Review - Shift (Shade, Book 2) by Jeri Smith-Ready (4/5 stars)

Reading level: Young Adult

Genre: Paranormal
Size: 384 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: May 3, 2011
ISBN-13:  978-1416994084
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in Shade trilogy
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the second book in the Shade series by Jeri Smith-Ready.   The third, and final book, Shine is due out in 2012.  This was an excellent continuation of the series.  I continue to enjoy the mystery, the creative world, and the engaging characters in these books.  You should definitely start with the first book in the series, Shade.

Aura calls to Logan every night in hopes of turning him back from a Shade to a Ghost.  Aura is also involved with the wonderful Zachery; he is alive while Logan is dead.  Also while Zachery was the last person born before the Shift, Aura was the first and they are worried that being together might spell catastrophe for the world.  Zachery and Aura are doing their best to solve the mystery of the Shift, they both think it could be more dangerous than either suspected.  Aura will also have to choose between her dead boyfriend, who she has no future with, and Zachary.

This book was incredibly well-written.  The writing style flows very nicely, the characters sound so natural and it is just a joy to read.  Aura and Zachery are characters you really love and are pulling for throughout the book.  Even Logan seems like less of a jerk than he was last book and, as a reader, we start to see things more from his perspective in this book.

The mystery surrounding the Shift is incredibly interesting and I really enjoyed following Aura and Zachery as they unravel it.  I also thought that the influence that Aura and Zachery have on each others' special powers is intriguing.  The plot is well paced and this makes the book very hard to put down; you are always wondering what will happen next.  Aura's struggle between choosing Logan or Zachary is also engaging and heart-wrenching.

My only complaint with this book is that is spends too much time following Aura as she whines and moans and complains about Logan and Zachary fighting over her.  There is too much of "Oh Aura likes Logan, now she likes Zack, now she hates Zack, now she likes some other guy".  At points this drama got a bit eye-rolling and I just wanted to get on with the mystery behind the Shift.

Overall this book was incredibly well written and made for an excellent read.  The world is very creative and interesting and I loved following the mystery behind how the Shift was caused.  Aura, Logan, and Zachary are wonderful characters that are incredibly engaging.  If the teenage drama had been ratcheted down a notch this book would have been absolutely perfect.  I think fans of the first book, Shade, will love this book.  This is honestly one of the better young adult paranormal series out there.  So, if you love paranormal YA make sure to check this series out.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:

- 100+ Reading Challenge