Showing posts with label Jeri Smith-Ready. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeri Smith-Ready. Show all posts

Monday, May 23, 2011

Arc Review: Shift

Shift by Jeri Smith-Ready
Release Date:
May 03, 2011
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Young Adult
Pages:
384, Hardcover
Source: Simon & Schuster Galley Grab
Overall: Flippin' Fabulous!
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Author Website| |Author Twitter| 


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.

My Thoughts:

For those of you who haven't read Shade, the first in the Shade series, you absolutely must.  It is one of my favorite books of all time.  I originally purchased it as a e-book but that wasn't enough and ended up lucky enough to snag a hard cover as well.


So what do I think about Shift?  Jeri Smith-Ready got it right yet again.  Shift is one of those books that even through the stressful parts I was still falling in love and reading each word intricately and appreciating it for all it was worth.  Wanting more.  Needing more.

Aura is the same torn, loyal, and wonky self-proclaimed outcast she was in Shade.  Her emotions still waver but she seems more steady despite her stumbles.  She has matured as much as a girl can in that amount of time and dealing with what she is.  Her grief is still thick, though 'what is right' is easier for her to swallow and accept.  Though, in her search for what is right she finds herself in several unlikely and unpredictable situations which end up opening her eyes to her true feelings and what is around her all while entertaining us and having us pulling out our hair.

Zackary has a bigger role in this book and is still at a silent competition with her un-shaded, ghostly (ex?)boyfriend Logan.  Both Logan and Zackary have matured if only slightly, despite their guy-ish habits and the fact they both want what they may be withheld.  The pressure really falls on these leading guys forcing choices to be made on both of their parts.  Logan is still dealing with his death and the fact that his family, including Aura, wants him to move on and try to find the light.  Zackary is dealing with the affects The Shift had on him as well as family matters which will tear at your heart as they did at his and Aura's.  Aura's relationship with these guys, and even their families, really shines in this installment and it really shows how much the friendship and love that flows between her and these two guys.

The plot that drove Shift, beyond the wavering and ever-growing romance, was just as put together, well thought out and brilliantly painted as it was in Shade.  The twists and turns were impeccable and honestly most of them I didn't even foresee which kept the story fresh and kept me turning the pages.

The romance really heated up this go around.  Logan and Zackary were still both in the forefront, but the differences between Logan and Zackary really became prominent and really offered a clear path for Aura to start conquering the obstacles which stood between her and her heart.  Unfortunately, not everything is as it seems and there are times, depending on which team you are on, you find yourself gritting your teeth and urging Aura to go back the other way or to open her eyes to what is in front of her or maybe behind her.  All truly does come full circle in the end with a bearable cliffhanger that keeps you wanting more but at leasts sedates your urges to go insane while waiting another year.

Jeri Smith Ready gave us a fabulous follow up to Shade, with Shift.  Shift is an all encompassing book with mystery, romance, and almost realistic fiction  which sets it apart from some of its counterparts.

Shift truly is Flippin' Fabulous and Shine, the third installment of the Shade series, can't come fast enough!

Other Books in the Series:  
Shade |My Review|

|Buy Shift from Amazon|
|Buy Shade from Amazon|

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Review: Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready

Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready
Date Released: May 04, 2010
Published by:
Simon Pulse

Pages:  Hardcover, 309 pages
Young Adult
Overall:Photobucket

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.
Synopsis via Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Hooked from the first page, Jeri Smith-Ready helped start and fuel my new addiction with her fabulous writing and her even more fabulous subject of story.

Ghosts.

Aura, who couldn’t have a more fitting name, doesn’t expect that her boyfriend Logan’s birthday will be his last.  With great opportunities working to go his way, and a girlfriend ready to take the next step to prove her love to him, Logan dies a tragic death- never truly experiencing either of his two biggest birthday gifts.

For most people, getting over loss is grueling enough.  Try being born after the Shift when you can’t get away from ghosts.  Aura, who normally despises the fact that ghosts can talk to her and ruin her every moment, isn’t sure whether seeing her now-dead-boyfriend is a good thing or bad.  It makes letting go and moving on near impossible, I could feel it.  Even when he is on the brink of becoming a Shade.

Cue, Zackary, the handsome Scottish bloke which immediately befriends, self-proclaimed outcast, Aura.  With the excuse of a school project, and motives of his own, Zackary is able to form a friendship with Aura confusing her feelings and making her situation even more shady then before.

Aura is torn in two pieces, as I was, longing for the love she had and wanted to keep and wishing for the ability to move on to the perfectly understanding, and safe (in several ways) new-to-town-guy.  Even more then her love problems she needs to dissect the clues she finds within herself, Logan, Zackary and their pasts to figure out the Shift and what they all had to do with it.

Jeri Smith Ready, not only hooked me by page one, she kept me wanting more.  This book is fast paced, full of real and relatable raw emotions, and in a far off way a little bit believable (I mean, come on, what are you going to believe more?  Ghosts or glittery-vamps?) This isn’t your run-of-the-mill romance.  It holds a little action and mystery too.

With a sequel due out in May 2011, the date couldn’t come fast enough.  I know there is more fabulousness to come.
This story definitely makes it onto my fab reread list! How couldn’t it with each page turn there was flutters of my tummy, grins creeping across my face, and my brow furrowed helplessly?

Cover:Photobucket
Characters:Photobucket
Plot:Photobucket
Overall:Photobucket







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