Review : The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Summary (from Goodreads)

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 that 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 the 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.

Personal Thoughts

I have heard some really fabulous things about The Body Finder series. Murder, mystery and romance are some of my favorite themes and I knew that The Body Finder series was abundant with them. Finally, last week, I caved in and got the entire series and I'm kind of glad I did.

Violet Ambrose has a gift. She's attracted to the bodies of murdered people since she can hear the echoes left behind by the victims and the imprints on the killers, as well. When teenage girls start being murdered by a serial killer in her proximity, Violet decides to take matters into her own hand and find out who the heartless killer is and bring him to justice. At the same time, she's battling with her growing feelings for her best friend, Jay.  As Violet gets closer to finding out the identity of the serial killer, she's also getting closer to danger.

Initially, I was little doubtful about Violet's character. From the moment she's introduced, she kept only thinking about her feelings for Jay and I found that to be a teensy bit annoying. However, over the course of the story, Violet really grew on me and I began to like her character. I thought Violet was someone who was mentally and emotionally very strong. With a gift like hers, bravery and courage are definitely required. If I were in her place, I probably would have freaked out whenever I came across a dead body. Fortunately, Violet wasn't like me at all. Instead, she was calm and head-strong. She actually embraced her ability and decided to use it for the good. The fact that the murders were affecting Violet was clearly visible in the story. In my opinion, it was bold and at the same time, irrational that she decided to try to find the serial killer. However, I appreciate the fact that Violet was willing to jeopardize her own life to help save the other girls living in her town. Although, I did find her idea to discover the identity of the serial killer, in a way, insane, I also thought she was smart to ask Jay for his help. From the exterior, Violet definitely appeared kick-ass, especially because of her ability, but on the inside she was actually very vulnerable. Her growing feelings for her best friend, Jay, left her totally confused and certain points. Also, she was experiencing emotions she had never felt before such as jealousy. After all, she was still a teenager.

I really enjoyed the romance in The Body Finder. There was something really innocent about it. I find that romances that derive from friendships to be the most realistic and this was the case with The Body Finder. It was a somewhat frustrating ride with Violet and Jay since none of them wanted to admit their feelings for each other, but that's because both of them were baffled by these new feelings they were getting accustomed to. They drove me mad on certain occasions. There was so much tension between them that I wondered how they managed to remain only friends. Thankfully, after some time, they surrender to their undeniable attraction. Jay was a total sweet-heart. At times, he acted very protective of Violet and he was furious with her whenever she took hasty decisions, but most of all he was supportive of her. I loved how he was constantly there for Violet.

The plot of The Body Finder was fairly basic ; a serial killer on a killing spree. Kimberly Derting succeeded at making such a simple plot line into something very intriguing and interesting. I especially enjoyed the fact that she wrote part of the story in the serial killer's point of view. That only increased the creepy factor of the book and made the hairs on my arm stand on numerous occasions. When I was younger, I wanted to be a criminal profiler and I read books on criminology. So, I was definitely fascinated by the way the mind of the serial killer worked in The Body Finder. The author threw in a few plot twists that I honestly did not see coming. I loved the way she surprised me with all the suspense and mystery. Both the plot and Kimberly Derting's writing were so fabulously well done, that I couldn't put the book down!

Suspense, mystery, romance and creepiness were fused together to create this dazzling book. The breath-taking characters, the deliciously sweet romance and the intense thrilling plot-line will have you shivering while reading. I can't wait to read the next installment to resume adventures with Violet and Jay!

Rating

Cover : 4/5

Plot : 4/5

Characters : 4/5

Writing : 4/5