The Body Finder Series ~ Kimberly Derting

The Body Finder debuted March 2010. It was originally recommended to me by a co-worker. So I read it and holy crap. My mind was blown. It was absolutely fantastic. The story was original, it was fresh, and it never let up.

From GoodReads: 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.

What I loved the most about The Body Finder is that unlike most novels, Violet does not keep her "gift" to herself. She has a support system of her family and her friend Jay. This shocked me and I think is one reason I was drawn to the book. I get so tired of heroines who have a power/gift/ability and they A) hate it and wish they never had it or B) have no one to lean on and keep it to themselves to the point of destroying friendships, etc. So Violet is not a stupid girl. And I love it!

And then there is Jay. He has been friends with Violet since childhood. And she has realized she is in love with him. This is something else in novels that usually irks me. Usually the strong female becomes all gooey and simpering when a guy she loves enters the picture. But Violet didn't. Sure she was a little gooey around Jay but she wasn't annoying. It was sweet. It was natural. It was Violet & Jay. It was nice :)


We come now to book 2: Desires of the Dead.
GoodReads: 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

 So things are heating up. Violet and Jay are official. There is a new friend in the mix and Violet is targeted by the FBI. Is this good or bad? Violet finds a murdered child, and begins to receive threatening messages from a killer.
To be honest, Violet was not my favorite in this book. It was like she second guessed herself too much. But that is okay. Why? Because next comes

Book 3: The Last Echo which, holy crap, blew books 1 and 2 way out of the water! Starting off, I had trouble getting sunk into the book, but only because of past experience in my life with one of the character's names. But once I got over that BAM! I literally stayed up to 2am reading the book. I could not stop. And more than a couple times I got a little creeped out sitting in the near dark. 

From GoodReads: In the end, all that’s left is an echo.

Violet kept her morbid ability to sense dead bodies a secret from everyone except her family and her childhood-best-friend-turned-boyfriend, Jay Heaton. That is until forensic psychologist Sara Priest discovered Violet’s talent and invited her to use her gift to track down murderers. Now, as she works with an eclectic group of individuals—including mysterious and dangerously attractive Rafe—it’s Violet’s job to help those who have been murdered by bringing their killers to justice.

When Violet discovers the body of a college girl killed by “the girlfriend collector” she is determined to solve the case. But now the serial killer is on the lookout for a new “relationship” and Violet may have caught his eye...
 
The Last Echo was chock full of suspense and even a MINOR love triangle. But yay, I was not bothered by it at all. It fit the story beautifully and Violet did not let me down. We also are introduced to Violet's new team of psychics. They were fun to get to know, and even more fun was learning about their individual gifts. And all of their gifts intertwined and worked together to solve murders, etc. 

Be prepared have your socks knocked off. The ending is frikking amazing and now I am so excited to see where Violet's story will go in Dead Silence. 

And after finishing book 3, I have come to a conclusion. Kimberly Derting is a master of psychological ickiness. Yes, I'm referring to the interludes provided by the serial killers. Love it! And a nod to the cover designer-I don't know if they read an advance version of the book, or if it was requested, but I love how the lavender flower fits in with the story. Genius cover imo. 

Possession ~ Elana Johnson

Title: Possession
Author: Elana Johnson
Pub Date: June 7, 2011
Publisher: Simon Pulse
405 pages (hardcover)
Author website: http://elanajohnson.blogspot.com/

From GoodReads:
Toe the line between rule-following and rule-breaking in this tense and twisted start to a smart and sexy dystopian trilogy. Vi knows the Rule: Girls don’t walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn…and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi’s future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.     But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they’re set on convincing Vi to become one of them….starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can’t leave Zenn in the Thinkers’ hands, but she’s wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous—everything Zenn’s not. Vi can’t quite trust Jag and can’t quite resist him, but she also can’t give up on Zenn.     This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play

Oh em gee. First off, 5 out of 5. I don't typically rate books on the blog, so this means something! lol Possession completely blew me away. It was not what I was expecting-and in fact it far exceeded my expectations.  

