Shade (Shade #1)
Jeri Smith-Ready
Read by Khristine Hvam
Published May 4, 2010
Audiobook from Library
Love ties them together. Death can’t tear them apart.
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. –Goodreads
I kept hearing amazing things about this book from several bloggers on Twitter so when I saw the audio book on my library’s download page I thought “what the heck?’ and got it. Let me tell y’all – I was kicking myself for not reading/listening to this book soon. There is so much goodness packed into this book and it’s not the same old song and dance.
First, let’s talk about the characters. Jeri Smith-Ready does an excellent job of making the character unique and stand out and have a voice of their own. I’ve also gotta hand it to Khristine Hvam who really brought the characters alive. The emotion and voices that she puts into each different character is phenomenal. When I would rather listen to a book then read it you know the reader is doing something right. Anyways – back to the characters. Aura is a great lead character. I love that Ready kept her real – even if it meant taking the story of a ghost boyfriend to the next level. I love the boys in this book and I’ve gotta say that for once I didn’t really mind the love triangle. It’s definitely a different triangle since Logan is dead and a ghost but still – you could really see why Aura had such a hard time pulling away from Logan and also why she was being pulled toward Zachary. Speaking of Logan and Zachary – can we say SA-WOON!? I love those boys so much – especially Zachary. And Hvam does an amazing job with his accent in the audio. Loved it.
Another thing I loved about this book was the storyline – I loved that it wasn’t just a teenage love story but that there was way more to it. Aura is trying to figure out what happened with her mom and how she is the first – the first one that was born that could see the ghosts. I love how it slowly comes together but leaves you with more questions. I didn’t feel like I was cheated out of answers until the next book – I just felt like we got as much information that we could at the time. I also loved the story line with Logan – trying to help him pass on as well as the trouble his siblings have with letting go. This is honestly just a great story. There is so much depth and storytelling going on that it draws you into the world and makes it incredible hard to leave. I could be listening to this book for hours and not even realize it.
If you haven’t read Shade yet you should definitely get to it. Don’t be like me and keep putting it off. This is one of my favorite series and I could kick myself for waiting so long to read them. The characters are great, the storyline is superb, and the audio is addicting. This is one that you don’t want to miss.