Review: Die for Me (Revenants, #1) by Amy Plum

Rating (Out of 5): ~4 (Maybe 3.5)

Publisher: HarperCollins (HarperTeen) [Maybe also Little, Brown/Atom?]

Spoilers?: Some, minor-ish

Goodreads Synopsis:

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.

Review:

I'd heard that this book was really good a while ago, but then I read an interview-thing with the characters around Valentine's, which got me really interested, and is what made me finally go get it. And it didn't take me too long to get into it, either, which is a little surprising (since I tend to put books off for way too long). And I totally agree with all the hype, because it was really good.

The Revenants series is about Kate, who's parents have recently died and so she and her older sister move to Paris to live with their Grandparents. It's been a few months, but she's still depressed about their deaths, and a little close to nightmares because of how it happened. And then she meets Vincent, seeing that she's caught his eye and he catches hers, and she's opened to the world of otherworldly creatures.

I liked Kate. She's smart and likes reading (and is actually seen with a book several times throughout the book, as well as going to bookstores, and going to cafes and reads just to say she's been out of the house) and goes to museums for fun. She's actually showing that she likes these things, instead of telling us them (which happens way too often). And she's also has an actual reason for not wanting to get close to Vincent; her parents, who she was close to and has fond memories of, died and she hasn't gotten over it yet, and it's even left her a little scarred because of how they died (which I don't believe is fully explained; or was it just a really bloody car accident? Either way, it was bad and left her with terrible images). I felt that, at times, it felt a little off with how much she didn't want to be close to Vincent, but she did have legitimate reasons.

I liked Vincent, too. He was genuine and cared for her, and wanted to try something different to stay close to her, and he was sweet. They did start having feelings for each other upon first noticing each other, but Kate was wary at first, and they did go on an actual date (had a couple date-like outings, even) before much else happened. Kate even turns him down at one point! I don't think I've ever seen that before, not when there was so much obvious attraction, and when neither of them was denying their feelings all that well. I mean, Kate was trying to take things slow, but she didn't avoid the fact that he liked her or that she was liking him back, all that much. Oh, and they both have some previous experience. Vincent's been in maybe love before, and Kate has had some little flings before. Which is pretty awesome, since usually at least one person has had no prior experience.

A lot of the book showed Kate and Vincent getting closer, and just hanging out and finding things out about each other, which was nice. If you didn't like the characters, then maybe not so much, but I did, and so it was nice to see them just talking and doing things together. Usually, in these types of books, it just jumps into stuff and sometimes skips showing the reader that the characters actually like each other and spend time together and can joke around with each other, so it was nice to see that.

When it did get to the more exciting parts, which were near the end of the book (well, mostly), it was also rather exciting. I was afraid at one point that Kate was going to pull a, um, Bella (maybe?), and go to the danger, but [Spoiler?] instead it came to her, and she dealt with it rather well, which was nice. She didn't suddenly become amazing, and someone else didn't come and show up at the very last moment. Well, someone kind of did, but with a kind of plausible reason. Kind of. But that's alright.

The reverants were really interesting. They kind of live forever, as they die when they take someone else's place in death, only to come back alive several days later, at the age they originally died at. They age like normal people, only every time they die they go back to step one (meaning the age they first died at). (Sorry if that was a little confusing. Just go read the book!) There are a handful of them with Vincent, and they were all pretty cool, and I'm looking forward to getting to know them better. As well as getting to see how things work with what Vincent is planning to do to stay with Kate.

I'm kind of unsure of Kate's sister. She knows stuff, even though she shouldn't, and I guess that's nice for Kate. But I'm hoping that does good and not bad in the next book. And I'm hoping we'll get to see more of Charlotte and Charles (right?) in the next book, or some time soon.

Also: Paris. I'm not always all that interested in the scenery in books, but it was really well done in this one. So much so that it made me want to see the things she was seeing, that Vincent was showing her. It all sounded so very pretty and mesmerizing; and it was kind of nice that the Eiffel Tower was only mentioned, I think, once. Usually that's the main thing people talk about, about Paris, and it wasn't here. And I was glad that Kate didn't mind living in Paris, and moving away, like most characters are. She'd been there before, was (relatively) happy to be with her Grandparents, and mostly focused her sadness on that she couldn't go back to her parents.

So, I enjoyed this book, a lot, and I'm glad. The next one is out next month, I believe, and so I'm excited to read it, for whenever I decide to get it.