Die for Me by Amy Plum Series: Revenants #1
Published by HarperTeen on May 10th 2011
Pages: 341
Goodreads
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.
Die for Me had a lot of ups and downs. When it was up, I could not put the book down. When it went down, I struggled in not throwing the book across the room. The book centers on Kate and the somewhat mysterious Vincent. After an incident in which Kate has a near death experience, her life quickly becomes interwoven with his… and the romance follows shortly after.
Die for Me, as a whole, was pretty fabulous. Plum's creativity for the Revenants was awe inspiring. Yes, I know it is a part of folklore. But still, it was the first book that I have read about them so I was pretty impressed. For those of you who have not heard of the Revenants. They are simply a mix of this. A sprinkle of that. And I ate up every detail, every description. The same can be said for Kate, Vincent, and the rag-tag group of secondary characters.
However, despite how much I loved all of this, in the back of my mind, I just could not shake the Twilightesque feeling that Die for Me gives off. The constant compassion of Revenants to Vampires. (Which to be fair, I can forgive a little. There is somewhat of a similarity there.) The personality resemblance of certain characters. Even the dialogue in certain instances felt too familiar for comfort. Making the whole situation just a bit much.
Die for Me, while having some flaws, was an exceptional read. Plum's concept is refreshing and kept my attention. I only wish that Plum had given more emphasis to what the Revenants were rather than what they were not. I believe that if the constant comparison between Revenants and Vampires had been left out, then I probably would have not felt the novel to be so Twilightesque. And probably would have enjoyed my Die for Me experience a lot more.
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It was incredibly Twilightesque… I wanted something about it to stand out, but it just didn’t. 🙁 Still, not a horrible book. I like the setting.