Cover Image: Try Not to Die: In Brightside

Try Not to Die: In Brightside

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More than two dozen ways to die.
Just one correct path.
Do you have what it takes to survive?

Try Not To Die: In Brightside had a horror\supernatural feel to it.

Y'all this was quite amazing.
I had a awesome time with the decisions even though I did die a lot.
Still fun to be able to make your own decision.

I really enjoyed! It was great!

Thank you NetGalley, Publisher & Author for this gifted copy.

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Ok, let me first say that this is a YA novel. That said, I tried to go back to when I was the age of Becky who is the protagonist in this book. The really cool aspect is that YOU, the reader can choose the outcome of each chapter. I will say that the audiobook version is probably not as good as the actual book due the the fact it seemed to rush you in making your decisions. Overall though I would definitely give 4/5 stars and recommend this book to any YA who likes scary stories. Becky is new to Brightside and she needs to be very observant. The people there are not like other people. There is one big difference, they tend to disappear at night. You mustn’t say a word about it either. The nurse, Jenny, carries a gun. The story line is great and it kept me interested the entire way through. I do not want to give away too much because it is worth the read.

Thank you to netgalley as well as the author/publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Becky is planning on escaping Brightside by Mark Tullius and Dawna Gonzalez. Then, her neighbor is murdered. In this create your own adventure, you get to try to help her escape. Becky tries to investigate to find out who killed her neighbor and is still trying to escape.

This was my first choose your own adventure story. It was so fun except I kept picking the wrong choice. When you pick the wrong choice, it tells you which chapter to go back to to retry. I started randomly picking numbers instead of choosing what I thought was the best choice and did way better.

I did the choose your own adventure story and think I liked it more than I would've liked just listening to the story.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Maxine Denis. Denis did a great job narrating and her voice worked well

Thank you NetGalley and Vincere Press for this audiobook.

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<em>Time to make a decision...</em>

This is my first experience reading a choose your own adventure novel in audiobook format. And I have to admit that the idea is pretty fantastic. It's one thing to read them yourself, but as an audibook it's an entirely different experience. It's one that I think has a <em>lot</em> of potential. That said, <em>Try Not to Die: In Brightside</em> by Mark Tullius and Dawna Gonzales wasn't really all that great.

<b>Turn to Chapter 2</b>

As I said, I <em>love</em> the concept of a choose your own adventure in audiobook format. This was probably the single best thing about the whole story. Having the ability to listen to the story and have the main character make decisions based on my choices has always been something I've been intrigued by. It was truly wonderful to be able to do so simply by moving from chapter to chapter.

In its own way, the audiobook made it even easier to follow the process of jumping from chapter to chapter. As far as I'm concerned, this book could have been one of the most amazing I'd read this year if only the story was up to par.

<b>Try Again</b>

There are a lot of things that didn't really work well with this story. Perhaps part of it is that I did not read the original book by Tullius that built the world in which this book is set. That said, I do think this only plays a small role in my disappointment. Ultimately, the actual plot as well as the characters were not written very well. Everything is very matter of fact. The characters all have a goal and are working toward it, but there are a lot of weird things involved in order to make the events you have to choose between more dangerous.

The world-building is...okay. It's nothing mind-blowing, really. You've kind of just got some template for a dangerous escape novel in which the author kind of plugs in a bunch of mildly developed filler points and...voila. There's the book.

The characters, though, are probably the worst. I never once felt connected to any of them. There didn't seem to be any depth to a single character, or at least we never get enough time with anyone to unveil any of the potential depth they may have had. In the end all, even the main character, are very forgettable.

<b>Choosing Your Adventure</b>

Speaking of the main character, why were all the choices that furthered you along in the story awful? It almost felt as though the author were trying to discourage kind acts, since all the options to be kind and helpful resulted in her basically dying. Honestly, what the hell? I was <em>so</em> disappointed with this.

What's worse is that this really never felt like a choose your own adventure story. It was really more of a guess the option that won't get you killed kind of tale. This, admittedly, made me like the story a lot less than I might have if it actually had different endings that you could potentially reach.

In general, there was nothing <em>terrible </em>about the writing, but it was definitely subpar in a lot of ways. I think the only thing that the author could do a decent job at was action...but even that was very meh.

<b>Speaking of Meh</b>

I'm not sure if it was the characters, the writing, or just the narrator but I never once felt scared while reading this. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this supposed to be the kind of story that you feel scared while reading or listening to? Despite stakes being supposedly high, nothing ever felt that way. Not once. Which is <em>hilarious</em> because there are literally so many instances in which the main character dies if you make a bad choice.