As far a non-post-apocalypse dystopian story goes, I found Possession to be one of the more interesting ones. Johnson has created an entire world complete with lands, vocabulary, an underground rebellion movement, etc. 


To start, there are two distinct groups of society members, and they live in two different areas. First is the Goodgrounds and the Goodies; and the Badlands and Baddies. But what makes Baddies bad? Well, they are tanned and have crazy hair! Apparently, Violet Schoenfeld is about to find out. Vi is a Rulebreaker and for her latest rulebreaking (walking with a boy after dark) she is going to be shipped off to the Badlands.


Thus begins Vi's journey with Baddie Jag Barque. And from that point on discovers her life is not what she thought, and not quite as simple. There is also more to the story of her dead sister and missing father. Will Vi be strong enough to withstand all of these new discoveries?


I absolutely ADORED Vi! She has such a fabulous voice, and kind of reminds me of how I talk to family and friends O.o Vi is a sarcastic, smart ass, semi-violent (but in a good way) girl. Even knowing it is going to bite her in the ass she can't hold her tongue.

"Yeah, the biting-my-tongue-thing only happened once in a lifetime, and I'd just used my quota."

The best dialogue in the book occurs between Vi and Jag. Between them, it's the important things that matter: "You think X is cute?" Yes-let's not focus on anything else but that single comment. Love it! 

Oh, and there is also a love triangle. Guess what? I like this one! I know, two for two this week! There is Jag-Mr. Baddie himself. My first impression of Jag was not high. I was hoping he was a low rank character. Happily I admit he was not. He is a good guy, who is sensitive and just utterly in love with Vi. Then there is Zenn. He is Vi's matched. But there is something off about him. Could it be that he is Special Forces? Or is it something else? Yeah, not a fan of his, at all.

Okay, that is about all of the story I am going to share. I don't want to spoil anything because Possession is chock full of super-secret-shockers!

And now your Vocabulary Lesson, compiled by moi so it is not complete or whatever.

• Thinkers: Persuasive people who control minds "the ones who broadcast the transmissions and categorize the people"
• Control: gifts some people have, gifts that allow them to well, control things
• Controlled: Basically, you're brainwashed or someone is making you do something with their mind!
• the Green: Fancy name for Thinkers
• Rangers: High ranking society members. Different types of rangers, all are top of class, smart, etc
• Free Thinker: a person who cannot be controlled and thinks for themself

And some places mentioned in the book:

• City of Water
• Badlands
• Fire Region
• Centrals
• Goodgrounds
• Southern Rim
• Freedom -NOT the place to be!
• Seaside-where you can be free! 

So, there you have it. Possession by Elana Johnson. Do yourself a favor and get your hands on a copy! And then go read Surrender, book two. This is my next goal! I need to see what happens next!!

"We never let go of the ones we lose."

If you lived in Vi's world, do you think you would be a Goodie, or a Baddie? Would you want to be a Free Thinker or Controlled?

Cover Reveal ~ Perfect Scoundrels

Ohhh look at the pretty! For more info, check out Hollywood Crush who had the big reveal!

Is that Hale in the glasses?!

Out of Sight, Out of Time ~ Ally Carter

Book the 5th

Title: Out of Sight, Out of Time
Author: Ally Carter
Pub Date: March 2012
Publisher: Hyperion Books
Pages: 294
Author Website: http://allycarter.com

 "Life is classified. There is always so much that goes unsaid."

 
Oh Ally Carter, how I love you. You came into my life with I'd Tell You I Love You, but then I'd Have to Kill You. I was hooked. I was entranced, I was in love. Cammie, and all of the Gallagher Girls became my heroes. They were the coolest girls ever.

I loved you even more with Heist Society. And now that Out of Sight, Out of Time is here, and has been read, I love you more! Anything you write, I'll be there!

