Desires of the Dead: A Body Finder Novel (Body Finder, 2)

Desires of the Dead is the follow up to The Body Finder where Violet has the ability to find the dead if they are not properly laid to rest. She also sees a matching imprint on the killer which could make her extremely valuable if her gift is ever revealed. The only people who know about what Violet can do is her family, as it was passed through the women in her family, and also her best-friend-turned-boyfriend Jay. Jay learned about what Violet could do when they were kids and has always accepted who she is. There has been much swooning for Jay. When Violet finds an Echo, it seems to drain her of any energy until the body is put to rest. Jay is always by her side to keep her going but readers shouldn't get the impression that this makes Violet a fragile girl who needs to be saved; if anything, she doesn't run or hide from her gift.

On a regular outing with her friend, Violet finds an Echo calling to her and drawing her closer. Violet isn't able to do anything without her friend finding out, but that doesn't mean that she will stop. This particular Echo changes Violet's life in more ways than she could imagine. In helping, she attracts the attention of the FBI and realizes since Jay is now her boyfriend, she can't tell him everything as she did when they were best friends. Jay, as a boyfriend, wants to protect Violet and that might mean telling her parents about the dangerous situations she puts herself in; but Violet isn't ready to share everything with her parents.

With the FBI on her trail and Jay's overwhelming need to protect her, Violet also feels that she is being stalked. First, hang up calls and then, creepy gifts are left at her car and later, threatening letters. When she turns to Jay, she doesn't find the answers she needs and things get shaky. Violet is also dealing with the insecurities that come with dating a guy who every woman seems to want. I would like to include myself on that list! All the stress and secrets cause major problems for Jay and Violet. Kimberly writes scenes so beautifully that you can't help but to get emotionally invested in these characters. Jay, I heart you!

I love that Violet's family members see that she is going through a lot and give Violet the space to deal with it in her own way, but they are always close enough if she needs them. I can't remember reading a YA book with such emotionally-stable families. Desires of the Dead really has it all! There is plenty of stalker/ killer creepiness, and yet lots of love, kissing, sweetness, and of course the emotional stuff. Kimberly Derting is an amazing author and has quickly become one of my favorites. I can see myself re-reading both The Body Finder and Desires of the Dead over and over. I would recommend this book to everyone and I see movie potential all over these books.

In this sequel, Violet begins to look at her powers as an ability to make a difference, but she feels conflicted with the desire to help and her supposed need to keep her powers a secret. However, her desire to help is compounded as she helps solve a another mystery, one that hits close to home. Props to Derting for the basic storyline, but that's as far as my praise goes.

I found myself rolling my eyes at Derting's attempt at teenage dialogue, the moaning and groaning during make out scenes, her extremely black and white characterization rendering her characters ridiculous, and her use of sex to portray a serious and intense relationship between Jay and Violet. It's a cheap and easy trick employed by an author who doesn't have the talent to weave into her plot moments of sacrifice, love, and growth between characters. She wrote often about how close they were, but the only proof she gave were make out scenes and confessions of Violet's body's reactions being beyond her control as far as Jay was concerned.

Altogether, a very contrived and shallow attempt at a novel that left much to be desired.

I've been waiting (im)patiently for this book to come out. After finishing the first book I was excited to know I had found something that was unique, fresh, and different from different ya paranormal books I have read. The second was no different! I just loved the book!

We are getting to see a different spin on this as we get through part of the book and I'm excited to see where this goes. The addition to the story, I think, will make for a very interesting series. And I'm glad the author didn't come right out and say what was going on. Kim left some mystery in there, so we are left guessing just where this might go. Normally I'm not a fan of stuff like this, since I just have to know, I think the anticipation and building will have me coming back for more... even if I can't seem to wait as patiently as I'd might like.

I don't know about you guys, but I love Violet and Jay. I was a bit worried in this book, but the struggles of the relationship just make it seem more real. As you all know, I'm not a fan of love triangles and that is what I love about this book. The relationship is strong, even if things aren't always alright. The only thing I'm not happy about is the wait for the next book. Oh well!

