Review: Shade

Book: Shade
Author: Jeri Smith-Ready
Pages: 309
Published: May 4th, 2010 by Simon Pulse
Source: Pulse It

Best. Birthday. Ever. At least, it was supposed to be. With Logan's band playing a crucial gig and Aura's plans for an intimate after-party, Aura knows it will be trhe 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 who was born after the Shift, Aura can see and talk to ghosts. This mysterious ability had 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 ghost hanging around. Because Dead Logan is almost as real as ever. Almost.
It doesn't help how 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 relationship with the dead and the living grows 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.

Um. Um. Um. Um. I'm having trouble forming coherent sentences. Cos I just loved Shade that much. I literally just finished it and now it's just a string of OMG's running through my mind…

I absolutely, completely freaking loved this book! Words do not even go far enough to describe how immensely I loved it! I want to marry this book! I want to have its awesome ghost-seeing babies! (Okay, so maybe not that last one…but I think you get my point, hmm?) Shade was such an amazing and unbelievable start to what I can already tell will be a fantastic series. I am completely in shock and awe of Shade.

I admire Aura. I really do. She has to deal with some crazy stuff, being the First and having to choose between two amazing guys…and to top it all off, she was empathetic and totally brave. What she did, in the end, I know I would never have the guts to do in a million years. I wish I could be that confident and have that amount of courage. I felt like she was such a genuine character, and she felt so incredibly real and that was really impressive and made me like the book a hell of a lot more (not that I didn't already love it beyond belief). Plus, I'm always a fan of love triangles and in Shade, it's addicting.

I really didn't see a lot of stuff coming. I was OMG-ing more times than I could count. The author built up the suspense in a number of ways and had me peering closer at the words until my nose nearly touched them. I swear, Shade was such a captivating read, it's one of those books that you can't flip the pages fast enough!

Shade was a brilliant start to a new series and I am so mad that I have to wait for a year until its sequel, Shift, comes out in 2011! I want it now! In my hands! Open! I want to read it! Right now! At this very moment!

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars (NO FREAKING DUH!!!!!!)

Cover: I love this cover (like everything else about it) I thought the ribbon was a nice touch, and I love the colors used. Violet is such a prominent and significant color in the book, I'm really pleased they used it as the main color on the cover.