Shift by Jeri Smith-Ready

Shift by Jeri Smith-Ready
Published by Simon Pulse
pages- 384
sequel to Shade
Genre- Supernatural
(amazon) (Goodreads) (shelfari)
Rating- 3.5

summery from goodreads-

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 the 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 new truths, she must decide whom to trust with her secrets…and her heart.

hmm. Shift was good. The only suckish thing was that i had totally forgotten a ton of the stuff that had happened in Shade, the first book. (other then general plot and such) I liked how Aura and Zach could sort of switch powers, and how Logan figured out how to have a human body. even if it was for only 15 minutes. Smith-Ready really pumped up the supernatural stuff, and thickened the plot loads.

and the ending was pretty good too. although I'm not quite sure what will happen in the next book in the series, there was no big cliff hanger. 

I only gave it a 3.5 cause although it was a good ghost paranormal book, it just wasn't the best thing I've ever read, don't get me wrong though, I'm sure that there are tons of people who would love the novel, It just isn't my favorite... 

Have a nice day!

Dana

Past midnight by Mara Purnhagen

Past midnight by mara purnhagen
publisher- Harlequin Teen
224 pages
genre- paranormal/mystery
(amazon) (goodreads) (shelfari)
Rating- 4

Not everyone believes in ghosts, most of us are skeptics, Including Charlotte's, parents, who have their own "Ghosts-are-not-real-except-when-they-are" TV show, logically named Doubt. Charlotte has spent her whole life living in creepy haunted castles, and century old hotels, while her parents film their documentaries. and once they finish they pick up and leave to the next supposedly haunted Indian burial ground or whatever. Anyways, the whole shebang hasn't left much time for a social life of any form for Charlotte. Now its her last year of high school and she's finally getting her wish. for just one year her parents are going to let her stay at the same high school, live in the same, brand-new, spirit-free house. At the beginning its great, then it starts to be not so great, A ghost seems to be stalking Charlotte, sure that she can solve the age old mystery of the disappearance of their daughter, also named Charlotte. All her new friends seem to be hiding something major from her, and all she knows is that it has to do with a social outcast named Jeremy. On top of all that, she has to keep everyone from discovering what her parents occupation really is, so all her friends don't freak and ostracize her, like they have done at her previous schools... thankfully theirs not much she cant handle.

I'm Not really one for a ghost story, but Past Midnight was really quite good :) From the start the book intrigued me. I liked how Charlotte's parent had an anti-ghost show, instead of those losers who are like, "the level of paranormal in this corner of the house is much higher then the heat waves we went ac cross as we entered the threshold of the house, this ghost is obviously pissed off where here." Ive never believed those BS-ey shows. I did find it interesting how Charlotte kind of gave us a behind the scenes look at how those kinds of shows are made, and how the equipment for that stuff works.

Charlotte's sister Annaliese sticks up for Charlotte and is the one who convinces her parents to stay in one place for Charlotte's sake, which is nice of here. I really loved her, and wish she was in the story a little more. once Charlotte moves she meets her next-door neighbor, Avery, and they have instant friendship. I find it a tad hard to be live that the most popular girl in the school, and head cheerleader, can suddenly become best friends with someone who's.... never had a best friends before. I get that she wants someone fresh that doesn't know about what happened to Adam. But the fact that she was a non-cheerleader, and everyone in Avery's inner circle were completely accepting and not the least bit jealous is a bit far-fetched. Remember, I am in high school and trust me, becoming one of the most popular girls in the school is not that easily. Non the less that flaw doesn't change much in the book, and is easily overlooked.

The mysteries going on in the book kept it rolling at a steady rate, It wasn't predictable, and once you got tired of the pickensens troubles, you were swept back in with a clue to the thing with Jeremy. The plot was intertwined just enough, and all the loose ends were tied up.

