Existence by Abbi Glines

Publisher: Wild Child Publishing
Publication Date: 12/13/11
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Source: Received from Author for review

What happens when you are stalked by Death? You fall in love with him, of course. Pagan Moore doesn't cheat Death, instead she 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, they left her alone. Until she steps out of her car on the first day of school and sees 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, he does something none of the others have ever done: he speaks. Pagan is fascinated by the soul. What Pagan 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. he is Death and he is about to break all the rules. (Summary from Goodreads.com)

First, a huge thank you to Abbi for the chance to read Existence. I've had the privilege to read advance copies of all three of Abbi's books this year, and they have all been fantastic.When I started reading Existence, I will admit that I had some expectations based on my experiences with Abbi's other books. Some were met, others were exceeded.

Pagan is just your average, ghost-seeing teenager. The ghosts walk in and out of her life and as long as she doesn't let on that they're there, it's not a problem. Then she meets Dank, who unnerves Pagan from the very beginning. Even more unsettling is the fact that he can talk to her, which makes it much harder to ignore him. And this soul seems just as fascinated with her as she is with him. As her interest in Dank grows, so does her interest in Leif, the star football player at her high school. Unfortunately, it's Pagan's appointed time to die. Dank isn't about to let this happen, however. He breaks all the rules and saves her from a deadly car crash. This upsets the balance in the spiritual world and other souls are too happy with Dank's decision. To protect Pagan, Dank takes on human form as a new student at her school, which makes it a little difficult for Pagan to concentrate on her budding relationship with Leif.

Perhaps my favorite thing about this book was that it kept me on my toes. It seriously defied any expectations that I had. Just when I thought I had figured out what the next twist or move was going to be in the book, something completely different happened. I was very pleased with the different twists in the storyline and, seriously, the last line of this book is one of the best I've ever read. It's a perfect cliffhanger.

In my opinion, Abbi Glines is the master of writing swoon-worthy guys! I was completely torn between Dank and Leif. Leif is the hot jock that every girl wants to date. At first he seems to have an ego bigger than the state of Texas, but turns out to have a  soft side and big heart. Dank is the rockstar bad boy who is dangerously seductive. He's torn between wanting Pagan to lead a happy life and wanting her to be only with him. Pagan is just as torn as I was for awhile. Dank provides passion and desire, while Leif is stable and safe. All of the characteristics draw Pagan in for different reasons. But which will she choose?

I'm very excited to see what Abbi has in store for us in the sequel to Existence. I was very happy to learn there would be more, because I think there's a lot more to Pagan than we learned about in this book. Especially with relation to her ability to see ghosts. I think this is going to be a great series!

For more about Abbi her other books, please check out her website. You'll find a mini-prequel from Death's perspective on Abbi's blog that she wrote for the YA Scavenger hunt. You can also check out my reviews of Breathe and The Vincent Boys.