Shift (Shift, #1)

Sep 02, 2012 Nemo (the Moonlight Library) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, mine-mine-mine, 2012-read, candidate, publisher-strange-chemistry

See this review and more on The Moonlight Library!

Shift’s opening pages did not endear itself to me. I read the prologue, which was a huge hypothetical ‘have you ever wondered?’ and frankly said NO, I HAVE NOT. PISS OFF, BOOK. So I put it down for a few weeks. When I picked it up again, the opening chapter was a ‘dream sequence’ – that is, an ‘alternate reality’ presented as fact and designed to entice until it is revealed it is not in fact reality. Our protagonist, Scott, was playing a video ga...more See this review and more on The Moonlight Library!

Shift’s opening pages did not endear itself to me. I read the prologue, which was a huge hypothetical ‘have you ever wondered?’ and frankly said NO, I HAVE NOT. PISS OFF, BOOK. So I put it down for a few weeks. When I picked it up again, the opening chapter was a ‘dream sequence’ – that is, an ‘alternate reality’ presented as fact and designed to entice until it is revealed it is not in fact reality. Our protagonist, Scott, was playing a video game. Gah! It royally pissed me off. So I put the book down for a matter of weeks and resolved not to read it until I could shift the damn thing to an e-reader. (Shift. Get it?)

I am more than happy to yell from the rooftops that this book was way better than it opening pages. Our hero, Scott Tyler, is a Shifter – a person who has the ability to undo past decisions. It’s as if The Butterfly Effect and Jumper had a baby, and that’s the concept of the novel. When Scott discovers later than usual his unusual gift, he makes a terrible error, works hard to correct it, and then decides he needs to trust the strange girl, Aubrey, who Obi-Wan-style explains most things to him, and be trained by the secret government organisation designed to handle Shifters. As the Shifting power generally emerges in young children, Scott has a lot to catch up on.

Once I realised Scott was facing a YA rite of passage – training trials – I assumed this was going to be a boarding-school type novel. Luckily, I was wrong. Scott’s adventures develop both inside and outside of the academy. Once I thought I identified the climax, it just kept going, making the actual event exciting and interesting, if a little confusing and – even in this strange world – unrealistic. The climax was also extraordinarily brief – I wanted to see more of Scott’s struggle, his torment and pain. Instead he seemed to overcome this trial particularly easy and defeat the villain of the novel (which, by the way, I didn’t actually predict).

I loved the fact that this book was set in England (Jeremy Kyle, anyone?), and I loved reading a male point of view. I normally much prefer a female point of view, but Curran pulled off the arrangement convincingly. The romance was secondary to the main action of the plot, and although I’m not privy to the mind of a male I think Curran pulled off Scott’s attraction to Aubrey very well. Curran’s a talented writer with a great imagination and managed to give a common idea her own twist.

An advance reader copy was kindly provided by the publisher.(less)

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May 12, 2012 Syahira Sharif rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: action, alternative-dimension, fantasy, mild-romance, thriller, netgalley

The book surprised me, I rarely read boy’s POV young adult books but this is really not that bad and its way better than a lot of contemporary YA novels that I’ve read these days.

Truthfully, when I saw the description, I was expecting a rip-off version of The Butterfly Effect and Jumper which I didn’t like at all despite one of them became a cult movie and another have Director Nick Fury in it. I was finishing this book before my usual Saturday afternoon’s Fringe and frankly I saw some subtle si...more

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Apr 02, 2013 Carrie Slager rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviews

[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]

I honestly don’t know how this book could have gone wrong, but I just couldn’t get into it. The premise was fascinating and well executed and the plot was reliably fast-paced throughout the entire novel. Shift had the potential to be an absolutely amazing book, but it was the characters that fell flat for me.

Scott is your average YA protagonist: he accidentally stumbles upon his powers, is seen by someone...more

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Sep 16, 2012 Michelle rated it 5 of 5 stars

Scott Taylor is a pretty average teenage, who one evening decides to hang out in the park with the popular kids. He’s persuaded to climb a pylon, and finds himself the falling. The next thing he knows, he’s lying by the fence, and has apparently not tried to climb it at all.

He soon finds out that he is a Shifter – someone who has the ability to change their past decisions, and therefore ‘shift’. Immediately as a reader you start imagining what it would be like with this ability.. every time you...more

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Sep 15, 2012 Liz rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was pleasantly surprised by Shift! I wasn’t sure what to expect when first starting it, and to be honest, I had my reservations. I loved the sound of the premise, but I wasn’t certain if the execution would be good enough to pull the whole thing off (because usually books which involve changing reality can get a little complex and confusing). I can say now that Kim Curran pulled it off.

