5/50: The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

from Goodreads

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.

I had a hard time rating this one. I couldn't decide between 3 and 4 stars. 3.5 would be perfect. I ended up with 4 stars because I really liked Violet and I felt like the the writing was aimed at the older YA audience.

I enjoyed the plot line. Violet is able to see/hear/feel/smell/taste echos of those that have been murdered. Very cool idea and well executed. I liked that Derting wrote parts from the mind of the killer. It was very creepy and so well written that I actually felt like I was watching the scene take place. There were a few parts in the book that were predictable and some that had me gasp in public. There were parts that made me blush and parts that made me roll my eyes. This book had everything it needed for a YA novel.

All in all, this book was very entertaining and pulled me in. I can't wait to read the next one!

WBC 2011: Book about Murder - 10 points

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