Review: Revived - Cat Patrick

Revived by Cat Patrick, published by Electric Monkey on 2nd July 2012

Goodreads synopsis:
My name is Daisy West and my whole life is a lie. I'm part of a programme to test a drug called Revive - a drug that brings people back from the dead. I have died five times. I've been Revived five times. With each revival comes a new name, a new town...a new life. But this time, I won't let myself die. This time, I've found a love that I can't let go of. This time, I'm going to make my life my own.

Review:
'Revived' is everything you could want in a book and more.  I adored this fantastic story which shows that Cat Patrick's writing just keeps getting better and better.  It's hard to describe what it is about her writing that I love so much but there's something so real about it.  I feel like I can completely step inside the story and live it along with the characters.  Her ideas are original, her dialogue is fresh and realistic and she portrays real life issues with sensitivity and a deft touch.

I've been waiting for this book to be published for months so I started it with high expectations which were met in every single way.  It focuses on teenager Daisy who has already died five times but each time has been saved by an experimental drug called Revive.  She's packed up and moved town on countless occasions but when she arrives in Omaha and meets Audrey and her brother Matt, she finds herself putting down roots for the very first time.

I enjoyed all three strands of the story: Daisy's friendship with Audrey who seems to be hiding a secret of her own, her romance with Matt and her involvement with the Revive programme.  Everything about it was interesting and intriguing and I was glued to the page from start to finish. 

Cat Patrick deals with deeper philosophical issues about life and death, as well as bereavement and the process of grieving.  She shows how death can affect people in different ways and how you can learn to go on after the passing of a loved one.  Some of the scenes in the book were really sad but also full of hope for the future and that next big step.

The ending was utterly out of this world.  I loved it!  It was so unexpected and terrifying but also soooo good! It's also refreshing to read a stand-alone novel for once, rather than having to wait for the next few books in the series to be published.

'Forgotten' was one of the best books of 2011 and one of the best debut novels I've ever read.  With 'Revived', Cat Patrick has taken another step towards cementing her place among the greatest YA authors out there at the moment.  She's certainly already a huge favourite of mine.