Spoiler-Free Review: The Last Echo

The following review contains
NO SPOILERS!

my thoughts in a few sentences: After Desires of the Dead, which I enjoyed, though not as much as The Body Finder, I was pretty wary of The Last Echo by Kimberly Derting. Between newfound friends, a new job with her very strange and eerie talent, and a potential third point in a love triangle, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the story in the same way. In The Body Finder, Violet Ambrose is just an ordinary girl with an extraordinary secret, who’s struggling with this dysfunctional ability, a crush on her long-time best friend, and all the daily problems brought on by the day. However, in Desires of the Dead, introducing a slew of characters with similar abilities as to hers, the story seemed less somehow. I didn’t like The Last Echo by Kimberly Derting more than The Body Finder, but it was close, and definitely much more enjoyable than Desires of the Dead.

hooking first line: "Violet strained, searching for the sensation through the suffocating blackness."

Harper Teen • Library Borrow • Paranormal • 4/17/12 • $13.75

Review: Desires of the Dead

Desires of the Dead (#2)
by Kimberly Derting

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Release Date: February 15, 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Library Check-Out
Rating: Sud-Kissed  
Series: The Body Finder (#1)
About the Book:

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The missing dead call to Violet. They want to be found.

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.

Violet leaned forward on her hands and knees over the frozen landscape. Inside her boots, her toes felt as if icy shards were burrowing beneath her skin and slithering into her veins...

Desires of the Dead begins in a way that made me feel as though I'd never left Violet's world. Violet has now aroused the suspicion of mysterious forces working under the FBI, unintentionally setting them on her trail thanks to her, shall we say, knack for tracking the murdered dead, in a moment of desperation. Not quite covering her tracks properly leads to accusations headed by the intriguing Sara Priest, out for answers Violet is unwilling to surrender. Trailing not too far behind the Priest woman is an enigmatic boy around Violet's age who seems to know more about how Violet's gift works than she does!

I loved The Body Finder, but I didn't enjoy Desires of the Dead quite as much. Maybe because being the object of a psychotic killer proves to be more exciting than the focus of someone else's obsession. And unveiling the identity of The Obsesser wasn't as much of a hardship as with uncovering the truth about book one's serial killer. The suspense sadly didn't serve as much of a motivation to get pumped up with excitement.

A combination of two major aspects resulted in my enjoyment of this book: The first? Jay and Violet, uh duh. I swear to Bob, these two are one of my favorite couples in YA. The childhood friend romance has never been done quite this way, has never been written in such an appealing manner. Jay and Violet have this connection that just runs so deep, and a romance that blooms so... sexily. Seriously, their romance has the perfect dose of sweet and soft and hot and busy *waggles eyebrows*. And even though they're friends, the two are exploring each other in new ways all the time now that their relationship has evolved. While in book one Violet was less concerned with how quickly they were making the transition, the ramifications of their progression into uncharted territory are expressed here. Violet is trying to balance herself on the thin tightrope between friendship and lovers. What should she tell Jay? What should she keep from him? Should she be keeping anything from him? All questions which dog her conscience as the book moves forward.

The other big thing about this book is chipping away at the mystery of Sara Priest and that guy, Rafe. Both are evidently not what they appear to be, and much more involved in the paranormal than I would've guessed. I'm all for new characters being placed in the game, so long as none of the other players get tossed aside. That "Spark" of Whatevs that keeps flitting between Rafe and Violet needs to take a hike, because I will not stand for a love triangle! I refuse to believe that this is where Derting is taking us, because I just can't imagine a world where Violet and Jay aren't together. (*winces* Gawd, that came out so cheesy and melodramatic! When did I become that cheesy peasy romance writer?)

My dilemma with this book is simply that it reads too much like an in-between-a-series book. No, I didn't miss the memo where it says that Desires of the Dead is a part of a series. But, I want my sequels to be as devastatingly amazing as I found the book that started it all to be. It should stand on it's own, and it should be just as exciting as the last book! I'm hoping that with The Last Echo, the intensity level gets spiked up to unbearable, the romance (WITH JAY) is dazzling, and that not a smidgen of disappointment will taint what I'm assuming to be the last book in this wonderful series!