Everything I loved about The Body Finder is back and better than ever with Desires of the Dead. It's wonderful to see Jay & Violet finally together, and to watch the trials that come along with a fledgling romance -- especially a romance that is rooted in so many years of friendship. Even in their most trying times, the relationship grounds the story in reality: these are the things every reader can relate to.

Meanwhile, Violet is still coming to accept her "gift" of hearing the echoes of the dead -- and as she struggles to accept her gift, she is suddenly faced with a decision. Should she continue using her gift to solve crimes? This decision is only made more difficult when one of her tips lands her under the watchful eye of the FBI, and one investigator in particular who could really be a good match for Agent Mulder from The X-Files. And then there's the intriguing new character of Rafe -- who probably isn't a potential love interest for Violet, but he certainly could be. More importantly, he may know more about her gift than he's letting on.

And much like The Body Finder, Derting once again takes advantage of her Pacific Northwest setting and maxes out its creepy potential. There's nothing like searching for a possible dead body in a dreary, drizzling, dark day to get your heart racing. Derting truly has a gift for suspense, and she plays to this advantage perfectly.

If you enjoyed The Body Finder, you will easily devour Desires of the Dead. The book is a superb paranormal crime-thriller meets YA romance. And if you haven't checked out this series yet, now is the time to do it. I can't wait to see what Derting has planned for Jay and Violet's next adventures.

Similar to THE BODY FINDER, I initially had a hard time immersing myself in DESIRES OF THE DEAD. There is something about Kimberly Derting's writing that throws me off. What it is, I can't put my finger on it. The novel is told in third person perspective, but I don't think that would be the reason why. Derting still manages to do a fantastic job to get us into the head of Violet. I haven't heard anyone else comment her writing style so maybe it's just me. I had a hard time getting into the story which made it difficult for me to like the book.

Another obstacle that made the first third of the book such a challenge was the secondary characters. Oh my God. Seriously, Chelsea annoys me so much. Violet keeps defending her saying that's really not how she acts and that's really not her character when they're alone, but it's tough to get over it. Sure she has her bright moments, but it was really annoying to read her constantly flaunting herself to get Mike's attention. Geez. It came off as needy and desperate and I really had to stop myself from constantly rolling my eyes.

Then there's the introduction of new character Rafe. I definitely feel like Derting is setting up a love triangle for the books to come. Rafe is okay, I guess, but the fact that he refuses to tell Violet anything about himself no matter how many times he comes up in the book makes him that mysterious guy. And of course, mysterious guy will always end up part of a love triangle (ugh)... Especially since there seems to be a spark between him and Violet every single time they touch. Every. Single. Time. If that's not a blatant sign, I don't know what is.

As for the actual plot of the novel, it can basically be summed up in four words: Violet has a stalker. While there is a bit of body finding throughout the book, it ends up being a lot secondary to the point that Violet's secret may be in danger. Mystery of who the stalker is made you think it was predictable, but Derting came around and made a twist to it. Still, once the mystery started to roll, I wanted to know how Derting would unfold it. Overall, the mystery wasn't as strong as the first book especially since it was more about Violet than body finding....

Jay/Violet is cute and that is one of the reasons why I kept going especially in the second half of the book.... But if I hear one more time about how hot Jay is and how sick Violet is of seeing all the girls draping themselves over him..... Geez, I know I shouldn't be one to judge since I am a little superficial myself (I mean, I appreciate good looking men) but I don't necessarily want to read about it... It gets tiring all the time. It started to feel repetitive and I just wanted to say, get on with the story already.

I wasn't a big fan of THE BODY FINDER to begin with. I thought it was an okay book and DESIRES OF THE DEAD was an okay sequel. If you are a big fan of the book, then you'll probably enjoy it a lot more than I will. While the book turned out a lot better than I thought it would, I doubt I will continue on with the series.

