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Try Not To Die #1-3
Try Not to Die: Books 1-3
This is a collection of the first three books in the Try Not to Die interactive book series. At the end of each section in the books, the reader has to make a choice and if you choose wrong you die. Each book contains over two dozen possible deaths.
Book 1: At Grandma's
In this horror story, you are David, a newly orphaned teenager determined to protect Sam, your tomboy sister, and fight the evils lurking around every corner of… Grandma’s house?
Book 2: In
In this interactive suspense thriller, you are Becky, a telepathic teen itching to escape from a beautiful jail - a mountain enclave called Brightside.
Book 3: In the
In this action-packed interactive horror story, you are Dylan, a teenager enjoying a cruise with your family. But fate has other plans as an outbreak of Heliovirus hits, docking your vessel in the San Francisco Bay for the duration.
Book 1: At Grandma's
In this horror story, you are David, a newly orphaned teenager determined to protect Sam, your tomboy sister, and fight the evils lurking around every corner of… Grandma’s house?
Book 2: In
In this interactive suspense thriller, you are Becky, a telepathic teen itching to escape from a beautiful jail - a mountain enclave called Brightside.
Book 3: In the
In this action-packed interactive horror story, you are Dylan, a teenager enjoying a cruise with your family. But fate has other plans as an outbreak of Heliovirus hits, docking your vessel in the San Francisco Bay for the duration.
785 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 9, 2022
6 people are currently reading
544 people want to read
About the author
Mark Tullius
63 books1,340 followersMy writing covers a wide range, with fiction being my favorite to create, with two dozen or so titles under my belt. There are 21 titles in my YA interactive Try Not to Die series and 30 more in the works. I also have two nonfiction titles, both inspired by a reckless lifestyle, playing Ivy League football, and battering the hell out of my brain as an unsuccessful MMA fighter and boxer. Unlocking the Cage is the largest sociological study of MMA fighters to date and TBI or CTE aims to spread awareness and hope to others that suffer with traumatic brain injury symptoms.
I live in sunny California with my wife, two kids, five cats, and one demon. Derek. He makes special appearance on my social media
You can also get your 3 free books by signing up to my newsletter. This letter is only for the brave, or at least those brave enough to deal with bad dad jokes, a crude sense of humor, and loads and loads of death.
Derek and I would love to have you join us!
Here are all my links -
Newsletter - https://subscribepage.io/TulliusNews
https://youcanfollow.me/MarkTullius
I live in sunny California with my wife, two kids, five cats, and one demon. Derek. He makes special appearance on my social media
You can also get your 3 free books by signing up to my newsletter. This letter is only for the brave, or at least those brave enough to deal with bad dad jokes, a crude sense of humor, and loads and loads of death.
Derek and I would love to have you join us!
Here are all my links -
Newsletter - https://subscribepage.io/TulliusNews
https://youcanfollow.me/MarkTullius
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 20, 2022
Ridiculous scenarios + ridiculous deaths = lots of laughs. Read with my daughter and can read again with different outcomes.
May 15, 2022
I really liked the concepts of these books. It was very much like “choose your own adventure” books from my youth. The first book was fun! I liked it a lot. The 3rd book was good, and I also enjoyed it but I found myself getting tired of dying and just wanted to finish.
I didn’t read the 2nd book. I tired but it was so confusing and by the 2nd set of choices, I bailed. I guess it’s a sequel to another book that I had not read.
I didn’t read the 2nd book. I tired but it was so confusing and by the 2nd set of choices, I bailed. I guess it’s a sequel to another book that I had not read.
April 28, 2022
*I received this through the giveaway*
I am enjoying this so far. It's hard to tell how far I've gone because of the "choose your own death" aspect. It's a fun and different way to read and it reminds me of the ones I read as a kid although those were tamer.
Update:
Fun read!
I am enjoying this so far. It's hard to tell how far I've gone because of the "choose your own death" aspect. It's a fun and different way to read and it reminds me of the ones I read as a kid although those were tamer.
Update:
Fun read!
April 7, 2022
***I received a free e-copy via Goodreads Giveaways in exchange for a honest review.***
Whereas I called myself doing research before entering this giveaway, I didn't realize that it was an interactive, "choose your own story" type of book. On the Giveaway page it said books 1-3 and was listed as Horror. So I was surprised to win them and see that they were in a format that I hated, as a child and as an adult, having recently read a "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" "chose your destiny" book. And if one of my favorite fandoms can't get me to love a book format, I doubt much can.
I was relieved to see that the Kindle version came with the option to read a "survivor version" and opted for that for each book.
"Grandma's House" was decent. Felt much more YA than I expected and completely lacked horror, in my opinion. I wasn't super invested in the story or the characters but plowed ahead to the next book.
"In Brightside" had me quite lost. I was prepared for no horror and the YA feel of the story but this particular book had me confused as to what was happening as I had never heard of the previous book. So this gives a new reader a sense of being dropped in the middle of a story with no background, leaving them to attempt to piece together what's happening and why these people are where ever TF they are. Again, not invested and had to force myself to finish it.