Scott was our main character, and he was just an ordinary, likeable guy who had no idea about his Shifter pow...more I was pleasantly surprised by Shift! I wasn’t sure what to expect when first starting it, and to be honest, I had my reservations. I loved the sound of the premise, but I wasn’t certain if the execution would be good enough to pull the whole thing off (because usually books which involve changing reality can get a little complex and confusing). I can say now that Kim Curran pulled it off.

Scott was our main character, and he was just an ordinary, likeable guy who had no idea about his Shifter powers until they got him into trouble. I liked Scott a lot, he was funny, cared about his sister and when presented with the opportunity to learn to control his powers, he took it. And who wouldn’t? If you found out you had these life-altering powers, would you just sit back and ignore them? I think not. Scott decided to train with ARES, the government facility in charge of Shifters, despite not knowing a great deal about them (apart from what he’d heard from Aubrey, the girl who told him about his ability – and she didn’t exactly paint a perfect picture of ARES). But in that situation, I think I would have done the same thing (though after finding out what the training actually entailed...perhaps not :P). And when he started training, he made friends with some of the other recruits and worried about them when everything went downhill. He made remarkable progress, and I was very interested in why he seemed to be more powerful than the others. He was much older than the average age when Shifters’ powers manifested, yet he was somehow a lot stronger. The reason for this wasn’t explained, but I think we’ll definitely find out more in the next book, especially after that ending.

Aubrey was an officer at ARES, though she had no great love for it, and was the type of person that was pretty blunt but also thoughtful and intelligent. She had a difficult past and blamed ARES for what had happened and so she didn’t really want Scott to join at first, but she seemed to get along better with him after he did. I liked the scenes the two shared (some were funny but the serious scenes were also very well done and developed the relationship and story nicely) and while I suspect Zac, the leader of a rogue Shifter group, may have had some kind of past with Aubrey, I’m rooting for Scott and Aubrey all the way! For me, while Aubrey started off as kind of mysterious, I think by the end we knew quite a bit more about her. Her life may have been different, but she was still a Shifter, just like Scott, trying to find out what exactly was going on and who was responsible for the terrible things that were happening.

Shift didn’t have the strongest start, for me (as in I wasn’t pulled into the story), but Scott’s first shift was when things started to really intrigue me and get me invested in the story. I kind of guessed who the villain was, but I was still surprised by what was really going on behind the scenes and how Shifters were being used. I really liked most of the characters, including the other ARES recruits, Jake and CP (who was very funny, despite being a minor character), and Cain, the one in charge of training, who was sort of sadistic, yet somehow made me like him anyway! Benjo, the bad guy we meet fairly early on, was...I don’t even have words. The most comical yet horrific sort of bad guy I’ve ever come across. I imagine if I ever met him in real life, I’d shake/tremble with nervous laughter...

Overall, Shift was a very enjoyable read and I’m happy it turned out to be better than I expected. Definitely recommended, especially if you like books about people with strange powers!(less)

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Aug 24, 2012 Alexandria rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Alexandria by: Netgalley

Shelves: netgalley

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I recently read a great bock called Shift by Kim Curran, published by Angry Robot, found via. Netgalley.
Shift is a great book about a boy who finds out he can 'shift', or change his decisions after they've been made. This power runs out or fades around your 20s though, and a group of adolescents are bent on finding a way to keep their powers. Scott Tyler, the main character, makes some accidental Shifts that led to his sister's death and other consequences. Once he manages to put it all right, h...more I recently read a great bock called Shift by Kim Curran, published by Angry Robot, found via. Netgalley.
Shift is a great book about a boy who finds out he can 'shift', or change his decisions after they've been made. This power runs out or fades around your 20s though, and a group of adolescents are bent on finding a way to keep their powers. Scott Tyler, the main character, makes some accidental Shifts that led to his sister's death and other consequences. Once he manages to put it all right, he is nearly killed in a terrorist bombing that comes in a mysterious way, connected with the rebel group searching for the power to keep your shifting power.
My opinion about the book? Very well written. The characters were developed, the imagery was great, and the idea was original and creative. My only qualm about this book is the plot got twisted and confusing near the end. I had to re-read the previous chapters to understand what was going on, but I made sense of it quickly and it's long forgotten. Another thing that bothered me about the book is the end. It seems as if the author got tired of writing and decided to sum it up as quickly as possible. Scott gets some supernatural power that also allows him to control others' decisions as well as his own, so he defeats all the bad guys that way. Not only that, but it isn't explain how, why, or where he gets these powers from. It is only a few pages though, and, though not a good idea, it's well written so I can look over it without to much annoyance. Beside those small little things, I do think this is one of the books I would read again if given the chance because it was imaginative and keep me hooked, unlike some of the books I recently reviewed.

