The Lost Challenges discussion

The August Book of the Month is Die for Me written by Amy Plum.






Please tell us what you think. Even if you've already read it before August feel free to join in the conversation.

I loved this book. I might have to reread it

We had lots of votes for this book so if you voted for it please stop by to discuss as you read it or if you already read it tell us what you thought too.

I just got my copy from the library today, but I have a few others to get through first.

This was an amazing book! I couldn't put it down because it was addicting! Read the book in one day!

I finished this one yesterday for a buddy read. I was surpised how much I liked it. I'm usually anti YA. The characters were likable and it was well written. The revenant theory was unique. I'm kind of burned out on the typical PNR at the moment. I thought this book had a "Twilight" feel to it.

Hoping to be able to start this on Monday.

So do I have to go track down the rest of you that voted to read this book? Anybody else going to read it with me?

I have the second book, Until I Die that I'm planning to read, but for the past couple days, I've been sleeping off and on because I'm still tired from my ordeal.

Anyone playing SOS Bingo this works for this weeks Angels shelf! I will be starting this afternoon instead of Monday.

Ok two chapters in before the boy child demanded dinner.

(view spoiler)[ There is a bit of a Rebecca vibe going on. Two chapters in and I have no idea what the main characters name is. There are some nick names Katie Bean and Katya, but not her actual name.

So two chapters really equates to 14 pages. These have to be the shortest chapters ever.

I am intrigued though and see this being a quick read (if the small child in my house allows), Who is this girl? Who is the guy in the cafe? whan are they going to meet? (hide spoiler)]

Ok, about 100 pages in and after lots of "What the French Toast" moments I am starting to understand. I think.

From the blurb and tags I thought this was a ghost/zombie book. I was thrown off by the fact it was in the Angel shelf. Angel-Zombies who would a thunk it. Interesting twist.

Page 183 and I am drowning in teen angst.

(view spoiler)[ I can handle a freakiy boyfriend. No I can't handle a freaky boyfriend. Yes I can. No I can't. While I appreciate this is not one of those unrealistic instant oh I am so in love with you stories. The back and forth is growing tiresome. (hide spoiler)]

Dawn (Kat N Hat) wrote: "Page 183 and I am drowning in teen angst.

[spoilers removed]"

I enjoyed this book and found it addicting. I have book two on hand, but I know there is a major cliffhanger ending in the second book.

I am done. And now to continue my lil group read of one.

(view spoiler)[ It didn't turn out like I thought it would. There was enough forshadowing that I really thought Kate would end up a Revenant. JB alluded to what if her family needed to be brought in, and since he could see auras I thought he had seen hers and knew she would end up one of them. I even had klennex ready for the battle scene waiting for her to die. I was pleasently surprised when she didn't. (hide spoiler)]


Since there are a few who have already read this I have some questions to stir the conversation.


1. Ok, whose grandma is wearing 4 inch heels and tells thier 16 year old grandaughter to stay the night at her boyfriends? Is this really how progressive our society has become?

2. Do you think Papy knows something about the numa?

3. Do you think Kate will eventually become one of the revenants?

Amy ~Lover of Books~ wrote: "
I enjoyed this book and found it addicting. I have book two on hand, but I know there is a major cliffhange..."

I was ready to go request it from the library and saw the clifhanger note and decided to wait a little closer to the release of the 3rd before I read the 2nd.

Yes I feel society is becoming more about sex. My grandam would tell me hell no. I do think Papy knows something about numa. I do think she might come revenants but maybe not until he end for the series.

Dawn (Kat N Hat) wrote: "Ok two chapters in before the boy child demanded dinner.

There is a bit of a Rebecca vibe going on. Two chapters in and I have no idea what the main characters name is. There are some nick names..."

I know they kept calling her 3 or so different names at first it was a bit confusing.

Dawn (Kat N Hat) wrote: "I am done. And now to continue my lil group read of one.

[spoilers removed]


Since there are a few who have already read this I have some questions to stir the conversation.


1. Ok, whose gran..."

The Grandma telling her to stay the night was kind of weird.

I really do think Papy has had some kind of past dealings with the numa. He seemed way to on the up & up.

I do think Kate will become a revenat. I also think her sister will get together with one of them too (can't remember his name now)

Jenne wrote: "I also think her sister will get together with one of them too (can't remember his name now) ..."

Thanks for joining my conversation!

I had that thought too. I don't remember the name now either, but the one that the other girl revenant liked that was unreturned love. I could see that being a love triangle type issue.

Ohhhh I found these questions.

Reading Group Discussion Questions

1. Have you lost a family member or someone close to you? Did you find the depiction of Kate’s and Georgia’s reactions to their parents’ death to be realistic?

