Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready

Title: Shade (Book 1)
Author: Jeri Smith-Ready
Pages: 320
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: May 4, 2010

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.

There are two kinds of people; the Post-Shift, and the Pre-Shift. Aura is a post-shift and she's been dealing with ghosts ever since she was born...she and 500 million other kids. But she's special. Why? Because she was the very first person born after The Shift. She was the only one born in that single minute. On the other side of the world, there's Zach. He was born Pre-Shift but he's special too. Why? Because he was the last person born before The Shift. He was the only one born in that single minute. When these two meet, their worlds--and hearts--collide. Aura already has a--dead--boyfriend, whom she still loves. And people are spying on her. What do these people want from her? But more importantly, who will win her heart?

Shade is a gripping and intense paranormal romance with a passionate love triangle, an action-packed plot, and teenagers brimming with drama. Readers will be pulled in with Smith-Ready's fast-paced, magnetic prose and will be acquainted with the new, intriguing concept of Shade. Shade is not at all the common, look-me-over book, but rather, its addictive paranormal allure pulls the reader in and they are pushed and introduced to the fantasy-ridden world of Shade and throes of heated romance, gory instances, and difficult decisions.

The electrifying love triangle in Shade is one that is formed over time and is combined with carefully-chosen scenes that makes it hard for the reader to completely vie for one of the two guys; Zach and Logan. This makes Shade more objective which makes it less generic. When this love triangle is bonded with the action-filled plot and the enigma of The Shift, it creates a whole new world filled with themes of jealousy, morality, grief, and love. And although Shade is set in a world that revolves around the mystery of The Shift; where nothing is completely impossible, it still has a distinguished parallelism with our own world.

Aura is a compelling character with maturity beyond her years. But her personality is not so that she is considered 'fake', but instead, she uses this maturity to deal with her never-ending list of problems. Every step of the way, she has to make decisions on her own that could affect her reputation and everyone around her. Some of the choices she makes in this book are contrasted with both unselfish and selfish reasons. Readers will be enamored with her strong personality and narration and the other characters in Shade are also very interesting. As the novel progresses, readers will get to know how and what their ethics and morals are, as well as develop their own opinion of each character and their authentic psyches. Smith-Ready provides intriguing psychoanalyses of the characters and at the same time makes them utterly believable.

Shade is a fast-paced book with a heart-stopping plot line that will have readers craving for the sequel. Jeri Smith-Ready is an author that offers all the right elements in this heated paranormal romance. A+ =)

The Bottom Line: Love Triangle + Action-packed Mystery = Shade =)

---Report Card---
Originality: 10/10
Ending: 8/10
Characters: 10/10
Plot: 10/10
My reaction/enjoyment: 9/10
Theme: 10/10
Imagery: 10/10
Setting: 5/5
Voice: 5/5
Style: 5/5
Tone: 5/5
Cover: 10/10
Total Score: 97/100 (A+)