Review - Shine (Shade, Book 3) by Jeri Smith-Ready (4.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Size: 416 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: May 1, 2012
ISBN-13: 978-1442439450
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in the Shade series
Source: Gift
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

This is the third and final book in the Shade series by Smith-Ready. This book was very well-written and did a very satisfying job of wrapping up the series. I enjoyed it a lot.

Aura has finally let go of Logan and is looking forward to time with Zachary. Of course Zachary is returning home overseas...that is until his plane crashes and the government seizes him. Now with the DMP threatening Zachary’s life and the government poised to pass a draft law to force post-shifters to work at the DMP, Aura is even more convinced that she needs to figure out the tie between her, Zachary, and the Shift. With Zachary’s life in the balance and her friends’ freedom at stake she will stop at nothing to find out the truth.

This was a very well done conclusion book. It totally starts with a bang, I mean Aura finds out Zachary’s plane has crashed in the first couple pages. From there on the book just took my breath away. Things happen so fast and so much is at stake.

Aura is an excellent character; she is loyal and steadfast, smart and tough...yet she comes off as so realistic at the same time. Things really sizzle between her and Zachary; they have some wonderful scenes together. They also go through some truly heartbreaking events that had me absolutely aching for them.

I really enjoyed watching Aura and Zachary work together to piece together the mystery behind the Shift. The work they started in the second book continues into this book. The explanation behind why the Shift happened is incredibly interesting. Added to this mystery is the twisted government conspiracy entwined with the DMP. There are some great twists and turns in the story as well.

The book is very well-written, very readable, and incredibly engaging...I had a hard time putting this book down. It does a great job of summing up this story in a way that is satisfying and complete.

Overall an excellent ending to this series. The characters are well done, the story very interesting, the writing incredibly engaging, and the world is super creative. I especially recommend this to fans of paranormal books featuring ghosts. The whole series is highly recommended to fans of YA paranormal; this is one of the better YA paranormal series out there.

On a side note I absolutely hate this cover...I think it is so ugly compared to the other two in the series...

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge

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

Review - Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready (4.5/5 stars)

I got a copy of this book through the Amazon Vine program.  The sequel to this book, Shift, is due out May of 2011.  I have been wanting to read something by Jeri Smith-Ready and am happy I got to.  I was worried this would be just another teen love triangle with some supernatural stuff thrown in.  It is that kind of but Smith-Ready has done some really interesting and creative things with this world...so in the end it was more than just another paranormal teen romance.  I really enjoyed it.

Sixteen years ago the kids being born to the world were different, they started being able to see things that the adults couldn't...they could see ghosts.  Now the society is torn into two groups those who are over sixteen and can't see ghosts, the pre-shifers, and those who can see ghosts.  Aura was the first one to be born after the Shift, she is like all the other kids post-Shift and sees a ton of ghosts.  Not a huge deal...until her boyfriend dies.  Now Aura is stuck in a legal battle where her boyfriend is testifying as a ghost; how can you not be supportive to your boyfriend even if he is dead?  While at school she has been put on a research project with the hunky Irish Zachary.  Zachary has the knowledge to help Aura with her research to determine exactly how the Shift happened, but she is also strangely drawn to him.  Can Aura stay faithful to her dead boyfriend?  Should she? I mean he is dead after all.  To complicate matters Aura's ghostly boyfriend Logan is kind of on the edge of turning into a rampaging Shade and that's definitely a bad thing...

This was a great book.  Smith-Ready creates a complex and believable world and tackles all the social nuances that it would create wonderfully.  She does a very good job of not getting bogged down in the teenage love triangle but instead makes it a wonderful part of a larger story.

Aura is a great character, she is believable and intelligent.  Towards the end of the book there were some parts where I thought she was getting a bit obsessive about Logan, but I thought for the most part they were called-for.  Many of the other characters are also very interesting and complex.  I absolutely adored Zachary and can't wait to read more about him.

Smith-Ready's writing style is incredible readable and has a special something to it that just makes it better than a lot of other teen books out there.  She's got the dialogue down perfect, she weaves in a bit of humor here and there, and does an excellent job describing things.  The world she has created is very cool.

Overall I was very impressed with this book.  It wraps up most of the plot but does end with one huge cliffhanger.  I usually hate that, but in this book I kind of liked it and it really worked with the story.  I am eager to read the sequel to this book, Shift.  I am also happy that I have the first couple WVMP Radio urban fantasy books by her, I really want to read them now!

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- The Young Adult Reading Challenge
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge
- Summer Romance Reading Challenge