Until I Die by Amy Plum

Release Date: May 8th

Publisher: HarperTeen

Series: Revenants (bk. 2)

Genera: Paranormal Romance

Subjects: supernatural, love, death, immortality, Revenants, ghosts, good vs. evil, heroes, Paris, France

Length: 353 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

Summary/ product description: “Kate and Vincent have overcome the odds and at last they are together in Paris, the city of lights and love.
As their romance deepens there’s one question they can’t ignore: How are they supposed to be together if Vincent can’t resist sacrificing himself to save others? Although Vincent promises that he’ll do whatever it takes to lead a normal life with Kate, will that mean letting innocent people die? When a new and surprising enemy reveals itself, Kate realizes that even more may be at stake—and that Vincent’s immortality is in jeopardy.
In Die for Me, Amy Plum created a captivating paranormal mythology with immortal revenants and a lush Paris setting. Until I Die is poised to thrill readers with more heart-pounding suspense, spellbinding romance, and a cliff-hanger ending that will leave them desperate for the third and final novel in the series.”

My Rating: êêêêê

My Review: This sequel was even better that the first book. Not only WAS Kate not depressed, she was kick-ass! The revenants are training her to sword fight. Vincent is romantic as ever, and Jules is…Jules (I love him! And all the other revenants, but mostly him.). Thankfully this sequel doesn’t introduce what so many paranormal romance sequels do: no love triangles, no break ups. Just Vincent trying not to die because he loves Kate so much. Nothing’s romantic as like undying love. And Paris. I still love, love, love the setting. I’ve not read many books that weren’t set in some English speaking country. Amy Plum does an amazing job describing the setting, and you really get the feel of the city, especially the art and museums

In this book we find out more about the history of revenants and about what they do. There’s some new characters, Violette and Arthur. They’re from the middle ages. There’s also the prophecy about a Champion revenant that will defeat the  Numa.

This book was amazing and the only problem I had with it was the ending. We get one heck of a cliff hanger. And now I have to wait a year till the next one.

I still recommend this book series. If you liked Twilight, you’ll love this way more! Revenants are way cooler than vamps!

Cover Art Review: It looks so much better now! The ARC copy’s cover makes the girl and the city scape not go together. They edited it so it looks more naturally lit. And the colors are gorgeous. Cool colors, teal, blue and purple. The dress is blowing behind Kate.

~Haley G

Die For Me by Amy Plum

Publisher: HarperTeen

Series: Revenants (bk. 1, bk.2 is Until I Die)

Genera: Paranormal Romance

Subjects: supernatural, love, death, immortality, Revenants, ghosts, good vs. evil, heroes, Paris, France

Length: 341 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

Summary/ product description: “When Kate Mercier's parents die in a tragic car accident, she leaves her life - and memories - behind to live with her grandparents and older sister 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 Rating: ê ê ê ê 1/2

My Review: I don’t care that people keep comparing this to Twilight, because I like Twilight, and this is very different from Twilight. Possibly better because instead of vamps, there are revenants. Though immortal, revenants are extremely different from vampires. Revenants age and don’t have any of the issues that vampires have. If you read the book, you will find out. It’s such a cool concept. Very original idea.

I really liked this book because it had a lot of humor, Vincent was hot and it’s set in modern day Paris. Sure, Kate’s not the most interesting main character (She‘s a boring Bella at times), but everything else in this book was awesome. I’m actually convinced that I should visit Paris someday. I’m into art, and this book really did talk a lot about the arts and culture of Paris. I actually meet the author, and she lives in Paris and talked about how she wanted her story to accurately describe the city. It’s cool because I don’t think I’ve read a YA book set in Paris ever. I’ve seen a lot of movies though. I’m sick of all the books set in London and New York (and also California, might I add). It’s nice for a change of scene.

I was surprised by how many funny quotes I found in this book. I thought the story was going to be dull and romantic, but it was pretty fun. The character Jules has quite the sense of humor. He likes Kate (but not as much as Vincent) and hit on her in ridiculous ways. Vincent and Ambrose are funny too. Really, everybody has more personality than Kate, but I think that as the book went on, Kate’s personality started to develop into a happier, less depressed/emo person. Away from being a boring Bella. Plus, Bella didn’t have a sister named Georgia or dead parents.

I recommend this to all the girls out there. (Especially if you’re a fan of The Immortals series) This book is your vacation to Paris! I weekend getaway, in book form.

Cover Art Review: Beautiful cover (so much better than the ARC cover). I love the designs and how they wrap around Kate and the dress she’s wearing. Though, she’s not going to be on the roof till book two, according to the author.

~Haley G

Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep

Series: Mythos Academy (bk. 1)

Genera: paranormal romance

Subjects: mythology, boarding schools, fantasy, gods and goddesses, warriors, magic, heroes, gypsies

Length: 350 pgs.

HC/PB: Paperback

Summary/ product description: “My name is Gwen Frost, and I go to Mythos Acad­emy — a school of myths, magic and war­rior whiz kids, where even the lowli­est geek knows how to chop off somebody’s head with a sword and Logan Quinn, the hottest Spar­tan guy in school, also hap­pens to be the deadliest.

But lately, things have been weird, even for Mythos. First, mean girl Jas­mine Ash­ton was mur­dered in the Library of Antiq­ui­ties. Then, some­one stole the Bowl of Tears, a mag­i­cal arti­fact that can be used to bring about the sec­ond Chaos War. You know, death, destruc­tion and lots of other bad, bad things. Freaky stuff like this goes on all the time at Mythos, but I’m deter­mined to find out who killed Jasmine and why – espe­cially since I should have been the one who died …”

My Rating: ê ê ê 1/2

My Review: I love boarding school books, but this one didn’t seem to focus around the experience of attending a boarding school. It mainly was about Gwen feeling like an outsider in a school of rich, spoiled kids. She thinks she doesn’t fit in. She’s a loner there, and read a lot of comic books. I can relate to her. I read instead of deal with people too. I really think psychometry is a cool power. Lots of books have a character with that ability (Clarity, the Touch series, Angelburn...)..

I have read Jennifer Estep’s Bigtime adult book series. It’s about superheroes and it’s funny. I like how she mentions the Fearless Five and Karma Girl as being some of Gwen’s favorite comic book characters. I think Karma Girl relates a lot to Gwen.

Daphne an interesting character too. She’s the mean-spoiled-princess Valkyrie on the out side, nice, pink-loving, computer geek on the inside. I love when characters surprise you. And Logan the Spartan. He is a hot killing machine, but a really good guy.

I loved all the funny parts in this book, but I just wish this book had more….stuff, but I’m pretty sure the sequel will surpass the 1^st book. Kiss of Frost comes out in December.

Cover Art Review: The cover is well designed, but it could use some improvement. The bottom right with the building and gargoyle, if you move to the left, you can see that the castle like part is split into two. The image is either broken or 2 different images. The designer should have just made it black to hide that problem. Other than that, there a nice perpendicular relationship in the text and the sword.

~Haley G