The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

"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." -Goodreads.com

Overall: 5/5

I'm in love. Yes, with the book too, but mostly just with Jay. Part of me wonders why I get so sappy about fictional characters, but then the rest of me just tells that part to shut up and just enjoy it.

As for the rest of the book, it was pretty darn amazing too. Violet was the kind of character that I could easily see myself being friends with; strong and independent, and with enough spunk to make it all interesting. And the ability to find dead bodies? Kind of creepy, but also morbidly cool. Derting did a fabulous job telling this story in such a way that it wasn't completely gross, which is a bit of a feat.

I can't help but wonder what's going to come next.

Characters: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Ending: 4/5
Cover: 5/5
Happy Factor: 5/5

This is Kimberly Derting's first book.