Book Review: Shade

Title: Shade

Author: Jeri Smith-Ready

Genre: YA paranormal/fantasy

Publisher: 2010 Simon Pulse

Format: Print and Ebook

 

Synopsis (courtesy of GoodReads)

Love ties them together. Death can’t tear them apart.

Best. Birthday. Ever. At least, it was supposed to be. With Logan’s band playing a critical gig and Aura’s plans for an intimate after-party, Aura knows it will be the most memorable night of her boyfriend’s life. She never thought it would be his last.

Logan’s sudden death leaves Aura devastated. He’s gone.

Well, sort of.

Like everyone born after the Shift, Aura can see and hear ghosts. This mysterious ability has always been annoying, and Aura had wanted nothing more than to figure out why the Shift happened so she can undo it. But not with Logan’s violet-hued spirit still hanging around. Because dead Logan is almost as real as ever. “Almost.”

It doesn’t help that Aura’s new friend Zachary is so understanding–and so very alive. His support means more to Aura than she cares to admit.

As Aura’s relationships with the dead and the living grow ever complicated, so do her feelings for Logan and Zachary. Each holds a piece of Aura’s heart…and clues to the secret of the Shift.

 

My review (Courtesy of me)

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up this book, it isn’t like anything I have read before. The idea of people being able to see spirits all the time is interesting and it isn’t technically a new idea but the way this book presents it, it is new. In this book everyone born after the Shift can see ghosts. Everyone born before it cannot. I thought a lot when I was reading about which side I would want to be on. I still don’t think I made up my mind on that one.

Aura is a girl who can see the ghosts. And she doesn’t really like it. So, she wants to figure out what caused the Shift and undo it so she can live her life ghost free. But then her boyfriend dies… and his ghost starts hanging around… and things get confusing.

This book surprised me in many ways. I was surprised because the story line is very unique and I was surprised by the things that this book talked about. I mean a boy dies… which is very devastating to everyone involved but the way he dies is also very devastating. Drugs. He had too much to drink and then added drugs on top of it. And why was he taking drugs? To stay awake long enough to have sex with his girlfriend for the first time. I was a little shocked that this book is considered young adult. Not that I think it isn’t appropriate because it is but maybe for an older YA audience.

I thought Aura was a well written character. She grieved in a real way for her lost boyfriend. She was hurt and confused at times, angry at others and that made this book very real. At times, I really felt for her because of everything she had to go through and sometimes I felt sad and the useless loss of her boyfriend’s life. This book is a good lesson at how drugs and alcohol can effect someone’s life for the worse.

This book seemed dark to me and sometimes as I was reading it I felt sad, but it was still a good read. I finished the book and it kept me turning the pages til the last one. I thought the plot was well thought out and that the book set up the next book in the series really well. I am interested to see what happens with Aura, her ghostly boyfriend Lucas and the real living boy, Zachary, who is connected to Aura in ways we are just beginning to understand. (Love his accent by the way!)

I would recommend this if you like ghost books, edgier topics and darker reads.

So there you have it. My opinion.