Shade.

Cough cough.
Well.
Time to blow the dust off this neglected old blog. Poor little blog, left all by itself (sob).

Anyway, I've been gone, and I've also been lazy, so it's been a while! But, now I'm back, hurtling through the blogosphere once again! And there's nothing like a GREAT book to get things started. So before I get to my author-y stuff (translation, I have to get my followers back), I'm going to talk about Shade!

SHADE! The book by Jeri Smith-Ready. It was...it was just awesome. It was extremely well-written. It's funny, you'd think good writing alone would be something we could take for granted in the world of published books, but nope, you do come across a few bad ones.
Shade was NOT a bad one.

The story itself is a really fascinating concept. The main character, Aura, lives in the same universe we do (same shows, same countries and cities, same bands)...except for one thing. Everyone 16 or so and under can see ghosts, because of a Shift that happened just before Aura was born. It's so common to see the dead people, in fact, that there are government procedures meant to keep ghosts out of certain areas. Of course, the ghosts can only visit places they've visited in life...unless they turn to Shade. A Shade is a ghost who loses all control (kind of like turning over to the dark side) and can suddenly manipulate objects and people physically, and go wherever he/she wants...until the government traps it in an obsidian container.

Smith-Ready does an AMAZING job blending her eyes into an otherwise normal world. Her writing and weaving seems effortless. That is something I'm still learning to do, and I sure do love to see it in books. By the time you're a few pages into the book, you start thinking "Oh yeah, I know everyone can see ghosts, it's because of the Shift." What's amazing is that Smith-Ready never COMPLETELY explains the Shift, and yet it's perfectly established. She has made this story so real, and also relatable.

And Aura? Well, she's with an amazing guy, Logan, who is in an Irish rock band (think Flogging Molly), and he's about to be offered a record deal as well as screw her brains out! (Ahem, sorry for the blunt language.) The problem? Logan gets too smashed to do it, and upon trying to sober up, he accidentally kills himself. I won't explain how, because YOU HAVE TO READ THE BOOK.

Not to fret, though. Aura can still see Logan, and so can a lot of his friends. His older siblings and parents, however, cannot, and are torn apart by his death. They plan to file a lawsuit for something like wrongful death, which means Logan's ghost must testify and Logan has to stick around a while. He visits Aura each night, and she's as in love with him as ever...for a little while. But when Aura starts moving on, she faces a unique problem: How do you break up with a ghost?

And this isn't even the whole story. There is ANOTHER sexy (Scottish) guy, and confidential information about the Shift, an event shrouded in mystery!

The dialogue in this book was another aspect that really struck a chord with me...it flowed so naturally and realistically, as did most of the story (which you'd think would be difficult given the ghostly subject matter).

I'm leaving so much stuff out, but I am so excited about this book. I can't wait to read her next one.