Though it was amazing, the plot line and the ending brought it down some. I still recommend this to anyone who like Sci-Fi or Fantasy.

Age Group: I'd say this book is good for 13+. There wasn't much bad language, though there were some suggestive parts, but nothing more than a suggestion. The reading level was about 10+ in my opinion, but the diction was nice enough to overlook that.
(less)

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Aug 16, 2012 Book Twirps rated it 3 of 5 stars

What would you do if you could jump back in time, or “shift”, and change something you’d done? If you could go back and correct every bad decision, would you?

Sixteen-year-old Scott Tyler recently developed this ability. As would be expected in this scenario, there’s a government agency that wants to help Scott and other shifters control their power and, once they graduate from the special school, employ the shifters to help correct some of the wrongs in the world. But, with every group with good...more What would you do if you could jump back in time, or “shift”, and change something you’d done? If you could go back and correct every bad decision, would you?

Sixteen-year-old Scott Tyler recently developed this ability. As would be expected in this scenario, there’s a government agency that wants to help Scott and other shifters control their power and, once they graduate from the special school, employ the shifters to help correct some of the wrongs in the world. But, with every group with good intentions, there’s always a rogue group who wants these people for their own purposes. But which group is the right group? Will Scott make the right choice, and will his decision help him, and more importantly, will it help save the world?

I’m torn on this one. The premise made it sound like it was right up my alley. I love superheroes, and strange abilities and stories with lots of action. This book has all of that in spades. The villain is creepy, and the action top-notch. That being said, there were a few places where the overall book fell short.

First, the characters didn’t seem to have authentic teen voices. They all seemed (to me at least) to be more like early to mid-twenties, not early to mid-teens. Another issue I had was the pacing. It was fast — Ms. Curran throws you into the story and drags you along with her, leaving you out of breath. This can be great when you have time to catch your breath, but I never felt I was able to. I’m the type of reader that needs to slow down and process what’s going on — and then go again. I felt the quick pace hindered the story a bit. I wanted more of the how and why of shifting. Lastly, the end was only so-so for me. I felt it was rushed and it left me a little underwhelmed, and I still didn’t feel I truly understood the how and why of shifting. With that being said, I felt that Ms. Curran has developed a great sci-fi story, I just wish that it had been fleshed out a little more.

If you are a fan of lots of action, superheroes and a book with a (very) fast pace, strap on your seatbelt and give this one a try. Keep a bottle of water handy, though, and watch out for sharp turns.(less)

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Jun 18, 2012 Dawn Vanniman rated it 3 of 5 stars

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sixteen year old Scott Tyler is a Shifter. He has the ability to undo any decision he's ever made. Shifters come to the attention of a covert government agency that wants to train Shifters to use their powers for the good. Of course, there's also a rebel faction of Shifters.

C'mon, if there's a governmental agency, there HAS to be a rebel faction!

My issues:

Scott and the other teems sound like much older adults, not teens

We nev...more

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Jun 13, 2012 Ellen rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, from-publisher, fictions-contemporary

Shift... the thought of changing realities to make-up for bad choices sounds very appealing. Undo your bad decisions and make a new reality where only good decisions live.

This is the premise of Shift by Kim Curran. She introduces us to Scott Tyler who learns at age 16 he is a shifter. Not knowing what it means or how it will impact his life, he voluntarily enrolls with the government agency to learn about his special gift. What he finds there is not only overwhelming, but also dangerous.

Can he h...more

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May 28, 2012 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: teens and those who like YA sci-fi/fantasy

Shelves: ya-fiction, alternate-reality, contemporary, netgalley, paranormal, sci-fi-fantasy, story-doorway, suspense, setting-doorway, ebooks

Have you ever wished you could go back and make a different decision? Turn left instead of right? Answer the phone instead of letting it go to voicemail? Sixteen-year-old Scott Tyler can--he's a Shifter, with the power to change his reality by deciding to change decisions he's already made. Sometimes that saves his life. Sometimes it kills his sister. And then there are the decisions that lead to meeting a girl named Aubrey...and being hunted by a brain-eating psychopath.

