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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thrilling and romantic, May 2, 2010
Aura is a part of the first generation born after the Shift, which gave everyone born into the world the ability to see and speak with ghosts. She's never liked her ability, but can't deny being curious about what caused the Shift to occur, and harbors hopes that one day it can be undone. But when her boyfriend Logan dies unexpectedly and Aura is beside herself. Her ability is the only thing that gives her comfort, and allows her to still communicate with Logan. Then she meets Zachary, a mysterious boy with more than a few secrets that Aura is dying to know about, and together they find that their pasts have far too many common factors to be written off as coincidence...bringing Aura closer than she can imagine to the truth about the Shift.
Shade is an unconventional and tension-filled read. Smith-Ready's fascinating world in which everyone under the age of seventeen can see and hear ghosts will draw readers in, and Aura's strong voice and her conflicting feelings over Logan and Zachary will have them falling in love with Shade. The concept of the Shift is inventive and perhaps the most appealing aspect of the book, though Aura's personable and realistic voice is very well written, from her anguish over Logan's death and her intense curiosity over the truth about the Shift to her growing feelings for Zachary. Smith-Ready steadily builds suspense throughout the book as Zachary and Aura search for answers and confront the obstacles that stand in their way. However, partway through the book, it feels as if the momentum of their search is thrown off track as Aura becomes involved in finding a way to help Logan move on to the afterlife. This detour is not completely unwelcome though; plenty of romantic tension is built, Aura must face some tough decisions, and evens appear to develop some interesting new abilities in her pursuit to keep Logan from turning shade.
Shade has a very open ending that demands a sequel, in which we hopefully will learn more about Aura's past, the specifics of turning "shade", and how she and Zachary and Logan are involved in the Shift. Shade is a smart, and even at times philosophical, paranormal read that is as thrilling as it is romantic.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The book has a sort of unfinished feeling and lacks the fullness/richness of the author's other novels., June 7, 2010
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Shade is an unusual YA paranormal. I liked the ideas the author introduced and found the ghosts interesting. However, the story seemed to move in slow motion and the author didn't seem to clearly define the background of the story from the beginning so I didn't really understand what I felt were essential facts/history to understanding the characters and the story until 2/3 through the book.
Shade is about Aura, a young girl who was born post Shift. Which means she can see ghosts. These post Shift children are valued and the government is trying to recruit them. However it is annoying for more post-shifter born because who wants to have ghosts always bothering them? Plus the bad thing is that the ghosts can go bad and cecome dangerous and unstable shades. But tragedy soon occurs to Aura's rocker boyfriend, Logan. Logan ODs on cocaine and becomes a ghost. He visits her at night and Aura doesn't want him to leave her but if her doesn't' he is in danger of becoming a shade. If this happens he has no hope of going to heaven and finding peace. Plus his family wants him to stay to testify as a ghost because they want to sue the record company for his death. Aura loves Logan but feels guilty because she is becoming attracted to her new partner at school, Zachary.
This was an intriguing book. I liked the ideas behind the book but I felt generally unsatisfied like someone offered me a cake but wouldn't let me have the entire piece. I think it would have been nice to have an explanatory introduction or prologue in the beginning of the story about the Shift. What exactly a Shade was and what the Shift was exactly never seemed really clearly defined. I understand the author wanting to keep secrets for next book but it made this book really vague feeling. And the ending was pretty unresolved. I have read this author's books before and she excels at writing characters you care for and 'get inside their heads' but in this case I felt the character weren't as likeable or as interesting and I was disappointed. This felt like a very light version of her prior books I don't know if this is because it is meant for the YA audience but I was sort of let down.
The book has a sort of unfinished feeling and lacks the fullness/richness of the author's other novels.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
a character driven ghost story with emotional resonance and bittersweet romance, May 19, 2010
Review courtesy of [...]
SHADE is a character driven ghost story with all the emotional resonance and bittersweet romance to make this impressive YA debut a must read for book lovers of all ages.
Author words:
16-year-old Aura can see ghosts. Then again, so can everyone around the world who was born after her. In fact, they have a word for the moment of her birth: the Shift. Aura suspects that the Shift might be connected to her missing mystery dad and an event that happened at Newgrange tomb in Ireland a year before her birth. Ghosts can be annoying at their best. At their worst, as dark, powerful "shades," they can be deadly. So Aura's major goal in life is to undo the Shift and make the ghosts go away. And then, her boyfriend dies and becomes a ghost. -Jeri Smith-Ready
In a lot of ways SHADE feels like two separate yet complimentary stories. The first is about Aura and her tragic love story with her long time love Logan both before and after his death. How can she love a ghost when he will never change, never touch, and never let her go? But how can she let him go, when she knows that doing so could destroy him?
The second story is about Aura, Scottish exchange student Zachary and their dangerous quest to unravel the mystery of the Shift before the authorities can stop them. The two stories are woven together and will be sure to keep you turning pages long into the night. And I can already see the Team Logan/Team Zachary feud beginning.
SHADE has managed to tell a heart achingly beautiful story. The supernatural elements are incorporated so fluidly that it was easy to forget that we don't all live in the post Shift world with Aura. The sequel, Shift, will be released May 2011. I cannot wait!
YA Warning: Pervasive profanity. Pervasive alcohol consumption. Drug abuse. Drug overdose.
Sexual Content: (YA titles receive a more thorough breakdown) Kissing. References to sex. Scene of sensuality. Mutual masturbation.
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