The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Release Date: 2/27/2010
Publisher: HarperTeen
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 327
Overall:

Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her “power” to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world . . . and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find dead birds her cat had tired of playing with. But now that a serial killer has begun terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he’s claimed haunt her daily, she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet on her quest to find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved to find herself hoping that Jay’s intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she’s falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer . . . and becoming his prey herself. (from lovely Goodreads)

Jesus lord this book was freaky! I read like half of it late last night and had to finally force myself to put it down and go to bed because I kept "hearing" rustling outside my window and freaking out. Learn from my mistakes people: No body finder late at night!

The main plot revolves around the main character, Violet, who has an insanely morbid ability to locate the dead. Not only the dead, but their killers as well. Violet was a good main character, for someone who has been so close to death all her life I could see why she was a little more reserved, it was a natural human reaction to me and I could see why she fell into that step. Next up, Jay Heaton, I don't know why but Jay always seems like a best friend name... doesn't it? Maybe it's just me. But it seems very "Hi, this is my best friend Jay!" Okay, off that topic. I liked him as a best friend and a love interest. Lately I've been reading those books where it's like loads of sexual tension right away and there never was a just a friend mode... you know what I'm talking about right? Hopefully! So this was refreshing new scenery from those books, and it kind of makes me want to break out my other best friend turned boyfriend books because they are so cute!An amazingly awesome thing about The Body Finder was it's twists, there are two big ones I can think of but they're freaking huge, it also made The Body Finder very fast paced and I flew through it! (Minus the minor setback of having to put it down in order to sleep last night) And the ending! I tweeted about this and I don't want to give it away because that would ruin it for you and who wants that? But I swear I finished it when me and my mom were driving on our way to dance tonight and I gasped at the ending! I was freaking out! I probably gave my mom a heart attack, but it's okay because it was worth it. :)

I rarely ever do a separate statement about the writing on it's own but in The Body Finder it's needed. Mad props to Kimberly Derting, she has an amazing writing style. There are parts where she adds kidnapping scenes from the killer's point of view that I swear give me the chills just thinking about. She also does this thing where you think something bad (really bad) happens for like a page and then you realize that she just made you think that the one thing you thought happened, happened, but something else really happened. Right, if you followed that at all... anyway, whatever she does, it works!!!

Kimberly Derting, will definitely be clawing my way to the front of the line for the next book Desires of the Dead. Fantastic read!

Cover:
Characters:
Plot:
Writing:
Ending:

This was also my last Fantasyfest book so I need recommendations now! Please comment with them along with your thoughts of The Body Finder!

xoxo,
Shelbie
waiting in line