Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready

Title: Shade

Author: Jeri Smith-Ready

Genre: Young Adult/Paranormal

Publisher:  Simon and Schuster

Publication Date: 2nd September 2010

ISBN: 9781847389404

Stand alone or series: Book 1 in Shade Series

Pages: 320 pages

Book Received from: Bought

First Lines:  "You can hear me, can't you?"  I punched the green print button on the copier to drown out the disembodied voice.

Synopsis:
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.

My Thoughts:
This one had been sitting on my Books To Buy list for some time and when I finally came across this one I just had to have it.  Admittedly, after buying it, it has sat on the TBR pile for a little while longer and when I hit my little reading slump I finally picked this one up.

I really loved the concept of the story.  I couldn't imagine a world where everyone 16 and younger could see ghosts whereas the older folks couldn't  I guess it would be kind of creepy if you were a Pre-shifter watching the teeny boppers talking to themselves LOL.. Oops getting carried away here.

Aura is an amazing character.  I really enjoyed reading from her perspective (First Person, past tense).  I wasn't a real fan of Logan but I definitely liked reading about Zachary and Megan.

I do have so many questions after reading this one and I'm glad that I don't have to wait long before Shift hits the shelves.  This is one book that has lived up to the hype for me and I look forward to reading more of Jeri Smith-Ready's writing.