A Time to Die by Nadine Brandes
What if you knew the time when you’d die? What if your government assigned you a clock that counted down to your death? You’d know the day. What would you do with such knowledge?
That’s the premise of Nadine Brandes’ book, A Time to Die, the first book in her A Time To Die trilogy.
Although the story takes place in the mid-twenty-second century, this is not the world of the Jetsons, with technology providing for every need. No, this world will remind you of the 1800s with a village square, a market with wooden booths and leafless dogwood trees.
Such is the nature of oppression.
Clocks Matter
Anyone who neglects their Clock, which represents their remaining time, will be punished severely.
We follow Parvin, a teenage girl who defends a Radical found without his Clock, declaring that “his life matters. Not his Clock.”
Thus begins a journey searching for meaning for Parvin. She is certain that she has squandered her time and yet she wants to matter and believes that she does not.
When she is betrayed by a man that she thought was aiding her cause, she faces the Wall. Dissenters are sent through the Wall and no one is sure what awaits them, but most assume it is death.
Once she survives her own severe consequences, she is cast into a different world where she must determine whom she can trust.
An Overcomer
Parvin overcomes obstacles. Sure, she’s fearful and second-guesses herself, but she keeps going. Somehow she finds courage to overcome – and believe there’s something better in her future. That’s what hope is about.
Parvin’s emotions throughout the book are like a batch of towels coming out the dryer, hot and tumbled together.
She trusts, and she distrusts – sometimes the same people and almost at the same time. Despite this, she yearns to hear God speak and have faith that he is the ultimate giver of meaning to her life.
This YA (Young Aadult – but it’s not just for teenagers) dystopian book is well written. Parvin touches our hearts as she works to overcome what she assumes is her unfair fate. She believes she’s incapable of much, but her actions prove her wrong over and over. She’s not sure if she trusts God, but she’s quick to tell others about him – and share her precious Bible with people she meets on the way.
The Search for Meaning
This is a book of high adventure and deep characters who work to find meaning in their own lives, despite the Clock.
I found this book in my search for stories about overcoming. It’s skillfully written, and I’d absolutely recommend this book.
Check out Nadine’s website for more information about this book and others exploring characters who overcome.
