Until I Die by Amy Plum

Until I Die is the sequel to Die for Me. In Die for Me, Kate falls for the revenant Vincent and learns that he is undead and his job is to protect humans from dying before their times. To do this he sometimes dies and lies dormant for three days. Each month he must be dormant for a period of three days. For Kate, who just lost her parents, Vincent dying is unacceptable, so Vincent promises to fight his compulsion to want to give his life for others. Until I Die begins with Charles, who tried to get the numa, the evil revenants, to kill him, and his sister Charlotte leaving to go to the south of France for awhile. Two new revenants arrive at La Maison, Arthur and Violette, ancient revenants who seem distance at first. Shortly after their arrival, Geneive's human husband Phillipe dies and Kate realizes what Vincent will one day face if they stay together. She and Vincent unbeknownst to each other are trying to find a way to help Vincent fight his compulsion. Kate befriends Violette, while her sister Georgia does not like Violette at all. Arthur makes Kate feel unwelcome at a revenant meeting, but also saves the life of her sister. Vincent starts a plan to fight his compulsion, but he looks terrible. Kate finds a book called Immortal Love, which gives her the idea to find a healer who may be able to help the two. The healer also has the ability to see the Champion, the revenant who will overthrow the numa, which makes her valuable to the numa as well. Secrets are being leaked and Kate is in grave danger, but who could be the leak? To find out read Until I Die.

I enjoyed Until I Die, more than I did the first book. I think Amy Plum does a great job showing what the consequences of dating someone who is basically immortal would really be like. The romance is still there in the book, but it is more cautious. Both characters make big mistakes which leads to the cliffhanger end, which could be the end for one of them.

Favorite Character: I like Kate's sister Georgia, who is fiercely loyal to Kate, but very independent. Georgia helps Kate in any way that she can and is fun and flirty.

Favorite Quote: "An international meeting of revenants? Like the undead United Nations?"

I love Plum's descriptions of Paris and even the South of France. I think this book had more depth than the first one and she is starting to flesh out the secondary characters more. I give this 4.5 bars of chocolate and I eagerly await the final book in the trilogy!

Reading Stack #14

I finished Serpent's Shadow, Enchantress, and Until I Die, and reviews will be coming soon. I enjoyed all three. The first two are goodbye books, I realized that about Enchantress, but was surprised that Serpent's Shadow was the last of the Kane Chronicles. Something tells me we will be seeing the characters again. Until I Die ended on a cliffhanger, so now I have to wait a whole year for the conclusion and to find out what happens to Kate and Vincent. With those three books finished, I have to pick a few new titles for my stack. I have nothing started at the moment, so I can be free with my choices. I am going to try Underworld by Meg Cabot, the sequel to Abandon. I have a few e-galleys I need to start, so I think I will go with Timepiece, Rapture, and Goddess Legacy. I will probably be starting City of Lost Souls in audio along with the audio I need to review. I still have to read Insurgent, so it may make it on the list as well. With all these sequels I need to find a stand alone book and I did check out another Alice Hoffman book from the library, so I may read it as a palate cleanser. Too many books and very little time!

Reading Stack #13

I finished Destined and Immortal Hearts, so 2 down and about a hundred to go in my want to read list. I am over halfway through Serpent's Shadow and a 1/3 of the way through Until I Die. I hope to finish those this week. I have started Enchantress, which I was lucky enough to get as an e-galley, so I should probably stick to these three this week. However I am bad about picking up other books that are not on my stack. I want to start both Insurgent and City of Lost Souls, so we will see if I actually start reading those instead of finishing what I have already started. :)

Immortal Hearts by Ellen Schreiber

Another goodbye book! I was surprised to find out this was the last in the series. For some reason I completely missed finding this out until the day the book came out. Since it is the last in the series, it sneakily made its way to the top of my list. I hated to say goodbye to Raven and Alexander and Becky and the whole gang, but it was probably time. There are nine books in the series and each one helped to add a layer to the story and the last book adds in Stormy, Alexander's sister. Stormy is the vampire Raven has always wished she could be. However, Stormy is best friends with Luna, Raven's frenemy for lack of a better word. Raven wants to like Luna, but Luna tries to interfere with everyone's love life. Raven fixes this quick by pairing Luna with Romeo the bartender. The biggest problem of Raven's life is trying to convince her dreamy vampire Alexander to make her immortal.

