Book Spotlight: The Body Finder

I was actually really excited when I got 'The Body Finder' the title of the book had an almost 'The Bone Collector' appeal to it. The premise of a young girl who could sense dead bodies (specifically) bodies of people who were murdered had a lot of promise. 

But then, unfortunately promises are made to be broken and this promise was broken really bad. 

The book had a great potential to be a real thriller unfortunately it was overshadowed by the nauseating teenage love affair between the young heroine with the gift to sense the dead and her (why of course!)  childhood friend (who else?) 

Perhaps the author, Kimberly Derting was aiming to create a seemingly normal life for Violet - the main character of the story with the gift/curse of sensing murdered souls and being able to detect a unique 'imprint' off the person responsible for their deaths. 

Unfortunately through Derting's efforts of creating a normal 'teenage' life for Violet she just managed to make her social life with friends and school - very mundane and very, very cliche. I mean- seriously - you find yourself in love with your childhood friend- who in the course of the summer has grown into a 'hunk' that every girl in school is now after. I mean really? Seriously? Is this what every teenager goes through? 

What about dealing with more realistic issues like bullying, maybe dealing with a difficult subject or trying to fit in? 

Derting's effort at Violet's circle of 'girl' friends is hilarious if not forgettable as well. The antagonist in the story is also too one-dimensional and did not offer anything for the reader to enjoy if not to think or reflect on. 

Although the book was well written providing well versed descriptions of Violet's sensory perceptions of the dead and a very vivid description of the setting of the story. The book was well written but the topic needed a few weeks or months to go over in order to have come up with a non-too cliche teenager (not-so) thriller. 

I may not have enjoyed the book that much but it could still be a good gift idea to a younger sister or niece who is looking for an easy read. 

There is already a sequel to the Body Finder, I just hope the plot is better written and the characters are more realistic and deal with more realistic conflicts as well.