I cannot get enough of Cammie, Bex, Liz, Macey, and yes, even Zach. With such a huge cliffhanger in Only the Good Spy Young, I was on pins and needles for this installment. And wow, it did not disappoint in the thrill ride.

We begin with Cammie waking up in the Alps. With a six month memory loss. What the heck?

 “Zach," I said as I lay there. "Where did you go? When you were looking for me?"
I shifted in his arms, looked into his eyes.
"Crazy." His voice was a whisper against my skin. "I went crazy.”

 So once she finally makes it back with the Gallagher Academy her time is spent trying to get her memory back, fit the pieces of the missing time puzzle together, not die, keep everyone else alive, and come to grips with devastating news.

I want to tell you more, but I really don't want to give away any spoilers. But I will say we end up in Rome. Where more puzzle pieces are revealed, and where Cammie comes a little bit more unglued by her frustration.

"The seventh graders ran by, one semester older. Just like us. And it hit me: they hadn't gotten smaller. I'd just gotten bigger. Stronger."

I loved this line. How many times in high school did you think this, watching freshmen walk by.

And lastly, what line in the book gave me goosebumpy chills?

“Now I know that, from this point on, we'll be the ones doing the chasing.
And I like it.”

Oooo is Bad-Ass Cammie about to make a debut? And now it is time to pop in Alias!

Dearly Departed ~ Lia Habel

Title: Dearly, Departed
Series: Gone with the Respiration
Author: Lia Habel
Pub Date: September 2011
Publisher: Del Rey
Author Website: www.liahabel.com

From Good Reads:
Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie?

The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses.

But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead—and hell along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and dead. But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and modern science have enabled Bram to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire.

In Dearly, Departed, romance meets walking-dead thriller, spawning a madly imaginative novel of rip-roaring adventure, spine-tingling suspense, and macabre comedy that forever redefines the concept of undying love.


DEARLY
Dearly, Departed starts off with a young man, Bram, running from a mob of the dead. He ends up trapped with a friend who is bleeding to death. Hm...Doesn't bode well.Skip to Nora Dearly. She is just ending her mourning period for her late father. And now she is an orphan living with her greedy, money mis-management, social climbing aunt. 

At this point, it be explained that Dearly, Departed is a mix of dystopia, steampunk, and Victoriana. I don't want to go into too much detail because Nora does a beautiful job explaining how this arrangement came to be in the year of 2190something or another. She explains via a school assignment. This turned out to be a great way to introduce readers to a new world. It does two things. First-It doesn't assume you know what happened, and second, it doesn't feed the knowledge to you in a boring way. (Can you think of books that do this? I sure can...)


So, in the New Victorian world, there is advanced technology, but there is also what made the Victorian era what it was: the social customs, class breakdowns, clothing, manners, etc.  Dearly, Departed was truly something new and different. 


DEPARTED
Onto zombies. There are two types. The first, the Grays, are your classic zombies. They are NOT GOOD. Then there are the others. With the help of medication and a strong sense of self preservation, they talk, function, and do just about anything they used to do while living. They are just ... dead. Nora learns all of this when there is an attempted kidnapping by the bad zombies. But then she is rescued/kidnapped by the good ones! 


And there she meets Bram. And begins to trust him and not be so scared of him. He is like her own personal bodyguard-she hides behind him. It is so cute. Through the course of the story, they begin to have feelings for each other. 




So what did I think? I enjoyed the hell out of this book! I loved the fusing of dystopia, steampunk, zombies and Victoriana. It felt fresh. My biggest issue was my squick factor. Falling in love with a zombie? Um...yeah, I just don't know about that. But I guess it's no different than falling in love with a vampire! My other issue was the points of view. There were waaaay too many. All we really needed was two, three at most. It got a bit distracting, and took me out of the story. 


The characters were quite fun. Nora's friend Pamela was hella fun! In my opinion, she deserves her own zombie hunting story! There was a scene with a parasol...but you'll have to read to know what happened! The other good zombies were entertaining as well, especially Renfield and Chas. Zombie with manners, and a sassy girl zombie who likes parties!