2. When Kate and Georgia move to Paris, Papy and Mamie assume guardianship of their granddaughters. What do you think about their parenting skills? How does the sisters’ relative liberty affect the story?

3. Amy Plum claims that Paris is one of her book’s main characters. Do you think that the city was important to the story, or could it have been set somewhere else?

4. One of the novel’s themes is the risk of investing oneself in a relationship that could prove painful. From marrying a spouse who is in active duty in the military (or another potentially dangerous profession) to committing to someone from a completely different background from their own, there are many concessions people make to be with the one they love. Have you ever had to step out of your own comfort zone or face difficult challenges in order to be with the one you love?

5. Kate says, “The old dictum was backward. It should be ‘Better not to have loved at all, than to love and have lost.’” Has there ever been a time in your life where you would agree?

6. Georgia and Kate have a very close relationship. Do you think this is a realistic portrayal of teenage sisterhood?

7. When Georgia and Kate saw Vincent dive off the Carrousel Bridge and were told by Ambrose that the swordfight was police/gang activity, they tried to come up with theories of what could have been taking place. What was your own theory at this point of the story?

8. When Kate sees Vincent for the first time at the café, she makes the comment:

“I had the strangest feeling that I knew the guy. I’d felt that way with strangers before, where it seemed like I’d spent hours, weeks, even years with the person.”

Have you ever had this experience?

9. Both Kate and Vincent have experienced loss of loved ones in their pasts. How do you think this shared experience influences their relationship?

10. What would be your dream date with Vincent? How about Jules or Ambrose? What is it about each of them that would convince you to accept a date?

11. A few of the revenants back-stories are mentioned in Book 1 (and more will surface in Books 2 and 3). If you could create a back-story for your own revenant, which period in history and location in the world would you choose for them?

12. Did you find yourself identifying with any of the characters in the book? Who…and why?

13. DIE FOR ME contains a new supernatural mythology, only some of which is revealed in Book 1. What do you hope to discover in the following books? Are there any gaping holes in the revenants’ story that you hope will be filled in?

14. If you could control each of the characters’ destinies, what would you have happen to them?

15. What figures from history can you imagine becoming numa?

16. The sisters leave their old life in Brooklyn behind when they move to Paris to live with their grandparents. What advantages and disadvantages do you see in starting life in a new place after a tragedy?

17. Do you think that Kate should tell Papy and Mamie about what Vincent really is? How do you think they would respond?

18. In your point of view, what are the challenges that lie ahead for Kate and Vincent?

I am going to have to think about the question

2. When Kate and Georgia move to Paris, Papy and Mamie assume guardianship of their granddaughters. What do you think about their parenting skills? How does the sisters’ relative liberty affect the story? We've already brought this up, my grand parents would have been so much stricter. And neither of my grandmothers would have worn 4 inch heels! I had a pretty stable home life with both parents and lots of rules and groundings. I have a hard time relating to most of todays YA reads based on the amount of unsupervised time they have. But I also see it is a new generation. My kids have more freedom than I did, but I still know where they are and who they are hanging out with.

3. Amy Plum claims that Paris is one of her book’s main characters. Do you think that the city was important to the story, or could it have been set somewhere else? I think the older city is important to the story since the charaters are so old.

4. One of the novel’s themes is the risk of investing oneself in a relationship that could prove painful. From marrying a spouse who is in active duty in the military (or another potentially dangerous profession) to committing to someone from a completely different background from their own, there are many concessions people make to be with the one they love. Have you ever had to step out of your own comfort zone or face difficult challenges in order to be with the one you love? I packed up my kids and moved accross the country away from all my friends and family support. Not really on the same level

5. Kate says, “The old dictum was backward. It should be ‘Better not to have loved at all, than to love and have lost.’” Has there ever been a time in your life where you would agree? Nope, I'm a risk taker

6. Georgia and Kate have a very close relationship. Do you think this is a realistic portrayal of teenage sisterhood? It is beliveable. My sister is several years younger, I took her out with me a few times in high school while she was in junior high. I think if we had been closer in age we would have been similar

7. When Georgia and Kate saw Vincent dive off the Carrousel Bridge and were told by Ambrose that the swordfight was police/gang activity, they tried to come up with theories of what could have been taking place. What was your own theory at this point of the story? I thought they were angels and he saved the girl from the bridge, but had no clue about the sword fighting... it still doesn't make a lot of sense.

8. When Kate sees Vincent for the first time at the café, she makes the comment:

“I had the strangest feeling that I knew the guy. I’d felt that way with strangers before, where it seemed like I’d spent hours, weeks, even years with the person.”

