Review: Die For Me by Amy Plum

Title: Die For Me
Author: Amy Plum
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publish Date: May 10, 2011
Genre: YA, paranormal
Pages: 352
Source: From publisher through NetGalley
Series: Revenants
1. Die For Me
2. Untitled (expected pub 2012)

Synopsis:
My life had always been blissfully, wonderfully normal. But it only took one moment to change everything.

Suddenly, my sister, Georgia, and I were orphans. We put our lives into storage and moved to Paris to live with my grandparents. And I knew my shattered heart, my shattered life, would never feel normal again. Then I met Vincent.

Mysterious, sexy, and unnervingly charming, Vincent Delacroix appeared out of nowhere and swept me off my feet. Just like that, I was in danger of losing my heart all over again. But I was ready to let it happen.

Of course, nothing is ever that easy. Because Vincent is no normal human. He has a terrifying destiny, one that puts his life at risk every day. He also has enemies . . . immortal, murderous enemies who are determined to destroy him and all of his kind.

While I'm fighting to piece together the remnants of my life, can I risk putting my heart—as well as my life and my family's—in jeopardy for a chance at love?

From Goodreads

Kate just had her life fall apart around her, and she’s coping the best way she knows how: secluding herself in her little bubble where she can protect herself, and her heart, so that she can’t be hurt again. She cuts herself off from her friends in New York, and spends her days wandering Paris museums or sitting at the Café Saint-Lucie reading her favourite classic novels. Then things start happening: she sees this handsome, mysterious guy in several different places, then she sees him rescue a suicidal girl, she almost gets crushed by falling building, she sees people sword-fighting in tunnels, and other odd and impossible things. And somehow, they’re all centred around this mysterious guy: Vincent. Even though her brain tells her to run away, her heart has other plans.

I really loved this book. It’s a totally different take on paranormal and I’ve never read a book like it before. Amy created an amazing paranormal world that’s just as mysterious and complicated as any other you’ve read about, but hers has sexy, French boys, too. There was heartbreak and danger and hope and fear all wrapped together, and it created the perfect balance so that I was never bored with it.

I liked Kate as a main character. Although she felt this constant pull to want to be with Vincent, she also knew how to use her brain. It wasn’t like she dropped everything to be with him, because she’d experienced a lot of loss recently and was guarding her heart. I think that made her more of a 3D character rather than the typical, flat, run-into-his-arms-even-though-it’s-a-bad-idea girl. Don’t misunderstand me, she wanted to run into his arms even though it was a bad idea, but she knew to be smart with her heart and be safe at the same time. This made her an awesome character for me.

The other characters were great, too. Georgia, Kate’s sister, was a totally different character from Kate. She was out every night partying it up and dealing with the loss of their parents in her own way. She was the popular girl who had lots of friends and was very outgoing, totally opposite from Kate. Then there was Vincent, the love interest. He was very secretive around Kate, which was understandable, given that he has a big secret. But when Kate asked him to be honest with her, he did his best to tell her what she wanted to know and let her make her own decisions from there. He definitely won brownie points with me for that. A few of the other characters also settled into a special place in my heart: Jules, because of his constant flirting with Kate and upbeat mood (once you get to know him); Charlotte, because she was a cute character who was a good friend to Kate when she needed it; and Mamie, Kate’s grandmother, because of her wisdom and faith in love, that helped Kate throughout the book.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes paranormal romances, but are looking for something other than vampires, werewolves, or angels. Amy puts a new spin on paranormal, and her romance is not so cliché as some YA novels recently. DIE FOR ME really is a great adventure in a beautiful city, and you’ll finish the book content, but also hungry for more. It comes out May 5, 2011 in the UK, New Zealand, and Australia, and May 10, 2011 elsewhere. Make sure you grab a copy!

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