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Can't Die Without You
A dark, tear-soaked paranormal romance with a twist of psychological suspense.
A convenience store clerk struggling with the aftermath of abuse and bullying learns she’s unable to die. So she successfully seeks out a reclusive reaper living in a forest, but he refuses to kill her, and instead they agree he has until the end of summer to change her mind.
What starts as a desperate plea for an end becomes a battle of wills and an intimate exploration of life, death, and what it truly means to live. With every passing day, Olive finds herself falling for the very man she hopes will kill her, and discovers that some demons are harder to escape than others.
A convenience store clerk struggling with the aftermath of abuse and bullying learns she’s unable to die. So she successfully seeks out a reclusive reaper living in a forest, but he refuses to kill her, and instead they agree he has until the end of summer to change her mind.
What starts as a desperate plea for an end becomes a battle of wills and an intimate exploration of life, death, and what it truly means to live. With every passing day, Olive finds herself falling for the very man she hopes will kill her, and discovers that some demons are harder to escape than others.
- GenresAudiobookParanormal
142 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 8, 2025
6 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 30, 2026
I won this in a giveaway. The premise was interesting, but the writing was bad, and the audio production even worse. And now I find out it's an AI narration? Man I wish I hadn't wasted time on this.
November 4, 2025
FYI This is a bad faith review and contains massive spoilers and I am not sorry for any of it so don’t read if you enjoyed it or have a personal attachment to this novel (which I suspect is a very small amount of people)
I won this on a storygraph giveaway and Jesus CHRIST I wish I hadn’t. This is, unfortunately, without a shadow of a doubt the worst book I have read this year. And I am currently reading a book from the 19th century that is essentially Poe fanfiction. And this is still worse. I think it may be the worst book i’ve read since I got back into reading fiction in 2021.
The premise is an interesting one - suicidal girl who can’t die meets boy who kills people with his touch. But it is so horrendously written. The majority of the book is told through dialogue which is a godsend as the little we get in the way of introspection is absurdly bad. The main plot points are not built in any substantive way and are often straight up contradicted to serve the narrative.
It’s very clearly a rough first draft that has been ran through an AI narration programme without checking it once. Looking around online I have discovered that our narrators consist of:
“Digital Voice Hope - soothing narrator E”
“Digital Voice Shadow - thriller voice E”
“Digital Voice Beatrice - mature female E”
“Digital Voice Darryl E”
and
“Digital Voice Dave - calm canadian E”
There are repetitions in the text and a narrator will often say the wrong line in their voice, or the AI will pronounce something wrong or shout or do that weird unstable AI whisper/rasp when it is really not appropriate.
If I had written a book and released an audio version that was the same quality as Can’t Die Without You then I would be deeply ashamed of myself.
The writing does not make sense. It is not edited at all. There were multiple times I had to replay sections as they did not make a single shred of sense. Such as these two sentences which are ONE AFTER ANOTHER:
“So I had no money, no energy or will, no skills and my biggest advantage was that I had nothing to lose. I wasn’t left with many options. But that last one at least meant I was left with options.”
Huh ???????????????
Olive, our Digital Voice Hope - soothing Narrator E, does not live up to her description. Olive is straight up a horrible person. She is mean-spirited and rude, and is obsessed with telling Winter (presumably Shadow thriller voice E) that he smells bad. WHAT DOES THIS ADD TO THE NARRATIVE??? She is absolutely self-obsessed and unbearable to listen to, and multiple times in her conversations I literally had to say “WHAT??” out loud as her dialogue was so absurd. She thinks she is absolutely hilarious and TELLS us when she tried to be funny that she made a “good joke” or a funny comment, which obviously is never appreciated for the comedy it truly is.
She also constantly either challenges Winter that her “curse” is worse than his, or talks as if they are both struggling with the same “curse”. Excuse me maam are you really telling me being suicidal is worse than literally killing people with your touch, leading you to have accidentally murdered multiple family members and causing you to run away and live alone in the forest for fear of killing someone else?? Give me a fucking break jesus christ.
The irony is that 3/4s through the story it turns into this massive grandstanding about corporations, AI, and domestic terrorism?!??!! The fucking scream that I dared to SCREMPT when the worst AI voice out of all of them was narrating how AI is going to be used to control us. Olive can tell immediately that this character is a terrorist just after they meet for the second time. And what do you know, she’s absolutely correct with no evidence whatsoever. Riveting story arc there.
