Release Date: April 1st 2012
Published By: Hardie Grant Egmont
Pages: 327
Goodreads: Add it to your reading list

Rating: 3 out of 5

Synopsis: 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.

Review: Revived offers more than you originally expect it too. I thought it was going to be some cutesey sort of story (I’m not sure how I got that idea), however as it turns out it’s quite a serious deep book with a bit of a thriller edge.

Daisy is a part of a top secret agency that discovered a drug called Revive. It’s simple - you die, Revive brings you back. Daisy has died 4 times, including a bus crash and bee stings. Each time she dies, it means her and her carers (also agents) are relocated to another town for a fresh start where no one knows them. For this reason, Daisy obviously feels unsettled and has very few friends.

After the bee sting incident, Daisy and her carers move and Daisy meets Audrey and they soon become best friends. Audrey’s brother Matt is the apple of Daisy’s eye and she falls fast for him. Neither of them can know the truth about her past and Revive. But then, Audrey is sick… really sick and Daisy wants to help.

I loved Daisy and Matt - absolutely adorable couple! Matt is loyal to his family and loved ones and would do anything for them. He also has the broody element about him that I’ve come to love in my YA guys! Daisy is lonely, smart and curious. She just wants to have friends and a boyfriend and be settled - like a normal teenager. The underlying issue of not taking your life for granted seems to be a standout here and it’s a lesson Daisy has to learn. She is a bit reckless at times, but as she’s learning Revive will not always work… it’s stopped working on her after all.

The bigger issues regarding the workings of the agency and the conspiracy behind it all comes later - but no spoilers from me!

Worth the read, and it’s a standalone book too which is nice to have a break from all the series at times!

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