Review for The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Violet Ambrose has been able to sense echoes for as long as she can remember. Whether they take the form of a smell, taste, sound or vision Violet is the only person who can feel them which can be seriously creepy with echoes being a signal for a dead body being around, and not just any dead body, the dead whose lives have been stolen from them. If that wasn’t bad enough Violet can also tell when somebody has killed as the echo leaves the same imprint on the murderer. In the past this has mainly just lead Violet to find dead birds and rodents left by her cat but when young girls bodies start being discovered close to Violets town Violet is drawn to find them. As the murders start getting closer and closer to home Violet knows that she has to do something. She can’t just sit there and let her gift go to waste even if best friend Jay doesn’t like it Violet knows she has no choice and sets off on a mission to take down the killer with or without Jay’s help, even though by doing so not only is she risking everything with Jay she is also risking her life… What I loved most about The Body Finder was the romance. Jay and Violet have been best friends since childhood so you don’t watch a love develop because it’s all already there straight off the bat. There were no ifs and maybes if they’d get together it was inevitable because straight away you’re hit with how badly these two are meant to be together. I had an instant couples crush on them. Violet and Jay are for me one of the sweetest most realistic couples in YA fiction. There was no stupid love triangle it was just Violet and Jay from beginning to end them against the world which I loved. As individual characters I adored both Jay and Violet from the start and now have the hugest book boy crush on Jay. He’s the sweetest guy, and what’s weird about that is that in books I usually only like the bad boys but Jay was just such a sweet heart that I couldn’t help swooning over him. I also loved Violet most heroines tend to annoy me because they make stupid choices or are too whiny and dependant on their guy but Violet was none of those things she was a really great girl who I would love to be friends with and whilst I loved them both individually they positively shone as a couple because they bring out the best in each other. As well as a brilliant romance this book has a seriously incredible plot. The story’s so fast paced constantly leaving you in suspense and is completely original to anything else out there at the moment. Kimberly Derting’s a brilliant writer one minute making you feel safe and warm in Jay and Violets little bubble and the next putting you in the mind of a seriously sadistic killer. The alternate chapters were flawlessly written and I loved being jolted out of my comfort zone when the plot would change direction keeping me on the edge of my seat. It was the perfect book to read this time of year being so close to Halloween. This book for me was completely unputdownable. Packed with suspense I just wanted to keep reading and reading to find out what was going to happen next not just with the killer but also with Jay and Violet. Creepy and intense when you finish this book you’ll be positively dying for the next instalment Desires of the Dead. Highly recommended, 4.5 stars. My Rating 4.5/5 stars ****1/2 Thanks go to Rhiana-Reads for lending me her copy to review.