All in all, Dearly, Departed was greatly enjoyed. I'm curious about the sequel and where it will go next.




And for something different-the author. She is an absolute doll. And lives the Victorian life. I love when authors write something that they embody. Let's take a look shall we?

Photo credits:
WinterWolf Studios
winter@winterwolfstudios.com

Want to learn some Semi-Interesting Facts about Lia? (Taken from author's press kit page)


(Semi-)Interesting facts!
1.     I wear wigs. I lost quite a bit of my natural hair back in 2009, due to a combination of stress and mysterious medical factors. I’m a very all-or-nothing personality, so when it got to the point where I was going to have to rock a comb-over, I said, “Screw it. I’m going to buy a wig in EVERY COLOR.” And I did. I own scores now, in all shades and styles, but I don the brunette ones for professional gigs. I call it “Lia brown.”

Photo credits:
WinterWolf Studios
winter@winterwolfstudios.com

2.     Nora, Bram, and most of the (only vaguely outlined) plot for Dearly, Departed were dreamed up on an eight hour bus ride to New York City for a neo-Victorian event. Despite this promising beginning, I did little planning before beginning to write. Most characters were nothing more than a first name and a random hair color before they first hit the page. Their personalities and backgrounds came to me on the fly.
3.     I wrote the first draft of Dearly, Departed in a little over a month. During my most prolific week, I was writing upwards of 10,000 words a day. I have no idea where it all came from. (It took me three months to write the first draft of the upcoming sequel, Dearly, Beloved.)
4.     Most hilarious edit made to date: My first editor was fine with the zombie who carts around his own useless eye, the headless zombie, the jokes about human boxed lunches, the guy with his throat ripped out, and even the zombie/living kiss – but, “Can Bram not be green? Can you make him really pale instead?” I happily obliged.
5.     I’ve watched over 100 zombie movies, read tons of zombie books and comics, run through the Monroeville Mall, cuddled zombie toys, perched on a tombstone in the cemetery where the original Night of the Living Dead was filmed, and even held a real human brain in my hands – but I have never worn zombie makeup.




For more info clicky here

This is Not a Test ~ Courtney Summers

A little larger so you can see
some of the beautiful graphic work

Title: This is Not a Test
Author: Courtney Summers
Publication Date: June 19, 2012
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
326 pages
Review Courtesy of: Publisher via NetGalley

Synopsis from GoodReads:
It’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self. To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up. As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live. But as the days crawl by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways and soon the group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life—and death—inside. When everything is gone, what do you hold on to?





What can be said about Courtney Summers. Except that I will read anything and everything this woman publishes. This is Not a Test is no exception to her superb writing. The story is realistic and gritty, just like life would be.

 Zombies begin to take over your town. You're stranded in a high school with 5 other classmates. How do you think that would go over? Not well? Full of tension? Rampant hormones? Stress? Or is everything all hunky dory?

Tensions mount as one of the classmates is accused of murdering previous group members, and then someone is bitten. What is going to happen now? Meanwhile, Sloane is struggling with her own demons. Such as her sister Lily who abandoned her to their abusive father. Maybe the zombie invasion is just what Sloane needs to finish her original task.

Stylistically the e-book version of the book is stunning. I cannot wait to see what the finished printed product looks like. Blood splatters across the new chapter pages.


I have a love-hate relationship with zombies. I absolutely love zombie movies and books, but they are also the stuff of my nightmares. I don't know why, but I dream about having a zombie fall-out shelter. One of the reasons I loved this book so much is because it sat with me long after I finished it. it haunted me. It still does. Damn ending!

Deadly Cool & Social Suicide ~ Gemma Halliday

Are you looking for a hilariously awesome Nancy Drew-ish book where the girl detective blunders through investigations and somehow comes out on top? If so, you have got to get your hands on these books by Gemma Halliday.

