On with the review.
I won a signed copy of Shade last year from the lovely Dianne Salerni. I didn't read right away, but when I finally did. I was in love. When I heard that this was a trilogy, I did a happy dance. Why? First, here is my review of Shade. Second, I loved Shade. I guess if you read my review you could get that impression. Anyway, I was excited to hear of the second book's release, but a little scared. What if I didn't like it? Sometimes the next book falls short. Well, my friends, no disappointment here. None at all. Let me give you the blurb.
Title: Shift
Author: Jeri Smith-Ready
Pages: 384
Publisher: Simon Pulse
The blurb:
Aura’s life is anything but easy. Her boyfriend, Logan, died, and his slides between ghost and shade have left her reeling. Aura knows he needs her now more than ever. She loves Logan, but she can’t deny her connection with the totally supportive, totally gorgeous Zachary. And she’s not sure that she wants to.
Logan and Zachary will fight to be the one by her side, but Aura needs them both to uncover the mystery of her past—the mystery of the Shift.
As Aura’s search uncovers new truths, she must decide whom to trust with her secrets…and her heart.
The review:
I will make this short because there is not much to say other than I loved this. Yes, I'm gushing. You know how I get with books that I've read in two days, yes two days, because I couldn't put it down. I have to say this has become one of my favorite trilogies, and making Jeri Smith-Ready, one of my favorite authors. I'm not going to comment on how I missed the local book signing. Let's just say, my family owes me big.
Anyway, the pace, characterization, voice, dialogue, plot, all of it, in my mind, was wonderful. Now of course, the formula was right for me: ghosts, romance, love triangle, action, drama, mystery, yeah it's all in there, and let's not not forget, the kind of punky musician, Logan, and, Zachary, the Scottish boy. Hey, don't judge. The characters were so real to me, it reminded me of my high school years, my friends people, I was a good girl. No, I didn't see ghosts so I guess that makes me a Pre-shifter.
The love triangle between Zachary, Aura, and Logan kept my heart pounding, and bouncing back and forth on which one should win. I really couldn't decide.
The whole idea of pre-shifters and post-shifters is fantastic mixed with the mystery of Aura and Zachary's past, couldn't have been planned any better. The whole story plays out beautifully.
Another thing that I really loved is the location where all of this takes place. The main locations--Baltimore and Philadelphia. The author is from these parts and I know every place she describes, so it's fun to see something local written into something paranormal with great detail. Also, some other locations are Ireland and Scotland, places I wish to visit one day.
The end: I'm not going there. You must read it for yourself because, Shine, the final book in the series will be out Summer of 2012. I will definitely be buying a copy of that one.
So, have you read Shift? Let me know what you think?
Have a great day!
