Slide by Jill HathawayPublishing Date: 27th March 2012
Publisher: Harper Collins
Imprint: Balzar & Bray
Young Adult
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My rating: 3 of 5 stars
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 off lately, more distant, 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.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read mystery and suspense. It kept me guessing until the end and every time I thought I had figured it out, a new suspect emerged, eventually shocking me completely in the end.
It took me a long time to connect with the protag Vee. I felt like as soon as I connected, the book ended. I found her to be a very depressing, tedious character. I couldn't understand what someone like Zane would see in her. Even when she was with him, she didn't lighten up. When he told her he was falling for her, I was like "for what, her whining." I get that there was a lot going on for her but I just didn't feel that the relationship was believable.
I think Rollins should have played a bigger part from the start. He is supposed to be Vee's best friend but we no sign of this until the end, when he drops everything to pick her up when she hadn't even invited him to the party. Vee says they are drifting apart but gives no reason as to why. Because we never got to see him as a friend it didn't feel like they were drifting apart, it felt more like he was a stranger in the story. I would have liked to see a closer relationship with them in the beginning so the reader also could have felt the loss of the friendship.
This book was full of mystery and suspense which I guess was the point to it and for that concept, I would have to give it full marks. I enjoyed the idea of the story but I felt the characters were very one dimensional and I never connected with any of them.
I didn't like the ending. I would have liked to see a little bit more interaction with Vee and Rollins and his reaction to the letter. I felt the ending was kind of abrupt.
Overall, this is enjoyable enough and easy to read. Full of mystery and suspense with a romantic element.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book for review.
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