I read an advance copy o...more

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May 14, 2012 Mallory Anne-Marie Forbes rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, YA

Recommended to Mallory Anne-Marie by: NetGalley

Shelves: may-2012-reads

I found this YA novel fascinating, from characterization to plotting, from suspense to quantum mechanics, and the unexpected twists and turns. The premise set forth is intriguing, and is approached in a way that will make it both understandable and appealing to YA-age readers, while at the same time interesting adult readers as well.

It’s not uncommon to be considered a loser in one’s adolescent years; in fact, it occurs far too frequently, to far too many individuals who find themselves putting...more

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May 10, 2012 lafon حمزة نوفل rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Humph! I decided before writing this review that I would read what other goodreads members thought of this book. After doing so, my reaction to this novel is much the same as it was when I just finished it. Basically: "What?! Was that it?! Huh?!"
So Ms. Curran does not mince words, cuts to the chase, doesn't beat around the bush, etc, etc. and gets straight to the story. All in all not a bad idea, but that mentality exists throughout the book leaving one at the end wondering if they just ran head...more

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Jul 13, 2012 Sean Wills rated it 2 of 5 stars

Full review over at the Intergalactic Academy.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a teenage loser meets a hot girl who tells him that he has superpowers, which he then uses to show up the stereotypical high school bullies who heaped clichéd torment after clichéd torment upon him for so many years.

All right, so Shift doesn’t entirely adhere to the above formula (Scott’s superpowers make his life significantly worse after he discovers them, at least in the short term), but it comes close enou...more Full review over at the Intergalactic Academy.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a teenage loser meets a hot girl who tells him that he has superpowers, which he then uses to show up the stereotypical high school bullies who heaped clichéd torment after clichéd torment upon him for so many years.

All right, so Shift doesn’t entirely adhere to the above formula (Scott’s superpowers make his life significantly worse after he discovers them, at least in the short term), but it comes close enough that I found myself rolling my eyes on more than one occasion. I can’t help but feel that ‘loser’ is one of those adjectives that should never be applied to a character, if only because it so often seems to be the only adjectives that comes to mind when you think about that character. I’m hard-pressed to describe Scott in broader terms than that, possibly because seems intent on reinforcing his loser-ness at every opportunity.

Scott’s ‘hot mysterious girl’ is Aubrey Jones, who is also blessed (or cursed) with the ability to alter reality by rewriting her own decisions after the fact. She works for ARES, an organisation that tracks down Shifters and either trains them to use their powers or else locks them up until they inevitably lose the ability to Shift in their late teens or early twenties. She’s imbued with a healthy dose of grittiness, which (thankfully) keeps her out of Manic Pixie Dream Girl territory, but she’s still the kind of character you’ve likely seen a hundred times before: quirky, beautiful, damaged, and inexplicably (not to mention reluctantly) drawn to an everyman hero.

If you’re thinking that you can already guess the kind of direction Shift’s plot is going to go in, then you’d probably be right…assuming you’re currently imagining several completely different plots. The book starts off a bit like that movie The Butterfly Effect, with Scott accidentally altering his own past in such a way that his sister died in a moped accident. He desperately tries to fix it – and then succeeds. Just like that. From there, the plot swings in a different direction, with Scott joining ARES’s ranks as a trainee Shifter. He meets his fellow students and goes to class to learn how to safely alter reality, and the book seems to be coasting along in a relatively predictable direction.

Then it changes completely. Again.

To say that this is jarring would be an understatement. I realize that it sounds as though I’m saying that a book taking its plot in unexpected directions is a bad thing, but that’s not the problem here. Shift doesn’t just change direction; it almost changes genre. There were several times when I had to stop to remind myself how exactly the characters got around to doing whatever it was they were doing in a particular scene, which will kill your involvement with a book faster than anything else. It didn’t help that Scott’s Shifting frequently alters how much different characters know about each other, radically changing their relationships from one moment to the next.

Overall, Shift felt a bit half-backed, which is a shame given the potential in the premise. The book does do some interesting things with the whole concept of Shifting, and the characters are endearingly realistic throughout. I just wish had a better idea of what kind of story it wants to tell.(less)

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May 25, 2012 Vickie Ramage rated it 5 of 5 stars

The start of Shift, the prologue, was pretty gripping, I sneak a look when my ARC arrived and immediately regretted it - I wanted to devour the whole boo there and then! When I did get to the book I wasn't disappointed - the story is thrilling, filled with twists and turns I would never have thought of.

