Die For Me
by Amy Plum
Atom pp352
ISBN-13: 978-1907411021
In Die for Me, author Amy Plum’s heroine is 16-year-old Kate who has had to move to Paris with her sister Georgia to live with her grandparents after their parents were killed in an accident.
Unlike Georgia, who drowns her sorrows partying, Kate’s grief involves burying herself in books
Unlike Georgia, who drowns her sorrows partying, Kate’s grief involves burying herself in books in the quaint Parisian cafés or going on solitary tours of museums and cinemas.
So far, so good. Until Vincent comes into her life. Seated a couple of tables away from her at the Café Saint-Lucie, he is tall with longish black hair, olive skin, bright blue eyes and a demeanour that suggests danger. Kate poorly insists that he seems to be staring at her, yet the reader is given the feeling that it’s more the other way round.
Gang-fighting with swords takes precedence when on a night out with Georgia, Kate sees Vincent and his friends trying to save a girl from jumping off the bridge, only to hear the clashing of swords a moment after. According to Kate, “Georgia and I seemed to remember that we had legs” and therefore the two of them run off, only to run into one of Vincent’s friends who tries to convince the girls that the gang are a SWAT team in practice. As if this is not daft enough, Georgia suggests a moment later that their role might be to protect a celebrity such as Catherine Deneuve from intrusive paparazzi.
The parallels between the plot of Die for Me and Twilight are endless. Kate is clumsy and forgetful and keeps leaving her bag behind while Vincent seems abrasive and arrogant at first, only to turn out into the typical Prince Charming with an ominous background. Just like in Twilight, whenever Vincent or any of his friends are around, Kate is always saved from some serious mishap as when a large piece of masonry collapses right after Kate is beckoned by one of Vincent’s friends.
The reason as to why Vincent seems to be so very interested in Kate is never given and it is quite absurd that he aches for Kate so much after just one date when she lets him know that she would rather stay away from him on witnessing the danger he could put her through.
Even though Vincent and his tribe are not vampires, it turns out that they are revenants. This means that even after they die they can wake up after three days and in the meantime they can communicate using telepathy. This is exactly how Vincent communicates with Kate while he is dormant. Sounds familiar?
In order to remain immortal or to stay a revenant, Vincent needs to die every so often – this way, he can become a stronger revenant and be able to save lives. Despite the fact that the group of revenants are not a family, they still have an older leader, Jean-Baptiste, once a revenant himself, who makes sure that everything in their world goes according to plan. Just like the Vampire family in Twilight, the revenants also have a nemesis tribe who are in Paris to destroy not just them but humans as well.
Any teenager out there with the least amount of literary sense, cannot help but notice the blatantly concurrent plot lines and ideas associated with Stephanie Meyer’s highly-acclaimed saga. Corny, unoriginal, and a storyline which goes beyond far-fetched, Die for Me is for those who haven’t read Twilight. But then, I suspect these would rather give Twilight a go.
• Ms Gatt is a teacher of English at St Augustine College for Boys and has an MA in English in Modern and Contemporary Literature and Literary Theory.