Until I Die by Amy Plum

Until I Die by Amy Plum
ARC received from Harper Collins via Edelweiss Above the Treeline
Release Date:  5-8-2012
Reviewed by:  Middle Sis Jenn
The Sisters Say:  Dazzling, Dynamic, and to Die for!

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.

I must implore, read Until I Die On May 8th, it’s out to buy In this book, secrets you will learn Will the Revenants world live or burn? And what about Vincent, the sexy guy? How many times will he have to die? And what about Kate, can she take the pain Of seeing her lover constantly slain? Then there’s Ambrose, Gaspard, and Jules Will the Numa play them all for fools? Of course dear Georgia we can’t forget Will her judgment still be a threat? All these answers I promise you shall find Though you may not get your peace of mind For with the truth come more whys? Read for yourself and discover the lies. I was fortunate enough to receive an arc of Until I Die from Edelweiss Above the Treeline, and I started reading it the moment it downloaded. It actually started out pretty slow with most of it focusing on character development--I even got discouraged at one point because I felt like nothing was happening. But I am SO GLAD I kept going--it really starts to pick up near the middle, adn from that point, I just had to know what was going to happen. Amy Plum did an excellent j...moreI was fortunate enough to receive an arc of Until I Die from Edelweiss Above the Treeline, and I started reading it the moment it downloaded. It actually started out pretty slow with most of it focusing on character development--I even got discouraged at one point because I felt like nothing was happening. But I am SO GLAD I kept going--it really starts to pick up near the middle, and from that point, I just had to know what was going to happen. Amy Plum did an excellent job of providing twists and turns--I mean, there were parts I never would have seen coming! Any time I tried to predict what the bad guys were up to, I was proven wrong. And even more interesting, Amy Plum doesn't even reveal who the antagonist is until the very end--another surprise I didn't see coming! Why should you read this book? 1.) If you loved Vincent in the first book, you will truly love him in Until I Die. He is even more sexy, more mysterious, and more protective.  I just love how hard he tries to keep Kate happy—even if it hurts him. 2.) You will learn even more about the Revenants--secrets they hide and prophecies they believe.  You get bits and pieces of their history as the story unfolds. 3.) You will get to know the characters even better. I really think my favorite part of Amy Plum's Revenant series is the deepness of her characters. She knows how to write so that you feel like you know her characters--even the ones that aren't focused on like Gaspard, Jean-Baptiste, and some of the other revenants. I loved getting to know Ambrose and Jules more in this one--full of loyalty, trust, and charisma. 4.) And finally--the cliffhanger ending. I had to reread the last page a few times to see if I missed anything because I quite literally wanted to fall to my knees and scream, "You can't end there!" 2013 can't come soon enough! 5.) The new characters!  There are a few new characters that play a large role in this book, and I really enjoyed seeing how other Revenants act, speak, fight, etc.  We are used to the Paris revenants, but in this book we get to see some from other parts of the world. I do wish there would have been more romance between Kate and Vincent.  Don’t get me wrong, the romance is there, but it felt a little lacking, like it didn’t progress much from book 1.  I wanted more of those secret moments where he touches her cheek and her stomach rolls; more of those kisses that just take your breath away; more of those oh la la moments that make you wish you were Kate!  Hopefully, Amy Plum will go all out in the next installment (If I Should Die). So finally, I urge you to push through the slower parts in the beginning because it is definitely worth it to see how the rest of the story unfolds!!!!!!

Match # 1: Clary (Seed #1) vs Kate (Seed #32) Goes to Clary

Winner of Match # 1 is Clary Fray


Welcome to the YA Sisterhood! Thank you in advance for your participation in our Tournament of Heroines! We hope you make some friends (and not too many enemies), discover some fantastic books, and have a lot of fun! 

Some general rules before we begin:

There may be some spoilers in the following post. We've tried to keep it fairly general, but overall, this Tourney will not be spoiler-free. So beware.

Secondly, You are welcome to write your own comments about either character in the comments section, but we will not tolerate rudeness. The minute it crosses over from logical argument into character bashing, your comments will be deleted and your vote canceled.  POLLS WILL BE OPEN FOR 24 HOURS AND WILL CLOSE AT 12:01AM EST ON DECEMBER 2ND.