So the big question is will Alexander change Raven or will she go on being a vampire trapped in a human's body? I won't give away the ending and I am conflicted on how I feel about the choice that was made, but I enjoyed this book just as much as the other eight. They are fun and light-hearted with just a touch of danger and suspense. I think I knew that is how the series would end, but I thought the decision would be put off until they were older.

Favorite Character: I love Becky and Raven's friendship and to me that makes them the best characters. No matter what they stick together, even when Becky learns Alexander's secret, she keeps it because of Raven. Raven's only fear if she is turned is not being able to see Becky as much as before.

Favorite Quote: "'What's up?' 'Just Raven getting into another one of her messes, I'm sure,' Alexander said with a chuckle." That seems to sum up the whole series perfectly. :)

I think it was probably time for the series to end, even though I enjoyed every book and will miss the characters. Nine books is a good run for the series and Schreiber ended it, before it started to drag. Each book was exciting and added to the story and the ending suited the series perfectly. I give it 4.5 bars of chocolate!

Reflections

I finished Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman, which is not a YA book. It did remind me of her great YA books like Green Witch and Foretelling. Her writing is beautiful and enchanting and you can't help being drawn into her stories.

This seems to be the month for goodbyes in my reading list as far as some series go. I finished reading Destined and Immortal Hearts both ending their respected series. I will be starting Enchantress soon and Rapture, which will both end series as well.  I will be writing a full review of Immortal Hearts later, but not of Destined.

I remember receiving Wings as an audio to review within my first year of reviewing. I loved the world that Aprilynne Pike created and I liked headstrong Laurel, sweet David, fearless Chelsea, and loyal Tamani. I liked the idea of how a fairy would fit in the human world and how humans would react to this. I won't write a formal review of Destined, in case I am asked to review the last audio, but it was a perfect ending. It was realistic, heartbreaking, and hopeful. Throughout the whole last book, you wondered who would make it, mourned the ones that didn't, and cheered at the end. I give it 5 bars of chocolate of course and it is probably one of my favorite endings, because it fit the story so well.

As far as characters go, I didn't really have a favorite, because I liked them all, but if I had to choose it would be Chelsea. She is strong and although she pines for David, she does not whine around, she bides her time. She is strong enough to know when to walk away from situations and she is loyal and loving to her friends.

Favorite Quote: I don't think this is spoilery, but just in case. I will space it.

"'And I don't know,' Laurel continued, 'if this is making things better or worse, but you have to know how much I loved you--how much I needed you. You were the best thing that could have ever happened to me in high school. I don't know what I would have done without you.'"

Best of 2012

I am going to try to pick my favorites from this year based on what I gave 4 bars or higher. Probably I will look at mainly 5 bars books, but I will leave it open in case I reread any of the books. I will comply a list soon from what I gave 5 bars to so far this year and revisit the books. I think there will be several and it will be hard to choose a top pick! My first five bar book of the year was Hourglass and it is definitely one of my favorites. I have an e-galley of Timepiece I can't wait to get to, and Timepiece will probably join the list as well. I enjoyed Em and Lily and their friendship. I hope we get to see more of Lily and learn more about her special power.

Reading Stack #12

I finished Tempest Rising and I do have an e-galley of Tempest Unleashed, but it will have to wait for a bit. I have started Destined and am about a 1/3 of the way through and it is already heartbreaking! I have also started Serpent's Shadow, since my friend is already bugging me to finish it. She finished in a day and a half, but it only took her that long, because she was grading finals! I am also reading a non-YA book Alice Hoffman's Blackbird House, just to take a little break from the YA books. I have also been reading some on Until I Die. I have copies of Insurgent and City of Lost Souls. I hope to checkout Underworld by Meg Cabot and the newest Ellen Schreiber book. For now though, I will concentrate on Destined and Serpent's Shadow.