Review-The Last Echo

First let me tell you that even though the title of this book has the word "last" in it, it is not the last book in the series.  There will be at least one more book, for which I am thrilled.  Now, onto the review.  I read Kim's first novel, The Body Finder, back when it was out in hardback and Borders was still alive.  I picked it up because of the title and ended up reading and loving it.  When it comes to my subjects of interest serial killers are actually high up there, with crazy diseases that kill people in strange ways, and cannibals (I can't be the only one who finds them fascinating), but unfortunately all of those things are rather...sparse in YA fiction.  Derting, to my great pleasure, doesn't shy away from the first (and maybe in the future the last) and that's what I love about her novels.  That and the fact you get to see into the killers mind.  Her books are like a written version of the show Criminal Minds (on CBS) more geared towards teenagers, with a touch of Medium (that's just an assumption, I've never actually seen that show).  Sometimes when authors write more them one book about something that doesn't exactly have a series feel to it it can seem like they're just trying to make money (can anyone say House M.D.?) but Kim is not one of people.  Yes all these books are about a girl who can find dead people, and yeah, poor Violet usually ends up in some sort of trouble, but it's not boring!  That's the thing that makes those other books bad, is that they're boring because everything happens the same exact way, but when you're an author coming up with ways that people can die the great part is there is no limit to the imagination (well...Final Destination my have gone a LITTLE too far, but as far as killers go there's always another crazy out there that wants to be noticed).  Kim's third Body Finder novel is still as fresh as the first one was (and there's kissing, YAY!) and the way it ends leaves you with a tingly feeling (if you've read the book you'll get the joke) and makes sure there is no doubt about another book on the way.  With heart stopping action, some good kissy scenes, and a few parts that make your heart race The Last Echo is everything I hoped it would be and more.  I'm very excited for the next book, I really loved this book, and if you like creepy things give this series a chance.  I'm almost tempted to re-read the series because I love it so much, but unfortunately I have other books I need to read.  When book four comes out I'll be pining for it just like I was with this one, and pretty much the only thing that could make it better would be cannibals.  Got that Kim, add people eating other people and we're good. 

Out April 17, 2012

5/5 dust spirits

Review-Slide

Say what you will about weird covers but I like this one, and when I learned it had killing in it I was all for reading it! (Yes I am well aware that makes me sound like a crazy person, but I'll do a post on that later.)  If you know me at all you will know how much I love books by Kimberly Derting and how I just gush over her Body Finder books, so when I read the back of this one and it reminded me a lot of Violet I was like "uh, heck yes.".  I really enjoyed this book because it had pretty much everything I like in it, kissing, mystery, and of course a dead body or two.  The idea was fully new to me and I was very pleased with how Jill wrote it.  When the character "slid" she had to figure out who's body she was in.  After that it was all about secrets, because what would happen if you tried to tell someone you were inside of their body and saw what they did?  You would be branded as a crazy person, and to make sure that didn't happen Vee had to hide it all.  I read this book really quick, it was short, less then 300 pages, but it was still good.  There was a lot of action in the last few chapters, some good kisses, a nice mystery story that I kind of figured out right before the main character (yes, it's hard to throw me off the trail!), and with some dead bodies there was also some insight into what we do and how it effects others.  I'm a lot like Vee (well, except for the fact that I can't slide into people's bodies at random times) in that I'm not in the popular crowd, and I really liked that Jill had her main character that way.  I was also very pleased with some of the other flaws her characters had, because, let's face it, a perfect character is kind of a game-ender.  I also have information from the author (and goodreads) that there is going to be a sequel titles Impostor (for the time being) and I can't wait to see what happens next.  Hopefully there will be more kissing and dead people, because we all know how much I love those things!

Out March 27, 2012

5/5 dust spirits

Review-Name of the Star

When I first read the premise of this book I was really excited, and when my blogger friend Sarah said she had a review copy and that I could borrow it I was thrilled.  I'm all for books about serial killers because, honestly, I love the idea of a good one.  No that doesn't mean I like when they're at large, but I love watching shows about them.  For some reason I'm facinated with them, books that have to do with crime in general.  I'm also rather fond of the idea of Jack the Ripper so when I heard this book was ABOUT Jack the Ripper I was all for it.  Now that I've finished reading it I'm not really sure how I feel about it.  It wasn't a bad book by any means, it just wasn't amazing.  Maybe it was because I was SO excited about the whole idea of this book that when it finally came down to reading it I found that something was lacking.  The idea was really fresh, it wasn't something that had been re-done hundreds of times in the teen section and although there was some romance it didn't overpower the story, because the story wasn't really ABOUT romance.  I really liked the main character Rory.  She was independant, didn't end up falling in love with a guy and falling all over herself to impress him, and she really did hold her own.  If you're a fan of books with some romance, some thrill, a few near death experiences, and some history then I definetly suggest you check out this book.  I'll be reading the next book in the series just to see what happens (and because there are very few times when I don't continue a series) and will definetly check out her Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes series because I've heard they're really good.

Out now!!!

4/5 dust spirits