Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready

Like everyone else born after the Shift, Aura can see ghosts. It has always been more annoying than useful—that is, until Aura’s boyfriend Logan dies and comes back. Now, instead of embracing the color red, the one color that wards off ghosts, like all other post-Shifters, Aura avoids it like the plague. She wants to spend as much time with Logan’s ghost as possible because Logan dead is almost as real as Logan alive, and Aura needs him more than ever. But life goes on without Aura, and soon she realizes that she’s turning into a living ghost too. With the help of her friends, particularly Scottish exchange student Zachary, Aura may find the courage to move on and let go. But on the way, she’ll find out that she’s more connected to the Shift than she ever knew.

Shade is a unique twist on the ghost story. Instead of having just one person with the ability to see ghosts, everyone born after 3:50 a.m. on December 21, the Shift, saw ghosts. And when the amount of people who can see ghosts keeps growing each day, it becomes kind of hard to ignore that they exist for the rest of the general public. Thus, ghosts and those who can see them become a part of politics. Aura’s story mixes this with her own personal troubles. Sometimes it feels a little weird when Smith-Ready goes back and forth because, though they’re connected, they’re very different. I think I enjoyed reading the details and history of the Shift more than about Aura’s romantic woes because her refusal to let go of Logan was frankly annoying. This story had promise, especially with Aura’s quest to discover the origins of the Shift, but since this quest fell backseat to Logan’s death and the subsequent drama, I didn’t enjoy the story as much as I would have. I have hope, though, that a sequel will answer more of my questions.

Shade may be enjoyed by those who also liked Ruined by Paula Morris and A Map of the Known World by Lisa Ann Sandell.

Rating: 3.5

Review copy from Amazon Vine