Until I Die: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Romance About Star-Crossed Lovers in Paris and Immortal Enemies (Die for Me, 2)

***ARC provided by HarperTeen for review*** Kate and Vincent think they have found a compromising solution for their human-revenant relationship: he will refrain from sacrificing himself by saving other people's lives. But when a dangerous incident occurs, Kate...

I really, really enjoyed the first book in the Revenants series, Die For Me, but I thought it had its flaws and borrowed heavily from the TV series The Highlander. This book, I felt was very improved. The plot thickened, new characters were introduced, and new villains join the fray. I guessed the plot twist very early in the book but I still found myself enjoying the main character's reaction to the news. There are so many characters, but you feel like you get to know them all, the more time you spend with them. (And, if you listen to the audiobook, the narrator does a terrific job pronouncing all the French and giving all the characters unique voices.) Some situations hinted at in book 1 are continued and further developed in book 2, and it was awesome to see how the story flowed so easily from one volume to the next. Sometimes it's hard to continue a series because the author changes their writing style or picks the story up at an awkward place in the next book, but that's not the case here. I was wary but very pleased by the way book 2 developed. I was especially ecstatic that my very favorite character in the series was revealed to be gay in this book. It made me so happy to read that! The only thing till that point the series was lacking for me was some LGBT rep, and the author gave it to my fave. New revenants join the clan in Paris, and they're both powerful and ancient. Kate has a different relationship with each of them and their interactions were so much fun to read about, whether she was going to the cinema with Violette or flipping Arthur the bird, I loved every minute of it. This book contained so many of my favorite things: rare books, art heists, symbolic jewelry, a mysterious old shop, a misty cemetery, and a secret order. And everything was woven together seamlessly to create a spooky atmosphere at times, and heart-pounding excitement at others. I will say that the series continued to borrow more material from The Highlander. For one, a society of humans who aid the revenants was introduced. They're exactly like the Watchers from The Highlander. Also, if you've seen the TV show, you know there are good immortals and bad immortals. The main character, Duncan MacLeod, absorbs the energy or life force from the evil immortals he slays, and taking all that darkness into himself changes him. It's a major plot arc in the later episodes of the series. Well, Until I Die introduces that same setup in the Revenants series. We now learn that whenever an immortal revenant kills their enemy, the immortal numa, they absorb their power. And too much of a bad thing is not good. I feel like Revenants is basically Highlander fan fiction, but I don't mind. It's well-written and gets better as it goes. If you're not sure if you want to continue the series after reading Die For Me, please do. It only gets better. The audiobook narrator is great, but I also recommend the paperbacks for a surplus of bonus content at the end of the story!

~4/5 I put off reading this because I heard about a horrible cliffhanger, but now I have the third, and last, book, so I finally got to reading it. And I'm kind of glad that I waited, because I would not have liked having to wait so long. This book seemed to move rather slowly. It's not action-packed, it focuses a lot on Kate and Vincent's relationship, along with a reasonable amount for the other characters. It's rather character-based, although there is still some action. It doesn't seem like very much is happening, but there actually is. And for some reason, it's really easy to get sucked into the story, to keep wanting to read, and for the pages to go by rather quickly. The descriptions of the places that Kate goes are rather well done. I get a good image of where she is, and I can easily tell that Kate is enjoying it, is relishing in the view. Also, I like that the Eifel Tower is not the centered Paris Place in this book; it tends to be the main event for most people, is always the thing showed and thought of when Paris is brought up, so I'm glad that Kate sees so much else, and that the Eifel Tower only gets a couple small mentions, in this one and the first book. I'm still a rather big fan of Vincent and Kate; Vincent is a sweetheart, and Kate is very active and pretty smart, which I like. The romance between them is well done, and a lot of focus is placed on it, which I think is good. There are also several romantic scenes between the two, and the only upsetting thing about that is that they're so tiny. I haven't grown as close with the other characters, and some of them are kind of hard to remember what their personality is supposed to be, just because the time with them is so little. I do like Georgia, Kate's sister, as well as Jules, and Ambrose seems funny, although I don't feel like I know the last two well enough. We met some new characters in this book, and I kind of already guessed what was going to happen with them, so I wasn't surprised. I think my biggest, and really only, problem with the book was that I didn't feel very intense emotions throughout any of it. At the end, for example, when this big climax happened, I didn't feel like I was experiencing what Kate should have been feeling. I think she should have been hurried, rushed, but she didn't seem to be. And that kind of bothered me. That's really the only reason that the rating is only a light 4 stars, instead of higher. The ending, though, was a rather bad cliffhanger. It's just mean, and I'm not very happy about it. I have several theories on where the story could go from here, some of which regarding the very end of the book, and some regarding the Champion business, but I'm not going to talk about them here, just because they would be full of spoilers and I don't want to ruin that much. I'll just leave it at: I'm very excited to read the last book. As soon as I finish this review, in fact, I plan on starting it. I'm not even giving the series a break/pause to read another book, like I normally would. I'm fully ready to see how this series ends, and very excited for it. [This review is also available on my blog.]