Have you ever had this experience? Nope, I thought maybe she was hinting up to Kate having some sort of psycic powers.

10. What would be your dream date with Vincent? How about Jules or Ambrose? What is it about each of them that would convince you to accept a date? Wow, I feel old that I am not really attracted to any of these seemingly 19 year old boys

13. DIE FOR ME contains a new supernatural mythology, only some of which is revealed in Book 1. What do you hope to discover in the following books? Are there any gaping holes in the revenants’ story that you hope will be filled in? Why is it only some people come back. Lots of people die for others all the time.

16. The sisters leave their old life in Brooklyn behind when they move to Paris to live with their grandparents. What advantages and disadvantages do you see in starting life in a new place after a tragedy? not having friends and familiar places to comfort you, but it would also get rid of old memories in familiar places. But I guess there were those places in Paris too.

17. Do you think that Kate should tell Papy and Mamie about what Vincent really is? How do you think they would respond? I think Papy knows something. Mamie lets her spend the night with boys, she wouldn't care at all.

1. Have you lost a family member or someone close to you? Did you find the depiction of Kate’s and Georgia’s reactions to their parents’ death to be realistic?

I'm pretty lucky in the loss department so far. But I did feel that their reactions were pretty realistic.

2. When Kate and Georgia move to Paris, Papy and Mamie assume guardianship of their granddaughters. What do you think about their parenting skills? How does the sisters’ relative liberty affect the story?

They were waaay more liberal than me. I've always assumed that European society is more liberal than US society though (and I could be so wrong on that front I've always kind of thought that though with no proof/experience to back it up). So I kind of figured it went with the story.

3. Amy Plum claims that Paris is one of her book’s main characters. Do you think that the city was important to the story, or could it have been set somewhere else? I think the locaiton was important to some of the events but really it could of been anywhere

4. One of the novel’s themes is the risk of investing oneself in a relationship that could prove painful. From marrying a spouse who is in active duty in the military (or another potentially dangerous profession) to committing to someone from a completely different background from their own, there are many concessions people make to be with the one they love. Have you ever had to step out of your own comfort zone or face difficult challenges in order to be with the one you love? Yeah somewhat but I'm a firm believer in going with your gut instinct.

5. Kate says, “The old dictum was backward. It should be ‘Better not to have loved at all, than to love and have lost.’” Has there ever been a time in your life where you would agree? Not really but I'm not to philosophical lol.

6. Georgia and Kate have a very close relationship. Do you think this is a realistic portrayal of teenage sisterhood? Yes they were very close in age so it was realistic.

7. When Georgia and Kate saw Vincent dive off the Carrousel Bridge and were told by Ambrose that the swordfight was police/gang activity, they tried to come up with theories of what could have been taking place. What was your own theory at this point of the story? It sounded like a very bad attempt at a cover up to me.

8. When Kate sees Vincent for the first time at the café, she makes the comment:

“I had the strangest feeling that I knew the guy. I’d felt that way with strangers before, where it seemed like I’d spent hours, weeks, even years with the person.”

Have you ever had this experience?
To some extent.

9. Both Kate and Vincent have experienced loss of loved ones in their pasts. How do you think this shared experience influences their relationship?
I think it will make them appreciate each other more.

10. What would be your dream date with Vincent? How about Jules or Ambrose? What is it about each of them that would convince you to accept a date? Can't even go there waaay to young

11. A few of the revenants back-stories are mentioned in Book 1 (and more will surface in Books 2 and 3). If you could create a back-story for your own revenant, which period in history and location in the world would you choose for them? Hmm hard to say maybe shortly after they became a revenant.

12. Did you find yourself identifying with any of the characters in the book? Who…and why? Not really just due to lack of similar experiences. But I did think that the characters were very likable which is super important in a story IMO.

13. DIE FOR ME contains a new supernatural mythology, only some of which is revealed in Book 1. What do you hope to discover in the following books? Are there any gaping holes in the revenants’ story that you hope will be filled in? I'm pretty curious about the "bad" revenants.

14. If you could control each of the characters’ destinies, what would you have happen to them? I would hope that the twins find their HEA.


16. The sisters leave their old life in Brooklyn behind when they move to Paris to live with their grandparents. What advantages and disadvantages do you see in starting life in a new place after a tragedy?

It's usually pretty hard for teens to leave their friends but I think they needed their grandparents at that moment.
17. Do you think that Kate should tell Papy and Mamie about what Vincent really is? How do you think they would respond? I think her grandparents know more than Kate thinks they do.

18. In your point of view, what are the challenges that lie ahead for Kate and Vincent?
If she ages while he doesn't really for the most part. That might be kind of weird.