Book Review: Die For Me by Amy Plum

Pages: 341

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pub. Date: May 10, 2011

Source: My copy

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Goodreads says, "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."

Kate Mercier's parents died in a car crash forcing Kate and her sister, Georgia, to move to Paris to live with their grandparents.  Luckily, Kate and Georgia have been spending many summers there as children, are fluent in French, and familiar with the city.  Georgia has adapted very well, but Kate is still, and rightly so, upset about her parents' untimely death.  She spends most of her time with her nose in classics and visiting museums by herself.  Everyone is worried about her, until she meets Vincent at a local cafe.  She finds herself drawn to him and his charismatic personality.  As she spends more time with him, she finds out he is a revenant, which means he is someone that saves the lives of others and in turn dies over and over again.  Kate has a hard time dealing with this revelation and to top it off, she finds out that they are at war with the evil revenants and Kate finds herself involved.  Die for Me by Amy Plum is an exciting paranormal debut that is exciting and extremely engaging.

Kate is a bookworm that is a bit of a loner when she arrives at Paris. I was getting a bit annoyed with her depression, but I had to remind myself that she just lost both parents and her world is turned upside down.  Once she starting coming out of her shell a bit, I enjoyed her even more.  Her chemistry with Vincent is also well done, although I did have issues with the insta-love factor.  But I'll be honest, I got over it quickly, because Vincent's character is too darn dreamy.

The setting is Paris, which is such a to-die-for location. I found myself completely captivated by the setting and Plum's descriptions of this gorgeous city.  Not only was the setting extremely romantic, it was mysterious and a bit spooky at times too.  It's the perfect location for a paranormal series, if you ask me!

The plot was well done. I was flipping pages late into the night dying to know how things were going to end up for Kate.  Yes, Die For Me has that cookie-cutter YA feel at times, but because revenants are a new-to-me concept, I was completely fascinated with this mythology.    After reading Die For Me, I realized that if you give me a paranormal story + a gorgeous setting + romance + a heroine who isn't a big baby = a book I'm going to enjoy and devour quickly.

Fans of the paranormal genre must pick up a copy of Die For Me by Amy Plum.  You'll love being swept away to not only beautiful Paris, but also captivated by Plum's revenant story-line.  I am excited for the next book in the series, which comes out in 2012.  I think this series has a lot of potential and I plan on sticking with it!

*Buy Die For Me

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*Read an excerpt