Even though Violet just got Jay, already she feels like she's losing him--as a friend and boyfriend--to a new kid named Mike. A lot has been happening to Violet, but she feels that since her and Jay are more than friends now she can let him in as much as she used to. When Violet make what she thinks is an anonymous phone call to the police regarding an echo she found leading to storage container, she hopes that they will take car of it and she will no longer be drawn to it. What Violet doesn't count on is being found out. Somehow now she has drawn the attention of the FBI and they want her ability. Her secret has always been just that, a secret, and she doesn't know if she can, or wants to let someone else in. When she needs help of her own though, she might just agree to help someone else in return for a little assistance. Even if all her detective work leads to her and her friends ending up in harm's way.

Once again Kimberly Derting brings all her weapons to the table to craft a creepy and crazy story. This second novel wasn't quite as creepy as the first one, especially by way of the killer's voice that is interspersed through the novel. It was weird seeing Violet not able to talk to Jay, and having him be so super protective of her. It's great that they are together and maybe by the third book they'll have worked out some of their communication issues. I totally appreciate that Kimberly knows how to end a novel. Heck, she knows how to end a page. Everything was closed off at the end of the story, so that there could be more, but you don't have to wonder how the story will end until you can read the next novel. I guess this book could stand alone, but I think you would lose a little understanding if you had not previously read The Body Finder. Can I just say how glad I was not to find a love triangle between these pages. I would have felt completely betrayed if after everything Jay went through Violet was like, meh. Now that is not to say there aren't many acquaintances that are definitely of interest, maybe not in a love interest sort of way, but something is there. I really love all the characters in Violet's life they are very unique and alive, none more so than Chelsea. Chelsea is vibrant. She is almost more of a character then Violet, just because she is so boisterous and you can't help not noticing her. I liked all the twists and turns and intricacies of this story, it had the same flow as the first novel, but extra bumps along the way. Kimberly Derting is an entirely deft writer and story-teller and I eagerly look forward to another adventure with Jay and Violet as well as Kim's new story, The Pledge.

First Line:
"Violet leaned forward on her hands and knees over the frozen landscape."

Favorite Lines:
"The resonance of the harp eclipsed the noises around her, the waking city at her back, and the ocean in front of her. It was vaporously surreal. Ominous. It was like the sounds track from a horror film."

Desires of the Dead (absolutely loved the title!) is the solid sequel to The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting. The author did a great job thoroughly exploring every aspect of Violet Ambrose's morbid talent, and her romance with Jay Heaton leaves you f...moreDesires of the Dead (absolutely loved the title!) is the solid sequel to The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting. The author did a great job thoroughly exploring every aspect of Violet Ambrose's morbid talent, and her romance with Jay Heaton leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy inside! It's a wonderful read, but not exactly a memorable one.

Fore more information:
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I am a huge fan of The Body Finder, so when I got my hands on the sequel (thanks to my crazy awesome friend James from Book Chic) I was beyond excited! It has been a while since I read The Body Finder, but I did remember being fond of Jay and Violet and this book just reaffirmed my love for the two of them. They are the sweetest couple and I adore their best friend turned love story.

While the relationship in this story is beautiful, I think the mystery that surrounds Violet's life is just as appealing. In the previous book you get a sneak peak into the mind of the killer and that same concept bled over into Desires of the Dead. It is fascinating to get a peak into the mind of a such troubled soul and it really adds depth to the story when you get so many different vantage points.

The last hundred or so pages of this book are really intense. You are racing to try and reveal all the secrets behind the mystery but at the same time you don't want to miss the details along the way. Kimberly does a fantastic job of building the plot and while there were some things I knew where coming, but there was one point at the end where I was taken completely by surprise. Which of course is awesome, because a good shocking revelation here and there always keeps me on my toes.

I am hoping we are not done with this world because there are still quite a few unanswered questions that I would like to see explored further, but I am still happy with the way this book ended. Jay and Violet continue to draw me into their world and I love watching their relationship develop. They are so sweet and they are a couple I will always be rooting for.

If you have not checked out this series yet, you really need to. There is suspense, romance, paranormal activity and plenty of mystery to keep you interested. I am looking forward to whatever Kimberly Derting comes out with next!

