Review: If I Should Die by Amy Plum

Release Date: May 7th, 2013

405 pages

Publisher: HarperTeen

I will not lose another person I love. I will not let history repeat itself.

Vincent waited lifetimes to find me, but in an instant our future together was shattered. He was betrayed by someone we both called a friend, and I lost him. Now our enemy is determined to rule over France’s immortals, and willing to wage a war to get what they want.

It shouldn’t be possible, none of it should be, but this is my reality. I know Vincent is somewhere out there, I know he’s not completely gone, and I will do anything to save him.

After what we’ve already fought to achieve, a life without Vincent is unimaginable. He once swore to avoid dying—to go against his nature and forsake sacrificing himself for others—so that we could be together. How can I not risk everything to bring my love back to me?

2013 is a sad and happy year for me. Many debuts are becoming new favorites, but also many old favorites are coming to an end. The Die For Me series has been a favorite of mine since the first book came out. Probably because of the freshness of the premise, the beautiful writing and the insanely romantic story set in Paris, one of my favorite (and most romantic) cities in the world! If I Should Die didn't disappoint me and I'm glad that, if this series absolutely had to end, at least the ending was a good one.

I'll try not to spoil so much of the story, since I'm sure there may be some of you who haven't had the chance to read this one yet (what are you waiting for?!). I'm sure many of you had some expectations about the ending, so did I, but If I Should Die won't (shouldn't) let you down. I wasn't very surprised about how Plum's executed the plot and its twists and turns; admittedly I had already thought about or guessed many of the surprises meant to rend us speechless. Nonetheless it didn't make this novel boring, on the contrary, I devoured it. I liked the fights, the humor, the trip to New York, the romance, the homecoming of some characters and the appearance of new ones: they made this book special, even unique in the trilogy.

I'm not going to lie, either, and say that this one was my favorite of the three. I don't even know which one would I choose. However I can say that the characters are equally great in all three of them. I love Kate as a main character and in this one, she is even more independent and strong. Long gone is the sad girl from Die For Me. Vincent is his usual swoony-self, however after reading Die For Her (the novella from Jules' POV - read it now!) my heart was torn between Jules and Vincent. That was surprising for me, since I couldn't imagine liking a character as much as I enjoyed Vincent in this trilogy. But Plum achieves the impossible, or many not so impossible, I guess. I love all the characters in this trilogy and I could certainly see myself reading anything, any novella, released about any of them.

Surely some of you will be disappointed (hopefully not), since you had some many expectations. For me, If I Should Die delivered what I had been hoping for: that happy feeling when you get after ending a beloved book. Maybe some things were missing, maybe not, but I'm happy with how things ended. Kate and Vincent certainly got happy ending they deserved and maybe Jules will get his one too. I don't know if I want Amy to write more on this series in the future, but for the moment, I'm satisfied. Thanks for giving us this wonderful series that will always have a special space in my bookshelf!