Shift Review

Shift (Shade #2) - Jeri Smith-Ready

*May 3rd, 2011 Simon Pulse

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.

Shift is a worthy follow-up to Shade (review here). The sequel hits just the right tone of continuing the story without too much rehashing of events. A lot of the positive comments I made regarding Shade still apply here - the originality, the charisma, the likeable characters.

Smith-Ready's characters aren't always prim and proper - Aura, Zachary, Logan and the crew get mad. They show emotion. They say harsh things, lash out and act less than perfect at times. And that's what makes them so much more real.

The mystery surrounding the Shift is explored further in this installment, and explored well! Shift has great pacing, an intriguing plot, action, romance... Like Shade, it has a little bit of something for everyone. A great progression for a great YA trilogy.

Goodreads | IndieBound | Jeri Smith-Ready 

Top 10 of 2010

2010 has been an amazing year of YA books, so what better way to celebrate '10 than by compiling a list of 10 top reads? Now, to be fair, I do have to add the disclaimer that the following list is comprised only of books published this past year that I've read. Doubtless there're numerous other great books out there (many of which I've been meaning to read, but haven't gotten around to yet) that aren't included. But anyway, without further ado, let's start the countdown:

Let's go in reverse order: the nineth and tenth spots go to Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken (March 23rd, 2010 EgmontUSA) and Epitaph Road by David Patneaude (March 23rd, 2010 EgmontUSA), respectively. Brightly Woven had some really cool concepts and drew me back into the realm of fantasy. Epitaph Road was a very interesting take on a possible dystopian future of gender power reversal. Both are definitely very well worth reading!

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Seventh and eighth go to Daisy Whitney's The Mockingbirds (November 2nd, 2010 Little Brown) and Elizabeth Scott's The Unwritten Rule (March 16th, 2010 Simon Pulse), respectively. Both of these are contemporary YA novels that were well-written with realistic characters and credible plot lines.

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For fifth and sixth we have Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (March 2nd, 2010 Harper Collins) and All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab (January 12th, 2010 Delacorte). How could I not include these two? Both are contemporaries (although Before I Fall also has paranormal facets) that deal with mortality and the aftermath. Both are beautifully written and quite thought-provoking.

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Next we have The Duff by Kody Keplinger (September 7th, 2010 Poppy/Little Brown) and Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready (May 4th, 2010 Simon Pulse). The Duff by teen author Kody is a funny and endearing contemporary novel with a very real, in-your-face attitude. Basically, it's a pretty badass read. Shade explores some very interesting concepts and creates an intriguing paranormal world very much like our own, yet quite different.

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My top two picks for 2010 probably really won't come as a surprise. We have Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien (March 30th, 2010 Roaring Brook Press) and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (August 24th, 2010 Scholastic). Mockingjay... well, it's Mockingjay. Enough said. Birthmarked - well, we all know I've been gushing about this one a ton lately. It's dystopian (love!) and it's got great characters, a strong female protag, a juicy love interest, and a fast-paced, action-packed, exciting plot line. It's also great that there's more of a science element (hence science fiction, right?) in this one than some of its colleagues. There's something more educated about the writing, which is also great. Plus it was a ton of fun to interview Caragh earlier this year as well.

And there we have it - a spotlight on some of the best YA books of the year. What made the cut for your list this year?

Shade Review

Shade - Jeri Smith-Ready
*May 4th, 2010 SimonPulse

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.

One of the key qualities that makes a book likable is charisma. Well, I'm pleased to report that Jeri Smith-Ready's Shade is chock-full of that extra zing. In my review of Birthmarked, I mentioned the section of shelf space where I keep hardcover copies of all my favourite books. Shade will be joining their ranks - and considering the meager population there, that's pretty high praise.

Basically, Shade possesses many of the integral components of a successful novel - and not only are the categories hit, they are excelled at. Let's start off with the concept. Smith-Ready really seems to be onto something new and spunky here. Nearly two decades ago, the Shift occurred, and everyone born after it can see ghosts. "Okay," you might be thinking, "so it's another ghost story." Not so! With the added concepts of Shades, violet-hues, the DMP, etc., Shade portrays not only a different breed of ghosts, but proposes a sort of alternate reality where ghosts are incorporated directly into society. And who doesn't love the inclusion of highly classified government agency conspiracies and secrets?

Smith-Ready also has quite a way with words that simply draws the audience in. There's something very readable about the diction choice. To put that into perspective - I managed to tear my way through Shade in one afternoon, despite being heavily in the midst of IB exams.

Overall, the characters were pretty well portrayed and fairly likable. It might have been nice to see a little more development between Aura and her "best friend" Megan, but hopefully that's to come in subsequent books. Although the first meeting between Aura and Zachary progressed events a little too quickly and cockily for my tastes, their subsequent interaction is undeniably cute.

With just the right balance of action, angst, intrigue, mystery and romance, Shade has a little bit of everything for everyone. The scene has been set and it'll be great to see what happens next, especially considering the cliffhanger that it left off with. I know I'm eagerly awaiting the release of Shift, the sequel. Will you be?

With great writing, interesting characters and that extra little zing, Shade is bound to be one of the top YA books of the year.

Goodreads | IndieBound | Jeri Smith-Ready

*From the front angle, the book cover does look a little bizarre with the one arm/hand sticking out. With the book jacket flipped open though, there is a body attached to it. Personally think it might've looked a little more natural if the image were shifted just a little so that slightly more was visible. What do you think of the cover?

In My Mailbox [36]

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren showcasing what great stuff one got that week (usually goods pertaining to books).

This week I got Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready (for review), which was super-exciting. I happened to be having a pretty bad day, so it definitely cheered me up to find a package in the mailbox. And it was thicker than I'd been expecting, so I opened it up to find that it also contained White Cat by Holly Black! And there was a personalized note mentioning how [the sender] really enjoyed White Cat, and I just found it really touching that she went that extra mile. So thank you! :)

Keep an eye out for a review for Shade which will be coming soon - it was a fantastic read, I'll say that much for now. For some reason, I keep accidentally typing/thinking Black Cat. Weird, huh? Anyway, been hearing some mixed reviews about White Cat, of the two opposite extremes, so it'll be interesting to see what I think.

What're your guys' thoughts on these? What was in your mailbox this week?