I was impressed with Amy Plum’s Until I Die, the second book in the Revenants trilogy. I thought the first book, Die for Me, was promising, but Until I Die had higher stakes intertwined with a more intriguing plot. The Revenant series was going somewhere. Then, that devastating but amazing cliffhanger at the end of second book totally had me hankering for the final book, If I Should Die. Now, my history with finales tends to lie more at the disappointing end of the spectrum. There’s so much build-up to that last book; sometimes it’s hard to have it all live up to the reader’s expectations. In the case of If I Should Die, it mostly manages to escape disappointment. Its slow beginning hinders the reading experience, but eventually it finds the right rhythm and delivers a satisfying finale.
We don’t miss a second of the story between Until I Die and If I Should Die. The final book begins right where we last left off. Vincent is volant, a wandering body-less spirit at the control of the evil Violette. However, Vincent can leave Violette at times to see Kate and the other revenants to warn them of Violette and the numas’, their enemies, plans. Kate is desperate to find a way to re-embody Vincent, even though everyone else seems hopeless that there is a way to do that. As the threat of war continues to escalate, Kate, Vincent and the other revenants start researching and following clues from the past to discover how to defeat Violette and her numa army before they destroy the world.
Seeing that the book picks up right after Until I Die, you’d think the beginning wouldn’t have felt sluggish. Unfortunately, it did. As much as I remembered liking all these characters so much, I found that I was asking myself if I still cared about them a few chapters in. I decided to keep reading, and about halfway through, the story found its momentum and started to get really good. It becomes action-packed, and a big twist, which I should have predicted, will likely surprise you. From that point, If I Should Die turns into the exciting and moving finale that fans deserve.
We finally get a chance to know Kate’s grandparents and a bit of her past life in New York. That was a highlight, along with the increased presence of the guérisseur, Bran. There isn’t much development going on with the other characters, since much of it was previously done. If anything, we see the most change from Kate, not just physically but emotionally. Death, lost and grief are recurring themes in the Revenants trilogy, but they really stand out in this last book, heightening the emotion several times throughout the story.
If I Should Die may have had a rocky start, but it eventually got the story’s point across, and readers and fans will undeniably appreciate that. As a whole, the Revenants trilogy deserves more attention for its striking setting, likable characters and fascinating supernatural world.
If I Should Die Rating: 8/10
Revenants Trilogy Rating: 8/10
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If I Should Die by Amy Plum will be available wherever books are sold on May 7, 2013. You can order the book at our TYF Store, powered by Amazon.
Book Info:
Publisher: Harper Teen (May 7, 2013)
Length: 416 pages, Hardcover
Series: Revenants – Book 3 of 3
Source: Advance Reader Copy (Provided by publisher)
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Supernatural
Completed: April 2013
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