Review
Die
for Me
by Amy Plum
The
author:
Amy Plum is
the author of the International Bestseller Die for Me, which is an Indie Next
List pick, Romance Times top pick, and recipient of a starred review from
School Library Journal. Die for Me is the first novel in a YA trilogy set in Paris. The second, Until
I Die, was released in May 2012.
After being
raised in Birmingham, Alabama,
in a rather restrictive environment, Amy Plum escaped to Chicago to an even more restrictive
environment at a university that expelled people for dancing. (And where she
was called to the dean’s office for “wearing too much black”.) After all of
that restrictiveness, she was forced to run far far away, specifically to Paris, France,
where she only wore black and danced all she wanted.
After five
years in Paris, she ventured to London, where she got an M.A. in Medieval Art
History, specializing in Early Sienese Painting (1260-1348) mainly because it
promised almost no hope of finding a paying job afterward.
Amy managed
to find work in the world of art and antiques in New York. But after almost a decade of
high-pressure lifestyle in the Big Apple, she swapped her American city for a
French village of 1300 inhabitants.
After
signing with HarperCollins for the Die for Me series, Amy left her job as an
English professor at Tours
University to write
full-time. She now splits her time between her centuries-old farmhouse in the
countryside and Paris’s
11th arrondissement.
She is a
huge fan of Edward Gorey and Maira Kalman (and collects both of their
books/art), as well as David Sedaris, Amadeo Modigliani, and Ira Glass.
source: Amy’shomepage
(slightly adapted)
 |
| such a gorgeous cover |
First
sentence:
The
first time I had seen the Statue in the fountain, I had no idea what Vincent
was.
Summary:
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.
source: Amy’shomepage
My
opinion:
Die for me
is a wonderful (love) story taking place in contemporary Paris
– the City of Love.
Kate’s parents died in a terrible car crash back in New
York and she and her sister Georgia moved to Paris to live with their grandparents. Kate
cannot enjoy her life after her parents’ death and just leaves the house after
her grandmother asks her to do so. So she wanders to a café and reads there instead
of at home in her bedroom. This is where she meets Vincent and because he lives
in the neighbourhood they see each other more often by coincidence.
Coincidence? Well maybe not, as we later learn.
This story
is incredible because it introduces the reader to a new paranormal species –
the revenants. They saved someone else from death and died instead. After three
days they woke up again and are back on earth to save people from dying. The
only way to kill them is to burn them.
This
paranormal group of revenants can live just like us “normals” and most of the
time they do but sometimes they need to save someone from death and disappear
for three days.
The story
of Kate and Vincent is an authentic one and throughout the book I was able to
follow Kate’s decisions and I always thought that I would have done the same
thing. She is a shy girl with an interest in books (does this have a familiar
ring?) and arts and a broken heart after her parents’ horrible accident. Only
after she meets Vincent Kate is able to laugh and enjoy herself again in the
company of him and his kindred.
I would
recommend Die for Me to everyone; especially to those who love reading
paranormal novels. It is a wonderful and quick read with lots of twists and
heartbreaking scenes and it will leave you wanting more.
Fortunately
the second book in this trilogy Until I Die came out yesterday (May 8th).
Die for Me is
available at Amazon for $10,42/ EUR 9,20/ £4,47 and for your Kindle too. You
can also buy it at Book Depo for $10,93/ EUR 8,30/ £6,75.
For more
information visit Amy’s Homepage, follow her on
Twitter and check her out on Facebook.
Here are some more links:
Booktrailers
Die for Me
Until I Die
and
an interview with Amy Plum
Great Review!! I'm planning on reading this book very soon for a challenge and now I'm even more excited to do so
ReplyDeleteI've actually never read a review for this book! Haha. I own it (the publisher sent it to me), but I had not even really checked to see what it was about. It sounds really good, though! I think I need to bump this up higher on my TBR. :)
ReplyDelete- Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl