Die for Me (Revenants, #1) in Mock Printz 2026

Jul 15, 2011 Ellen rated it it was ok

Not quite sure why this one is getting so much attention. Girl loses parents, moves to Paris and gets with the hot, mysterious guy. Turns out he is a "revenant", someone who magically takes on death for those who are dying unexpectedly - by accident or suicide. In some sort of world-equalizing gesture, Plum then has him be in a death-like state for 3 days before he is fully restored to his magical existence. For some reason, this is a deal breaker for our heroine and the cause of much angst befo ...more

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Aug 26, 2011 Celeste rated it it was ok

Shelves: young-adult-fiction, paranormal-romance, 2011

Amy Plum is the latest to jump on the paranormal romance bandwagon. The scene is Paris, the paranormal dude is a revanant, and the girl is a sixteen year old American whose parents recently died. Die for Me is a quick read. If you are looking for something to read on the subway that is mindless and relatively entertaining, go ahead and pick it up. If you are looking for strong characters or impressive narrative skill, I'd look elsewhere.

Die for Me suffers from the same flaw that plagues so much Amy Plum is the latest to jump on the paranormal romance bandwagon. The scene is Paris, the paranormal dude is a revanant, and the girl is a sixteen year old American whose parents recently died. Die for Me is a quick read. If you are looking for something to read on the subway that is mindless and relatively entertaining, go ahead and pick it up. If you are looking for strong characters or impressive narrative skill, I'd look elsewhere.

Die for Me suffers from the same flaw that plagues so much of romance writing: stereotypical characters that reinforce traditional gender norms. Given the popularity of the genre with teenage girls, it would be nice if it offered them better female role models. The revanants are people who have died saving the life of someone else and in the process gained a kind of immortality. The catch? They come back to life with an irresistible urge to continue saving people, even at the expense of their own lives. While there are female revanants, the house where they all live is described as a den of testosterone and it seems that females are the exception rather than the norm. Although Kate, the female protagonist, claims to have an aversion to being the damsel in distress, it is a position she finds herself in often and actually seems to enjoy.

Kate also has way to much into her own psychology. First person narratives are difficult because writers generally understand the pysches of their characters much better than most people understand themselves. It seems unlikely that most people would be able to come out and say "I am pushing other people away from me because I was so hurt by the death of my parents. Now I am afraid to get hurt again." Usually people spend months in therapy to realize they are doing that. But Kate frequently psychoanalyzes herself and tells the reader exactly what kind of person she is. The book would have been stronger if Plum would have been able to show us how upset Kate is, rather than having her tell us over and over. ...more

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