Review: Shade by Jeri Ready-Smith
review by Stacey ONeale
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.
Available on Amazon.com: Shade (Shade, Book 1)
Stacey's Review:
This one really had me twisted because there are some things I really loved and others I wasn't crazy about.
I loved the premise and the location. I'm from Maryland so it was fun to read a book with settings that I recognized. I thought the concept of the "shift" was really creative. The idea that everyone of a certain age could see ghosts and help them move on or be tortured by the ones who turned "shade". Also, the fact that the government would create a department to capture the shades seemed realistic. In terms of the characters, I thought that Aura was dead on as a teenager who didn't want to be bothered with the ghosts. The fact that they scared her as a child made it easy to understand why she hated her ability. Plus, being pressured to join the government agency is no fun either. I fell for Zachary almost as soon as he was introduced. Who wouldn't fall for a Scottish accent? Plus, his background and role in the novel is really cool. Honestly, I probably would've given this a higher rating if he was in more scenes.
I wish Jeri Ready-Smith would've spent more time on the "shift". That was clearly the most interesting aspect of the book, but she glazed over it in areas where I would've liked to have learned more. My other issues had to do with the characters. For one, I thought there were too many. Because of that, most weren't that developed. They sort of played their role in the story, but didn't feel well-rounded. The one I liked the least was Logan which is a shame because he played a major part in the story. Logan was introduced as a selfish, heavy drinker and drug user then died quickly. I couldn't understand why Aura was so interested in him. I think the author should've spent more time showing his positives before she killed him off. The parents and guardians in the story also bothered me. Logan died of a drug and alcohol overdose yet none of the parents ever addressed the kids on the issue that seemed blatantly obvious to me.
Overall, I think it's a good read for the older teen market. Some issues that might concern parents are the drug use, drinking, and masturbation. I'd say this is a solid 3.5 out of 5 stars.
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Stacey O'Neale is a full-time writer and co-owner of the Young Adult Fantasy Guide . She's had several articles and book reviews published, but spends most of her writing time on the revisions to her debut young adult fantasy novel. You can read her advice for aspiring writers on her blog The YA Fantasy Freak or you can follow her on Twitter .