Oh btw the terrorist’s name is “Nase” because his older brother is called “Jim”. As in gymnasium. And the extra irony is that Nase’s is the only name the AI switches between pronunciations for so half of the time you don’t even get the joke delivered correctly.
Also the incredibly brief romance / sex bits are SO weird.
The last thing I need to get off my chest is that this author is OBSESSED with talking about piss and shit. It’s absolutely fucking insane. I started counting the references to shit and piss and I think I got to about 10 but I could be wrong. Even in the last scene which was supposed to be a dramatic death scene, they talk about their “pooping point”.
Olive describes going outside on a sunny day as “the sun took a piss in my eyes to remind me it was summer” despite her main traumatic event in her life being that her bullies in college (as in UNIVERSITY LEVEL) beat her up and pissed on her. Ex fucking cuse me do you really think a character that is suicidal cause her bullies pissed on her would use that metaphor to describe a summer’s day?? Fucking really??
This book is the reason why self-publishing has a bad reputation.
I won this on a storygraph giveaway and Jesus CHRIST I wish I hadn’t. This is, unfortunately, without a shadow of a doubt the worst book I have read this year. And I am currently reading a book from the 19th century that is essentially Poe fanfiction. And this is still worse. I think it may be the worst book i’ve read since I got back into reading fiction in 2021.
The premise is an interesting one - suicidal girl who can’t die meets boy who kills people with his touch. But it is so horrendously written. The majority of the book is told through dialogue which is a godsend as the little we get in the way of introspection is absurdly bad. The main plot points are not built in any substantive way and are often straight up contradicted to serve the narrative.
It’s very clearly a rough first draft that has been ran through an AI narration programme without checking it once. Looking around online I have discovered that our narrators consist of:
“Digital Voice Hope - soothing narrator E”
“Digital Voice Shadow - thriller voice E”
“Digital Voice Beatrice - mature female E”
“Digital Voice Darryl E”
and
“Digital Voice Dave - calm canadian E”
There are repetitions in the text and a narrator will often say the wrong line in their voice, or the AI will pronounce something wrong or shout or do that weird unstable AI whisper/rasp when it is really not appropriate.
If I had written a book and released an audio version that was the same quality as Can’t Die Without You then I would be deeply ashamed of myself.
The writing does not make sense. It is not edited at all. There were multiple times I had to replay sections as they did not make a single shred of sense. Such as these two sentences which are ONE AFTER ANOTHER:
“So I had no money, no energy or will, no skills and my biggest advantage was that I had nothing to lose. I wasn’t left with many options. But that last one at least meant I was left with options.”
Huh ???????????????
Olive, our Digital Voice Hope - soothing Narrator E, does not live up to her description. Olive is straight up a horrible person. She is mean-spirited and rude, and is obsessed with telling Winter (presumably Shadow thriller voice E) that he smells bad. WHAT DOES THIS ADD TO THE NARRATIVE??? She is absolutely self-obsessed and unbearable to listen to, and multiple times in her conversations I literally had to say “WHAT??” out loud as her dialogue was so absurd. She thinks she is absolutely hilarious and TELLS us when she tried to be funny that she made a “good joke” or a funny comment, which obviously is never appreciated for the comedy it truly is.
She also constantly either challenges Winter that her “curse” is worse than his, or talks as if they are both struggling with the same “curse”. Excuse me maam are you really telling me being suicidal is worse than literally killing people with your touch, leading you to have accidentally murdered multiple family members and causing you to run away and live alone in the forest for fear of killing someone else?? Give me a fucking break jesus christ.
The irony is that 3/4s through the story it turns into this massive grandstanding about corporations, AI, and domestic terrorism?!??!! The fucking scream that I dared to SCREMPT when the worst AI voice out of all of them was narrating how AI is going to be used to control us. Olive can tell immediately that this character is a terrorist just after they meet for the second time. And what do you know, she’s absolutely correct with no evidence whatsoever. Riveting story arc there.
Oh btw the terrorist’s name is “Nase” because his older brother is called “Jim”. As in gymnasium. And the extra irony is that Nase’s is the only name the AI switches between pronunciations for so half of the time you don’t even get the joke delivered correctly.
Also the incredibly brief romance / sex bits are SO weird.
The last thing I need to get off my chest is that this author is OBSESSED with talking about piss and shit. It’s absolutely fucking insane. I started counting the references to shit and piss and I think I got to about 10 but I could be wrong. Even in the last scene which was supposed to be a dramatic death scene, they talk about their “pooping point”.