Charlotte does have a love interest too. :) the all too adorable Noah, who edits the A/V clips with her. the only problem is that he's a year younger. --GASP--  *scandal*

lols. over all I really enjoyed it :P, and it was strange, because before harlequine teen sent it to me, I had never heard of it, to all you who have never seen it before, go amazon it, and you can also get the next book 100 candles also!


does anyone know why labor days a holiday?,
Dana

Review: Everfound by Neal Shusterman

Everfound By Neal Shusterman
Published By Simon and Shuster
512 pages
Genra- Fantasy (afterlife)
(shelfari) (goodreads) (amazon)
350 page challenge
Rating- Six

Nick is a crudely formed pile of chocolate, Allie is strapped to the nose of a freight train, Mary is an interlight, with a following that is growing everyday, including one peculiar skinjacker with jaguar fur. Milos who is left in charge until Mary's re-awakening, runs into some major problems on the way to Mary's unknown destination. The West is... different. Much different then what there used to, with
 groups of jukebox worshiping warriors, Scar wraths, Mary reaping  brings the death toll into the triple digits and along for the ride is the Unremembered King, Supreme ruler of the middle realm. Allie has her work cut out for her as she prepares to take Mary out of power, forever.
I read Everlost in 6th grade after a thorough bout of encouragement from my reading teacher I gave it a shot. I was a relatively new reader and Everlost quickly became my favorite book. the world is so imaginative, the characters are lovable and interesting, and the plot line never disappoints through the entire series these facts remain true. Just when I think I've got it all figured out a curve ball comes out of nowhere and creates a new universal law. I think my favorite part is that anything can happen in Everlost, and throughout the Skinjacker series, almost everything does.

A new character is introduced, a furjacker (someone who skinjacks animals)  named Jix. He prefers Jaguars and furjacks them so often he has started to look like them. Some old characters from the first book make a reappearance, and even though I tried exceedingly hard not to, I started to like Jill. I felt an immense pity for Milos at multiple places in the book.

I was kept on my edge for hours, and that's not something that happens every book I read. Its been 5 years since I read Everlost, but I'm still devoted as ever. Everything I've read from Shusterman has been amazing in its own way, but the Skin jacker series is by far at the top of the list. There literally is not nearly enough praise I can give this book, anything I say would be an understatement. I smiled, I cried, I laughed, I squealed like a little girl. And although I'm sad that the series is over, I could not have asked for a better ending. I came in the book with almost no idea what was going down, but it was better then I ever thought it would be. I gave it a 6 rating on a 1-5 rating scale, and that means something!

so god yes I recommend this book, and all the books in the series, and every book Shusterman has ever written! (you can find a complete list here)

Go read it,
Dana

Some other favorites By Neal shusterman



Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready

Shade- Jeri Smith-Ready
Age group- 14+/YA
Pages- 309
Published by Simon & Shuster
Learn about it  here
Buy It here
Rating- 4 stars


 

Like all teenagers and children born after the shift, Aura has a special talent, she can see and here ghosts. The fact that ghosts exist is a normal thing now, and everything relates to them. Places are "black boxed" and people wear red to repel them, Aura's Job even relys on them. Shes a translator for a law firm, translating what the ghost is saying in court, so that they can resolve matters after their death. Shes devoted her time to figuring out how the shift happened and how to reverse it. all until a certain ghost changes everything.

Aura's at her boyfriend, Logan's birthday party when something devastating happens. He dies. He's gone from auras world, well, almost, see Logan died suddenly, and hes not ready to move on. Auras not either. Dead Logan is almost as real as ever, and shes not ready to let go quite yet, and a hot foreign exchange student, Zachary, makes holding on to Logan a lot harder than she thought.

This book really surprised me. It was better than I thought it would be. I liked  how everyone  could see the ghosts, and all the technology they had for them. The plot and ending was very good also, although a bit predictable. The author is pretty good, but not the best. I haven't read any thing else though from her though, so I may be mistaken.

Overall this book is pretty good, I think If it had anything else as a subject then it would have been 2 stars, but the whole world Jeri made up was pretty cool, thats the main reason I liked it. You can tell she spent a lot of time on the details and how everything works. I love authers who let their immagination run wild, and pull it off. The setting had very fue holes, the plot moved quickly, even though i don think she characterised well enough, I was satisfyed with the book, and if she comes out with A sequel. (im pretty sure she will) I'll read that one also.


xo Dana