Review: Revived by Cat Patrick

Title: Revived
Author: Cat Patrick
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Age Group: Young Adult
Category:  Science Fiction
Release date: May 1st, 2012
Pages: 352 (Hardcover)
Rating: 5 out of 5
Source: Publisher
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As a little girl, Daisy Appleby was killed in a school bus crash. Moments after the accident, she was brought back to life. 


 A secret government agency has developed a drug called Revive that can bring people back from the dead, and Daisy Appleby, a test subject, has been Revived five times in fifteen years. Daisy takes extraordinary risks, knowing that she can beat death, but each new death also means a new name, a new city, and a new life. When she meets Matt McKean, Daisy begins to question the moral implications of Revive, and as she discovers the agency's true goals, she realizes she's at the center of something much larger — and more sinister — than she ever imagined.

Revived turned out to be exactly the kind of book I needed at the moment.  While emotional, the story still filled you with hope and a sense of life.  If I get so involved with a book that it brings tears to my eyes, it becomes a new favorite, and that's exactly what Revived was able to do.

As a child, Daisy was killed in an accident and with the help of a newly developed drug called Revive, she's able to have her life back, just as long as she changes her last name and moves to a different town in order to keep the program a secret.  After several more deaths of her own, Daisy is used to moving from town to town, restarting her life somewhere new.  That being said, she's never had much time to make friends, but she decides it's the last time.  There will be no more accidents or carelessness.  Daisy plans to stay in Omaha for good, especially when she makes a new friend named Audrey and meets Audrey's gorgeous brother, Matt.

Each of the characters are incredibly relatable and down to earth.  Most of all, I enjoyed Audrey and her appreciation for life.  She never lost her bubbly personality and stayed strong until the very end.  Mason, Daisy's adoptive father, is also a great character from the very start.  Upon being incredibly smart, he's also very loving and protective, which I think many more readers will learn to appreciate more towards the end of the story.

I loved the author's exploration with death.  Not only does Daisy have to deal with being brought back to life after dying so many times, she's also faced with losing someone very close to her who cannot be revived with the help of the experimental drug.  The sudden death pulls her and the other characters together and shows them that they need to make the best of lives they have.  Overall, Revived turned out to be an incredible story filled with more suspense than I would have imagined upon reading the first few chapters.