Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting

Release Date: February 15, 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 368
Review Source: Library eBook

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)
The missing dead call to Violet. They want to be found.

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.

My Thoughts:
This is another great book by Kimberly Derting, although I didn’t find it as creepy as the first book, unfortunately. It was more obvious, at least to me, who the guilty party was, so it took some of the fun out of the book. However, I still deeply enjoyed reading this book, and I thought the other perspective and how it was framed was very interesting.

Violet and Jay are an amazing couple, probably one of my favourites in new YA books. It’s refreshing to see such chemistry, but also a deeper connection based off of friendship and caring. I really love the romance aspect of these books, especially because that aspect manages to be amazing, even though it isn’t the biggest focus of the story. I thought some of the drama between Jay and Violet in this book was a bit 'whatever' -- there were overreactions on both sides, and characters acting unreasonably. That brought my enjoyment level down a bit, though not to a huge degree.

The FBI angle of this story was pretty darn cool, even though it reminded me of the 1-800-Missing series (Meg Cabot). Either way, it was a new angle for the series, allowing the reader to imagine Violet’s future beyond just this case. It was interesting, too, to wonder about other people are out there with abilities similar to Violet’s. Everyone seems to adore the addition of Rafe into the story, and I did like him well enough, but I just kept imagining what problems he might cause in the future for Violet and Jay -- but hey, maybe Kimberly Derting will surprise me and not go in that direction. It would definitely be refreshing.

Bottom line: if you liked the first book, you’ll definitely enjoy this one as well. Violet’s ability is really a blessing and a curse, and Kimberly Derting has done an amazing job describing the echoes and their effect on Violet. I would highly recommend the first book in this series, and while this one didn’t completely wow me, it was still a great reading experience.

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