Die For Me by Amy Plum

Pages - 341

Published by Atom Books on May 5th 2011

Book kindly sent to me by the publisher after some severe book hustling.

Most sixteen-year-olds I know would dream of living in a foreign city. But moving from Brooklyn to Paris after my parents' death was anything but a dream come true. It was more like a nightmare.


If you hadn't realised already, this is the book I would have donated my kidneys for! I am serious! As soon as I saw the cover and read the blurb I knew I had to have this book!  Did the book meet my expectations, I hear you ask? Oh yes! Most definitely!

Kate and her sister Georgia had the perfect life, until an accident leaves them as orphans.  The girls pack up their lives and move from America to Paris to live with their grandparents and try to come to terms with their loss as well as trying to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. Kate struggles to adapt to her new life until she meets Vincent, the dark, mysterious stranger, who sweeps her off her feet.

Kate is besotted by Vincent, until she discovers his secret. He isn't like any other normal human being. He is here for a purpose; a destiny he must fulfil which will put his life at risk every single day. Is Kate ready to invest all her love in someone, whom she could lose just as quickly as her parents.

From page one, I was lost and enthralled in this book, right up until the last scene. I could not put this book down!

Amy Plum is one of those authors who envelops all your senses,allowing you to easily slip into the book. Her use of descriptive language  instantly brings the book alive.  I became oblivious the world around me as I read, immersing myself in Parisian culture, I felt I could almost smell the aromas mentioned right off the pages.  The setting of the book is just astounding and had me flicking through weekend break brochures desperate for a long romantic weekend in Paris.

From the moment, Kate and Vincent entered the story, I loved their characters completely.  I loved watching their romance blossom as the book progressed. Kate takes on the role of a rather feisty lead female character and doesn't let too much scare her. Vincent is a gentleman at heart, but his desire for Kate is obvious from the beginning. I will admit to not liking Georgia at first, Kate's older sister in the book. I found her actions and behaviour to be childish to begin with, considering she was the older of the two; I wanted to give her a good shake and tell her to grow up and pay more attention to her sister. I also have to mention Jules, because I really took a shine to him.  He might even be my secret crush.

Even though this is YA, I felt it dealt with death in an adult way. The grieving stages that Kate goes through and the loneliness she deals with after the death of her parents, is extremely well written, allowing us to feel Kate's pain of loss as intensely as she did.

This really is a unique and original storyline, breathing new life into the paranormal YA genre.  Amy Plum's gorgeous group of revenants had me desperate for more. I now want a Tshirt with I Heart Revenants on it, as I think they have just become the coolest paranormal characters ever.  I can't wait for the second book. I know this book is aimed at the teen market, but I do feel that a lot of older females are going to crave this series in the same way they did Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series.

This is an utterly beautiful book that will definitely become a book that I will want to reread in the future.