READING : The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting


Publication date: March 16th, 2010
Published by: HarperCollins
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5

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.

Violet is a very special girl: she can sense and consequently find dead bodies of animals and humans.So, when she starts discovering several dead bodies,all of them young girls, people in town start to get really worried and come to the conclusion that they have a serial killer in their midst. Seeing however that killing something or someone leaves an echo,an imprint,not only on the dead body but on the killer himself, Violet with the help of her friend Jay, set out to find the man who caused so much pain to so many girls and end his killing spree once and for all.

I find The Body Finder's story to be very unique and original in the YA genre.That's what made me want to read it so badly, in the first place.What can I say?I am a sucker for morbid and gruesome stories!And this one didn't disappoint!The best part for me was the narration from the killer's POV, so distant and detached and cruel.I was completely captivated by this person and the way Kimberly chose to picture him, that I was more than excited and thrilled to eventually find out his true identity.And that's when the book disappointed me.Despite the killer's great introduction, when he was finally revealed, I couldn't help feeling let down."What?It was him?Hm OK.Well." It was quite sudden for me, the revelation.I thought it would play out a little bit longer and honestly, in the end I just couldn't get over how very anti climactic the ending was to an otherwise beautifully built story.
As for the characters, I liked both Violet and Jay.OK,maybe Jay a little bit more!He is undoubtedly a friend everyone wants to have.And without a doubt, a boyfriend every girl wants to have. Protective,caring,considerate.There is absolutely nothing wrong with Jay, everything is right about him.The same goes with Violet.Smart, strong, didn't like the way she kinda toyed with Grady at first, but I got over it quickly. Undeniable chemistry between these two makes them yet another awesome couple in YA. 

Overall, The Body Finder was a fine read with so much potential that was unfortunately left unfulfilled, story-wise.I'm definitely going to read book two in the series, Desires Of The Dead, coming out March 2011, hoping that the second time around, I will be proven wrong!