Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready

Title: Shade
Author: Jeri Smith-Ready
Published: May 2010
Source: Bought
Synopsis from Goodreads:
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.

So, I've had this book for a while. Since it came out, actually. I kept putting it off and putting it off. I really have no idea why I waited so long! It was so good.

I loved the whole concept of the Shift and how mysterious Aura's connection to it is. The Shift basically means that anyone born after a certain date can see ghosts. That means that everyone sixteen and under can see ghosts, and no one over that can even if they were able to before. Isn't that cool? The ghosts can Shade, or be overcome by darkness. They want to avoid doing that because if they do that they are detained.

I'm not too sure how I feel about Aura. There were parts when I really liked her and parts when I didn't understand her. She had some very mixed feelings and sometimes it was hard to keep track of them. There were a few times when I was confused about how she felt about things and what they meant for her outside her head.

When Logan died I was more sad that his awesome sounding band wouldn't get a record deal than that he as a person was dead. That was probably done on purpose, since we don't have much time to get to know him. Zach I liked. A lot. Probably a bit too much for a fictional character. 


The supporting characters were kind of touch and go. There were some that were really well developed, some that were partly well developed, and then some where I couldn't even place their name. Not the most important part of the book, but when I couldn't place which brother was which and who this person was without thinking about it I got a little annoyed.


When I read books there's always something that I want to happen, what really happens, and what would plausibly happen. A lot of times in this book what I wanted to happen and what did happen were the same, but what would plausibly happen didn't really add up. Does that make sense? I guess I just felt like some things happened that most likely wouldn't in real life, and that made the story more distant to me.

Basically I really liked it, but I wish that the supporting characters had been a little more fleshed out and that some things were a little less unrealistic. I would definitely recommend it if you love paranormals!

Character: 8/10
Writing: 9/10
Originality: 9/10
Plot: 9/10
Ending: 10/10
Overall: 45/50 A-
Cover Comments: I've seen it described as a mix between Bleeding Violet and Eclipse. I couldn't agree more! The colors red and purple play a large part in the book, so it makes sense, but it doesn't really stand out much.