The plot itself reminded me strongly of Thomas Taylor's Haunters, which I read recently. Male POV, gets strange powers that can change history, and those powers disappear when you reach a certain...more

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Jul 24, 2012 Savannah (Books With Bite) rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love these types of books. The chance to change something you want. To change something that went wrong or to makes something happen. Hmm, the things I would change...

Anywho, this book is awesome. The thrill of flashing back and changing things is awesome. Then again the fear of coming back to see if the change is real and how it effected your future is also spine chilling. I was nervous while reading the Scott going back and forth changing things. It's tempting to know you can do it but I am...more

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Apr 20, 2012 Shelley rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Boys, Scifi fans, Girls

Recommended to Shelley by: Netgalley

Strange Chemistry (an imprint of Angry Robot) is continuing their incredible launch with another great book. I read SHIFT by Kim Curran over three nights, and had a hard time putting it down. It's a sci-fi, mind-bendy head trip that keeps your head spinning and your fingers turning the pages from beginning to end.

The pure concept: if you had the ability to have a do-over for any, and every decision you ever made, would you change anything? is intriguing.

I've never really gotten the concept of...more

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May 20, 2012 Jeff James rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: review-copies

Shift is the story of Scott Tyler, a British teenager who accidentally discovers that he has the power to “shift” between possible realities by changing his past decisions. Along with this discovery comes his entry into a secret world of shifters and a dawning understanding of the terrible powers at play in a world where reality can be changed at will.

One on side there is a clandestine government organization called ARES that focuses on training young shifters to use their powers for good, and o...more Shift is the story of Scott Tyler, a British teenager who accidentally discovers that he has the power to “shift” between possible realities by changing his past decisions. Along with this discovery comes his entry into a secret world of shifters and a dawning understanding of the terrible powers at play in a world where reality can be changed at will.

One on side there is a clandestine government organization called ARES that focuses on training young shifters to use their powers for good, and on the other there is a rebel faction of shifters called the SLF, who believe that shifters should be allowed to use their powers without regulation. Scott’s first contact with the world of shifters, Aubrey Jones, is also, conveniently enough, the girl of his dreams. Aubrey is a pixieish blonde with a chip on her shoulder and conflicted loyalties between ARES, who took her away from her family, and SLF, who seem bent on anarchy and destruction for the sake of it. At first it seems like the book might be about a clash between ARES and SLF, but then we meet the true villain, a morbidly fat man wants to eat Scott’s brains.

The villain, Benjo, is easily most original thing Shift has going for it. However, he is so vile and over-the-top that he seems slightly out of place in the story. I actually would have liked the author to delve more deeply into the darkness that might result from people with the power to reset their decisions controlling the world. As it was, the book felt like it flipped back and forth between a fairly by-the-numbers secret world adventure and a squick-inducing serial killer tale.

I did also appreciate that the book retained its inherent Britishness, using uniquely British phrasings and colloquialisms that seemed slightly exotic to this American reader. I suppose it’s possible that when the book is eventually published in America, that regional flavor will be stripped out, but I certainly hope not.

However, my main problem with Shift is that the underground world of the shifters never seems particularly exciting. The scenes in the school for shifters feel fairly dull and a bit cliché when compared to other similar entries in the genre. In fact, the author ends up quickly summarizing Scott’s time at school after a few scenes, and promotes him to junior agent status as if impatient to get past all that training. The end results is that we never really understand why Scott feels an allegiance to ARES, and it seems like he only really dislikes SLF because they’re the snotty popular rebels.

Also, after one of Scott’s early shifts goes terribly wrong, he never really experiences any further consequences from his new-found shifting ability. Although he uses his ability to save himself from death at one point, it never feels like we get to see him exploring his shifting powers. Additionally, the author establishes early on that shifters can only control conscious decisions, so whenever there is a passage where Scott agonizes over a decision, it openly telegraphs that he will need to shift a few pages later, which immediately lowers the stakes. The only real stakes that come into play are when the villain, Benjo, lumbers onto the scene, simply because he is so outrageous that it feels like anything could happen when he is around.

