Amy Plum
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: May 10, 2011
CATCHALL
I really wanted to love this book. Nearly everyone seems to love it, and I was sure that I would too. Unfortunately, upon actually reading it, I really wasn't feeling it. It's a good book with cute romance, but it failed to blow me away the way I was hoping it would.
THE HEROINE
KATE
Um. Well. Apparently I'm in the minority here, but I didn't really know how to feel about Kate. Obviously she has depression, because who doesn't have depression is that depressed. Yet no one goes to take her to the doctor's or anything. Instead, a pretty boy shows up and then she is magically better. I'm sorry, but it's hard for me to get past that. Additionally, she was kind of annoying. No, scratch that. She was really annoying.
THE LOVE INTEREST
VINCENT
Despite the fact that he is way too perfect, I liked Vincent. He's sweet and tortured and has an interesting past. He's not afraid of much. However, he is also freakishly protective of Kate, and it sort of crosses the border of sweet and creepy more than once. And, I don't know, he's just not my favorite love interest.
THE OTHER REVENANTS
Or at least two of them
JULES
Jules was probably my favorite character. He's sexy, smart, and basically awesome in every way. Also, being an artist myself I love artists. So that makes him all the sexier. Also, he's incredibly loyal to his friends, and an all-around good person. I especially love how flirty he is.
CHARLOTTE
I really liked Charlotte. She's a sweet girl who has to go through a lot more than anyone should have to go through. She would do anything for her brother, bar nothing. She also has an unrequited love, which makes her spec relatable to a lot of teenage girls.
THE PLOT
Well, let's see. First, this plot was really hard to get into. It moves pretty slowly for a long time before finally picking up.
And the story just starts off so unrealistically. It introduces Kate as this too-perfect-for-life character. Not only is she tragically depressed, she is completelybilingual and has awesome grandparents who pretty much don't give a damn what she does. Also, she can get away with blowing off her friends.
God, this book was a struggle from the start.
And once it picked up, the romance took up was too much of the story. However, I will cover that presently.
I literally sometimes had not the slightest idea of what was going on. It was weird.
And, oh, it was terribly predictable. I have no clue how everyone was so freaking stupid. There were so many things that should have been obvious but absolutely no one picked up on. It was totally ridiculous.
If I don't stop now, I will continue this forever, so I will stop. But seriously, the plot wasn't that great.
THE ROMANCE
Oh my God, instalove. It's not the worst instalove I've ever read about, but it was pretty bad. I honestly did not see any development whatsoever. Sure, there was a bit of chemistry, but it wasn't really used too much. Kate and Vincent could have been great together, but I honestly found the romance kind of dull. It just took up too much of the story. And it was just kind of boring. I didn't hate them together. I even liked them together. It just didn't develop as much as I would have wanted it to.
THE WRITING
Kate's voice is incredibly annoying. Not only does she sound like a spoiled brat, but she also manages to sounds totally self-centered. It kind of made me hate her a little bit, which is one of the major problems with first person. But anyway, Amy does have a really great way of describing things, which is nice. Her dialogue is simplistic but it works. Voice was really the only problem I had.
THE ENDING
I thought the book ended up in a pretty good place. The climax thrilled and then brought me down to the ending, even it it was ridiculously predictable. It definitely could have been better, but it also could have been much worse. It was a tactical choice likely made to tie in with the next book. Still, not awful.
WRAPUP
I will be reading Until I Die. This book was nowhere near as good as I had hoped, but also not as bad as it could have been (though I'm not gonna lie, it was close). I wasn't impressed at all, but neither did I feel entirely turned off by it. There's potential, and I'll cross my fingers it turns out well.
FINE.
***FINAL RATING: 2.80 RED ROSES***