The audio just needed <em>something</em> more to make me really feel like I was in the moment, to actually scare me. Maybe the voice should have been different. Maybe there should have been sound effects. Perhaps it would have been best to put in some creepy music. I'm not sure. But what they did do just didn't work for me.

So, at the end of the day this book wasn't terrible. But it's definitely not anything to get excited about, either.

<em>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</em>

This review will be live on the Reader Fox blog on October 2, 2020.

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This was fun!
I loved choose your own adventure books as a child so an adult version was fab!
I love the authors writing style so even though I haven’t read brightside before listening I still thoroughly enjoyed and understood what was going on through the chapters.
My only gripe was I listen to audiobooks whilst at work and I had to keep changing chapters to follow my choices. Fine if I was home but at work it was a pain. My fault for choosing to listen whilst at work but I felt it was worth mentioning.
I’ve already picked up try not to die at grandmas house 😁

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did you ever read and choose your own adventure book?
Example: you are trapped in bedroom with the killer coming down the hallway. Turn to pg 3 if you hide in the closet. Turn to pg 15 if you climb out the window.

I'm not going to lie... I died many many times reading this book. I'm bad at impulse decisions 🤣 That being said, I still really enjoyed this book. It was fast paced and kept me on my toes.

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Rating: 2.5 rounded up to 3 /5 stars.

Opinions: In my opinion, Try Not to Die: In Brightside was precisely average. The plot was engaging, but not electrifying. The characters were consistent, but not relatable. The themes were existent, but not resonating. Although I had a blast flicking through the book to choose my own adventure, I did not gain anything from reading this nor am I counting down the days until the next book releases. There's not much else to say; Try Not to Die: In Brightside fell just short of my expectations.

My Favourite Thing: I appreciate Tullius' dedication and passion for his "Try Not to Die" series. As a writer myself, I understand how difficult writing choose-your-own-adventure stories can be. Despite this, he never confused paths, misplaced information, or forgot a character's mission! I definitely appreciate that, however uninterested in the book I was, he did an excellent job creating a credible and flowing story.

My Least Favourite Thing: That said, Tullius cheated in writing a choose-your-own-adventure book. Readers are supposed to choose a new path at every crossroad the author provides and end up at one of the multiple conclusions. Rather, Tullius provided two choices: the right one, which allowed you to continue the story, and the wrong one, which forced you to reread a chapter and choose the correct choice. There were no paths, only obstacles. This was irritating and very restricting, which is the opposite of the book's intent!

Total Rating: PG-12
Language: PG-13
Adult Content: PG
Violence: PG-13

Recommended For and Similar Reads: Try Not to Die: In Brightside is an intense and complex read for fans of choose-your-own adventure stories looking for a bit more structure in their books. If you've watched "Bandersnatch" or played Dungeons and Dragons, you should try Tullius' "Try Not to Die" series!

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Brightside is a beautiful mountain town. It is also a prison. Special people are sent here and held. They are treated just fine if they work and proceed as they are supposed to. But those that don't are sent to the lodge and come back with their spirit broken. Becky has only been here for 10 days and already hates it. But she hears there might be an escape attempt and she must join in.

I haven't read a choose your adventure story like this in forever. I wasn't sure how it would work with the audiobook, but it was super easy. At the end of the chapter, the narrator tells you that you must make a decision. You then skip to whichever chapter you choose to learn your fate. I died way more times than I shall admit, but it was fun. The audiobook also gives the option to skip ahead if you just wanted to listen to the story, which I appreciated.

I will say that while I did not read the previous book, I had no problem following along. Probably would've been better if I had, but the action started so fast, you just learned to go with the flow. Overall, I thought this was fun.

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I received a copy of this audio book from net galley in exchange for an honest review.

Let me be clear...I think I would have enjoyed this a lot more if I had read the first book in the series before listening to this audio book. I was a little confused during the story as I couldn't follow who certain characters were that I am assuming had been mentioned in the first book. That being said, I did enjoy this audio book and the choose your own adventure style of it. I think that is what made it enjoyable for me, being able to choose what happens next even if I made a mistake and chose the wrong path.

I really do think that the authors have great promise with this series and will be picking up the first book in the series just because I actually want to know what happened prior to the start of this audio book.

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I listened to the audiobook version of this novel and all I can say is what a mess. I loved choose your own adventure type books as a kid, but this doesn’t work as an audio. The decisions are thrown at you too quickly with little explanation and the book moves on to the next chapter before you have time to make the selection. I like to put my phone down and listen to and audiobook without having to click every few minutes. This story kept me attached to my phone and unable to relax into the story.

