Ramblings of a Drifting Mind: Review: The Body Finder

Monday, November 14, 2011

Review: The Body Finder

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Age Group: Young Adult
Published: February 15, 2011 by HarperCollins/TN (first published 2010)
Format: Paperback, 328 pgs
Source: Purchased

Description:

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 left for her. But now that a serial killer is terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, Violet realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murderer and Violet is unnerved by her hope 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.

Mini-Review:

A thrill ride of a debut, Kimberly Derting's The Body Finder is part mystery, part thriller, and all love story.

My Thoughts:

Violet has always had a weird knack for finding dead things, and now that she's developing feelings gor her best friend, it's the last thing on her mind; until girls start turning up dead all over town. Now it's up to Violet to use her "gift" to help solve the murders and catch the killer, before she's next.

I absolutely love the premise for this story. It's Veronica Mars with a supernatural twist, which is to say it's absolutely wonderful. Murder, mystery, and making out? Don't mind if I do!

The love story in this book really stood out to me, because unlike most love stories these days the characters were completely clueless about what was really going on. It felt real. Imagine falling for your best friend. Suddenly your time together is awkward, and you don't know what to say because you're jealous and possessive and you don't want to be. You don't want to mess up your friendship. You just want things to be normal. This love story was real. It was embarrassing and awkward and full of mistakes. Just like the characters.

But this book is, of course, a mystery, and a good one at that. Not only are you trying to figure out what's going on, but the story even gives you glimpses into the mind of the killer, which only makes it more frustrating when you can't figure it all out. I love being stumped by a good book, and Derting definitely delivers! I highly recommend this for people who are looking for a slightly darker read (it is about murders after all) and for those who need a break from all the supernatural/paranormal books out there right now (because really, it's just got the one little twist to it).

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