Book Review: Shine

Shine (Shade #3)

By:  Jeri Smith-Ready

Published By:  Simon Pulse

Publication Date:  May 1, 2012

Page Count:  416

Buy it at:  Amazon, Barnes & Noble or IndieBound

Source:  Purchased by Reviewer

Audience: Young Adult - Paranormal Fantasy

I can easily label this book one of my favourites because I cannot stop thinking about it.  Jeri Smith-Ready wrote the most PERFECT ending to an already awesome trilogy! 

Shine begins literally 5 minutes after the conclusion of Shift with such intensity and emotion, I honestly didn't think I could deal with so much drama so soon.  No easing into it... just BOOM!   With my heart in my throat, I just had to keep reminding myself... 'it's not what it seems... it's not what it seems'... BREATHE! 

Wow........



The journey that Aura and Zachary took to get to this conclusion included death, ghosts, music, conspiracies and espionage, cosmic mythology and a love story that left me purring with contentment!  Perfection with a capital "P"!  No mystery was left unresolved in Shine.  We got the answers we have been craving since this story began. 

As much as I loved Aura as a heroine, and I will get to her in a minute, I HAVE to talk about Zachary first.  He became such an incredibly dimensional character, and let me tell you, he went through some serious stuff.   My heart broke for Zachary for all he went through but I was estatic when good things happened to him because he was soooo deserving.  I was already Team Kilt in the previous two books (despite Logan always having a small piece of my heart, too) but Zachary really stepped it up in this last installment.  In Shine, Zachary was as central a character as Aura was and I loved that he always had a presence... even when he wasn't physically there.  Zachary was everything you want in a leading man.  He was incredibly thoughtful and sensitive and he always put Aura first.  And don't get me started on that Scottish accent of his.  He is sexiness personified.

And Aura.  What can I say but our girl has surely grown up!  She has finally sorted out her life.  She has Logan secured to a little corner of her heart and she will never forget him.  Logan, as flawed and dead as he was, was her first love.  Aura finally makes the commitment to herself that Zachary is who she wants and she's determined to make this happen despite several road blocks thrown her way.  I love her resolve as well as those little hints of insecurities that still remain.  That grounds her and makes her real.  She has a great sense of humour and injects it at all the right and not-so-right times... but that's what is charming about her too.

Aura and Zachary together... well... you can certainly feel the electricity that sizzles between them.  I can't imagine either of these two belonging with anyone else.  They are each other's priority first and foremost.  Two favourite quotes about Aura and Zachary from Shine:

"He turned his head to face me, but stayed on his back. "You look beautiful."
I glanced at my live shot in the corner. My features were as dim as his. "You can barely see me in the dark."
"I don't need to see you to know that you're beautiful."
It was my turn to emit a whimper and twist the sheets. He could still slay me with the simplest statements." ~ p. 211

""Aura, that's almost unbelievable. Except, I know you two, and I know about the power-mingling and the First and Last thing. I felt your connection the first time you met in the courtyard at school."
"You felt that?"
"Please. I wanted to give you guys bibs for your drool." ~ p. 320

No truer statement exists when I say that they are definitely a couple written in the stars...

They both went through some really tough stuff in this book and I was rooting for them every step of the way!

Shine was everything I expected and more!!  The pace of the story was just perfect!  The details have all been revealed and resolved about Aura's parentage, the Shift, the Shine, Aura's and Zachary's significance to it, and how it tied to the mythology of the Newgrange megalith in Ireland.  We also learned exactly why the DMP were interested in Aura and Zachary and it wasn't all what I expected.

I do have to note that some of the content in this installment, in my opinion, is meant for more mature young adults.  

Shine was perfect... anguish, heart-break, triumph, and a complete and utterly heart-melting love story.  And as I turned the last page, I felt both sad that this journey with Aura, Zachary, Logan and company was officially over but at the same time, perfectly content with how it ended.  It exceeded my expectations ten-fold!  But no sooner did I close the book when I heard from the author that a novella will be released from Zachary's perspective on July 31st!  I'm not entirely sure what the short story will be about but I have my suspicions and simply cannot wait!!

And one last thing... I'd like to thank the author for publicly noting all the supporters of "Team Kilt" in the Acknowledgements!  That was just a little bit awesome seeing our individual names in print... and there were MANY names!

Summary:

 In this dramatic conclusion to the Shade trilogy, Aura and Zachary’s relationship sizzles as the secrets of the Shift are revealed.

Life can change in an instant, and no one understands that better than Aura. It’s been almost a year since her boyfriend tragically died. She’s finally letting go of Logan’s violet-hued ghost, but not her search to uncover the truth about her past.

As the first in a generation that can see ghosts, Aura is convinced she has a connection to the Shift. She’s trusted Zachary, ever patient and ever by her side, with all that she knows. But when the government threatens his life in an attempt to learn Aura’s secrets, she will stop at nothing to protect herself and the one she loves...even if that means betraying her own heart.