“It used to be that I would never keep secrets from you. You were my best friend. But now that we’re dating, it’s just... different. I feel like I have to watch what I say, or you get all worried. Sometimes I just want you to be the old Jay again, so I can talk to you.” Violet crept behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her cheek against his back...

She felt him relax, and his voice softened. “Is that what this is all about? You feel like you can’t talk to me anymore? We haven’t changed; we’re still the same people.” (189)

Review: The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

The Body Finder

by Kimberly Derting

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Release Date: March 16, 2010
Publisher: HarperTeen
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Library Check-Out
Rating: Perfect Bed Partner
About the Book:

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 that 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 the 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.

Violet Ambrose wandered away from the safety of her father as she listened to the harmony of sounds weaving delicately around her...

The story kicks off right away, with a riveting opening chapter in which eight-year-old Violet stumbles on something, or should I say someone,  horrifying on what was supposed to be an innocent walk through the woods. This part was especially chilling for me because I kept visualizing this little girl with pigtails stumbling on this bloodcurdling scene. Derting hooked me as soon as I was done with that prologue.

Violet Ambrose has a unique skill -- a grim power in uncovering the dead. This, to me, was especially intriguing because yeah, there are the typical psychics, but never a girl with the ability to sense the murdered dead through strange echoes that emanate from the corpses. I got goosebumps every time she heard an eerie ring or saw bright flashing lights. Typically Violet only unearths small dead animals, but like when she was a child, The Body Finder really gears into action when teenage girls near and from her small town begin disappearing and their bodies start calling to Violet.

Violet is the kind of girl I'd want to take on shopping trips, jog with, and to drive me home when I'm intoxicated. I'd extend her a glittery invitation into my life anytime, because she would be good friend to have on my side. Violet equals caring, tough, and real. Unlike most FMCs, Violet has key traits that I desire in my MCs, the top of the list being tolerable, likable. She makes mistakes, falls into the perpetual angst lurking in teenagers, but, at the same time, I found her to be pretty amazing. Despite her initial struggle with the idea of a killer on the loose and the consequences that could ensue if she were to find the murderer hiding in the shadows of the town, she makes the decision to track him down, because, she realizes, she's the only one who can. That's courage. She likes her friends for who they are, puts up with insecure bullies, and just has this innate goodness that lured me further into the story.

And overlying all of this - the disappearances, the mysterious serial killer - Violet is struggling with her rising feelings for her long-time childhood best friend, Jay Heaton. I don't think I recall ever liking a Best Friend romance more. These two have such a good chemistry, a fabulous friendship between them that when the sparks start flying I was waving my pom-poms very enthusiastically. There's jealousy, miscommunications, and misunderstandings. Evil cheerleader bullies, hilarious best friends, and boy attacks in car-sittings. It seems like everyone but Violet has been aware of this connection she and Jay share up until this school year when Violet's romantic feelings finally surface. I got such a charge watching the friendship escalate into something... delectably intense.

Dreadful and disturbing were the chapters in between Violet's third-person point of view, in which Derting writes the shuddersome perspective of the serial killer/kidnapper himself. Homecoming, suspicious persons, and near-death experiences morph this book into a total and absolute page-turner! So why the lack of undying love that would result in a Special Shelf rating? While The Body Finder was a great and entertaining read, it missed that certain umph, that special something that burns the amazingness of it onto your mind, leaving it forever scarred by it's unbelievable awesomeness.

In the most totally inappropriate way you can imagine, PBP books are the books you want to do, they're so bloody brilliant... (My Rating System In-Depth)

[Grady] held his hand up in surrender. "Stop! Stop!"
Jay seemed to have a difficult time deciding. And then he leaned over, his fist balling up again, ready to strike, as he reached in and jerked Grady forward by the collar of his shirt. "Isn't that what Violet said to you, you jerk? Didn't she tell you to stop?"
Grady recoiled...
She watched as Jay let Grady fall back to the ground. Well, not fall exactly, it was more of a shove, releasing him and making him smack his head against the car as he collapsed backward.
But he wasn't quite finished with his warning to Grady, and he snarled at him from between gritted teeth, "If you ever... ever...touch her again, I swear to God, Grady, I'll fucking kill you. Do you hear me?"  (174-175)