Book the 1st

In the first installment, Deadly Cool, Hartley was just going about her normal school life when she A) found out that her boyfriend was cheating on her with the school's chastity queen and B) discovered the chastity queen's dead body in her boyfriend's closet. And now he wants her to clear his name and find the real murderer. Seriously?

Now Hartley is on the case, with her best friend Sam, and the school newspaper guy, Chase. But every time Hartley gets a lead, the lead goes nowhere or the person ends up dead. Poor Hartley-she keeps finding dead bodies. But, will she be in time to prevent more deaths, possibly including her own?

"You! Stay away from me! You're the angel of death!"
"Relax, X. I'm not armed."
"That's not funny. Because of you, two of my best friends are dead."
"I didn't kill them!"
"Everytime you go near someone, they die. You're cursed."
"Seriously?"
"I'm not dead," Sam pointed out. "And I hang out with Hartley all the time."
X bit her lip, digesting the logic of this statement. "You must be immune or something."


"Killer beware, because Herbert Hoover High has its very own Nancy Drew on the case."
Great. Just what I wanted to be known as.

And one of my other favorites: "Saving the environment is so gross." After Hartley and Sam go grease diving for fuel for Sam's brother's energy efficient car.




Following closely to the same format of Deadly Cool, Social Suicide once again finds Hartley investigating the death of a classmate. This time she is trying to prove she was murdered and not Twittercided. (Yes you read that read that right. As Sam says she was killed while Tweeting. It was twittercide. Totally makes sense!)

Book the 2nd

So now, in addition to proving murder, oh excuse me, Twittercide, Hart also has to expose the cheating scandal ring that is taken over HHH. Will this Nancy Drew be able to expose it all before ending up as the next victim?

And lastly, Chase. Where is their friendship going exactly? After numerous meetings that sound a lot like a date Hart is confused and mad. But being a guy, Chase doesn't see that she is totally crushing on him. Or does he? O.o hmmmm....


And the awesome dialogue and inner dialogue keeps up the awesomeness. 

"The first thing I did was run. Okay, actually the FIRST thing I did was scream, lose my balance, flail my arms in the air like some kind of uncoordinated bird, then slide down the side of the tree and land on my butt. Then I ran."






So yes, you have got to get your hands on both of these books. If you like them, check out Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris. If book cross-overs could happen, we would so need one with Hartley and Kate!

Evil Pixies!

It will soon come as no surprise to you fair readers that I love reading about the fae. Especially the true fae. That is the non-Disney-ish type of faeries. And I extend that out to pixies as well. For example, Holly Black writes a fabulous series of books (Tithe, Valiant, Ironside) where the faeries are evil and mean. I love this. It is the same as Grimm's Fairy Tales. They have been sweetened as years went by. Originally though, they were dark and often had unhappy endings.



The Need Series by Carrie Jones is one of my favorite series. Partially because it has a great mixture of those evil pixies, mythology, shifters, real character voices, and so much more. I adored it from the first, all the way to the end.

Endure picks up where Entice ends. But now things in Bedford are getting a little more dangerous, a little more serious. The pixie threat has gone viral and the town is preparing for a battle. How many lives will be lost? How many saved?

Meanwhile, Zara is still torn between her king, Astley, and Nick. But how you show someone you are still the same person you once were, even though now you can turn blue with sharp teeth?

All this and more will come to a final conclusion in the breath-taking end to the Need series. We've traveled to Valhalla, and now, we enter Hel. Now we follow along with Zara, Astley, Nick, Issie, Devyn, Cassidy, and so many more as they take on Ragnarok.
 
Hold on to your pages readers, Entice is one heck of an awesome ride! And seriously-fan girl moment: HEL!!!!! This is only the second time I've read a representation of Hel! The first was the Everworld series. Jones has done an amazing job incorporating Norse mythology into her series. While I'm glad she is not dragging out the series like some authors do, I am also sad that this is the last of the pixies. 

If you're interested in my reviews for the previous books, hit up my GoodReads account.