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Hi!
I just finished A Time To Die and I need people to talk to about it, since I don’t want to spoil it to all my friends.
Also I need emotional support because that book is just murderous.
I can’t analyze the storytelling right now since I’m still in the emotional trauma stage, so what do you guys think about it? What were your favorite things about the book? Favorite parts? Characters?
Anyway, this is just a thread where we can talk about it. I’m not sure who’s all read the book, so I’ll just guess. If you know anyone who has, feel free to tag them.
@daeus @kate-flournoy @emma-flournoy @hope @Ethryndal @Writefury @Sierra-R @Brandon-Miller @Christi-Eaton @Ingridrd @Adry_Grace @Aratrea @audrey-caylin@winter-rose *is here for you* I’ve read them! Love the series. The first book… yes. Murderous would be a good way to describe it. I was stunned when Parvin actually lost her hand. And it didn’t surprise me when Jude died, but still… *sniffs* He was such a great character. One of my favorite things about this series was how human Parvin was. I connected with her. Our personalities aren’t the same, and the struggles weren’t all the same either, but they were just so… real. And natural.
INTJ - Inhumane. No-feelings. Terrible. Judgment and doom on everyone.
@winter-rose A Time to Die is my most favorite book asdfjl;k (sorry, I’m just excited to talk about it xD)
Yes, it is absolutely a cruel book. I cried numerous times. Because Juuudddeeee. *wails loudly* I’ve read the book twice, and it wasn’t until the second time that I really figured him out. He’s one of those complex characters that you wish would be nice and predictable for once, but you love him anyway. I was really angry when he started losing his memory and all. He’s still my favorite Out of Time series character though.
And Reid. Seriously, Nadine (the author) killed both of my favorite characters in the first book! *more wailing* But I’m also kinda angry with him, too. I mean, who would not tell their twin sister that they got married?!? (especially to Tawny…but I won’t give spoilers for the rest of the trilogy 😉 )
Skelly Chase…I actually really liked him for a while there. Until he shot Reid.
And am I the only one who was really digging the complexity of Parvin’s family? I thought it masterful. Sad, but masterful.
Willow sort of bugged me though. She didn’t really do much. I mean, she had good motivations and characterization, but I never really saw the whole point of her character. I felt that she could have had a bigger impact on Parvin.
Now (finally) to Parvin. She. Is. Epic. Despite how I yell at her while I read when she makes rash, impulsive decisions, I love her character. She felt so real. Especially her relationship with God. *chuckles* On that note, THE THEME WAS EPIC. It’s like…wow. Just wow. Even if my favorite characters died and got their limbs amputated, even if Parvin and Jude drove me crazy at times, the theme alone could have made that book my favorite. Don’t even get me started on the writing style (which was epic epic epic).
As for the plot, I thought it was done really well. I wasn’t a huge fan of the turning point (it seemed two-fold: I loved the first part but didn’t like the second part. In other words, Parvin losing her hand was great but I didn’t like the birth scene with Ash), but I loved how clear it was when Parvin left her Normal World. 3rd plot point came a little late, but did the job well. And there was tension on every page, so that was clearly good.
Finally, my favorite parts. The first would be when Parvin’s climbing down the cliff and gets attacked by wolves. The second is when her hand gets chopped off. The third is that last scene after Jude dies. I know, I’m a weird person xD I just loved how those scenes really grew Parvin’s character and brought her closer to God. And the scene after Jude dies was just really cool with the prose and all and remains my favorite scene out of the entire trilogy.
There. Fangirling done. 😀
@winter-rose I never felt emotionally invested in the protagonist, so the book didn’t move me as much as it did for other people here. :/ That being said, the book didn’t annoy me, and given that most dystopia books and most Christian fiction books annoy me, that caused this book to stand out. I also appreciated Brandes’ gutsiness in making Parvin lose her hand, because I really didn’t think Brandes was willing to go that far, and I stared at the book in shock when I got to that part. =P Probably my favorite moment in the book. Also the villain character was pretty awesome. My biggest complaint is probably that the end reveal that Parvin’s clock was actually her brother’s clock seemed too predictable, and I feel like that could have rather easily been made more of a surprising twist with a couple minor plot changes. Besides that, though, any work of modern Christian fiction that keeps me turning pages and doesn’t annoy me receives high marks from me. 😉
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@hope Thank you *wipes eyes* I was surprised too! Though I kind of like that the author let it happen. Usually characters are pulled out of those types of situations at the last second, but Parvin was not.
Yes! Parvin was so real, so human, that I felt the connection right away. And the natural part, that’s something I noticed too, especially when it came to the warm and fuzzes between her and Jude. Since it was a natural outflow out of her character, it didn’t seem weird or out of place, and it didn’t make me gag (some books do when they get into that lovey stuff). It just made me ship them harder and hurt much worse when Jude died. Oh gosh I miss him.
@Audrey-caylin YAY I LOVE FANGIRLING! I’m not there yet though. I’m more on the I’m-angry-at-the-author stage. Again, emotional trauma.