And now for the match....

Clary Fray/Morgenstern is the heroine from Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments Series, which includes City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels, and coming City of Lost Souls, and City of Heavenly Fire.

*** Spoil Alert Quotes from 1st four books below ***

Fray's Fabulous Features

By Kara Lija

A petite 5 feet tall
Curly red hair
Green eyes
Freckles 
Survives the worst father ever, Valentine Morgenstern
Received Ithuriel's blood giving her special talents
Shadowhunter
Beautiful

Fiercely loyal & driven to help those she loves

From City of Bones - Clary felt suddenly annoyed. "When the self-congratulatory part of the evening is over, maybe we could get back to saving my best friend from being exsanguinated to death?"  

From City of Bones - "I don't want tea," said Clary, with muffled force. "I want to find my mother. And then I want to find out who took her in the first place, and I want to kill them.

Feisty & independent - she doesn't put up with anyone's um ... you know

From City of Bones - "I was ninety percent sure." "I see," Clary said.
There must have been something in her voice, because he turned to look at her. Her hand cracked across his face, a slap that rocked him back on his heels. He put a hand to his cheek, more in surprise than pain. "What the hell was that for?"
"The other ten percent," she said, and they rode the rest of the way down to the street in silence."

From City of Ashes - "Hey Baby." "Baby? You're kidding me, right?" "I was trying it out. No?" "No."

Funny & great to have around

From City of Bones - "Don't touch any of my weapons without my permission."
"Well, there goes my plan for selling them all on eBay," Clary muttered.
"Selling them on what?" Clary smiled blandly at him. "A mythical place of great magical power." 

From City of Bones - "I figured all your classes were stuff like Slaughter 101 and Beheading for Beginners."Jace flipped a page. "Very funny, Fray." 

Lily Collins

Figures it out when everyone else gives up 

From City of Glass - "No. I wanted to tell you that I was proud of you." Clary slewed around to look at her mother. "You were?" Jocelyn nodded. "Of course I was. The way you stood up in front of the Clave like that. The way you showed them what you could do. You made them look at you and see the person they loved most in the world, didn't you?" "Yeah," Clary said. "How did you know?"
"Because I heard them all calling out different names," Jocelyn said softly. "But I still saw you."
 

Forever drawn to the gorgeous Jace

From City of Glass - All that existed was Jace; all she felt, hoped, breathed, wanted, and saw was Jace. Nothing else mattered.

From City of Fallen Angels - Not to be outdone, Clary slid her hands under the hem of his soaked shirt, and let her fingers explore what was underneath: the tight, hot skin over his ribs, the ridges of his abdomen, the scars on his back. This was uncharted territory for her, but it seemed to be driving him crazy: he was moaning softly against her mouth, kissing her harder and harder, as if it would never be enough, not quite enough —.

Fierce & Fights for what she loves

 From City of Glass - "Is this the part where you say if I hurt her, you'll kill me?" "No" Simon said, "If you hurt Clary she's quite capable of killing you herself. Possibly with a variety of weapons." 

From City of Glass Jace - "And then I met you.  You were a mundane.  Weak.  Not a fighter.  Never trained.  And then I saw how much you loved your mother, loved Simon, and how you'd walk into hell to save them.  you did walk into a vampire hotel.  Shadowhunters with a decade of experience wouldn't have tried that.  Love didn't make your weak; it made you stronger than anyone I'd ever met." 

From City of Glass Jace - "You could have had anything else in the world, and you asked for me."  She smiled up at him.  Filthy as he was, covered in blood and dirt, he was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.  "But I don't want anything else in the world."

Firm hold on herself

From City of Glass, right after Jace yells at her - "When you told me the first time that Valentine was your father, I didn't believe it," she said.  "Not just because I didn't want it to be true, but because you weren't anything like him.  I've never thought you were anything like him.  But you are.  You are."
   