One thing that makes me really love this series is the uniqueness. It's not the people that are necessarily so unique (but they are great!), but Violet's ability. It's so different from anything else I've read and I love that. I also love Violet and Jay's relationship. At the end of The Body Finder I was wondering how everything could be okay for the two of them with still keeping the story interesting. I was terrified that something horrible was going to happen in this book (relationship wise). I'm not going to give any spoilers, but I'll say that even they have issues. And there is a couple cute new boys introduced to the story. You'll have to read the book to find out anything else as far as that goes though!
In this book Violet had some tough decisions to make and I can't say that I was the most patient person waiting for Violet to decide. At times I wanted to scream at her to talk to someone, to just do something! But everything came about the way it did for a reason and it just made me so much more eager when it came to things wrapping up as it came to the conclusion.
I'm going to go back to the romance again here. This book definitely has more of it in the kissing and more sense. I think that talking about sex in a young adult book is probably a bit difficult. The book needs to be realistic enough to teens for them to read it, but yet not really encourage poor choices. At first I felt a bit surprised at how far things went (without many descriptions) but as I thought about it I decided that Kimberly did a good job. Violet and Jay stress how important it is to them that they are completely sure, that they aren't rash about their decision, and then about being safe when and if they do it. So I think I'm okay with how things played out.
If you read The Body Finder you'll remember we got mini chapters from the killers point of view. Well, this book had chapters from someone's point of view, and it's fairly early on that it's pretty clear who it is, but it makes the book even more twisty because we think we have it all figured out, but really, maybe we don't...

First published on my blog:[...]

Kimberly Derting's Body Finder series in one of the best young adult reads that I have had the pleasure of reading. Desires of the Dead picks up right where The Body Finder ending with Violet and Jay happily in love with each other.

Violet has some struggles in this book involving her relationship with the heart-throbb, Jay and also the possibility of others finding out about her secret.

I loved this book even more than the first book. When I flipped through page one I just couldn't stop and I didn't want the story to end. I was so absorbed into this book that I may have forgotten to go to work, but I can't remember. I love it when I just find a book that I can just devour like this. I was very happy with the squel to The Body Finder.

In the last book, I said I had trouble liking these characters at first but they had grown on me and loved them in the end, no problem whosoever in Desires of the Dead. I loved following these characters and have come to love every single one of them as well as some new characters.

Violet is in love with Jay and she loves teasing him all the time about her uncle because Jay now finds him godly and they respect him a great deal because of the events in The Body Finder. It is quite funny how she teases him. Violet stumbles upon a realization and there is a point where she realizes that Jay doesn't trust her and it breaks her heart and BTW, this part in the book broke my heart. That is just how good Derting is at writing, where is able to get some emotion out of you while reading this book.

Jay = non-supernatural powers! Okay I have a thing about only reading books that contain supernatural powers/liking the guy who must have supernatural powers. A guy with some supernatural powers is hot to me where the normal one is like not! But OMG. I praise Derting for creating a character like Jay that not only has no super powers, but he is normal. I find him so hot! In Desires of the Dead we really find out how boyfriend Jay is. Boyfriend Jay = PERFECT! I wish he was my boyfriends. Jay has all the qualities you look for in a boyfriends.

We have a couple of new characters. The FBI. Really, the FBI, that's right. And I was so absorbed in this part of the story where Violet was scared. Who wants the FBI to experiment on you like you're some type of lab rat, I mean I would think the same thing. But there is always more to the story than just that. I enjoyed Violet's struggle in deciding whether or not to trust Sarah Priest(FBI). Rafe was another character about her age(I think) involved with the FBI and I would love to learn more about these characters. I think the FBI part is still a little mysterious to us and I hope to get more of this in the next book.

We still get the killer POV, but not necessary the killer. We know who's POV this is in and I loved the POV part, but I would like to not know who it was. Not knowing adds so much suspense and it excited me quite a bit, but the POV it is in was still enjoyable.

Overall, this was a fantastic sequel to The Body Finder Series and I am looking forward to the rest of the books in the series. And BTW, if you haven't already put Derting on you MUST-READ List right away. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.