Review of The Body Finder

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Pages: 336

Pub. Date: March 16, 2010

Genre: YA Mystery (with a touch of paranormal)

ARC provided by Book It Forward Tours

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Goodreads says, "Violet Ambrose can find the dead. Or at least, those who have been murdered. She can sense the echoes they leave behind... and the imprints they leave on their killers. As if that weren't enough to deal with during junior year, she also has a sudden, inexplicable, and consuming crush on her best friend since childhood, Jay Heaton. Now a serial killer has begun terrorizing Violet's small town... and she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him."

Violet Ambrose is your average junior with great friends, a supportive family, and a cute best friend, Jay Heaton.  Everything is normal about Violet except she has an ability to find dead bodies that have been murdered and she can also see imprints of these dead bodies on killers.  This ability didn't seem to plague Violet too much until a serial killer shows up in her small town and starts killing off young girls. Violet realizes that she must help catch this killer by using her gift.  The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting is truly a one of a kind read that shouldn't be missed.

Kimberly Derting brilliantly combines romance, mystery, suspense and even a bit of paranormal in this book.  I personally love shows that deal with criminals (CSI and Dexter) so this book hooked me immediately.  Derting also switches the point of view to the serial killer which only increased my suspense and intrigue.  Sometimes authors struggle to maintain the varying characters' voices as they switch point of views; however, Derting captures it perfectly without overlap.   To me this truly illustrates Derting's gripping writing style. 

Violet Ambrose is a perfect character. I could truly identify with her.  Even though she had this extraordinary ability, she still seemed very realistic to me.....everything down to her curly hair and dislike of mornings.  (I'd like to take a moment to thank Kimberly Derting for creating a character that has unruly, curly hair as opposed to the throngs of protagonists with beach blond poker straight hair. Can I get an amen?)  One of my favorite things about this book was the relationship between Jay and Violet.  I LOVED that their friendship spanned many years and Violet would often remember funny times from their childhood. That seemed so real to me.  They are definitely the new Dawson and Joey, but I must admit that Jay is infinitely cooler and more attractive than Dawson.  I feel Derting created the perfect representation of a friendship that is possibly blossoming into something more. 

Simply stated, this book is a must read.  It's going down as one of my favorite books.  Kimberly Derting provides us with an outstanding debut and I'm more than thrilled to share that there is a sequel, Desires of the Dead, which will be published in 2011.  And that fun fact just made my day!

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*A big thank you Book It Forward Tours for allowing me to be a part of this.  I truly appreciate it.