Tuesday 20 March 2012

REVIEW: Die For Me (Reverants,#1) by Amy Plum


Die For Me by Amy Plum

Publication Date:May 11th 2011
Publisher:ATOM
Paperback, UK, 344 pages




In the City of Lights, two star-crossed lovers battle a fate that is destined to tear them apart again and again for eternity.

When Kate Mercier's parents die in a tragic car accident, she leaves her life--and memories--behind to live with her grandparents in Paris. For Kate, the only way to survive her pain is escaping into the world of books and Parisian art. Until she meets Vincent.

Mysterious, charming, and devastatingly handsome, Vincent threatens to melt the ice around Kate's guarded heart with just his smile. As she begins to fall in love with Vincent, Kate discovers that he's a revenant--an undead being whose fate forces him to sacrifice himself over and over again to save the lives of others. Vincent and those like him are bound in a centuries-old war against a group of evil revenants who exist only to murder and betray. Kate soon realizes that if she follows her heart, she may never be safe again.

In this incandescent debut, newcomer Amy Plum has created a powerful paranormal mythology with immortal revenants. The Paris setting comes enchantingly alive as a relentless struggle between good and evil takes place in its streets. Rich with romance, atmosphere, and thrills, Die for Me will leave readers breathlessly awaiting its sequel.

As soon as I started reading Die for Me, I was certain that I had a winner in my hands. It honestly started promising to be a really well written and exciting YA novel, but unfortunately, after the first 100 pages or so, my opinion changed rapidly.

This book was a bit of a roller coaster for me.As I said, when I started reading it I was really thrilled with it, then I encountered some parts that made me inwardly cringe and then again there were some parts that kept my hopes up that it would indeed be a fresh YA novel, only to be disappointed by the end.
My favorite part of this book is the way Amy Plum describes Paris. Her descriptions are so vivid, that they made me feel like I was revisiting Paris through her writing. I just loved the way she "painted" a city that I'm in love with. So, you can totally understand why I was so excited with Die for Me at first. Another favorite part of mine is the way Plum describes the way Kate deals with her parents death and death in general. Kate felt real through the descriptions of her feelings of loss and I really enjoyed those parts. After all, death is ever present in this novel, so her way around it was really crucial.

But unfortunately, after the first 100 pages, the whole story went downhill for me. For starters, I'm a bit tired of the same scenario "playing" in so many YA novels currently. The whole "Mortal girl meets Immortal guy. Girl thinks she's plain, when in fact she's not, guy is of course gorgeous. From the moment they lay eyes on each other they fall hopelessly in love and are automatically ready to face the world to defend that love or to defend each other from dark forces". Honestly, how many times have we read that very same scenario with little to no variation apart from the details? To be honest, I just need something fresh or maybe a fresh way of presenting that very same scenario, I don't know, something different.

Apart from that, I just found hard to believe some things. As for example how easily Kate accepts everything Vincent tells her about his supernatural existence. It was a bit of:
 - "You know, I'm a Reverant, I can't really die, but my job is to die to save other people's lives"
 - "Oh, ok, what time will we meet my grandparents for dinner?"
So, you know, I was a bit thrown off by Kate's easy way of accepting every strange thing she was hearing.
As I found unbelievable how easily Vincent declares his love to Kate. I mean, I just can't believe that someone who lives for more than 100 years falls so easily in love with a plain girl and does everything, even against his own kind to be with her. Someone would think that living so many years would make someone act a little less like an impulsive kid and more like a rational grown up. At least that's what I expected.

Anyway, Die for Me is pretty much like a ton of YA novels out there, nothing really fresh in the execution but with amazingly well written descriptions that in the end of day, couldn't really hold my interest. It was fun at first, but nothing really memorable by the end of it.



4 comments:

  1. I have read a couple of mixed reviews on this novel. I've had it on my shelf for a while, but I seem to keep putting off reading it.

    I'm excited to read Amy Plum's descriptions of Paris though. I love when author's describe a setting so vividly you can imagine you are there.

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  2. I loved this book and got the second already!! Love the review :)

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  3. I agree with you on this one. It really isn't anything new. The Revenant idea sounded interesting at first but I never could really wrap my head around it. I made sense but not really.

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    Replies
    1. Exactly! The revenant idea was what drew me first in this novel but the actual story was somewhat the same with a ton other YA titles.

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