"Pandemic". I simply couldn't. Half way through it and I was over it. It wasn't grabbing my attention and every chance I got to pick the book back up, I was dreading it. So I DNF'ed in an attention pt to move on to something that would respark the want to read.
Overall, I feel like the books were less scary than anything that R.L. Stone put out in my childhood. Perhaps the scare comes in, when you choose the wrong option and die and get reset. I love what the authors did here, they seem like cute books to read with your kids, who usually love this type of thing. I just wasn't the target audience.
Whereas I called myself doing research before entering this giveaway, I didn't realize that it was an interactive, "choose your own story" type of book. On the Giveaway page it said books 1-3 and was listed as Horror. So I was surprised to win them and see that they were in a format that I hated, as a child and as an adult, having recently read a "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" "chose your destiny" book. And if one of my favorite fandoms can't get me to love a book format, I doubt much can.
I was relieved to see that the Kindle version came with the option to read a "survivor version" and opted for that for each book.
"Grandma's House" was decent. Felt much more YA than I expected and completely lacked horror, in my opinion. I wasn't super invested in the story or the characters but plowed ahead to the next book.
"In Brightside" had me quite lost. I was prepared for no horror and the YA feel of the story but this particular book had me confused as to what was happening as I had never heard of the previous book. So this gives a new reader a sense of being dropped in the middle of a story with no background, leaving them to attempt to piece together what's happening and why these people are where ever TF they are. Again, not invested and had to force myself to finish it.
"Pandemic". I simply couldn't. Half way through it and I was over it. It wasn't grabbing my attention and every chance I got to pick the book back up, I was dreading it. So I DNF'ed in an attention pt to move on to something that would respark the want to read.
Overall, I feel like the books were less scary than anything that R.L. Stone put out in my childhood. Perhaps the scare comes in, when you choose the wrong option and die and get reset. I love what the authors did here, they seem like cute books to read with your kids, who usually love this type of thing. I just wasn't the target audience.
August 16, 2022
I loved "choose your own adventure" books when I was younger, so I was extremely excited to win this set of books, I'm still young at heart. These books were so much fun. I actually chose the way that I figured I would die, just so that I could read all of the options. I also loved that after choosing my way through the book, I could go back and read the survivor's versions where you didn't have to choose but got to read the whole story through without jumping around and having to remember where you were.
Of the three, the best was definitely the story regarding a pandemic on a cruise ship taken over by pirates. This story had the depth of reading a full story. The characters were great, and unfortunately, it is something that we have recently seen all too often, cruise ships having to stay out of port and keep sick and well passengers aboard due to a pandemic. I never heard of any pirates taking over any of the ships, but I could see it as a total possibility.
Trying not to die at grandma's house lacked enough information to really get into the book, this would have been a much better book if it had a little more depth. I never did figure out how the dead brother who wasn't dead but was kind of beast like played into everything or what was chasing the kids as they drove off.
Story 3--well I finished this book a couple weeks ago (I'm not great at updating as soon as I finish a book) and I have already forgotten what it was about, so it probably needs something added to it to be memorable.
However, overall, these books were just plain fun to read.
Of the three, the best was definitely the story regarding a pandemic on a cruise ship taken over by pirates. This story had the depth of reading a full story. The characters were great, and unfortunately, it is something that we have recently seen all too often, cruise ships having to stay out of port and keep sick and well passengers aboard due to a pandemic. I never heard of any pirates taking over any of the ships, but I could see it as a total possibility.
Trying not to die at grandma's house lacked enough information to really get into the book, this would have been a much better book if it had a little more depth. I never did figure out how the dead brother who wasn't dead but was kind of beast like played into everything or what was chasing the kids as they drove off.
Story 3--well I finished this book a couple weeks ago (I'm not great at updating as soon as I finish a book) and I have already forgotten what it was about, so it probably needs something added to it to be memorable.
However, overall, these books were just plain fun to read.
October 18, 2022
I received this from a Goodreads giveaway. I really appreciate winning. The idea is awesome but I lost patience and did not know how much longer the first story was going to take me. I am going to leave it on my TBR list and will try to revisit it at a later date.
Sorry.
Sorry.
January 18, 2022
The basic concept of this book takes me back a few years to where there were choice books you read the novel and toward the end you got to make a choice, you always live but you may find a friend might be a villain, or different may have stolen the family jewels, another your best friend may be the one who killed your fiancé, oh well, you get the gist and you may very well had one two such novels. Now comes along Mark Tillus with his style of writing. From the get-go you know you are going to experience some terror, some fright, but you battle on and then you finally feel it is smooth sailing you have to make some choice. Each and every one leads to your death, only one leads to life. No way to Know, you just got to follow the yellow brick road (just kidding) but make a choice and decide your own fate - you will be surprised! A great read. I would not want to miss it.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews