Book Review: Shade

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. 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.

Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready sat on my shelf - signed - for over a year. I had met Jeri a few times, and as another signing came up, I decided I had to read something of hers before then. So... I finally picked up Shade.

I realized as I started it, I hadn't even read the synopsis. I knew it was about ghosts and teens who can see them. But the bit about our main character losing her boyfriend, Logan, surprised me. Yeah, clearly I hadn't read the synopsis. But one thing that shows me is how much I value the opinions of my friends that read and book bloggers. I had picked it up, solely based on hearing others say how good it was.

And I have to agree. It was good. Well... amazing probably fits better. I loved it. I didn't want to put it down. The world Jeri's created, a world where the "shift" has made it so that everyone born after it can see ghosts is complex and interesting. Aura was the first born post-shift, so she can ghosts. In the dark, they shine violet. In the sun, their glow hides them. This is the first time I've ever read a book in which ghosts had rules.

I'm very excited to read book two in the series, Shift. But I'm going to wait a bit closer to the release of book three, Shine, so there is less wait. In the meantime, I'll be checking out Jeri Smith-Ready's other series.

Book Review: I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone

I picked up Stephanie Kuehnert's first novel at a used book store a year or so ago. I'd heard I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE was amazing, but it didn't really seem like my thing. But it was used and cheap, so I picked it up.

I met Stephanie Kuehnert back in June at ALA. Well... kinda... I was standing right next to her, but wasn't sure what to say. "Hi. I'm Andrea. I have your books on my shelf. No, I haven't read them." So instead I say nothing. But I get to meet her again. And with Bring YA to PA 2010 next Saturday, I bumped it up the TBR.

The first thing I have to say is... go buy it and read it now. It was fantastic. I read it in two days, finishing it late last night and cutting down on my sleep time. But it was worth it. I ordered a brand new copy to get signed (hopefully, it arrives on time) because I loved it so much I wanted one that wasn't beaten.

The main character, Emily Black, was abandoned by her mother. But it's a good thing she has such an amazing dad. She grows up in a small town, her best friend, Regan, the daughter of her mother's best friend, and they are kinda the talk of the town. Even as little kids, they are expected to be screw-ups, for lack of a better word, like their mothers. They start a band and dream of making it big, mostly just to get out of Carlisle, Wisconsin.

I really like Emily. Her life is very different than mine. Thankfully. She had it a lot more tough than I did. Imagine how hard it would be if your mom up and left when you were a tiny kid? I lost my mom at 24 under completely different circumstances, and it's really hard. Emily made a lot of choices I would never make. Things I didn't approve of, which made me want to throttle her from time to time.

But I also felt like I understood Emily. I might not have the tendency to turn to drugs and alcohol, but I definitely get her love of music. (I'm not familiar with a lot of the bands mentioned, but I'm definitely going to check them out.) And I feel like a lot of her opinions were the same: her tendency to get angry over little things, to feel threatened when it isn't always necessary, her propensity to lash out, the protectiveness she feels towards the people she cares about, and her inability to trust... especially with guys.

All in all, this book was fantastic. You get to see Emily grow up in her first person narrative and hear about her mother, Louisa's, troubles from her point of view. I could gush more, but I'm trying not to fangirl anymore as a general rule on the blog. =P

But...

How fantastic is the cover!?!?

Synopsis:

A raw, edgy, emotional novel about growing up punk and living to tell.

The Clash. Social Distortion. Dead Kennedys. Patti Smith. The Ramones.

Punk rock is in Emily Black's blood. Her mother, Louisa, hit the road to follow the incendiary music scene when Emily was four months old and never came back. Now Emily's all grown up with a punk band of her own, determined to find the tune that will bring her mother home. Because if Louisa really is following the music, shouldn't it lead her right back to Emily?

Book Review: My Soul to Keep

So I went to Romantic Times last weekend and met many authors. One of whom was Rachel Vincent. She was very sweet and funny. She gave out a limited number of early copies of MY SOUL TO KEEP. Not an ARC, but an early copy. She tweeted after the book fair that she had books to those she had promised them to. So I ran up to find her and saw her sitting with a few other authors. I think she thought I was a little nuts after hurrying over less than a minute after her tweet. But I told her, her books were worth rushing after. I started it right away, putting other books aside.

The story was amazing. I read the back of the book (which is printed below the picture), and I figured out what was going to happen. I almost felt like it was a spoiler. Nash ticked me off so bad in this one, but I love Tod even more. New character, Alec... interested in learning more. Also, new supernaturals come into this one. And they aren't the typical ones we read about (i.e. vampires, werewolves). They aren't so much there as introduced. I hope we get to see them soon.

Pick this one up as soon as you can. It's fantastic! And if you haven't read the series, check out MY SOUL TO TAKE and MY SOUL TO SAVE, books 1 and 2 of the Soul Screamers series. Also, check out MY SOUL TO LOSE, a free short story prequel on Rachel Vincent's website.

Synopsis:

Kaylee has one addiction: her very hot, very populat boyfriend, Nash. A banshee like Kaylee, Nash understands her like no one else. Nothing can come between them.

Until something does.

Demon breath. No, not the toothpaste=challenged kind. The Netherworld kin. The kind that really can kill you. Somehow the super-addoctove substance has made its way to the human world. But how? Kaylee and Nash have to cut off the source and protect their friends - one of whom is already hooked.

And so is someone else...