Dead Silence (Body Finder #4) - Kimberly Derting

Review: Dead Silence
Author: Kimberly Derting
Rating: 4/5
Genre: Paranormal-romance
Recommend To: fans of the Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

I've read this series for a while and I have started to detect a certain pattern....here's a brief overview. Violet senses a dead body. Jay tells her to trust others to handle it. Violet is dumb and goes to handle it herself, putting herself in grave danger. She survives. Jay and her kiss. They kiss some more. The killer targets more people, and is usually gravely psychotic. Something drastic happens. Violet goes to save they day. Something else happens. The killer is caught, Violet is fine. Jay and Violet kiss again.

I just summed up the whole series..but then again...it's still good. While the books follow the same path and have become very predictable, it's hard to pull yourself away. For one, Violet and Jay are too dang shmexy to resist. Really one of my favorite fictional couples (Jay is too cute). Also, The killers are CrEePy. No joke, every time you hear from their point of view, you get chills. They are very sick and twisted. And deranged. And then you almost, ALMOST, start to feel sorry for them. It's very gross and confusing and addicting. Each killer gets more and more weird and scary. Each book becomes more and more intense. The overarching plot is thickening, and we're finally getting the answers we so crave. 

It's moving from just being about Violet finding dead bodies, and it's progressing to what she wants to do with that ability, the limitations she has, and how the past affects the future. There are a lot of interesting revelations and discoveries Violet makes, and it adds to the mysterious aura of impending doom. I think the series will soon turn into a much more interesting direction, rather than just random killers. 

However, for now, Violet needs to stop being dumb and actually listen to the people around her for once. Honestly, she doesn't have the best decision making skills. She's constantly running into dangerous situations head first even after 4 books of being abducted and tortured, and putting her loved ones in danger. (Poor Jay is at his wits end). The books also need to become less predictable, although the intensity and horror factor are still fantastic.

The Pledge (Pledge #1) - Kimberly Derting

Review: The Pledge 

Author: Kimberly Derting

Rating: 4/5

Genre: dystopia, sci-fi?

Recommend To: fans of Article 5

Plot: Taking place in the country of Ludania, we have a tyrant queen who can move to another body when dying from old age. A queen for all eternity. And we have a class system enforced by language, which I thought strange at first, but Derting makes it work. Basically, after people were forbidden to learn a language other than their own class language and the universal language, the ability to learn was lost. Yet, Charlaina can understand all languages, an ability that puts her in greater danger than thought before. She fights to save her younger sister and ends up with the help of a handsome soldier, Max (yay). Finally, they have a rebellion running through the city. Yeah there is a lot going on but I absoltely loved every minute of it. 

The Characters: If there is a place the book was lacking, this was it, but I didn't have much of a problem here. The characters were thought out and obviously had more depth than I previously thought (ahem Brooklynn). Other than that, Charlie could be a bit dense at times (seriously, Max and Xander was so obvious) but other than that, she cared and was strong. Max was a definite hunk and he was definitely courageous and all so yay. But my favorites were Xander, Eden, and definitely the Queen. She was an awesome villain. The female villains are always worse, and more fun to hate.

The Romance: Maybe it was choppy at first, but it was cute and fun to love. Max was pretty dang adorable at times. Again Xander and Eden were probably better as a couple but I liked both. Hopefully in the next book it'll show more of Max being supportive and all. 

The Style: I loved Derting's Body Finder series. So I suppose thats a huge reason why I loved the Pledge so much. From a reader's standpoint, it lacked a little. From a fan's standpoint it was absolutely ah-mazing and it couldn't possibly be loved more. I loved the world where language represents who you are and I loved the legend of the lost royal legacy. Plus the Queen was just so evil.....

Overall: Romance could use some work, it was very insta-loveish but I hope she and Max will learn more about each other. A great first book to a series with a great setting and exactly the kind of plot I love. Breakneck speed, rebellions, romances, secrets, its all there 

The Last Echo (Body Finder #3) - Kimberly Derting

Review: The Last Echo

Author: Kimberly Derting

Rating: 5/5

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Recommend To: People who love morbid mysteries and romance

I love this series like a chocaholic loves chocolate. That’s a terrible comparison, but it’s true. The suspense and the romance put together make it absolutely impossible to put down.

The Plot: 

In this book (it’s the third in the series) Violet has begun working with Sara Priest’s team to help find killers with her gruesome ability. She finds dead bodies by a pull towards and a certain sensory feeling around them (a sound, smell, taste, etc.) These are what she calls echoes, and an identical imprint is left on the killer of the person (this is how she can track the killer, not just the bodies). Then comes our serial killer, the Girlfriend Collector who is absolutely beyond disturbing and he has got Violet in his sights. Of course we have Jay (the best part of the whole series haha) and Rafe, who Violet can’t but help feel a slight attraction towards (not okay). 

The Characters: 

Violet: The main character obviously has a fascinating and frightening ability to find the dead, but I think she has handled it well. Well, usually. She is brave and intelligent, qualities she is forced to use time and time again to get out of dangerous situations. I sometimes wish (like we all do) that characters don’t insist on keeping secrets from adults and people that could help . She makes me feel frustrated sometimes, but it’s okay because it is impossible not to root for her against impossible odds. She is awesome. 

Jay: *Ahem*, where the heck do I start with this boy? He is caring, thoughtful, selfless, and so, so, so sexy. Really, the parts of the book that included him and Violet gave me shivers (of happiness, not the shivers you get from the creeper). He really is so perfect, always concerned about Violet, frustrated that he can’t help her, and so trusting. I almost wanted him to get up and punch Rafe across the face (he didn’t), but it’s okay. I still wish we had more of him in this book though, too much Rafe. 

Rafe: Eh, I am sure some out there like him, but I will always be a die-hard Jay fan. Rafe saves Violet’s life a bunch of times, turns out he loves her (like we didn’t see that one coming), and you know, he has an ability like Violet’s. He is shrouded in mysteries and secrets which drives me nuts (why does he have to be so dangsecretive?), but he’s a good guy, also willing to do anything for Violet. 

The Collector: Umm can anyone say creepy? Like wow, is this guy messed up. The little snippets we get into his head just made me want to cower or soothe him (how crazy is that?) But he needs to be stopped no matter what and Violet is just the person to do it. 

Sara Priest: Also very secretive (hint, hint), helps Violet find her place on the team. She’s a pretty kick-butt lady. 

Vi’s friends and the Team: I love all of them. They are so funny and good supporting characters. I want more!

The Romance: 

Oh my god. How can I get this point across? THE ROMANCE IS SMOULDERING. It’s undeniably awesome. The first two books are all her and Jay (which I loved, especially the first), while this one has some Rafe thrown I there (I am not ashamed to admit I don’t like him at all ). Anyway, the moments between Jay and Violet, and just how perfect they are together is amazing. This is one of those love triangles I know exactly who needs to win. I wish there was a Jay in real life. I would marry him (again not ashamed). 

The Style: 

Next to last, the style is amazing. Whenever she dunks us into the Collector’s head you feel completely there. And very, very scared. It’s so suspenseful and at times I almost fell off my chair (or I would have if I was sitting on one). It’s is (I repeat)impossible to put down and if you don’t want your day to flash by you or you have important things to do, wait to read it because you will forget everything. 

Overall: 

One of my favorite series ever, and I wish I could recommend it to everyone. Unfortunately, I know a lot of wussies who refuse to read it because it’s scary. So yeah, don’t read it if your bladder scares easily. But all in all, one of my favorite books and series’ ever. If you want to know why, see above review.