http://bookbutterflyreviews.blogspot.ca/ GAH! Yes, that is m first word after rereading this book, GAH! Now I remember why I was pining away for the third book in the series... because Until I Die leaves such a huge frikken cliffhanger! Okay, let's be a bit more professional about this, shall we? Or rather, shall I? Until I Die was a definite step up from the first book of the series, Die For Me. Amy Plum still has an amazing way with words and completely captivates her audience into her supernatural world of good and evil. Revenants whose sole purpose in this world is to die over and over to save others, and Numas, who have the opposite purpose to take away lives. I loved every second of every word I read, even the infuriating, frustrating and heartbreaking ones that made me want to do something drastic... somewhere between punching or strangling my pillow. Going straight into the good parts, Plum sets up the story line so much more in Until I Die. Book 1, Die For Me, was more focused on the love story with a subplot of the evil numas. I loved Until I Die because now that Vincent and Kate's love life is well established, a majority of the focus was on the antagonistic aspect of the longterm story plot. It plainer words, we get to see a lot more of the battles against the bad guy. Something that was severely lacking from Die For Me. I also loved this book because the ending kind of blind sides you. I mean, all of the signs were there, I just got so wrapped up in the lives of these fictional characters that I went against my instincts and missed all of them. I don't know if I should credit that to Amy Plum's fantastic writing, or go check if I have a fever or something :p Now, looking at the bad side, it's more of the same. Vincent and Kate's blinding love. They do stuff that worries and infuriates each other, and BAM a sorry is said and al is forgiven. No resentment or anger left at all. I am sorry, that may happen in a perfect world, but no love life is like that. No WOMAN is like that. Maybe I just don't have a lot of faith in my very own sex, but especially for Kate's personality and character, and how she is written, I can't see her being the girl that just blindly forgives people like that. Now I just have one last comment to leave y'all on... and WARNING! THIS IS A TINY BIT OF A SPOILER... Is it just me or is Jules kinda in love with Kate? I mean all the signs are there... genuine concern for her safety, the obvious hints hidden behind the shamless flirting... I wonder if something will come of it in book three... something I am going to start reading the second I post this review. Anyways, I have now voiced my opinion. Amy Plum did a better job with this book than she did with the first in the series. Bravo Amy! 10/10 for book 2 and an A. I can't wait to start book 3!