Overall, Shift is a bit of mixed bag. The storyline follows familiar contours, as a “normal” kid discovers that he is actually very special and then proceeds to save the day. The cast of supporting characters are all fairly two-dimensional, and several characters established early on barely get more than a few lines before being shuffled off-stage for the rest of the book.

Although the villain is a uniquely twisted touch in an otherwise familiar-feeling story, he never completely meshes with the rest of book around him, and the end result is a story that only hints at something darker and more compelling.(less)

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Sep 25, 2012 Cheree Smith rated it 4 of 5 stars

Scott was always average, hidden in the crowd, but that was until the day he met Aubrey Jones who tells him he's a Shifter, someone with the ability to alter decisions that they make. Scott thinks this could be a cool power, but soon realises that even the smallest decision can have dire consequences and could even end up hurting the ones closest to him.

In an effort to control these powers and help him understand the effects of each decision altered, he turns to ARES, the government organisatio...more Scott was always average, hidden in the crowd, but that was until the day he met Aubrey Jones who tells him he's a Shifter, someone with the ability to alter decisions that they make. Scott thinks this could be a cool power, but soon realises that even the smallest decision can have dire consequences and could even end up hurting the ones closest to him.

In an effort to control these powers and help him understand the effects of each decision altered, he turns to ARES, the government organisation who regulates all Shifters, but doing so he is also pulled into a battle between the rebel group, the SLF (Shifting Liberation Front) and trying to hide from a rather grotesque villain who is out to kill him. Scott has to decide who to trust, especially when everyone around him can manipulate the world the way they want it to be.

I was hanging out for Shift's release ever since I heard about the opening of the print Strange Chemistry, and I was not disappointed. Scott is an average teenager in the nicest sense. He is not perfect and he knows it, his family is not perfect and even though he would like it if they were a little less dysfunctional, he would not give them up, and this is what makes his a well-rounded and likable character. Scott isn't the only interesting character in this book, it is full of interesting and unique characters from the mysterious Aubrey who gets Scott involved with ARES to the young members who are training at ARES, even all the adults have fleshed out characters and hidden agendas that adds to the twists and turns of the story.

Kim Curran has written an intriguing debut that captures the reader's attention from the premise and keeps a hold. Who wouldn't want the power to alter any mistake they have ever made? Or know what path each decision will lead them down? It's not just the premise that's interesting, there are plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing what's going to happen next. There was only one part of the book that felt a bit muddled, and that was trying to figure out where all the story lines of ARES, SLF and the grotesque baddie all fit together because at parts it felt as if the stories were separate and had no connections to the main storyline, but everything all came together in one finale which felt like a roller coaster of emotions. I would recommend Shift for any lover of superheroes and mysteries, or anyone who has ever faced a decision that they wished they could undo. If this is what Strange Chemistry can deliver, I'm looking forward to reading the next releases.(less)

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May 10, 2012 Stephen West rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a book which fans of Department 19 are going to like a lot. Not that it has any vampires, I hasten to add. But it has a very similar feel to Will Hill's tales of a young man drafted into a shadowy organisation, not least because both have a strong sense of place in contemporary England. The central idea, that some young people have the ability to change past decisions and re-shape reality, is very clever, and there are some genius touches, like the fact that the power to Shift doesn't la...more

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Oct 01, 2012 Adam Smith rated it 5 of 5 stars

Forks in the road; if you go left you'll find yourself in one place, and if you go right you wind up somewhere completely different. Whichever road you take that's the road you're stuck on, only, what if that wasn't the case? What if you had the power to change the decision that you made? What if you could change any decision you've ever made? Would you do it?

Scott was an average mediocre teen until the night he discovered he had the power to Shift; to change the outcome of any decision he's eve...more

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Sep 14, 2012 Leo Elijah Cristea rated it 5 of 5 stars

When I pre-ordered Shift, by Kim Curran, a mere handful of weeks before its release, I did so on a bit of a whim—it was another Strange Chemistry title and being so enamoured with the idea of the imprint and eagerly awaiting the eventual releases of Laura Lam’s Pantomime and Cassandra Rose Clarke’s The Assassin’s Curse, I hopped on the bandwagon and despite not being totally sold on Shift, ordered it anyway.

It’s not my usual thing: I like my sci-fi in some far-flung galaxy, or on the far reaches...more

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Jul 29, 2012 Ryan Lawler rated it 4 of 5 stars

Reality bending novels, when done right, are pretty cool. I like exploring concepts like time travel, alternate realities, and the butterfly effect, so picking up a book like Shift by Kim Curran was definitely a no brainer for me. Curran takes these concepts and gives them the thriller treatment - I think you can best describe the whole story of Shift as one fast paced, easy to read, action sequence.