Olive describes going outside on a sunny day as “the sun took a piss in my eyes to remind me it was summer” despite her main traumatic event in her life being that her bullies in college (as in UNIVERSITY LEVEL) beat her up and pissed on her. Ex fucking cuse me do you really think a character that is suicidal cause her bullies pissed on her would use that metaphor to describe a summer’s day?? Fucking really??
This book is the reason why self-publishing has a bad reputation.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 11, 2025
This short book has so many emotions poured into the pages while it follows a suicidal girl who can't die and a man who can't touch people without them dying within an hour - think 'an unstoppable force meets an immovable object'🥲
Olive and Winter engage in some very thought provoking conversations discussing the morality of preserving life vs the freedom of death over the summer they share together in his hut, all the way to the heartbreaking end😭
Thank you to Orange Pebbler for giving me the opportunity to read this book, without you I wouldn't have become more philosophical myself🙂↕️
Olive and Winter engage in some very thought provoking conversations discussing the morality of preserving life vs the freedom of death over the summer they share together in his hut, all the way to the heartbreaking end😭
Thank you to Orange Pebbler for giving me the opportunity to read this book, without you I wouldn't have become more philosophical myself🙂↕️
dnf
November 29, 2025DNF’d at 2%
Thank you to StoryGraph and the author for the ALC giveaway copy.
Immediately I could tell something was off with the narration and as no narrator is credited on StoryGraph (Goodreads does not have an audiobook version), I found the book on Kobo. All AI narration. While the premise for the story seems interesting, the complete lack of emotion, intonation, and pacing in the narration makes even just the first chapter difficult to follow and hollow. The book opens on a failed suicide attempt by the protagonist that leads to a (likely deadly) car accident, all told like someone is reciting the weather forecast. There is simply no way an AI voice can deliver the “tear-stained romance” the book hopes to deliver.
While I feel bad DNFing so early, I’ve gone back through the giveaway listing and at no point was the AI narration disclosed. Had it been, I would not have entered.
Thank you to StoryGraph and the author for the ALC giveaway copy.
Immediately I could tell something was off with the narration and as no narrator is credited on StoryGraph (Goodreads does not have an audiobook version), I found the book on Kobo. All AI narration. While the premise for the story seems interesting, the complete lack of emotion, intonation, and pacing in the narration makes even just the first chapter difficult to follow and hollow. The book opens on a failed suicide attempt by the protagonist that leads to a (likely deadly) car accident, all told like someone is reciting the weather forecast. There is simply no way an AI voice can deliver the “tear-stained romance” the book hopes to deliver.
While I feel bad DNFing so early, I’ve gone back through the giveaway listing and at no point was the AI narration disclosed. Had it been, I would not have entered.
December 8, 2025
Thank you to the author for hosting the giveaway through which I received this book.
This book had a very interesting premise and was certainly thought-provoking. Unfortunately, it was not for me. I'm sure that's due to my age. As I get older, I find myself less interested in stories that rely heavily on lengthy, meandering conversations and inner thoughts. I'm simply not that person anymore.
That said, I do feel like it will find its audience. I also appreciate an ending where a protagonist dies. Not every story needs to be wrapped with a bow.
Would I recommend this? It's hard to say. I recommend a lot of media that I don't personally enjoy, because I know not everyone is like me. Right? So, to the right reader, I would absolutely recommend it.
This book had a very interesting premise and was certainly thought-provoking. Unfortunately, it was not for me. I'm sure that's due to my age. As I get older, I find myself less interested in stories that rely heavily on lengthy, meandering conversations and inner thoughts. I'm simply not that person anymore.
That said, I do feel like it will find its audience. I also appreciate an ending where a protagonist dies. Not every story needs to be wrapped with a bow.
Would I recommend this? It's hard to say. I recommend a lot of media that I don't personally enjoy, because I know not everyone is like me. Right? So, to the right reader, I would absolutely recommend it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 21, 2025
Wow this book.
I have no idea what to say, except that this was perfect. I loved the message of this book. It made me realize, that everyone can look at life and death absolutely different, because of their life stories. I loved both of our main characters and understood very well each opinion. The contrast between her not being able to die and then him was just so ironic, but in a really good way. I loved the end, because it was not the classic happy romantic ending, but at the same time it was romantic, because in the end, he learned how to understand her. Perfect ending to an imperfect romance (and life) story.
