Review: SHADE by Jeri Smith-Ready

The SHADE series by Jeri Smith-Ready is one of my absolute favorites of ALL TIME, and I'd recommend it to anyone. And Jeri herself is one of my favorite authors, and one of the coolest, awesomest, most fantastical people I "know" (know being in quotes because I've only ever talked to her online ;D).


I've already reviewed the third book in her SHADE trilogy, SHINE, but I've decided I'll go back and review SHADE and SHIFT as well :D

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. Aura's always found her ability annoying--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.

------

I may have mentioned this before in other reviews, but I absolutely LOVE books with worlds that are our world--yet not. 


See, on one hand, you have books like Mortal Instruments and Hex Hall, where there's magic and other supernatural aspects, but they're hidden from "normal" people, and the world, on the outside, looks the same. And then you have fantasy books like Under the Never Sky or Hunger Games where everything is different. Then there's books like this--like SHADE, or like White Cat by Holly Black, where there's something that makes our world different, but it's matter-of-fact to the book's world. In this world, everyone born after a certain point in time--the Shift--can see ghosts. 


Aura's one of those people, which is both a curse--because, hello, the last thing a teenage girl needs is to be pestered by ghosts who refuse to move on--and a blessing--especially when her boyfriend, Logan dies...and hangs around as a ghost.


Intellectually, Aura knows that Logan's dead--that he isn't coming back. But when he's there with her, it can get hard to remember that he can't still be her boyfriend... Death doesn't kill love, after all. 


But then there's Zachary, the new guy at school and Aura's science partner. He's smart, sweet, and Scottish. And, of course, he's alive. 


SHADE is full of mystery, romance, and heartbreak, as well as humor and hilarity, and is that brilliant type of story that keeps you reading and reading, and thinking back on the story long after you finish :)


SHADE obviously, totally gets <*><*><*><*><*>


(:D)
~Mag

In case you were wondering...

...where I've been lately, I'm still here! I've been pretty busy with non-bloggy stuff, so unfortunately I haven't been able to be here or other places online as much as I'd like.

Luckily, I'm pretty sure I'm going to be able to start posting and chatting more again, pretty soon. I don't know exactly when, so please bear with me!! I'd LIKE to post every day except Saturday, so six times a week, with at least three of those posts being reviews. Not quite sure yet how well that will work out, but here's hoping!

Anyway, that's the reason it's been pretty quiet around here, and why I haven't been replying to comments and such--actually, I'm going to do that now, so if you've commented recently and want to see my response, feel free to check :)

Also, as long as you're here, you should totally vote on my poll on the sidebar ----->

Or, you could go play an INTERACTIVE GAME I created for the Max Ride Reading Challenge.

So, be on the lookout for more content coming soon, and thanks for sticking around!!

(:D)
~Mag

Review: SHINE by Jeri Smith-Ready

It's Shine, you guys!! SHINE! I was so excited when this book finally arrived at my door. I started reading it ASAP, and it totally met my sky-high expectations!!


{Usual disclaimer: SHINE is the third book in a series. THE SYNOPSIS AND MY REVIEW WILL HAVE SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST TWO BOOKS (But no SHINE spoilers, promise ;D)!!!


Also, my review is certain to have lots of CAPTIAL LETTERS, exclaimation points!!!!! and other forms of fangirl squealing. You've been warned.}

 

SHINE by Jeri Smith-Ready


In this dramatic conclusion to the Shade trilogy, Aura and Zachary’s relationship sizzles as the secrets of the Shift are revealed.
Life can change in an instant, and no one understands that better than Aura. It’s been almost a year since her boyfriend tragically died. She’s finally letting go of Logan’s violet-hued ghost, but not her search to uncover the truth about her past.


As the first in a generation that can see ghosts, Aura is convinced she has a connection to the Shift. She’s trusted Zachary, ever patient and ever by her side, with all that she knows. But when the government threatens his life in an attempt to learn Aura’s secrets, she will stop at nothing to protect herself and the one she loves...even if that means betraying her own heart.


------

Right after I finished Shine, I posted by immediate thoughts on Goodreads, and I'd like to start out my review by sharing those:

I really did intend to pace myself while reading this book to make it last as long as possible, but obviously that did not happen. But really, this book was INCREDIBLE/AMAZING/PERFECTION. It's one of those books that makes you think, "Goodreads really needs a magical and secret sixth star, because this book so deserves it."


A real, entire, full review will be coming sometime with in the next couple days, at whatever point I can turn my raw emotions from "!!!!!!!!! Asdkjahsdjfha holy cow omg asdfafsaehj <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 ZOGAN sdofixhj <3 <3 <3" into actual coherent thoughts that can be understood and hopefully get across the awesomeness that is SHINE.

All of that--still feeling it. This book was absolutely, totally, and entirely AWESOME. Full of action, romance, and definitely some laugh-out-loud moments, SHINE has it all, just like the first two books in the series. 


That isn't to say, however, that it wasn't sad as well. Logan may have passed on, but that doesn't mean everyone's going to forget him instantly, or be over his death. People are still suffering from his tragedy, his family especially.


Yet at the same time, he's given people hope--because he's proved shades can come back, that shades can come back and PASS ON. This changes everything the world knew about shades.