The premise sounds simple - What if you could change any decision in your life? What if you chos...more Reality bending novels, when done right, are pretty cool. I like exploring concepts like time travel, alternate realities, and the butterfly effect, so picking up a book like Shift by Kim Curran was definitely a no brainer for me. Curran takes these concepts and gives them the thriller treatment - I think you can best describe the whole story of Shift as one fast paced, easy to read, action sequence.

The premise sounds simple - What if you could change any decision in your life? What if you chose left instead of right? What if you chose to ride your scooter instead of walk? What if you could Shift the fabric of reality until you make a decision that has the most desirable outcome?

A simple premise in concept, but one that you have to immediately start applying limitations to if you want to create a world that resembles our world in any way, shape or form. This is where the complexity comes into Shift, and why it works better targeted at the Young Adult crowd. My analytical brain can't stop probing the boundaries and limitations that have been set to keep this very powerful magic system in check, and on the whole not only do these limitations hold up under scrutiny but they are also used to establish some cool plot points.

The plot moves pretty fast, jumping from scene to scene, and keeping you on your toes the whole time by always introducing something new - new characters, new ways to use your powers, new limitations, new information about the world, etc. Also, each time a "big" shift is performed on a decision that happened a while ago, the whole fabric of reality rewrites itself so you are again kept on your toes as you come up to speed with all the new events that have taken place. This style of writing really pulled me through the story, but it also meant that I was given a lot of breadth of information with very little depth of information. This was a problem for me because a lot of the events in the story just seemed to happen, and while they all probably make sense if you have the right knowledge and context, the lack of information made a few of these events seem unlikely, inconsistent, or illogical.

When it comes to the characters, things play out similar to the plot in that there is a good breadth of characters, but with the except of the main character Scott Tyler, you never get to see much depth to these characters. This is slightly symptomatic of telling a story from the first person perspective, but there are a few authors out there now showing that is possible to explore the depth of support characters despite being limited to the main character's POV. For me this was a source of frustration because I can clearly see that there is a lot of depth to all of the characters in this book, but the pace of the story and the less than inquisitive nature of the main character Scott doesn't allow you explore that depth. That said, you do get to explore a lot of Scott's character in depth, a guy who at first glance is the snarky Peter Parker type of protagonist, but who has plenty of his own personality quirks and unique ways of assessing and dealing with situations. He is a reasonably straight forward type of character, quick to learn, fast to adapt, and his personality suits the pace of this story perfectly.

I had fun reading this book, and no doubt had I been ten years younger I would have thought this book was amazing. It does a lot of things right, putting interesting characters in difficult situations and forcing them to overcome the odds through proficient use of a complex magic system. But for me, as an adult reading a Young Adult novel, it was just lacking that special something that would have taken this from a good book to a great book. This not quite a four star book, but it is much better than a three star book, hence the rating.

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Jun 07, 2012 Nicki Markus rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was an interesting read - a kind of time travel meets Jumper story.

There were two things in particular that I enjoyed about this book. First, was the fact it contained some great action sequences that really gripped me and kept me turning the pages. Secondly, I was impressed by the fact the author didn't feel the need to make the protagonist too much of a goody-two-shoes. Sure, he acts heroically at times, but he also sulks, and throws up when faced with violence. It made him much more beli...more

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May 19, 2012 Jason Fischer rated it 4 of 5 stars

In the best traditions of YA fiction, a boy who is average in every other way discovers a secret society, of young men and women with the ability to alter outcomes - the Shifters. Scott Tyler is teamed up with the mysterious Aubrey Jones, to investigate a series of crimes that could change everything...

Admittedly, this book has a clumsy opening, but soon makes up for this by the end of the first act. At that point "Shift" honestly becomes a page-turner. Curran maintains an excellent pace, and th...more

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May 22, 2012 Rebecca McKinnon rated it 4 of 5 stars

What a great book! Since most of the books I've read recently have been from a girl's point of view, this made a nice change. Scott is a wonderful character, and the plot is fun and fast-paced.

I do have to say that the blurb led me to expect something a little different than what I got. Which is fine, it doesn't really bother me, but I know some readers get annoyed by that.

