Title: Die For Me
Author: Amy Plum [website] [twitter] [facebook]
Genre: Paranormal, Romance
Publisher: Harper Teen
Format: Paperback
Source: Provided by Publisher (via Inkpop)
Parental Advisory: death, alcohol, language, criminal activity
Teachable Moments: dealing with grief, reincarnation

“I made it to my room without seeing my grandparents or Georgia, and shut myself in.  As I curled up into a corner of my bed; time seemed to stop and stand still.  I felt torn between the certainty that I had done the right thing and the nagging doubt that in the space of ten minutes I had ruined any chance I might have had for a bright, hopeful future.  For love.”

Summary (from the publisher):
Kate Mercier’s life changed in an instant when her parents died, and she’s still picking up the shattered pieces.  She moves to Paris to live with her grandparents, desperate to start a new life free of heartbreaking memories.  But when she meets the mysterious, charming, and devastatingly handsome Vincent, he threatens to melt the ice around Kate’s guarded heart with just his smile.

As she begins to fall for Vincent, Kate discovers that he has a terrifying destiny, one that puts his life in danger every day.  Still trying to rebuild the remnants of her own life, Kate isn’t sure she can risk losing her heart again.

Opinion:
Ahhh, Paris.  You are the perfect setting for this story.  Filled with Gothic charm and brooding tone you fill the pages with enough ambiance to make a girl twitchy for accents and old world charm. Though the characters took me to some of the usual tourist traps one would expect to see it was the local charm that really made the scene.  The nearby cafes and the little known spots tucked out of the way allowed me to experience a different and more intimate type of Paris.  A Paris that carries with it more than just romance and fashion but also a darker more mystical world underneath.

This  somewhat darker world is populated in part by revenants — beings who bear the torture of time while continuously dying the deaths of others deemed worthy of continued life.  You see, being a revenant brings with it a certain degree of mystery along with no shortage of torture and pain both physical and emotional.  They do not ever truly die but rather they undertake the sleep of the dead every so often — going into a state of hibernation to rejuvenate and recharge so as to continue their work.

The heart of the story revolves around Kate, a girl who has moved to France to live with family after her parents untimely death.  Somewhat distant and withdrawn she shuns social interaction in favor more individual pursuits.  It is not long after her arrival that she runs into Vincent a beautiful boy she feels immediately drawn to.  With Vincent comes a pretty big secret.  Moreover, Kate’s life is further upended at the introduction of Vincent’s strange family and friends, a group of people who are clearly hiding something from her.  Of course, over time Kate works through some angst to get to the answer of what the true situation really is.

This plot is relatively simple and focuses primarily on good versus evil, enduring love and the role of the family.  To that end, the most compelling portion revolved around the varied family dynamics.  In a display of the traditional, Plum has created two sisters that are tightly bound together.  This bond was forged long before their parents death but is made stronger still at their loss.  They have loving grandparents who care for them after their parents are gone.  Like any parental relationship they have created rules however they also recognize that trusting the girls to exercise a degree of freedom and independence was essential. It was a healthy environment that encouraged emotional growth; something that is sometimes lacking in books including adult caretakers.

On the other hand, there were the revenants.  A family made not by blood but one created of circumstance.  As close as any other siblings Vincent and his cohorts functioned as any other family would.  They argued, protected and pushed each other towards greater things.  Though they experienced life in a much different way and their real ages as opposed to their perceived age added a complex and interesting dynamic.  I greatly enjoyed this family as there was quite the variety of personalities and social structures to explore.

Die For Me’s strongest asset were the characters.  Individually Kate and Vincent had compelling enough personalities.  Kate was tentative and a bit broken while Vincent was mysterious and cautious about the relationships he made.  Together, with the help of their friends and families, they were able to navigate through some of the finer points of their individual troubles to come together.  From the romantic perspective I didn’t mind that Kate and Vincent were linked.  it came as no surprise and they had good chemistry.  What I would have liked better was to see a more realistic progression of their relationship.  There was a magnetic draw between them but using that as the foundation didn’t do enough for me.  I wanted more exploration and build up to the culmination.  Instead it was a bit of an instantaneous situation where one day they were meeting and the next they had to have each other.  This makes sense to a degree given the teenaged mentality but with Vincent’s years of experience it would have made more sense to me that he would have been much more conservative in the matter.

In the end it’s the revenant angle of the story that made Die For Me.  It’s an enjoyable departure from the more prevalent paranormal fare of vampires, werewolves and angels that currently seem to dominate the market.  It’s strong setting, accessible characters and quick plot made this book a win for me.  Lovers of paranormal romance will likely enjoy this more than others but I do think that given the strong characters and setting those on the fence could find themselves liking it as well.