Review: Shift by Jeri Smith-Ready

Shift by Jeri Smith-Ready
My rating: 5 of 5 genies
Genre: YA+, Urban Fantasy, Romance, Mystery, Paranormal, Ghosts
Published: March 3, 2011
Pages: 367
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Purchase At: TheBookDepository.com or Amazon.com

Goodreads Summary

Aura’s life is anything but easy. Her boyfriend, Logan, died, and his slides between ghost and shade have left her reeling. Aura knows he needs her now more than ever. She loves Logan, but she can’t deny her connection with the totally supportive, totally gorgeous Zachary. And she’s not sure that she wants to.
Logan and Zachary will fight to be the one by her side, but Aura needs them both to uncover the mystery of her past—the mystery of the Shift.

As Aura’s search uncovers new truths, she must decide whom to trust with her secrets…and her heart.

My Thoughts

Oh that was so goood! This gets five genies easily and I'm going to make my thoughts on Shift short by basically saying, BOY AM I GLAD I BOUGHT THIS BOOK!! I give Smith-Ready credit for 5 things:

1. Her complex but beautiful depiction of love and the painful grief that precedes moving on from a great, great loss; good show, Smith-Ready! There were so many emotions involved, none of them alike and I think the grieving process for each character was very aptly portrayed. I felt for all their family; Siobhan, Mikey and Dylan.

2. THE GREATEST FEAT OF ALL! She made me like Logan, I never, ever thought that I would even mildly tolerate him. He was always this self-absorbed child to me and a person Aura cared too much aboutespecially when her caring for him came in the way of my Zachary time/intake. *Ahem* Not cool. Somehow things clicked for me - whether it be his back-story or just the love overall that everyone has for him - I am completely sold on Logan. [But he's gone now, and I can't help feeling glad about that? He was a good character but far too much trouble for those around him. Harsh? Maybe. True? Certainly! (hide spoiler)]

3. Kudos for not making Aura look wanton, Smith-Ready, you danced a very thin line with the relationships in this book, Aura almost looked like a slut at one point. Luckily, there was ample explanation for why certain hook-ups occurred and the powerful emotions involved, so for once I make an exception. Aura is not a whore, but keep in mind that anyone else in her position would have registered as an indecisive individual, loose and prone to vices and turbulent emotions.[She should never have kissed Dylan/almost had sex with him, I was screaming with gladness when they cut the brakes on that one! Can you imagine if that really happened? Awkward...

Then again, Zachary almost has sex with Becca. I hated that, it was so disappointing. And this happened around the point in time when I was like, she does not deserve Zach but then he messed up too with his toolish deed and I was like, oy vey! you both suck. Why not make out? (hide spoiler)]

She's an average teenager with unusual circumstances and she is confused. The girl does not have nearly all of it together, but she is trying her best, for everyone. There is something endearing in that.

4. I cannot stress how brilliantly this plot has been weaved, it is excellent. NOTHING was predictable. I thought "oh I know what's going to happen" once or twice but then no, something else would totally blow me away! CRAZY SKILLS this woman has, Shine cannot come soon enough; I need it now! Definitely a must-read for 2012.

5. Finally, hats off to the author for making this so very romantic, realistic and ultimately worthwhile of a read. I am thoroughly pleased, the series has long been a favourite, but with this new instalment I am even deeper in love. Um, where exactly is my sequel?!

I guess that means you should try this too, I hope you love/loved it as much as I did! **But there are multiple sex scenes so stay away if you shouldn't be reading things the like. They aren't detailed to the extreme or whatever, but I thought it was something to mention.