You know that old saying, “put yourself in their shoes?” Well, I hate that saying. I understand the point of it, (I’m not a complete moron.)
*Don’t judge others unless you’ve been where they’ve been, done what they’ve done, and seen what they’ve seen*
But the fact of the matter is…I am really good at being judgmental (and I’m a shoe snob.) Two birds – 1 stone. Ya feel me?
Oh…that wasn’t the point? (my bad.)
My point is that Jill Hathaway discovered the core of this saying, added a dash of whoop ass to it and called it Slide.
Now, it’s not news that I love paranormal mysteries, but it is news that I am completely burnt out on vampires and werewolves (like push them off a cliff burnt out) so when I got Slide in the mail (and actually took the time to read the synopsis) I got super excited. Here was a novel that not only spouted paranormal roots, (Yay!) but found a very interesting way to wrap those roots up into a slightly schizophrenic murder mystery. (Double yay!)
“Vee Bell is certain of one irrefutable truth—her sister’s friend Sophie didn’t kill herself. She was murdered.
Vee knows this because she was there. Everyone believes Vee is narcoleptic, but she doesn’t actually fall asleep during these episodes: When she passes out, she slides into somebody else’s mind and experiences the world through that person’s eyes. She’s slid into her sister as she cheated on a math test, into a teacher sneaking a drink before class. She learned the worst about a supposed “friend” when she slid into her during a school dance. But nothing could have prepared Vee for what happens one October night when she slides into the mind of someone holding a bloody knife, standing over Sophie’s slashed body.
Vee desperately wishes she could share her secret, but who would believe her? It sounds so crazy that she can’t bring herself to tell her best friend, Rollins, let alone the police. Even if she could confide in Rollins, he has been acting distant lately, especially now that she’s been spending more time with Zane.
Enmeshed in a terrifying web of secrets, lies, and danger and with no one to turn to, Vee must find a way to unmask the killer before he or she strikes again.”
Sounds awesome right? Right! (insert uncomfortably long pause)
Unfortunately (which is starting to become a sad habit in YA fiction) there were some very good parts and some not good parts to this book.
First lets start with the good. (Cause I’m feeling generous today. And..my son just called me Darth Vader which I’m thinking isn’t a good thing.)
The characters.
Hathaway’s characters were very strong. Not once did I find myself contemplating the hidden thoughts of Vee. She was well developed. She had a very clear path, and despite her little hiccup (which everyone thinks is narcolepsy) she is just your everyday girl, looking to lead an everyday life. She has a complicated relationship with her best-friend, an even more complicated relationship with her family and even though she occasionally finds herself looking at a bloody knife through someone else’s eyes she felt real. (Which is kind of hard to pull off when normal isn’t even in her vocabulary.) The plot that surrounded the characters only added depth to their construction and by the end of the book I felt like they were part of my family. (My very screwed up, I don’t like to claim them family.)
Anyways…the plot?
Well…it was a tad predictable in parts, and surprising in others. (Which isn’t bad for a debut novel.) It is (in it’s most stripped down form) a murder mystery so there were several different lines of speculation going at once which was fueled nicely by Vee’s ability to body hop. But more importantly…seeing the action unfold from several different angles was a nice change of pace and added enthusiasm to my reading of this book.
Now, the bad. I wasn’t at all happy with the ending. Yes, we did find out who the killer was, and yes all of her drama at home was settled, but to me…the last 30 pages seemed forced, almost as if Hathaway didn’t really know how to tie up all her loose ends. There were a few plot lines that ended rather abruptly and others that were overly detailed, leaving me feeling a little lost and ultimately unsatisfied. (*kicks puppy*)
All in all however…an entertaining concept and an enjoyable book, despite it’s ram-shackled ending.
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[Rating:3.5/5]
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Giveaway!
I know it’s not much, but I have 2 autographed bookmarks left from a previous contest to giveaway! So…who wants them?