The story itself was hard to understand. It seemed to leap straight into something I was meant to understand but wasn’t explained clearly enough. I didn’t get chance to engage with the protagonist and I didn’t know what was happening.

There were also some technical issues where phrases were repeated that appeared to be editing issues rather than intentional. It doesn’t take much effort to check your audiobook before releasing it for review and it’s disappointing that this hadn’t been done.

Choose your own adventure is a great idea, but this book simply doesn’t work.

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I enjoyed the story and found the "choose your adventure" part to be an interactive twist on the audiobook experience. My biggest qualm with this story is that it was evidently second in the series and depended too much on the reader/listener knowing the background to make sense. Because I have not read the first book, I feel very disconnected from the protagonist,. I was blindsided and confused when she started telepathically communicated with other characters and the narration did nothing to help clarify these plot points. The protagonist's relationships also felt jarring and like the author focused too much on telling and not enough on showing. Still, the story and world were interesting and perhaps with the experience of the first book, my experience with this one would have been radically different.

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An Interactive Book? Cool!

The idea is great. I remember reading these kinds of books when I was a teen. And being able to click a link or skip to another chapter instead of flipping pages is an awesome updated version.

The story follows Becky as she tries to escape a town that's riddled with "Boots" aka the bad guys. Her brother's in the town as well. The story and concept are great.

This is book two of a series and I am not sure if I needed to read book one before giving this a try. My only issue is that I would have like more story in the story. More back story but that could be my fault because that back story is probably in book one.

I like the fact that you get two versions, the interactive one and the regular version if picking your own adventure isn't your thing. This still gives you the opportunity to read the story and enjoy the Authors work.

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I did not read Brightside and I believe in this novella's case, you really should read that book first. You are not going to get much world building or much character building. So this may have been more a three star read for me, but that is mostly because I didn't read Brightside and I don't feel like the book deserves a lower rating because I didn't read that. Anyways, it was interesting and I did get wrapped up in the story. And it was so neat how the narrator did the mind to mind voices even though it totally creeped me out at times. The characters were diverse and interesting. I was listening to this at work so I chose to listen to the read straight through without making decisions option. I guarantee I wouldn't have made the right decisions to keep me alive. And this really made me wish I had read Brightside so I guess I will have to remedy that now.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to and review the audiobook.

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Getting started was rough as the narrator's voice wasn't really engaged in the tale. I didnt pay close attention and ended up killing the main character on the first decision. While the story was interesting it left me wanting to know more about Brightside. Why are the really there? Other than dying, what are they trying to get away from? Just not thought out well, for me, but overall it was interesting.

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What a fun book. I have not done a "Choose your Adventure" book in years, not since reading them when my kids were small. Tjisvwas such an interesting story and giving me options made it more dnjoyable.

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I LOVED the premise having never tried an interactive book/ audiobook before!
This was really clever but quite difficult to follow. I listen to audiobooks while multi tasking which I would not recommend with this one!
The narrator was great and she really engaged me with the role and the decisions I had to make.
I feel the plot could have been stronger and there was more time to decide before it immediately started the next chapter.

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I loved the choose your own adventure books as a kid and I was so happy to see an audiobook version. The story follows Becky as she tries to escape the town she's trapped in. She was sent there for being a 'though thief' aka telepathic, where the guards are as likely to kill you as keep you safe. She makes choices throughout the day that will hopefully lead to freedom. You face the guards, push other prisoners into letting you into their plans, and choose which route won't get you caught.

I had a great time with the different decisions, even though I died a lot lol. There's also a version at the end that takes you through the story with the right choices, but where's the fun in that? I'm excited for the next book and will be on the lookout!

I received this audiobook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

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The excerpt of the audiobook peaked my interest. The narrator is a sophomore on highschool who was brought to Brightside two weeks ago. She’s an outsider who silently observes all that is going on around her because Brightside and it’s people is not a normal town. We learn that people are dragged away in the night. Wrong thoughts will get you detained in the cabin and nurse Jenny, pleasant as she may seem carries a glock. All so interesting this I want to learn more.

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I was a big fan of choose your own adventure style books as a child so I was immediately drawn to this book. It is definitely an adult version though with death as a theme! I enjoyed trying to make the right choices in order to stay alive - very cleaverly done.

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In this fun little choose you own adventure audiobook, you step into the role of the main character. You are trying to escape with others from the seemingly perfect town of Brightside. The people of this town read thoughts and only talk out loud when they don’t want to look suspicious. Be careful because you never know who might be listening in on your silent conversations. You will be given a choice at the end of every chapter. Choose correctly and you might escape the town, choose incorrectly and you will die

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