But really, this last installment in the SHADE trilogy isn't about Logan, not as much: It's about Aura and Zachary. (Oh, ZACHARY!! <3) Can they escape the demands of the DMP? Can they figure out the secrets of the Shift and the Shine and what really happened the day they were born? And most importantly (at least, to the romantics like me,) can they finally be together and stay together without any more DANG complications?? 


These are the questions; SHINE has the answers. And you KNOW you want to know what they are!!


Another awesome thing about SHINE is the "supporting" characters. I use quotes around the word supporting because they're all so alive and have such depth they almost feel like main characters themselves. From the Keeleys (Dylan, Mickey and Siobhan) to Megan to Gina to Zachary's parents...even to people like Becca, I love reading about them all. Jeri Smith-Ready has created a world and a set of awesome characters that it's simply impossible not to fall in love with.


So go--go now. Get a copy of SHADE, or SHIFT, or SHINE, whichever one you haven't read, and READ LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT! You will NOT be sorry!! <3


Do I even have to clarify this? SHINE absolutely gets <*><*><*><*><*>


(:D)
~Mag

Teaser Tuesday: SHINE by Jeri Smith-Ready

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Should Be Reading. Anyone can play, and the rules are simple:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

EEK! It's finally May 1st, release date of about a bajillion awesome books! I only preordered two physical books, SHINE and Insurgent, and if you follow me on Twitter you might have seen me livetweeting the wait for the UPS guy to show up.


Eventually, thankfully, he did.

(SHINE with my other new purchase, INSURGENT!!)

(ZOGAN chilling with Aura ;D)

But anyway, this post is about SHINE, because I'm reading it first. I'm 70-ish percent in, according to Goodreads, and I am LOVING IT! Anyway, here are my teasers :)

1.
     "Did you lose someone in the crash?" he asked softly. 

-Page 53

2.
     He froze. "Whoops."
     "What did Logan tell you?" 

-Page 92

LOVING LOVING LOVING LOVING LOVING THIS BOOK. Those are the only words I can think to describe it!


Seriously, people, go grab yourself a copy! Or if you haven't read SHADE and/or SHIFT, grab those AND SHINE and read them all!!


What are you reading this week? Leave me your TT links!!


(:D)
~Mag 

In My Mailbox (4/29/12)

In My Mailbox is a weekly event hosted by The Story Siren, and it's all about talking about what you got in your mailbox each week! 

I know there's been a lot of drama out there surrounding the Story Siren, and some people have decided not to participate in In My Mailbox because of it. But while I understand where these people are coming from, at this time I'm not going to stop participating in IMM.

I think we can all agree that plagiarism is always wrong and never okay. Beyond that, I don't want to voice any opinion on the subject, except to say that I hope people will stop drawing lines in the theoretical sand and allowing this to divide us.

I like the In My Mailbox meme, and I enjoy talking to you guys about the books we all get each week. For that reason and that reason alone I'm going to continue with the meme. I'm okay with you if you keep using it. I'm okay with you if you don't. I want to talk to you about books either way :)

Now, to get on with what's in my mailbox:

FROM THE LIBRARY
I got a good number of books from the library this week, but since I've already returned some and did a failtastic job of keeping record this week, I'll share the ones I can remember.

-Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens. This one is about a girl whose sister has autism, which was interesting to me as several of my friends' siblings and one of my cousins have autism. I don't know if you can see it in the picture, but the on the cover, you can see the face of a guardian angel in the clouds, something which I (in a failure akin to the Across the Universe and Black Heart fails) didn't notice until halfway through the book.

-Torn by Amanda Hocking. I enjoyed the first book in the series, so I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next!!

-Hallowed by Cynthia Hand. !!! I've been wanting to read this for a very long time (since the instant I finished Unearthly), but I'm also terrified about it because I'm afraid something's going to happen to my beloved Tucker D:

-Grave Mercy. Sounds cool! I wasn't intending to get it this week, but I saw it at the library and just picked it up ;)

And I can think of a couple more that I already returned, so no pictures of them.

-Perception by Kim Harrington. Another case of the !!!s. THIS BOOK. I already read it, and my review is HERE!

-Wings of the Wicked by Courtney Allison Moulton. EEEK this book this book this book. Yeah, I loved it, but it also killed me a little bit. Review is coming!!

-Deadly Little Voices by Laurie Faria Stolarz. I loooooved this book as well! I'm dying for the next book!!!



ON MY KINDLE

I received two books on my Kindle for review!

-Darwin's Children by Natasha Larry


-Unnatural Law by Natasha Larry


Big thank you to Natasha Larry for providing these books for review! I'm looking forward to reading them :)


IN MY ACTUAL MAILBOX


I didn't think I'd have anything in my actual mailbox to share, but just before I sat down to write this I was handed an envelope that made me very excited. Evidently no one checked the mail yesterday, which meant that today was the day I got--

-A ZOGAN trading card from Kilt and Keeley! (You can get one, too! Just enter the SHINE preorder giveaway HERE!)


Seriously, though, I absolutely love this thing. Thank you guys!!!

So, what's in your mailbox this week? Leave me your links! (Be they for IMM or your own variation ;D)

(:D)
~Mag