I know you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover but this one has another gorgeous cover!!! In my opinion Amy Plum has done it again, she has created another masterpiece of storytelling and Revenant lore, once again I was riveted from the first page! Some people have been talking about until I die being a 'middle book' and having a lot of 'filler space'! I do NOT agree, until I die is had a pulsating plot thread that kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through it waiting to see what would happen next, in many ways the non action scenes added more suspense to the story than some of the action scenes! I firmly believe that until I die is MORE suspenseful than die for me! The authors writing and ability to deepen her mythology in this book absolutely knocked my socks off!!! As for the'middle book' stigma, although until I die is the second book in a trilogy there is no second book syndrome as I like to call it! Until I die's story line stands confidently on it's own! I am a huge Kate fan and truly appreciate how unlike Twilight's Bella she is! I especially loved that at one point Kate says that it is not that sheisn't a complete person on her own but that Vincent compliments her personality as she does his! Finally a teenager who knows that she is still a complete person and although she misses him she doesn't shrivel up and cry her eyes out when her boyfriend isn't with her every single second! How refreshing!!! The more I read Kate the more I feel that we are kindred spirits she and I (and could be best friends if she wasn't fictional) I loved this book! I recommend it, if you loved die for me you will not regret reading until I die! Here are the best and worst points. Best, NO love triangle, having a chance to get a deeper look at revenant mythology. Worst, Warning: cliffhanger alert, I am not usually a fan of cliffhanger endings but this one ahhh. So good!!! As cliffhangers go! And having to wait until next year for the final installment!!! I could go on for years about how amazing until I die is, but you would rather read it for yourself so I'll just say read it, read it.. READ IT!!! Treat yourself to until I die and you won't be sorry!!!

This was an awesome book! As I had mentioned with my review of the first Revenants book, the plot, characters, and setting of this story is very unique and interesting. I like Amy Plum's writing. I find that her wide variety and accurate description of places in Paris to be just as interesting as the story itself. This book furthers the first Revenant book by continuing the story of Kate and Vincent's romance. Vincent is dead set (haha great pun) on making things work with Kate. Since he is a revenant, things will not be easy for them. Vincent ends up with some unique gifts of his own. The ending of this book was very good, however I had predicted it from the middle of the book on. I was not that surprised by the end, but it was well written. I found that there were so many parts that I highlighted due to them being very sweet and romantic or super funny. The last sentence of the book left the story at a good place for the next book to pick up. I cannot wait until the next book is available. I want to know what happens! I love/hate to get such a good clif hanger only to have to wait months to have the next book in the series come out. Amy Plum is releasing a Novella before releasing the next full book. I also found (thanks to some help from another Goodreads reader) Amy Plum's website where there are short stories about scenes written from other charcter's perspectives. I guess that will have to hold me off until the next book is available! If you enjoyed the first book Die For Me, then there is no reason you would not like this book. It is better than the first. I have high hopes for the next book too!

I don't even know if I can truly express how great this book was... I always know a good book with I emotionally get connected and FEEL everything that the main character is going through. It shows me the talent and brilliance of an exceptional author. With that said, let me tell you just how fabulous Ms. Plum is... I was bawling my eyes out...I rarely, if ever cry in a book. It's not that I don't feel the pain or joy, it's just that I contain it well enough. Oh but with this book, OMG, I was ripped apart. I was given so much hope and then I fell off a cliff. I loved getting back in to the revenant world and seeing all of the fabulous characters that I have missed. The relationship of Kate and Vincent was going strong and they were going to make it happen for them. Vincent believed he found a way that he could be with Kate with out jeopardizing his promises. But, of course, things don't go as planned. There are evil people in the world who want too much power. All I can say is that I was so captivated, I stayed up all night to read... Cried my eyes out and knew I had forever to wait for book 3... AHHHHH!!!! A DEFINITE MUST READ!!

This is the second in a 3 book trilogy. I will warn you now, once you finish this book you will want to immediately follow it with "If I Should Die". If you don't have it, order it before you start. This series continues with you learning more about the mysterious Revenant mythology and trying to decipher Vincent's crazy behavior. This causes Kate to really look at their relationship and figure out where its going which just causes Vincent to get more mysterious. We also meet Viollette, an old revenant who comes to help Jean Baptiste with their problems in Paris. The story builds the plot of the series and is essential. While there isn't as much action as book one, the story is enjoyable and keeps moving to the end. And the end?... well, like i said. I hope you got the 3rd book along with this one. You're gonna need it.