Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Same Book, Second Look - The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting


Published: March 2010
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 327
Copy Provided by: Library
Summary: Goodreads

Summary:
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.

Same Book, Second Look is a chance for both of us to review the same book. Both Curlypow and I are librarians but we have different opinions when it comes to certain titles. To each, her own! We want the ability to express our own opinions whether they are similar or differ. Same Book, Second Look allows the second person to do an additional review of a book that has already been posted.

Review:
WOW. And I'm not talking Waiting on Wednesday. This is how I know the Body Finder is a winner - I stayed up until 2am one night reading it until I couldn't even keep my eyes open. (I finished the last 20 pages the next day.) I also tweeted to the author TWICE to let her know how much I enjoyed her novel!

I received this at the library (one of the few times I beat Curlypow on the hold list) and unfortunately, I already had 4 books on the go so I let her read it first. I have to admit that I am slightly upset that I let Curlypow beat me to it because it was such a great read. You can read Curlypow's original post here. She did a great job of describing just how thrilling this book is.

I didn't have the same sense of surprise when the twist happened part way through the book but I definitely found that I was riveted right until the last page. That is my favorite kind of read, something that has you hooked and wondering how events will unfold right up until the very end. Fast-paced and unpredictable - love it. If I don't want to put the book down to eat, the author has me hooked.

Ahhh...young love. Watching (ok, reading) Jay and Violet dance around each other as they work their feelings from friends to lovers was so refreshing. Ms. Derting did a wonderful job of building up their relationship, sense of trust and jealousy capturing these feelings in a very believeable, realistic way. Their relationship was a secondary story. Of course the main story was a serial killer, on the loose and only Violet has the gift to stop him. Ms. Derting captured the essence of the killer well. The book was laid out so that chapters about the killer's thoughts were in italics and the rest of the story blended around. I felt like I was watching a suspense thriller movie while hiding behind a blanket. Kimberly, you captured the killer's "voice" so well, is there something you want to tell us??  Creepy good fun.  In fact, this might be the perfect read with your friends on Halloween night!  This book gets two thumbs up from me.  I was lucky enough to borrow this copy from the library but I will definitely be purchasing a copy of my own.

Can't wait for the next book in the series - Desires of the Dead. Quick sneak peak at the cover -


I love the covers of these books. The black background makes them feel mysterious, like a light reaching out from the dark...or an "echo" reaching through the night...you'll want to add it to your TBR pile. Release date is set for March 2011!

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