Die for Me

By: Amy Plum

Narrated by: Julia Whelan

Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

My life had always been blissfully, wonderfully normal. But it only took one moment to change everything.

Suddenly, my sister, Georgia, and I were orphans. We put our lives into storage and moved to Paris to live with my grandparents. And I knew my shattered heart, my shattered life, would never feel normal again. Then I met Vincent.

Mysterious, sexy, and unnervingly charming, Vincent Delacroix appeared out of nowhere and swept me off my feet. Just like that, I was in danger of losing my heart all over again. But I was ready to let it happen.

Of course, nothing is ever that easy. Because Vincent is no normal human. He has a terrifying destiny, one that puts his life at risk every day. He also has enemies... immortal, murderous enemies who are determined to destroy him and all of his kind.

While I'm fighting to piece together the remnants of my life, can I risk putting my heart - as well as my life and my family's - in jeopardy for a chance at love?

©2011 Amy Plum (P)2011 HarperCollins Publishers

Parisian Paranormal

The narrator totally made this book. I'm so glad I listened to it rather than read it. She's great with accents and character voices, and her reading added richness to the fun French setting. Overall, great narrator and setting, engaging love story. I knocked the story rating down to four stars because it got a little mired down by the mushiness, which in turn disrupted my suspension of belief a touch. (OK, entirely believable? No. Cute anyway? Yes.)

There are a lot of reasons why this book keeps being referred to as a French version of 'Twilight.' You hear so many books being compared to the Twilight series that I tend to ignore those statements, but in this case it works. If you like that sort of story, then there's a good chance you'll like this one too! I don't want to give too much away, but this book and 'Twilight' both fit strongly into the same genre, and I found both to be very engaging examples of their category. Similar level of love story, and both books lean away from harsh language and strong sexual situations, should that be important to anyone.

So yes, if you hated everything about 'Twilight' you should run far away from this book! But if you're in the market for a YA paranormal along the same lines, take a second look at this one.

Good Start For The Series/Great Narrator

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. It was nice to see something other than vampires/werewolves in a paranormal romance. The development of the love story was appreciated. Most YA Paranormal Romance stories are unrealistic in their instant love and devotion. This story took the time to build the relationship. The supporting characters had distinct personalities and were a big part of the story. They were well described and left you wanting to learn more about each of them. It also helped that there was a great Narrator. Julia Whelan does a fantastic job bringing each of the characters to life and making them believable.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Die for Me?

There were several but can't really explain while trying to avoid spoilers.

Which scene was your favorite?

It was when Vincent finally told Kate his story. It really made you understand who he is and why he is the way he is.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I liked the part when Vincent left a love letter to Kate to read while he was dormant in an effort to let her know how he felt without screwing it up or saying the wrong thing.

Any additional comments?

The book is good but not flawless. It would have been nice to have seen a little bit more of what the relationship was like between Kate and Georgia before the death of her parents. The fact that Kate's grandparents pretty much let them do whatever they wanted and her Grandmother even suggested that 16 yr old Kate spend the night at Vincent's house and miss school the next day to work out their problems was unrealistic no matter how liberal they may be.

I also appreciated the fact there wasn't the typical love triangle.

Great narrator, nice story

Which character – as performed by Julia Whelan – was your favorite?

All of them. Julia Whelan did an amazing job.

Any additional comments?

3.5 Stars

I liked the beginning and then the heroine's sister, Georgia, just got on my nerves. I wanted to fast forward every time there was a scene with Georgia. Instead of the typical annoying BFF that wants to party, etc., the author added Georgia, the annoying sister. Kate explained that her sister was the way she was because of how her parents died, but I think Kate also mentioned that Georgia always knew how to "party". Georgia was an idiot. She supposedly loved her sister, but the minute Kate told Georgia that the guy she was seeing was a bad person, Georgia blew her off. Georgia and her shenanigans bothered me. At 50%, I was tempted to DNF, but I spent a full credit on it (not cheap) and thought I had to just "suffer" through. I did like Vincent and his group a lot. As my thoughts were how I wasted a credit , I ended up liking the ending so much that I got the sequel.

A very enjoyable YA read

Stumbled on this book in a sale, and was very surprised at how much I enjoyed it. When the narrative started from the point of view of a sixteen year old girl, I thought I was in trouble,but it did turn out to be an interesting book. Has a whole new group of supernaturals, that have an angelic/vampire sense about them, but actually are neither. They are the good guys though, that save lives, while an opposite group tries to take lives. Our heroine, reluctantly falls in love with one of the good supes, which opens up the story for all kinds of havoc. This story leads in to the next book, which is on the market,but the third of the trilogy has yet to be released. As it is though, it ends good enough, so you're not just hanging there, but you can see that there is more to the story.

yep

yep topical some old deead man story. not i never heard of this kind of supernatural before.

French ghost zombies? Yes please!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Vincent - he's so romantic ;)

What does Julia Whelan bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She did a great job with the accents! Brought the characters to life for me, and even made me laugh out loud.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

It's not really that kind of book...despite being about death and war, it's pretty fluffy and lighthearted.

So very....Twilight

I love Twilight, and I can imagine that it would be hard to come up with original paranormal ideas, but it was a little ridiculous! I am actually not a really picky person (give me some innocent romance, supernatural stuff, and I am good)....but I almost didn't finish listening.
Not only did it remind me sooo much of Twilight (which I loved), I had a hard time with the believability factor. The main character is like, "Oh, you're a zombie? I can deal with that! Let's carry on..."
The love interest is rich, has a large, lovable family, loves her in spite of how gorgeous he is (and she supposedly isn't), etc. etc.
Having said that, the narrator saved the day! She was great.
I did manage to make it to the end of this predictable tale, and even enjoyed the whole Paris theme....but just barely.

Just okay

Not totally bad, but fell flat...Overall, it was not very memorable. The supporting characters we're the best part of the book.

The 2nd is out, but not on Audible :(

Really enjoyed this book thoroughly. And I was terribly bummed out when the second in the trilogy wasn't on audible. I did of course, have to read it instead of listening to it, because i couldn't possibly wait for it to hit audiobook format. The books fly by, and while i read the second in the trilogy, i will definitely get it when it comes to audible because i love the narrator. I don't want to get into too much detail because I'm afraid i'll let something slip about the second book, so i can only say... ENJOY!!!!

Pretty Good

If you like Twilight, you'll probably enjoy this book.

There are a few aspects of it that bothered me, but all in all, it was a nice supernatural love story- that wasn't too boring.