Flair for making new or stronger runes  

From City of Ashes - "The completed Fearless rune was a matrix of strongly swirling lines: a rune as bold and aerodynamic as an eagle.  She tore the page free and held it up so the others could see it."

From City of Glass - "She squeezed her eyelids shut and, against the darkness behind the them, began to draw with her mine in curving lines of light.  Lines that spoke to her of doorways, of being carried on whirling air, of travel and faraway places.  The lines came together in a rune as grateful as a bird in flight.  She didn't know if it was a rune that had existed before or one she had invented, but it existed now as if it always had."

What makes Clary better than Kate

So I enjoyed Die for Me by Amy Plum but Kate was not the reason why.  Vincent was my favorite character in that book.  Kate was a puzzle to me.  She's withdrawn, even sullen and not pro-active.  It's been seven months since her parents death and while I understand it's hard for her, she is still hiding away not dealing.  Clary would never do that!

Last point - Clary gets Jace's vote! Nough said.

From City of Glass - "There is no pretending," Jace said with absolute clarity. "I love you, and I will love you until I die, and if there is life after that, I'll love you then."

Vote #TeamClary


Check StuckInBooks.com for additional inspiration to vote #TeamClary 


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Intro (aka: who am I?): Hi, my name is Carli, aka Emberchyld.  I can be found at my regular blog:  Emberchyld's Journal or my Travel blog: Carli's Travels .  To keep up-to-date on all of the #TeamKate happenings, keep an eye on my @Emberchyld Twitter feed and my Livejournal site!  Also, keep checking the amazing Amy Plum's site, because she has some great Kate goodies as incentives (ahem... teaser from Until I Die? You didn't hear it from me...)


Since this is a post to advocate for Kate as a heroine... I thought I'd abdicate my advocate duties to the person who knows her best and let him tell you why you should vote for Kate! (apologies to Amy, from whom I very LIBERALLY borrowed)

Anything else you’d like to add?


1) A quick thanks to my
partners-in-Kate advocacy: Brooke(@Brookeworm33) and JayJay (@TheJay2xA) &
to Amy Plum @iHeartRevenants

2) Thanks also to all of the commenters who helped! Moirae, Holly, InTheSpirit... you ROCK!

3) Vincent was not harmed in the
writing of this letter

4) Thanks to the YA Sisterhood for such
and awesome tourney

Waiting on Wednesday: Until I Die by Amy Plum

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine.  It spotlights books that have not yet been released, but ones that you should pre-order today!  This weeks book that we are anxiously awaiting is: Until I Die. It's written by Amy Plum, and its release date is May 3rd, 2012!

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Kate has chosen to leave the comfort and safety of her human world in order to join Vincent in the dangerous supernatural universe he inhabits. For his part, he has sworn to go against his very nature and resist the repeated deaths that are his fate as a revenant—even though it will bring him immeasurable suffering.

Heady with romance and rife with danger, the second book of the DIE FOR ME trilogy follows Vincent and Kate as they search—separately—for a solution to their plight, pursuing their quest from the glamorous streets of Paris to the city’s squalid underbelly. Although the experiment that Vincent attempts is progressively destroying him, he insists on seeing it through to the end. This prompts Kate to strike out on her own into the dangerous world of the revenants to find another way. But she unwittingly puts everyone she loves at risk when she discovers a family of ancient healers who hold the key to a secret that could help the bardia—the good revenants—overthrow their murderous enemies, the numa, forever.

And while the lovers search for something they have little chance of finding, a new threat arises among the numa. Kate finds herself in the midst of an ancient and deadly war, not as a bystander...but as a target.

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For the love of all things....how gorgeous is that cover!?!?!  I am DYING to read this book!!!  Why oh why does it have to be half a year away!?!?  Plus, a few days back, Amy Plum tweeted that Jules's full story would be revealed in this book!  EEK, so excited...Jules Rules!!!  (but I love Vincent too, oh yeah and Ambrose, well really, all the revenants!!!)  We have to support our YA Crush Tourney boys!  BTW- This is the UK cover, HarperCollins will release the American cover soon!  So, keep a look out here, as soon as it's released we'll be posting it!