Release Date: 1st June, 2011Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Books
Pages: 367pgs
The Story
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 her 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 the truths, she must decide whom to trust with her secrets . . . and her heart.
The Review
After reading Jeri Smith-Ready's Shade book, I really wanted to read its sequel. These type of books are perfect reads for anyone who is looking to start a new young adult series and while I may have enjoyed reading the first installment of this series, however I found the sequel to be rather . . . different. For some reason there was something missing in the storyline.
The thing is, I didn't like the characters in this book. At least not as much as I liked them in the first. The real problem was Aura's character. She's a lovely girl (I can see that) and all of her emotions are written well to a certain extent, but in SHIFT all she seems to think about is sex, sex and sex. Boys mostly. While it's quite normal for a teenager to feel these hormones running through them, but it could have been toned down a little bit. With Aura being so undecided on things - including the boys Logan and Zachary, and even a third boy who I don't care to mention - I unfortunately couldn't understand Aura's character nor did I like her in this sequel. Same goes with another favourite character of mine. You see, I used to love Logan's character too but then I switched sides and immediately became a fan of Zachary. But . . . as it turns out even he had his own complications and faults that I couldn't admire . . . so let's just say the boys irritated me so much to a point of no return.
Other than my dislike of Aura and brushing aside some personal issues of mine, I still enjoyed the book. But it just disappointed me. Sure, it was fast-paced most of the time, kept my interest and had plenty of enjoyable drama to read about, but probably the only good thing about it was that we get some answers from questions we had in the first book Shade. So fans of the first book, I recommend you this sequel because I've read a lot of reviews where people actually enjoyed this much more than me, so you might be lucky. However, my advice to you is to not expect too much from this book but for those who've read SHIFT, then I can definitely say that I'm still looking forward to reading the third book of this trilogy. I admit, the ending was not how I imagined it to be, but it still made me pumped for the final installment.
The Rating
3/5 stars
Ugh, now I'm worried! This series has been on my TBR list for a long time. I really hope I enjoy it and don't run into the same problems you did. Thanks for the great review! :)
ReplyDeleteI still recommend this series. It's a great one. But the sequel just disappointed me. Happens to the best of us.
DeleteUh oh.... I don't like the sound of these character changes. I read the first book aaaaaggggeeess ago and still haven't got around to this one yet. I am worried now, because it sounds like I'll be in the same boat as you with your feelings toward Aura and agh, I was Team Zach too! *bites nails* Very intrigued to see what I'll think when I read. Fantastic review!
ReplyDeleteWho knows, maybe you'll love this book. There are many of mixed reviews for this sequel. It was still a good book to read for the sake of finishing a series, but it just disappointed me.
DeleteI love Zach but damn he was frustrating at times. Anyway, when you get a chance to read it, I hope you like it! :)
I've read the both books and actually really enjoyed it! I love Zach too! Can't wait for Shine. Still glad you enjoyed it, Erin! ♥ Awesome review! :)
ReplyDeleteCeline @ Forget-me-not
Good to hear. It'll be interesting what the third installment will be like.
DeleteOh no!! It's too bad that you didn't like this book as much as you loved the first! :( I've read both of them too, and now that I think of it, you're so right about some things that the characters did! (Mostly Zach... because I love him and all his Scottish awesomeness to the moon, but I hated what he did to Aura!! Which made me adore Logan's little brother LOL!)
ReplyDeleteStill, this was such an awesome honest review and I'm still glad that you're giving Shine a shot! :) I'm really excited for that book too -- I just know Jeri's going to make it awesome! ;) <3
I hated what Zach did too. Damn these fictional boys for breaking our hearts!!!
DeleteI can't wait for the third book. Mostly because of how book 2 ended.
This is EXACTLY how I felt. I like the story, but the characters - I just can't bring myself to like them. Aura I find is selfish and doesn't think things through. Zach, I liked in book one, but not so much in Shift. Logan - don't even get me started. I hate him, I actually do. I'm intrigued enough to want to read book three though, because the story is pretty good. Great review, I'm glad I found someone who shares my views! :)
ReplyDelete