Until I Die by Amy Plum

Summary (from Goodreads)

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.

Review:

Sadly, I did not like this one as much as the first installment. I brought only paperbacks along with me on my Paris vacation. And I was super hoping to read this one in Paris, maybe at a café because well, the books take place in Paris and so many cafes are mentioned in it. Alas, I did not get to the book until my flight home from Paris. I didn’t get much reading accomplished on this vacation, believe it or not. I blame it all on the walking and how much it exhausted me by the end of the day, when I’d normally read.

Any way, maybe the combination of tight, uncomfortable quarters on the plane mixed with serious jet-lag didn’t help in my overall enjoyment…Also, I had trouble remembering some of the side characters. Maybe it’s been too long since I read the first book. What I’m getting at is that it took me a week (after getting home) to actually finish the book. It moved at a much slower pace.

I did enjoy all the Parisian references in a new way. I knew about the museums and neighborhoods mentioned! And I certainly had no trouble imagining the setting at all. I also still connected to the main character’s sense of loss. She’d moved to her grandparents in France after losing both her parents. And I like that this loss and sadness never goes away when the story doesn’t call for it. The fact that this is in the background the whole time makes the author win points in my book, because this is so adequate and true.

I guess besides the overall slowness (and lack of action until the ending chapters), I just wasn’t feeling the romance. And the romance was a major component of the book. There was a lot of mushy, repetitive commentary about the two love birds changing each other’s lives and completing each other. But there wasn’t really any interesting conversations between them. Their dates were fun, but I just felt like all the good relationship stuff was skipped over. And I never really saw why they loved each other; I just got lots of exclamations about that love.

I find the whole idea of the immortal revenants to be fascinating. I enjoyed meeting more of them in this story, and getting to see more of this world. There was also a little French history and mythology thrown in that made things interesting.

I enjoyed the setting, the new characters, the history, and the concept of this book. I just wished for more to happen. And I wished the romance was less cliché/ cheesy and more real. Also, what a cliffhanger. I will definitely at some point need to get my hands on the last book because well, there are things I need to know! I give it a 7/10.