Amy Plum

Until I Die, the second installment in the Revenants series, by Amy Plum could challenge Mt. Everest for size based on the cliffhanger that we are left with at the end of this wonderful, awesome, incredible installment!

Until I Die picks up right after where we left off at the end of Die for Me. The numa’s old leader is dead, having been killed by Kate (who was possessed by a volant Vincent at the time). Georgia is recovering, dating a musician now, and Charolette and Charles are heading out of town. Leaving space for the newcomers, Arthur and Violette. They are really old, together-but-not-together, and they seem to have a distaste for the humans they save. The numa a quiet for a while, and Vincent and Kate are each on a search to make things easier for them to be together. But they aren’t telling each other all the details (although at least they tell each other that much). Only to have the numa under another leader and committing thefts. Of course there’s the showdown with the new leader, and that leaves us with a killer cliffhanger! Staring down a crevice from the top of Mt. Everest size cliffhanger.

**Spoiler Alert. Really, like with the pages, if you don’t want to know what the major cliff hanger is, don’t read any more!**

Is Vincent really dead? Did Violette dispose of him? And could Kate somehow be the Champion that the VictorSeer is supposed to find? It might kill me having to wait a whole year for the next installment (conclusion? Don’t know. Haven’t seen an indication as to how many books will be in this series.)! ‘Cuz if Kate hears Vincent talking to her, it would seem that maybe he’s just in his ghosty form… but could he be stuck that way forever? I don’t usually use text talk, but here, OMG!!!

While some might criticize this installment for being a little slow, or the “twist” being a little obvious (it had to be somewhat easy to see if I saw it coming as early as I did), it was wonderful to see the continued development of the relationship between Kate and Vincent. The struggle that they face wasn’t positioned as catastrophic yet was always something they did struggle with. And, they deal with struggle with how to be together so much better than in a lot of the YA books like this. They weren’t whiney annoying characters – they were thinking of ways to fix it and yet enjoyed being together. It was great to see them spend time together too – so we aren’t faced with them in one instant barely knowing each other and the next being totally in love. It’s a great change and makes the relationships feel so much more genuine then in a lot of books in this same category.

The author continues to build a universe where we learn about the supernatural aspects that we are intrigued as to what else there is to learn, yet not so in the dark so as to feel confused. The dialogue between the characters and the smartness of Kate are also something other author’s should model after. It is refreshing to have Kate be such an anti-Bella. And while we can see another pines for Kate, there really is no love triangle, thank goodness.

If I have a complaint, there are two little ones. First, I am always bothered by these books when they purport to teach a character martial arts or sword play really well in just a few short months and have it be so easy. It takes much more work than a day or two a week to get good at it over what is less than 6 months. Even for someone with inherent talent. The other complaint is that it was way to easy to find the only two existing copies of an ancient book. A little bit of a search and challenge here would have been fodder for more adventure and would have made the book a little more hefty (which I never mind… the longer the better!).

However, those two minuscule complaints aside, I loved this book. I highly recommend it to fans of series like Twilight, Mortal Instruments, etc. And with it ending the way it did, not knowing what has happened to Vincent, it is going to be extremely difficult to wait for the next installment.

P.S. LOVE the cover art. I really, really, hope that they don’t change the theme of the cover… A green one (or other color) in the same style would be awesome. I bought and read the e-book, but I will be buying the hard cover today at lunch, just so that the beauty of the cover can grace my book shelf at home.

Finished it! And it was awesome! So, the page has been updated to reflect all information after completing the book. And the review is there too. For those who want to be spoiler free while reading a review, it is also below.

Must add: LOVED the cover. And I don’t feel suckered by it. Thank goodness. I was starting to really hate my addiction to awesome covers given how often lately they set high expectations. Only to see those expectations dashed like they have been thrown off a 10 story cliff onto the rocks below where they shatter into a ga-zillion tiny pieces…

Kate and Vincent meet and Kate is dazzled by Vincent. She soon discovers all about the revenants. And, after a close call where Ambrose is “killed” Charles runs away. It appears that he runs into the clutches of a numa, looking for a way to end the cycle of death and reanimation. Kate and Vincent fall in love. Kate runs from him at first, not being able to deal with all the death and the reminders of her parent’s death. But, she can’t stay away and he promises to try to resist the urge to save others so he can be with her and not put her through that. And then, we learn that we are going to have a show down with Lucien, the leader of this group of luma. I won’t spoil here how that ends. But we get a good and satisfying ending.

While fairly formulaic in nature (the description from my review of Misfit: “there’s something that makes me different, so I can never be with you, but oooooohhhhhhh I need to be with you, and there is something magic/supernatural keeping us apart and miserable. Oh, and by the way, one of us has wicked superpowers of some kind or is immortal and we need to figure out a way to fix one or both of us so we can be together.”), the book and the characters weren’t nearly as… whiney and gag-inducing about it as other couples from other books (I am a Twilight fan, so I say this with affection, Bella and Edward are the epitome of that whiney and gag-inducing tone and despite my love for the series, it has serious issues). And I really liked them, for that and other reasons.

Despite the superficiality that much of this genre (the YA PNR specifically) relies on to kick start a series, this book was one of the few that showed a surprising depth of a relationship between Kate and Vincent. Being told that they spent and afternoon together getting to know one another was a refreshing change in this genre.

Even more refreshing was Kate’s ability to attempt to live without Vincent. Showing that while she may not want to be without the boy she loves, she can. That’s something that is so often missing – leaving it virtually impossible to ignore the weakness associated with those female characters. Vincent also wasn’t a whiney little girl about the whole thing. Did he miss Kate – sure. But he wasn’t doing the whole drastic expose myself to the sun thing. And he wasn’t really all dark and brooding and creepy as a result. It was a nice change. I also think that the non-existance of a potential love triangle was a huge relief. I really don’t want to have to chose a “team” here…

The story is unique (except with respect to the lack of parental supervision which apparently is a must in this genre **blinks in confusion as to why**). While dealing with something supernatural, the idea of a “revenant” is different. It is not the typical vampire or werewolf story. And it is easy to root for the group of revenants as a whole. The end was satisfying and yet there is clearly room to continue in the universe that was built.

I have seen comparisons drawn between this book and Shiver, because of the ability of the author to write romantic prose. I must disagree. The writing and the romance and the relationship here is much more subtle. I didn’t find myself rereading sentences just because of who pretty they were or the emotions that they conveyed the way I did in Shiver. But, overall, I think the romance and the relationship here was more satisfying and felt more lasting. I also think that the world built is more interesting and leaves more room for the growth of the characters and the story.

I certainly hope that the author doesn’t let me down with the second in the series (like Lauren Kate, Becca Fitzpatrick, even Maggie Steifvater all have). This has so much potential.