There was one point where I didn't want to keep reading, but only one. And once I made it past a single page, that feeling w...more

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Mar 21, 2013 Bruce rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: this-one-needs-work

Overall, I was left uninspired by this story. I liked the premise, but things got so bogged down (almost immediately), that I found myself reading it only every few days. And only small bits. So much back story, so much of nothing happening. It really doesn't take a lot of thought power to understand what is going on when that is (finally) presented.

And then the end, I thought, was totally contrived. Suddenly this new thing about Scott, comes out of the blue, and Ta-Da! problems are all solved....more

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May 18, 2012 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Better than expected! Didn't start out too well, but definitely redeemed itself.

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Nov 20, 2012 Tim rated it 5 of 5 stars

When I first picked up Shift it immediately caught my attention. The power to undo any decision you ever made? Sounds like a great deal to me. Though I had picked the book out of curiosity, I ended up with a book that completely blew my mind in a great way.
The author was able to blend in a personal background, a sort of conspiracy twist, and a great deal of action, in a way which I feel could intrigue any teenager. Overall this author seems to have a bright future ahead of her if her first boo...more

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May 14, 2012 Mitchii rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-or-galley, young-adult, science-fiction, 2012-reads, action-adventure, fantasy, stand-alone

3.5/5

I thought of Tempest when I first saw this book. And let’s just say I have slight penchant to books told from guy’s pov. Besides, the idea of undoing a decision sounds very unique—no, awesome to me. So I requested this book preparing myself to the awesomeness.

Or so I thought.

It was good, but it’s not remarkable. I think what lured readers like me was the concept of ‘shifting.’ I have read time-traveling books but this was my first to have read a character that can ‘shift (undo decisions he...more 3.5/5

I thought of Tempest when I first saw this book. And let’s just say I have slight penchant to books told from guy’s pov. Besides, the idea of undoing a decision sounds very unique—no, awesome to me. So I requested this book preparing myself to the awesomeness.

Or so I thought.

It was good, but it’s not remarkable. I think what lured readers like me was the concept of ‘shifting.’ I have read time-traveling books but this was my first to have read a character that can ‘shift (undo decisions he made).’ I thought once he found out what he is, and the relevance of what he can do, the adrenalin will rush in. But I didn’t get that jumpy feeling. I liked boy’s pov (in this kind of book) for the very reason of getting action-packed, the adventure-like feeling. It’s just a bonus if there’s romance too. But I was disappointed that I didn’t get that. Unlike others I was more interested at the beginning but it dragged as I continue on.

I’m not sure if there’s a sequel but for me, it felt complete (which is nice, actually). What I liked about it was there were several mini arcs. From Scott knowing his ability, the training, the investigation about the deaths then Project Ganymede and lastly the ending. Plus point that I didn’t suspect the real antagonist, so that was a nice twist. Anyway, I liked each arcs felt resolved. The reason why I liked the beginning (and bit of the training) was because I was really interested with his shifting. I got to know how it affects others, or the events/future, and the shifter’s decisions are the only decision he can undo. It has a shounen manga atmosphere when Scott was on his training and there were two guys fighting (training) in a speed-of-light-like since they were undoing their decisions—their moves. It was cool. Other than that, the rest were pretty average.

Scott was a nice protagonist. Maybe I was expecting him to be fun, hilarious a la Percy Jackson since I kinda sensed the trait when I read the prologue. But unfortunately he’s not. Although that said, I liked that I saw his character matured. While Aubrey is a great example of my peeves. I hate it when kids act like old person (adult) but failed to deliver. It was unbelievable; with the smoking, tough chick act/speaking. It was forced, fake. I did predict that she might be Scott’s ‘apple of the eye’ and needless to say I was right. But it just happened. They kissed, and I was like, ‘WHAT?!’ I didn’t see any romantic vibes between them (if there were it’s so not evident) so I find that out there. Oh, well…

While it felt short to my expectations I still enjoyed it. Aside from the impressive concept, everything was pretty mundane to me.

**Thanks Netgalley and Strange Chemistry for the eARC.**(less)

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Aug 24, 2012 Mieneke rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, science-fiction, young-adult

Shift is one of the launch titles for the new YA imprint for Angry Robot, Strange Chemistry. So this is a double debut, not just for the author, Kim Curran, but for the imprint as well. So there's a lot of pressure for Shift, and its launch sister, Blackwood, to do well, both for their authors and the publisher. And as far as Shift is concerned – I haven't read Blackwood yet, look for a review of that one in a week or two – it bears up under that pressure beautifully.

The premise of Shift is very...more

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