"Shade" by Jeri Smith-Ready

From Goodreads: "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."

Going into this book I had no idea what it was about, all I knew was that it came highly recommended to me (thanks Rachel over at Fiktshun for convincing me to read it) and that it, and its sequel, had made quite a splash in the world of YA book blogging. And boy, a splash it did make, especially on myself! Lately I have been reading a whole heck of a lot of books involving ghosts and books involving dystopian societies and I have started to notice quite a few overplayed storylines amongst said genres which does become quite tiring and does almost turn me off from them- however, this book and its plot, in combining both genres, is anything but overplayed- it truly is an entirely original concept, and as such, it really has given me renewed hope for the genres!

I am also the sort of person who finds love triangles in YA to be tiring, especially when it is clear who the lead female character will choose (ie. Jace over Simon in Cassie Clare's "Mortal Instruments" series), it almost seems pointless for said love triangle to be included their really isn't much competition (when the story is obviously stacked in one males favour). I much prefer if there is to be a love triangle included in a YA book that the female character (and the reader themselves) have a difficult time choosing between the two male characters (ie. like in "The Hunger Games" trilogy, I, for the life of me, could not choose between Gale and Peeta, or in the "Iron Fey" series I couldn't choose between Ash and Puck) and therefore I was happy to see that that was very much the case for this book.

Logan, Aura's dead boyfriend, is full of fiery passion and it is easy to get swept up by said passion, though he does have his asshattery moments that does leave a bad taste in your mouth. Whereas, Zachary was so caring, protective, and honest, but entered into Aura's life at the wrong time- and only for a short period of time- how is a girl to choose? Choose a dead boy who could go up in light at any moment or choose a living boy who could be called back home, across the pond, at any time?

All in all, this book is truly a must read- it combines the best elements of various YA genres and Jeri's style of writing makes it easy to slip into this world and truly care for the characters and their outcomes.

Rating: 9/10