Shade by Jeri Smith – Ready (Shade #1)
YA Paranormal
May 4, 2010
Hardcover, 320 Page
Simon Pulse

Reviewed by Mandi

Favorite Quote: (from Scottish Zachary) “The pieces of you are complete shite today, the bloated eyelids and splotchy skin and your hair all” – he waved his hand – “you know, and all together you should look pure hackit, but somehow you’re more bonnie than ever.”

Sixteen year old Aura has lived her entire life able to see and communicate with ghosts. It just so happens that when “The Shift” occurred sixteen years ago (an event that is still unexplained), she was the first one born with this ability. Every person born after her has also been gifted with the ability to see ghosts, who present themselves in a striking violet color. She, along with everyone else her age or younger has learned that if they want to ignore the ghosts, they either have to wear the color red or enter a blackbox room, or a room with obsidian in it. Ghosts are not necessarily evil, but they can be tiresome in their nagging and if they become evil and turn into a shade, bad things can definitely happen.

Aura thinks she has her whole life figured out until her rock n’ roll boyfriend overdoses, and turns into a ghost. While she still loves him, she knows he will probably reach a point where he will want to move onto the ever after, which means she will eventually have to move on too. To complicate things, the sexy, and scottish Zachary has moved into town, and moved into Aura’s life. Together, they start working on a high school science project and a attraction develops.

In a nut shell, the beginning of Shade was a little slow, but the ending had me turning the pages as fast as I could. Aura is a typical sixteen year old, nervous about having sex for the first time, and totally in love with her hip, very talented rock star boyfriend. But when he turns into a ghost, her life turns upside down.  Because she makes the cut-off with The Shift, she is still able to see him as a ghost (unlike his parents or anyone older than Aura). This presents many complications – Aura can still “hang out” with him, yet we get the heartbreaking revelation from his parents who rely on these teenagers to relay messages to him. It presents an eerie tone to the after life which added a lot to the book.

After Logan dies, and he is a ghost, I wanted more drama or conflict over his death. Everything that happened was expected. BUT – the second half of the book throws the reader many twists, I couldn’t put the book down.  I really enjoyed the path Jeri Smith-Ready takes and was impressed by the twists she gives us. I don’t want to spoil so I can’t go into specifics, but the love triangle between Aura, Logan, and Zachary is set up really well, and the obstacles that rain down upon all three of them made for a great story. This book really turns into a refreshing paranormal tale.

So am I looking forward to the second book?  YES. After a little bit of a slow start, Jeri Smith-Ready left me with a book that I can’t stop thinking about.

Rating: 4/5

Recent Reviews:
The Book Smugglers – 8/10
Pure Imagination – 5/5
Paranormal Haven – 3.5/5

This series includes:
Shade
Shift – 5/3/11

Author’s Website.