the Clock by her bedside. In a last-ditch effort to make a difference, she tries to rescue Radicals from the government’s crooked justice system. But when the authorities find out about her illegal activity, they cast her through the Wall — … they cast her through the Wall — her people’s death sentence. What she finds on the other side about the world, about eternity, and about herself changes Parvin forever and might just save her people. But her clock is running out.
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This is the first book in a phenomenal speculative fiction trilogy. Parvin Blackwater and the rest of her community all know the exact date and time of their death. Each carries a clock that counts down the time until death and the government uses that information to assign benefits. Parvin, however, has been sharing a clock with her twin brother. Neither knows whose clock it really is. In the final year of her life, not even at the ripe old age of 18, Parvin finally starts living and everything spins out of her control.
I love so many things about this book and series. Parvin is a well developed, interesting character. Throughout the series there are other well developed, interesting characters. There is nothing predictable about the story line. Each book in the trilogy is strong and compelling. The final resolution was a complete surprise to me which practically never happens. This is also Christian fiction but the spiritual portion is so woven into the story that it never seemed preachy to me. As such, this book and trilogy have made it onto my read over and over shelf. Few make it there.
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I’ve been reading a lot of non-fiction this year and I was in the mood for something light and fun—a literary escape—and I found it in Nadine Brandes’ A Time to Die. u2063
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I’ve read fewer than a handful of dystopian novels, but there was a lot of buzz about this book when it released so I wanted to give it a shot. u2063
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I began to write a serious review of this book but then I got sidetracked when I searched for a synonym for fabulous. u2063
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Online thesaurus: blah, blah, blah, amazeballsu2063
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Does it work? It works for me.u2063
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Pros:u2063
• Nadine Brandes’ world-building was amazeballs! u2063
• Wildly Imaginativeu2063
• A ton of ACTION – especially after Parvin crosses to the West.u2063
• I loved Jude and Willow, Parvin’s friends and traveling companions. Skelley Chase – not so much. He was a real jerk-face (no thesaurus needed) but good villains also make for good reading. u2063
• When I mentioned the premise of the story at the dinner table it sparked an interesting discussion. We ended up divided into the I WANT TO KNOW WHEN I’LL DIE and the IGNORANCE IS BLISS camps. The point I’m trying to make is that the story makes you think. Is it better that we do not know how many days we have on this earth? Are we using the time God has given us wisely?u2063
• Parvin takes a copy of the Bible with her through the Wall. At one point, she realizes she has not been getting answers to the barrage of questions she’s been firing off to God because she’s not reading His Word. (loved this!)u2063
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Cons: u2063
• Shortly after realizing her need to read her Bible, Parvin gives it away. When it is discussed later in the story, her decision makes even less sense. I’m probably the only person this will bother, but I have to ask WHY? If I ever get cast into exile, you will have to pry my Bible out of my cold, dead hands. Just sayin’.u2063
• The resolution was abrupt.u2063
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4.5u2063
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Appropriate for middle-grade to adult readers.u2063
his book is life changing. Totally christian friendly, appropriate for youth, and involves adventure. How could you not want to read it?
It’s about a young girl learning about God, surviving against all odds, and helping her world. Now this is a survival book, so it will have wild animals and random people in the woods, and that usually includes blood. If your not comfortable with blood, then you may not wish to read this book.
Over all, this is a pretty incredible book. If you are just getting into christian books, this is a must-read.
Pros
Youth appropriate
Female heroine
Faith friendly
Great story
Cons
Some violence (but carefully worded)
This was a great Dystopian novel!
A Time to Die by Nadine Brandes swept me into a world that somehow made me feel as if I had been simultaneously swept into the past and the future. She brilliantly weaves impoverished archaic communities with enough futuristic tech to remind me that I’m visiting a time many years after terrorist attacks that devastated the world. In rebuilding, a wall was put up, splitting those who are governed by clocks, and those who choose to remain independent.
The dystopian society Brandes created is enough for me enjoy the ride. Add Parvin, an eighteen-year-old with no direction and no accomplishments, nothing but a ticking clock. A clock that is about to run out. A clock that knows the time of her death.
Or does it?
Parvin has a twin brother. Perhaps the clock is his and he only has a year to live. We don’t know. And though it’s not Parvin or her brother’s fault there weren’t enough clocks available at their birth to set the time of their death, it’s unacceptable to live in their community without one. Now they’re secretly radicals, sharing the same clock.
But one of them only has a year left. Parvin can’t risk having lived all her life for nothing. Her life has to have meaning. This drives her to make a choice that will completely alter the last year of her life. A string of life-threatening events follows that moment, all the while growing her faith and dependence on God.
I’ve read many good books, but it’s been a long time since I picked one up and became instantly hooked. A Time to Die had me delaying dinner and annoying my family with my need to know what will happen next.
I highly recommend this book to any and all readers. There are moments that might be disturbing for someone who is in Jr High or below, but young adults to 100 plus, male or female…anyone who enjoys a good, clean adventure with God at the center…don’t miss A Time to Die.