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thehidingspot

The Hiding Spot

I focus primarily on Young Adult, Middle Grade, and Children's books, but my tastes are eclectic, so I change things up frequently!

Shade

Shade - Jeri Smith-Ready Way too often, I overestimate the greatness of Young Adult supernatural reads, but I'm sorry to admit that I underestimated SHADE. I saw it around GoodReads and blogs, but despite its amazing purple cover, I didn't give it much thought. Don't overlook Jeri Smith-Ready's debut YA offering, you'll sincerely regret it!Often, ghost stories are pretty similar. I feel like many authors don't stretch the concepts of ghosts and spirits, they just focus on making the other elements of the novel unique. Smith-Ready has successfully redefined "ghost"... and I was thoroughly impressed. I hope that in SHIFT, the next installment, there will be a greater exploration of the phenomenon of ghosts and shades, as well as the black box technology that is mentioned throughout the novel.Not only does SHADE have great supernatural elements, it also offers lessons on grief and loss. I never tire of novels where the main character loses someone they love, or even if they are they themselves are the deceased. After reading books of this nature, I find it easier to process and move past grief and loss when confronted in real life. Aura's grief over the loss of Logan is extremely believable, even with the unbelievable presence of his ghost. I think that Zachary, the new boy in school who is Scottish and very good looking, deserves his own paragraph of this review. He is most definitely swoon-worthy, not only based on his description, but his actions as well. I really liked that he didn't force himself on Aura. He was willing to just be her friend and wait until she was ready to move on. That was so refreshing! In addition to the romantic element he brought to the novel, he is also integral to the supernatural plot line... which made me happy because he could be in more scenes throughout the novel.