YES Jude! *Cries* he was my favorite. I loved that he wasn’t all good guy, but he wasn’t all bad guy. He was a person who had moments with both. HE WAS FANTASTIC!
Yes and Reid. At that moment I really wanted Shelly to die a very violent death. I’m surprised at my own hatred when my favorite characters die or are harmed.
Yes I love how Parvin’s family was complex, ’cause some books tend to make the parents either all good or all bad or mostly one or the other.
I think Willow was sweet, but yea she was flat. Which I don’t mind. I still like her for what she did for Parvin.Yes Parvin was awesome. She’s so real.
I loved the description, though I didn’t catch much at the end because of the emotional stupor. I didn’t like that Shelly showed up only at the beginning and end, though the communication thing helped a lot and balanced it out. I hated how Parvin didn’t read her journal or the X book or anything like that and when Jude *tears* didn’t tell her everything. I guess I don’t like when characters don’t take advantage of what’s given them.I’m not the best at discerning plot structure in a book unless I think hard about it, but it wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t my personal preference. I always like when characters are with other characters and interacting with them, so the part where Parvin was alone a lot (And without Jude) was a little less awesome for me. I also like when the protagonist is directly involved with the antagonist, instead of just facing obstacles that aren’t directly related to the antagonist, like the Albinos, the wolves, the Dregs, etc. I didn’t mind it at all and thought it was still good, just not my personal preference
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@aratrea Ahh, well no annoyance is good. 😀 Can you pinpoint the reason you didn’t feel connected to Parvin? If you can’t that’s fine. I’m just wondering for future storytelling reference. 😀
I also get annoyed with Christian fiction books (though I’ve managed to find a few golden ones, mostly the ones that have great themes and characters).
Yes the hand part was so shocking! I loved it.
The first time we learned that Reid thought the clock was his I knew he was going to die, so I didn’t think it was much of a reveal either. I was just hoping he wouldn’t die anyway.@winter-rose Yes, but losing a hand… Reading such book is not doing my own characters any favors. XD
One thing I found interesting about this series is that they are almost more biographical (which is kind of the point, I think). The plot didn’t seem as orderly and structured as most novels would be, rather it was a life; a string of events. I liked the characters enough I didn’t mind, but normally I prefer books with clearer plot points.
I was never quite sure whose clock it would be. I thought it would be Reed’s simply because Parvin was the MC and there were two other books in the series. But I could also see Nadine killing Parvin and picking up with Reed or some such storyline. I was 98% sure Parvin would survive, but the 2% of doubt was enough to keep me wondering until the end. 😉
INTJ - Inhumane. No-feelings. Terrible. Judgment and doom on everyone.
@winter-rose I can’t actually figure out why I didn’t feel a connection. =P Her thoughts seemed to be a bit generic at times, but it also may just be that some characters don’t click for everyone, and this was just a case where the protagonist didn’t click for me. So I don’t know if it’s necessarily the fault of the book.
Editor-in-Chief Emeritus. Guiding authors at Story Embers.
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@hope Poor Parvin. Also, I fear for your characters. 😀 I like more of a clearer plot as well. Yea, you can never be too sure who’s going to die.
@aratrea I agree with you there, some books just don’t connect. 🙂 I don’t necessarily remember any specific generic thoughts, but I’m sure there were some.Sorry to interrupt, but what series is this? Who’s it by?
Writer. Dreamer. Sometimes blogger. MBTI mess. Lover of Jesus and books.
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@That_writer_girl_99 Out of Time series by Nadine Brandes.
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Also, the villains name is Skelly not Shelly. Whoops. 😀
@winter-rose and everyone else here…
So I’m in the minority. I actually didn’t care for Jude, so (yes, I’m a horrible person) was kinda (just a teensy bit) glad when he died. I’m not sure why I didn’t like him. I just didn’t.
I knew about the clock but the ending… the ending… I must have sat in shock for ten minutes after Nadine Brandes ended with killing both Jude and Reid… I went immediately and bought the next book on kindle just so I could keep reading.I was pleasantly surprised about the first person, present tense. I always think that if the book is in first person, past tense, they probably won’t die. But I wasn’t sure if she would die or not with the present tense.
I liked how real Parvin was. I get really annoyed at Christian fiction that either starts with a dark and evil person converting, or a perfect goody-two-shoes Christian.
Parvin was different. She was awesome. ’nuff said. 😀Okay, fangirling over. 😛
Best. series. ever. *runs in circles flailing*
Writing Heroes ♦ Writing Hope // janemareeauthor.com.au
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@Jess You…You didn’t…what? How can you…. :O Just kidding that’s fine. 🙂 He can get a little annoying at times.
Do you like Solomon? When he dove after Pravin’s ship in a TTS…. <3Yes the ending was so sad! I also bought the next book right away (and am almost 75% through it. I’m terrible at pacing myself).
That’s interesting what you said about present tense! I’ll have to keep that in mind. 🙂
Yes I also hate that. But Parvin is truly fantastic. I love her voice too.
@jane-maree It’s pretty great! Shame it took me so long to read it.
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