Nina's Reviews > Die for Me

We don't need to see the Edward/Bella romance over and over and over again. Seriously. We've already seen it. It was called Twilight. They even made a movie about it. We don't need to see Bella with fallen angels and we don't need to see Bella with zombies. Especially when the zombie is a carbon copy of Edward.

Does Vincent have godlike good looks? Check. An aura of danger? Check. Is he a virgin immortal? Check. Has he lived without love for decades? Check. Does he fall in love with our heroine for no apparent reason? Check. Is he a stalker? Check. Doesn't sleep? Check. Has a "family" of other immortals, including a Manic Pixie Dream Girl who becomes the heroine's best friend (Alice/Charlotte), one who resents the heroine and isn't thrilled with their immortal existence (Rosalie/Charles), an older figure who mentors the group(Carlisle/Jean-Baptiste), an irreverent extrovert (Emmett/Jules), and one who trains the others in battle techniques (Jasper/Gaspard)? Check.

Is Kate an introvert? Check. Has she moved away from home? Check. Does she fall in love with the hero because of his looks? Check. Does she rhapsodize constantly about how gorgeous he is? Check. Does she sound more like a forty year old woman than a sixteen year old girl? Check. Does she have any interests outside reading? In a wild fit of originality, the author does give Kate another hobby: sitting around in museums staring at paintings until she goes into an art trance. Luckily, since that hobby in no way resembles something an actual teenager would do, Kate's still on track to grow up and be Bella.

Kate doesn't understand what Vincent sees in her. Sound familiar? This insecurity is based on the fact that he’s as handsome as a Greek god. Sound familiar? She has a "special" ability most humans don't have. Sound familiar? She fits in great with the immortal "family", most of whom adore her. Sound familiar? She and Vincent have chaste sleepovers. Sound familiar? She's obsessed with how good-looking he is. Sound familiar? He's all she thinks about. Sound familiar? He slows her down sexually. Sound familiar? Vincent thinks he should leave her alone for her own good, but is an empty shell without her. Sound familiar? The villain gets to Kate through a family member. Sound familiar? There's no action until the end of the book. Sound familiar?

He's sooooooo good-looking. Sound familiar? You wouldn't believe how good-looking he is. Sound familiar? That Vincent sure is one good-looking dude. Sound familiar?

Vincent is perfect. Sound familiar?

Obsessive love. Obsessive love. Obsessive love.

Sound familiar?

I'm making a plea to all the authors out there. Please do something original. Please. Is your creativity so MIA that you can't create a fresh love story, believably flawed characters, and a plot we haven't seen five thousand times before? Bonus points if you create a villain who's not a cartoon character.

I'll say this about Stephenie Meyer: she explored the whole obsessive, stalkerific teen girl/undead guy love story THOROUGHLY. She used hundreds and hundreds of pages to do this trope, so YOU don't have to replicate it. Do your own thing. Give us a love story that surprises and delights.

Give us something we haven't seen before.