Book Boyfriend (5)

My book boyfriend this week:

Jay 

from THE BODY FINDER series

Name: Jay Heaton

Age: 16/17

Description: What I like best about Jay is that there are no specific descriptions of him. All we know is that during a, “summer metamorphosis”, he has become Hot with a capital H, but there are no specific hair or eye colors given.

Facts:
* Likes to wear hoodies & backpacks.
* Silly sideways grin
* Strong arms, big shoulders
* Best friends with Violet since they were 6 years old
* First kissed Violet in 5th grade, but immediately both swore off kissing because they were so grossed out.
* Gracious in the face of defeat by Violet.
* Helped Violet bury dead things without question from an early age because he seemed to understand her gifts.
* Driven to school every day by Violet.
* Went unnoticed by girls for most of his life, but suddenly ‘got hot’ over a summer break and started attracting a fan club at school, including the most popular girl in school, Lissie Adams.
* Insists on carrying Violet home when she fell down, and looked after her scrapes too.

What I like best about Jay:
You know what’s sexy? A guy who doesn’t need to be in charge all the time. A guy who respects his girlfriend too much to push things physically, even when he could get away with it. A guy who’s not afraid to let his girlfriend’s family know that they’re together because he loves Violet so much. A guy who, when necessary, will step up and protect Violet physically. A guy who takes care of the house for his Mom, because he’s the only man of the house. A guy who is sweet, gorgeous, and amazing, but is completely unaware of his own charm.

Swoon worthy quotes:

“I was just waiting for you to want me as much as I wanted you.” 

"Yeah," he agreed enthusiastically. "That's why I was so jealous. I wanted to be the one finding dead bodies. You were like an animal detective or something. You were only weird' cause you were a girl." He grinned. "But I learned to overlook that, since you always took me on such cool adventures."


Jay had been the one who kept Violet sane. He slipped candy bars into her backpack for her to find and left little notes in her locker just to let her know he was thinking about her. She leaned on him every step of the way, and he never once complained. 

DISLIKES?:

He's jail-bait :(

Le sigh....

Review: Desires of the Dead (The Body Finder #2)

Title: Desires of the Dead (The Body Finder #2)
Author: Kimberly Derting
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 368
Challenge: YA Series

My Rating: 

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.  -summary from goodreads.com

It was very nice to start the book off with a clean start; we didn’t have any cliffhanger or lingering questions/problems from book one. Violet and Jay have a bit of a break and it was nice seeing their relationship in a drama-free zone. But I was anxious to see what new plot Ms. Derting was going to throw at us.

In the book we still get to see the “stalkers” point of view, which gives the story a major creep factor. Although I will say that I did figure out how everything was going to unfold a bit sooner than I did with The Body Finder…. But there is still plenty of excitement and suspense throughout the book. At times I found myself screaming, “Nooo! Turn around! Don’t go in there alone!” …. Lets just say that at times I felt like I was watching a horror film in which the protagonist walks straight into a trap or does something stupid. But every event is part of the bigger picture towards the end. I really like the new FBI characters that were introduced; Sarah and Rafe. Violet forms a sort-of friendship with Rafe but I'm not really looking forward to seeing more of him, I'M FOREVER TEAM JAY!

My only complaint about this book is Violet and Jay’s relationship; it was rather anti-climatic… now before you start sharpening your pitchforks, let me explain. Despite how romantic and sweet Jay is to Violet throughout the book; he does have a moment of weakness and they get into a fight and Violet definitely overreacts! She gets this horrible attitude and she pretty much lost all my “Violet is a kick ass heroine” respect. I want their relationship to succeed, but with the way Violet was acting I was afraid I wasn’t going to get my happy ending.

Will I read book 3, yes... But not a top priority. 

Review: The Body Finder

Title: The Body Finder
Author: Kimberly Derting
Publisher: HarperCollins
Challenege: None
Pages: 336

My Rating:

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. -summary from goodreads.com

Violet has a little problem. Dead people talk to her. Not in the literal, “Hey I’m a ghost” kind of way, but more in the “Hear that noise? It’s my body’s echo; find my killer!” kind of way. Since she was a child the echoes of the dead have spoken to her, unless they are properly put to rest. So, when her small hometown suddenly turns into the hot spot for kidnapped and murdered teenage girls, Violet does what she does best, she finds the body and then finds the echo that matches it.

It's not often that a title of a book and the plot of the book are one in the same (usually the title is much more abstract) but with "The Body Finder" what you read is what you get; and you know what? …I LOVED IT! This was such a thrilling, fun, fast paced read! Mrs. Derting painted a vivid picture in my head when describing how the events/crimes took place. It was realistic and frightening. I especially loved reading from the point of view of the serial killer. It added a very interesting flavor to the book and certainly added to the suspense.

It was very easy to relate to Violet. She’s just an ordinary girl (with an extra twisted sense) that’s just trying to fit in. The main guy, Jay, is almost too good to be true although I definitely appreciate the fact that he is neither a vampire nor a werewolf. Jay is loyal and very protective towards Violet. They share an intense love story, and I literally loved the fact that Jay was a responsible and mature teenage boy, who was able to show Violet in many ways his love for her, and that he wasn't solely driven by his sexual desires for her. The awkwardness and sexual tension between them is really cute and realistic.

Overall, if you’re a fan of the supernatural, romance and/or thrillers- add The Body Finder to your pile. Trust me when I say, you won’t be sorry! I’m definitely pre-ordering the next book in the series; “Desires of the Dead”- which comes out next week! :) Yessss!