Friday, August 17, 2012

...in books

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by the amazing Ginger at GReads!
This week she wants us to
Pimp Your Review: 
Feature a favourite book review you've written in the past that you feel deserve more love! 
 
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.
(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.
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:

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