Wendy Review #1

SHADE
By: Jeri Smith-Ready

Review by: Wendy

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.

Review:

Aura is a sixteen year old “post-shifter”. Post-shifters are all kids born after December twenty-first at three fifty a.m., which happens to be the exact time of Aura’s birth. Everyone born after this time, has the ability to see, hear, and speak to ghosts. Aura is after the answers to why the “Shift” happened and how she can undo it. She is tired of being harassed by ghosts everywhere she goes, in her job, at school, and at the mall. She just wants to find peace for her and all the other kids around her.

Logan is Aura’s Irish punk rock boyfriend, who is on the brink of stardom. Aura fears that she is going to lose Logan to his desire to be a star, and to the inevitable flock of groupies to follow. Logan loves Aura and will do anything for her and doesn’t think fame will change him.

After the successful concert and After Party/Logan’s Birthday party, Aura decides this is going to be the night she gives herself to Logan. Logan, however blows it by getting wasted at the party, and after being unable to “Rise” to the occasion, makes a fateful decision to try to salvage the night. After Logan’s poor choice, he accidentally kills himself, and now Aura can see his ghost. The thing she wanted to get rid of is now the one thing she doesn’t want to give up, because having him partly there is better than not having him at all.

Zachary is the Scottish exchange student that comes into Aura’s life as it is falling apart. Zachary is a “Pre-shifter”. He was born exactly one minute before the shift, and is unable to see the ghosts around him. Zackary becomes an outside support system that was not part of her life with Logan and she can escape with.

This is an emotionally charged book that is hauntingly beautiful. Do you let go or hang on with everything you have. How do you move on with your life when your soul mate is no longer with the living. This was a read that I stumbled upon and I am so glad I did. It gets a solid 4 stars from me and it doesn’t matter how many times I read it, I still cry.