I got this one for free at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention. I think I actually traded another girl for it. Some of the books I got were ones I already owned, and trading with teen girls for random titles was actually so much fun! I wanted this one because a coworker of mine highly recommended it to me. Thanks, Anna! I loved it. And I’m so glad I don’t have to wait for the next one because both Shift, and Shine are already out, and I have a feeling I will need to get my hands on them soon.
It’s about Aura. She lives in a world where people born
after a certain time can see ghosts. Literally, all the young people in this
book can see the dead walking around them, but all of the adults can’t. The book begins on Aura’s boyfriend’s
birthday. Logan (aka: boyfriend) does something stupid. He combines drugs and
alcohol in effort to have sex with Aura. They’ve kept postponing this night,
and finally when it’s going to happen, Logan is too drunk, so he decides to
take some drugs that were given to him by a record company that wants to sign
his band.
Aura knows when he’s dead because, well, she sees his ghost.
And what most people don’t know is that Aura was the first person born to see
ghosts. She actually started what everyone calls the shift. And while her whole
life has been about trying to ignore the pleas of the dead (wearing red helps
turn them away), she now all of a sudden can’t imagine ever wearing red again.
She doesn’t really have to grieve and move on from a boyfriend that’s still
haunting her, does she?
Well, enter boy number 2 in the triangle: Zachary (aka: the
last person born not able to see ghosts). He and Aura have the same birthday,
born only seconds apart. And while Aura is learning how hard it is to have a
relationship with a dead guy because no touching is possible, her relationship
with Zachary is building. He’s new to the school, but so quick to defend Aura
to all the jerkfaces that start rumors about her involvement in her boyfriend’s
death. And Zachary is helping Aura
with her thesis about ancient astronomy and megaliths. She didn’t want help on
it because she was sure that what was she was studying would help lead her to
some answers about the shift.
Zachary helps her anyway. And some of my favorite scenes involve
the two of them studying the stars! Any way, soon it becomes clear that Zachary
is really special. And the two are confiding a lot to each other about who they
really are. Aura learns that she’s been watched for a large part of her life
because she was the first one to turn. There’s escape scenes, parties, rumors,
ghosts, ghost repelling, love triangles, and a lot of awesome and creepy world
building! There’s even a little bit of Edgar Allen Poe thrown in the mix.
I loved Aura! She is just so much tougher than she thinks
she is. I was so embarrassed for her in the court scene. Logan’s parents were
suing the record company for giving their son the drugs that killed him. And
Aura had to step up in front of everyone and talk about her sex life (or lack of
one). But, while she was terrified, she handled it all so bravely. I loved her
relationship with Logan’s family. And I loved how she seriously thought out all
of her dicusisons, everything from replacing red sheets to which boy she thought
she should be with.
I also loved the world! It was so creepy. I want answers to
it as much as Aura does! What does everything have to do with her mother???? I
loved the romance, especially all the tension between her and Zachary! And I
loved that it wasn’t clear which boy loved her more. They both were so willing
to sacrifice themselves for her and help her with whatever she needed.
The one thing I didn’t like was how unbelievable some of the
stuff was. Aura forgave Zachary super fast. She also just accepted that she was
important super fast. And then she and Zachary just accepted the short answers
from his father and her aunt…super fast. These characters don’t accept
anything. Why didn’t they question their guardians more? And also, some things
weren’t really described adequately enough for me. Like what are shades
exactly? Why does Aura seem to see more of them than anyone else? Maybe this
will be dealt with in the next two books. I know I will definitely be reading
the next two books, needing some answers!
I give this one a 9/10. I really enjoyed reading it. And
frankly I don’t know why I never read these books before!
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