I have no idea what to say, except that this was perfect. I loved the message of this book. It made me realize, that everyone can look at life and death absolutely different, because of their life stories. I loved both of our main characters and understood very well each opinion. The contrast between her not being able to die and then him was just so ironic, but in a really good way. I loved the end, because it was not the classic happy romantic ending, but at the same time it was romantic, because in the end, he learned how to understand her. Perfect ending to an imperfect romance (and life) story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 29, 2025
The bones of the story are here, but the execution is all off. This feels like the first draft of a literary novel about the meaning of dying by your own choice and what could lead to that decision, topics that need a sensitive touch that this book did not have.
If it was given time and an editor that knows how to elevate it to what it could be (and many other drafts), the story could have some merit. But as it is, it only feels like a poor effort at deeper meanings, falling into the melodramatic.
If it was given time and an editor that knows how to elevate it to what it could be (and many other drafts), the story could have some merit. But as it is, it only feels like a poor effort at deeper meanings, falling into the melodramatic.
August 25, 2025
I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a complimentary copy. I liked the cover and the concept of the story, but it just did not work for me. Olive Four is a convenience store clerk who finds out she is unable to die. She goes to the forest and finds a Reaper to end her life, but he does not agree. They end up making a bargain: if the Reaper cannot convince her by the end of summer to live, then he will end her life.
November 30, 2025
2.75 stars - I won this audiobook and was asked to leave a review so here we are. I’d consider this a short story at around 3 ish hours long. It was an interesting and unusual premise about a suicidal girl who physically can’t die who meets a man who is cursed with the ability to kill by just his touch. Due to its length though it wasn’t as developed as it could have been. The audiobook really needs work though, the AI voices were really really bad and it made it hard to focus.
August 26, 2025
This book has an interesting premise - a girl who would like to die by suicide but can't seem to die meets a Reaper, who can't touch people without them dying.
There is tons of emotion in this book, and it was a thought-provoking read. I did find that it got a little circular and boring at some points, but it's such a short and moving story that it's worth the read.
There is tons of emotion in this book, and it was a thought-provoking read. I did find that it got a little circular and boring at some points, but it's such a short and moving story that it's worth the read.
October 22, 2025
Thanks to the author and StoryGraph for the audio copy.
A girl, who can't die meets a guy who's touch will kill you within 1 hour. Many great discussions about the end of life and life itself.
Subtract a star for the audio production. Not sure if it's AI or bunch of friends who helped out, but the quality wasn't there. Go with the print.
A girl, who can't die meets a guy who's touch will kill you within 1 hour. Many great discussions about the end of life and life itself.
Subtract a star for the audio production. Not sure if it's AI or bunch of friends who helped out, but the quality wasn't there. Go with the print.
August 25, 2025
She is struggling so much and she wants to die but she finds she cannot. So she goes to find the reaper but he will not kill her. He tries to change her mind and she soon finds herself falling for him. See just how it will end
I received an advance copy from hidden gems and a wonderful read
I received an advance copy from hidden gems and a wonderful read
August 26, 2025
I received a free copy of this book via Hidden Gem books and I am voluntarily leaving a review.
LIKE THE BOOK
This is where I say the author gives enough information.
So, I do not give anything away.
LIKE THE BOOK
This is where I say the author gives enough information.
So, I do not give anything away.
December 1, 2025
This book is beautiful. A young girl trying to commit suicide, A man who can upon touch form a friendship. till the time comes for her to chose to die, not alone but in the arms of someone who truly love her
This book has great bones and could be expanded into a se and one following winters path.
This book has great bones and could be expanded into a se and one following winters path.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 23, 2026
A really good book
This book made me feel a lot. Wasn't what I was expecting but honestly it was better. Apparently the authors first book and damn they have talent. Frankly I don't want to give away any of the plot because I think it's better to go into it blind.
This book made me feel a lot. Wasn't what I was expecting but honestly it was better. Apparently the authors first book and damn they have talent. Frankly I don't want to give away any of the plot because I think it's better to go into it blind.
August 29, 2025
Suspenseful story with multi layered characters. Lots of action packed scenes. Author did a great job with details in the storyline. Took my emotions on a roller coaster journey.
December 26, 2025
This was an interesting read to say the least. The concept was intriguing, I just didn't really get that into it sadly. The audio narration was really well done too.
3.5 stars (not rounded up)
3.5 stars (not rounded up)
August 25, 2025
I did find it interesting how the two main characters ended up sharing the same feelings about death. At the same time, I found myself getting slightly bored at times and skipping forward. It just really wasn`t my type of story.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews