In her second novel, Cat Patrick (Forgotten) skillfully explores the moral implications of a government agency that resurrects children.
Daisy Appleby is killed by a bee sting, then resurrected by Revive, a top-secret drug that brings people back from the dead. To protect the Revive project from exposure, the mastermind of the drug, known only as "God," moves Daisy to Omaha, Neb., along with two agents, Mason and Cassie, who pose as her parents but treat her more like a partner than a daughter. Daisy has been Revived five times since her death at age four in a bus accident in Iowa. Ever since then, she has been bound "to a life of continued silence and make-believe."
In Omaha, Daisy finds genuine friendship with Audrey McKean and a growing crush on Audrey's brother, Matt, which causes her to take fewer risks despite her privileged access to Revive, her "protective suit through life." The first of a number of tragic turns occurs when Daisy learns that a close friend is dying from cancer--but Revive cannot be used on anyone who's suffered a gunshot wound or is a cancer victim.
Patrick's well-drawn, touching relationships bring a great deal of humanity to a science fictional setting in which the heroine has often cheated death. Revived will please teen readers looking for a thoughtful story with an unusual spin on life after death and that grapples with moral dilemmas. --Adam Silvera, assistant, Books of Wonder, New York City