Shade

 

Author: Jeri-Smith Ready

Published May 4th 2010 by Simon Pulse

ISBN 1416994068 (ISBN13: 9781416994060)

Available Format : Hardcover, Paperback, E-Book

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.Amazing, Marvelous, engaging, captivating, that's a hell of lot of adjectives for one book!

This book is totally un-put-down-able! I loved every second of the time I was reading it. What was introduced in this book was unique and fresh, some 'concepts' that I had never come across in the hundreds of books I've read in my life. Although the writing could be a little odd, but the plot is an A++. Aura (ooh, sounds ominous….) is the protagonist in the story, who was the First born of the Shifters and could see, well, dead people – let me correct myself – souls of dead peoples. Despite the 'gift' she was born with, she hated it because the spirits bugged her. You know how ghosts are with their "unfinished business" and "the inability to pass over". She is head over heels in love with Logan, her rocker boyfriend, who in return is also extremely in love with her too; they were a match made in heaven. But, just when they were about to do 'it', Logan died. What the heck?

But, the ability to see ghosts might be a gift after all because Aura had took advantage of that to actually 'see' Logan again, although he was all…urm….violet. Still, Logan's Ghost is better than no Logan at all. I was particularly devastated at how Aura handled Logan's death, she blamed herself because she thought it was her fault. You'll understand when you read the book.

Anyway, after Logan's death (before she met his ghost), swept in Mr. Transferred student from Scotland, Zachary. He was dreamy and I really liked him *sigh*. He became her study partner, and they were assigned to go out for star gazing.

Okay, now let's skip to the part where Zachary started to fall in love with Aura, and Aura was feeling very insecure and missing Logan's real touch. That was an emotional turmoil for me because I read how Aura started to let go of Logan and try to move on by liking Zachary. I cried, honestly, when Aura told Logan that they should end things. That seemed so final. Throughout the book I had utterly no idea who Aura is going to end up with, for all I know, she could stick with Logan, or she could go on with Zachary, both are really good choices! To make things even harder, I love both of them, and I would never, ever dreamed of a bad ending for them. Logan is a bad boy, but completely sweet and loving. Zachary is a very nice guy and very very heroic. So you surely could understand the attraction I had towards them – two different poles. Pardon the chemistry analogy (or was it Physics?)

But, then, some things happened which caused Logan to turn into a different sort of soul, and it's up to Aura to 'save' him. Now, Shade left us with a huge question mark, one which I still bear even now. I love cliffhangers and hate it at the same time (something about me, I love to contradict myself). I love it because it pumps me up for the next book; I hate it because I can't wait for the next book. So would I get the sequel? Hell yeah!

I'm not going to leak any spoilers so I'm going to end this note with my thoughts. If you decided to check Shade out, be sure to clear out your schedule and just sit back and turn into a shade yourself for the next few hours.

Natasha Anne