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Thirty
There is no escaping the inevitable. Age comes for us all. In the shape of fruition or the form of darkness. Shala woke up to darkness. Thirty years came too fast, she wasn’t ready, she wasn’t prepared, and life was winning. She didn’t want to celebrate or party but everyone around her wanted to revel. Joy surrounded her but she saw thirty as the murderer of her youth. It was hard to accept.
The eve of her thirtieth year was a blur, but a beautiful distortion that eventually consumed her reality. It wasn’t the birthday that had her feeling good, it was the stranger. And that beautiful stranger was more important than the party. More important than the stresses of her evil neighbors and their wicked pets. More important than thirty. But was this strange love strong enough to forget about the missing boyfriend?
The eve of her thirtieth year was a blur, but a beautiful distortion that eventually consumed her reality. It wasn’t the birthday that had her feeling good, it was the stranger. And that beautiful stranger was more important than the party. More important than the stresses of her evil neighbors and their wicked pets. More important than thirty. But was this strange love strong enough to forget about the missing boyfriend?
84 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 12, 2017
3 people are currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
M. Sydnor Jr.
16 books55 followersM. Sydnor Jr. is a short story writer and author of the YA fantasy series, The Legends of the World. As both a self-published and traditionally published writer, he’s dabbled in worlds of horror, science fiction and mystery. He creates in Northern California, hoarding notebooks, movies and graphic novels. When he’s not writing, you can find him hooping.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 30, 2018
I just finished this novella, having got it from Kindle Unlimited several days ago. If you're not a person who likes ambiguity in books, do not read this. If you hate insta-love in all its forms, avoid this (I'm not a huge fan generally, but I thought it was handled nicely in this book). Also, if you hate dream sequences, don't read this. I'm good with both ambiguity and dream sequences, so I enjoyed it.
Being a novella, it's a quick read, but it definitely picks up toward the end.
Thirty is the story of a woman named Shala who is turning thirty. She's dealing with a lot of insecurities about her age, her life, and her love life. She has a lot of regrets and feels that time is running out for her to make something of herself.
Although I am in my early twenties, Shala is a very relatable protagonist, acting and reacting in ways I know I have, even as I say, "Shala, no, don't do that." She can seem somewhat wishy washy when it comes to her boyfriend, Tyler, and her new love interest, Cory, but that's not a critique, I think that's just the character.
Going forward, there will be spoilers, so if you plan on reading this book, just go do it.
There's a scene near the end that had me tricked into believing there was some sort of premonition going on -- it's the same scene that start's the book. However, it's revealed yet again to be a dream that Shala is having. The whole week (or however long) since her birthday party did not happen. This could mean that Shala dreamed it, or that she's in some sort of infinite loop, or that she was transported back in time in time to break up with her boyfriend in time to start a relationship with Cory. But then, Cory doesn't show up to her birthday party, and no one seems to know him. Again, I like ambiguity, so it's fun to think about. I finished this book about twenty minutes ago, so I haven't had the chance to go back and explore the text for more clues, but if I do, I might come back and edit this.
As I said, Shala is very relatable. Because of the ambiguous nature of most of the novel, it's hard to talk about the things she actually does. For instance, I said earlier in the review that she can be wishy washy. She wants to be with Cory, she wants to be with Tyler, she thinks Tyler is missing and she's worried about him, she doesn't think Tyler's missing, or she does think he's missing, but she doesn't care. If she's dreaming, everything in dreams is a little fluid (I'm sure everyone knows what dreams are like).
To address the instalove. I know a lot of reviewers and BookTubers get down on instalove, but I don't think there's anything wrong with instalove as a plot device: I have experienced that connection with someone else many times, but it's much more of an infatuation rather than a true love (the line in this book is blurred). It's one of the things in this novella that was so relatable, actually.
Sorry this is a super rambling review.
Being a novella, it's a quick read, but it definitely picks up toward the end.
