Novel Review: The Last Echo (The Body Finder, #3) by Kimberly Derting

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Genre: YA Paranormal Thriller/Romance

Publisher: HarperTeen (HarperCollins)

Release Date: 2012

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

In the end, all that’s left is an echo.

Violet kept her morbid ability to sense dead bodies a secret from everyone except her family and her childhood-best-friend-turned-boyfriend, Jay Heaton. That is until forensic psychologist Sara Priest discovered Violet’s talent and invited her to use her gift to track down murderers. Now, as she works with an eclectic group of individuals—including mysterious and dangerously attractive Rafe—it’s Violet’s job to help those who have been murdered by bringing their killers to justice.

When Violet discovers the body of a college girl killed by “the girlfriend collector” she is determined to solve the case. But now the serial killer is on the lookout for a new “relationship” and Violet may have caught his eye....

The Cover:

I like all of the covers in this series. They're simple and eye-catching and very pretty. They give a good feel of the novels, too.

Review:

I’ve been meaning to read this book forever, but I finally got to it. And I’m glad I did.

I was a little under enthused with the last book, as it was a bit forgettable. This book was better, I’m happy to say.

The romance was a little downplayed in emotion, though. I still like Jay, but I was definitely feeling the attraction between Violet and Rafe, and surprisingly even seeing the good side of them being together instead. But mostly the romance, the feelings on Violet’s side, just weren’t really coming through for me. I wanted them to, but I wasn’t fully feeling it.

I didn’t remember anything about Rafe or Sara from the previous book. But I liked them. I liked most of the gang, although Gemma’s backstory, Derting’s trying to give her a background and reason, didn’t really work for me. She was still a jerk, and I didn’t really understand why. I definitely saw why Violet would stay with them, though. She related to them in a way that she doesn’t with anyone else, and she needs that.

The mystery in this book, the murderer, was very powerful, though. I saw why he was the way he was, and was still thoroughly creeped out by him. After everything that happened with Violet and him, I understand her decisions. It was intense and violent and scarring. Which makes the ending even more exciting, more interesting.

I believe the next book is the last, and I’m interested to see what happens in it.

Teaser Tuesday[71]: The Last Echo (The Body Finder, #3) by Kimberly Derting

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

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The Last Echo (The Body Finder, #3) by Kimberly Derting

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Publisher: HarperCollins/Teen

Publish Date: April, 2012

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

In the end, all that’s left is an echo.

Violet kept her morbid ability to sense dead bodies a secret from everyone except her family and her childhood-best-friend-turned-boyfriend, Jay Heaton. That is until forensic psychologist Sara Priest discovered Violet’s talent and invited her to use her gift to track down murderers. Now, as she works with an eclectic group of individuals—including mysterious and dangerously attractive Rafe—it’s Violet’s job to help those who have been murdered by bringing their killers to justice.

When Violet discovers the body of a college girl killed by “the girlfriend collector” she is determined to solve the case. But now the serial killer is on the lookout for a new “relationship” and Violet may have caught his eye....

Excerpt:

“She was about to close the paper when an article at the bottom of an inside page caught her eye. It wasn’t so much the article that had captured Violet’s interest, however; it was a name: Casey Atkins.

The missing girl.” (ARC, pg. 169)

So, reading anything good right now?

Review: Desires of the Dead (The Body Finder, #2) by Kimberly Derting

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: HarperCollins (HarperTeen)

Spoilers?: No.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Violet can sense the echoes of those who've been murdered—and the matching imprint that clings to their killers. Only those closest to her know what she is capable of, but when she discovers the body of a young boy she also draws the attention of the FBI, threatening her entire way of life.

As Violet works to keep her morbid ability a secret, she unwittingly becomes the object of a dangerous obsession. Normally she'd turn to her best friend, Jay, except now that they are officially a couple, the rules of their relationship seem to have changed. And with Jay spending more and more time with his new friend Mike, Violet is left with too much time on her hands as she wonders where things went wrong. But when she fills the void by digging into Mike's tragic family history, she stumbles upon a dark truth that could put everyone in danger.

Review:

I read this a while ago, around the time that it came out. But I thought I'd go ahead and review it now, what with the third book coming out next month, since I'll probably be reviewing it.

In this one, Violet is now officially with Jay, and she's still keeping her ability a secret while using it at the same time. Jay starts hanging out with the new boy at school, though, Mike, making her feel a bit on her own. Then she discovers something morbid in Mike's family's past that isn't very good.

This book felt a bit mediocre compared to the first one, as I gave it a lower rating than the first one. I'm still enjoying Violet, and Jay, and VioletandJay. I still liked the insight to the Bad Guy's head. I didn't feel much of a connection with the new characters, though. And I don't think that the mystery was as good as the first, and it just generally wasn't as exciting (that doesn't mean that it was hard to read or anything, though, because it wasn't). Which is disappointing, since I really did enjoy the first one.

I'm just hoping that the next one is better, and much more exciting.