Author Guest Review (2) - Anastasia Hopcus

What better recommendation than one from our beloved authors, right? This post features Author Guest Reviews for books I've really loved. This post was inspired by YA Reads.

Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready

Anastasia's thoughts:

Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready was absolutely fantastic! I had a feeling I would love it before I even cracked it open. In fact, I was so convinced that I bought the book without even reading the first page--something I never do. (Of course, I did have some reason for thinking this; I'd seen that a few bloggers that enjoyed Shadow Hills had also really liked Shade. I figured they must have impeccable taste. ;D (I kid. Sort of.)

Luckily, my instincts proved to be correct. As soon as I started reading Shade, I became enthralled and ripped right through it. I loved all of the details about music---surprise, surprise! It helped me get to know the characters and made them feel like real teenagers. I often listen to this traditional Irish pub songs CD that includes the song ‘The Parting Glass’ and I was totally blown away when it was mentioned in Shade. I’ve even told my boyfriend several times over the years that I would like to have that song played at my funeral. While he’s always found the suggestion creepy and my fixation on funerals morbid, that little detail just helped to increase the immediate connection I felt with the characters in Shade.

The characterization is excellent. Each character is very distinct, even the more minor ones like Logan's parents or Aura's aunt. Both, Zachary and Logan are completely crush-worthy. This is one of the only books I've read where I really felt torn between the two guys. I just loved both of them so much!

The whole set-up Jeri Smith-Ready established regarding ghosts and those who can see them was really fascinating to me. I'm so eager to find out more about the whole mystery regarding Aura's mother. And what happened at the end really surprised me, too, which is not usually the case.

The only problem I have with Shade is that I don't know how I'm going to manage to wait for the
next book!

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Thank you SO MUCH, Anastasia! I also loved Shade.
Be sure to check out Ansatasia's awesome debut novel Shadow Hills! See my review of Shadow Hills here.

Other posts:

- Author Guest Review (1) - Tara Kelly