Review: Dead Silence by Kimberly Derting

Hello, bookish lovelies! Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Dead Silence by Kimberly Derting, hosted by CBB Book Promotions! I'm a HUGE fan of The Body Finder series, and I'm super excited to share my thoughts with you on the final book!  Plus, there's also a giveaway that you'll want to enter; be sure to check it out! Enjoy!

Title: Dead Silence

Author: Kimberly Derting
Publisher: Harper Collins

Publishing Date: April 16, 2013

Pages/Format: 389, ARC

Violet thought she’d made peace with her unique ability to sense the echoes of the dead and the imprints that cling to their killers…that is until she acquired an imprint of her own. Forced to carry a reminder of the horrible events of her kidnapping, Violet is more determined than ever to lead a normal life. However, the people who run the special investigative team Violet works for have no intention of letting her go.

When someone close to Violet becomes a suspect in a horrific murder, she finds herself pulled into a deadly hunt for a madman with an army of devoted followers. Violet has survived dangerous situations before, but she quickly discovers that protecting those closest to her is far more difficult than protecting herself.

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Initial Reaction of Book in One Word: MOREEE

I've stuck with this series and followed it ever since I read book one, The Body Finder. If you haven't gotten into this series yet, I'd highly recommend doing so. They're about a girl, Violet, who can sense something called echoes, which leads her to a dead body, and imprints, which is like the echo but is on the killer. It's a morbid topic written in a way that's light but still a little dark (in other words, it's not all dark and depressing), has all kinds of mystery and adventure, and a great cast of characters (including some very swoon-worthy boys). Fortunately, all that consistency stayed throughout the series and ended greatly with Dead Silence, the finale to the series.

There's really nothing negative I can say about this book. The writing is simple with nice touches of detail. I wasn't super fond of the ending because (SPOILER) I feel like it left an opening for more books (yay!) but about Chelsea (eh). Here's why I don't like Chelsea: Rafe. I want Rafe to be with Violet. But I want Violet to be with Jay and Jay with Violet. It's a mess, you see. So when there's a possibility for Rafe and Chelsea to be together, I was all NO. But. If Rafe is happy...I guess it's okay. And I'm happy, because I feel like that ending left it wide open for there to be more books. (YAY YAY YAY!)

As I mentioned earlier, I love the characters. Violet Ambrose is a great MC: she's just your average teenager...except that she can sense the dead. It's been great to see her grow and use and accept her ability throughout the series. (And if you read book three, The Last Echo, you know that Violet has an imprint of her own, and if I were her, that would drive me absolutely crazy.) She has a great set of friends, and a best friend/boyfriend who just happens to be one of my favorites: Jay Heaton. He's fantastic: cute, awesome personality, and an amazing boyfriend. (I'd like one of him, please.) Even though I'm all for Violet and Jay, I still really like Rafe. He's the mysterious guy with a bad boy appearance, and I always want more of him. Chelsea is a bit more prominent in Dead Silence (hello, prologue), and it's nice to see more of her: she really is an extremely confident, totally out there person, and she makes a great best friend. Of course, I also love all the other, more minor characters. (And we learn all sorts of things about them in this book.) The other POV in this book--and series--besides Violet is the killer. I always love that and thinks it's interesting, getting to see the world from the murderer's POV. Something about this one was...I don't even know. For a while, he confused me; I couldn't figure out what he was doing. But then I decided the guy was just plain psycho and had waaaaay too much going on in his head. But overall, the characters really helped make this book as amazing as it was.

I like how the story focused on more than just the killings; it focused more on Violet and her life. While there weren't as many Jay and Violet moments (sad face), we get to see more about Violet and how she comes or doesn't come to terms with her ability. Several things play into this, from her grandmother's old diaries (those were kind of neat, especially seeing certain similarities to her situation and Violet's situation) to that stupid therapist she sees (obviously, I don't like him). I did still have a few questions at the end of the book, but overall I got all my answers. Of course, like any good book or series, I just want MORE.

I'm definitely sad to see this series go. (But as I mentioned before, I'm not so sure this is the last we'll see of the characters in this series.) It's a fantastic series to follow along with, full of drama, romance (sa-WOON), thrills, chills, humor, and murder. (Cue thunder and lightning!) Dead Silence ended The Body Finder series quite nicely, and it did not disappoint as a stand alone or as a part of a series. If you're looking for something morbid without feeling like the Grim Reaper is hovering over you, then is something you should totally read. (Gah, I just love these books, and this review insufficiently shows it! Please give me mooore!)

Did I like it? Yes.

Did I love it? Yes!
Would I reread it? Definitely!

Would I purchase it? I buy all of Kim's books; this is the only one I don't have yet!

Would I recommend it? The entire series!

The Author
Kimberly Derting is the author of the BODY FINDER series (HarperCollins) and THE PLEDGE trilogy (Simon & Schuster). She lives in the Seattle area, with her husband and three children, who often find the outrageous things they say either in the pages of her books or posted on Twitter or Facebook for the entire world to see. You can visit her website at www.kimberlyderting.com.

The Giveaway

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