Review: Shade

Shade (Shade #1) by Jeri Smith-Ready
Release Date ~ May 4, 2010
Simon Pulse ~ Simon & Schuster
ISBN13: 9781416994060
Personally purchased

Goodreads Synopsis:

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.


Shade is one of two YA series that really stands out in my  head after seeing all the enthusiasm from its large and loud fan base (the other being the Soul Screamer's series).

After seeing all the comments and input of people who LOVE the books, and reading nothing but raving reviews for it I decided that this was one book I had to give a shot even if it hadn't initially caught my interest.

1. Death and grief:
   It isn't very many books that kill off one of the main characters in the first few chapters (and no, this isn't a spoiler. It's right in the description). But I, for one, think it's really cool that Logan ends up as a ghost. It definitely makes for a new type of story as Aura tries to deal with her grief, which leads me to my next reason...
2. The Shift & other mythology:
   Maybe I'm just clueless when it comes to ghost mythology, but I simply ADORED the idea of The Shift and how it wasn't just Aura who could see ghosts- but everyone under a certain age.And all of the creativity put into Shades and the ghost world utterly blew me away. It was completely unexpected and so unlike anything else I have EVER read. Standing ovation for Jeri in this category!
3. A love triangle that doesn't overwhelm the story:
   I can't vouch for the other books, although I remain hopeful after all the good reviews. But while there is a teeny bit of a development towards a love triangle, I appreciated the fact that it didn't take over the rest of the story and run the entire book. It also doesn't develop particulary fast, and something that instead takes time and effort making for an excellent YA romance.

I tend to be wary of books in danger of becoming overhyped, but I was happy to see that this one easily lived up to my hopes for it! I can definitely see now why it's so popular, and why there are so many readers out there singing its praises.

My only small complaint was how confusing the world was at the beginning of the story; things really weren't fully explained until later on and it took me a little while to pick up on what The Shift exactly meant and what had occurred. But by the end of the book that had been remedied, and I'm curious to see where it all goes in the next two books.