Thirty is the story of a woman named Shala who is turning thirty. She's dealing with a lot of insecurities about her age, her life, and her love life. She has a lot of regrets and feels that time is running out for her to make something of herself.
Although I am in my early twenties, Shala is a very relatable protagonist, acting and reacting in ways I know I have, even as I say, "Shala, no, don't do that." She can seem somewhat wishy washy when it comes to her boyfriend, Tyler, and her new love interest, Cory, but that's not a critique, I think that's just the character.
Going forward, there will be spoilers, so if you plan on reading this book, just go do it.
There's a scene near the end that had me tricked into believing there was some sort of premonition going on -- it's the same scene that start's the book. However, it's revealed yet again to be a dream that Shala is having. The whole week (or however long) since her birthday party did not happen. This could mean that Shala dreamed it, or that she's in some sort of infinite loop, or that she was transported back in time in time to break up with her boyfriend in time to start a relationship with Cory. But then, Cory doesn't show up to her birthday party, and no one seems to know him. Again, I like ambiguity, so it's fun to think about. I finished this book about twenty minutes ago, so I haven't had the chance to go back and explore the text for more clues, but if I do, I might come back and edit this.
As I said, Shala is very relatable. Because of the ambiguous nature of most of the novel, it's hard to talk about the things she actually does. For instance, I said earlier in the review that she can be wishy washy. She wants to be with Cory, she wants to be with Tyler, she thinks Tyler is missing and she's worried about him, she doesn't think Tyler's missing, or she does think he's missing, but she doesn't care. If she's dreaming, everything in dreams is a little fluid (I'm sure everyone knows what dreams are like).
To address the instalove. I know a lot of reviewers and BookTubers get down on instalove, but I don't think there's anything wrong with instalove as a plot device: I have experienced that connection with someone else many times, but it's much more of an infatuation rather than a true love (the line in this book is blurred). It's one of the things in this novella that was so relatable, actually.
Sorry this is a super rambling review.
November 22, 2017
Hmmm
I'm not sure how to describe what I felt for this book! It was written well...the actual writing, that is. The story went "dark" for a minute, then confused the hell out of me, then turned around again. I don't know what I expected, but it was not this....sometimes that's a good thing, this time it was not.
I would read from this author again.
I'm not sure how to describe what I felt for this book! It was written well...the actual writing, that is. The story went "dark" for a minute, then confused the hell out of me, then turned around again. I don't know what I expected, but it was not this....sometimes that's a good thing, this time it was not.
I would read from this author again.
April 14, 2018
Different than my usual
This book surprised me at the end. In the beginning, I wasnt sure how I felt about the main character Shala, but she grew on me. An entertaining short read that will surprise you!
This book surprised me at the end. In the beginning, I wasnt sure how I felt about the main character Shala, but she grew on me. An entertaining short read that will surprise you!
April 19, 2018
Very good entertaining read. I absolutely love the cover! The story itself had me thinking and debating with myself about what was up and who the villain was and thought it wrapped itself up pretty good. I loved the development of the characters :)
April 21, 2018
The twist was crazy!
I truly enjoyed reading this book. It had just the right amount of sexiness and the characters are relatable and funny. I loved that I couldn't predict what was going to happen like I usually do with books, I was completely surprised.
I truly enjoyed reading this book. It had just the right amount of sexiness and the characters are relatable and funny. I loved that I couldn't predict what was going to happen like I usually do with books, I was completely surprised.
September 21, 2017
NotSureWhatToThink!
This was such an interesting story, and I'm not sure what to make of it. I liked the idea of the story, I'm just not so sure about the delivery.
This was such an interesting story, and I'm not sure what to make of it. I liked the idea of the story, I'm just not so sure about the delivery.
December 22, 2017
Didn’t see that coming
This book was a good read. Definitely wasn’t expecting some of the twists and turns, but I enjoyed reading it.
This book was a good read. Definitely wasn’t expecting some of the twists and turns, but I enjoyed reading it.
October 9, 2019
Good read
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews