Slide by Jill Hathaway

Series: Slide (bk. 1)

Genera: Murder Mystery/Paranormal Romance

Subjects: Supernatural, psychic ability, narcolepsy, murder, sisters, secrets, Iowa

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 250 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Balzer & Bray

Summary/ product description: “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.”

My Rating: êêêê

My Review: After waiting over a year to read this, I feel bad I didn’t read it sooner. It was very good. It reminded me of the Body Finder in a way, even though it’s completely different in the way it was written. But since they’re both about a girl with a unique ability trying to solve a murder, they are similar. So if you loved the Body Finder, you’ll like this.

Vee is very unique. She has pink hair, used to be a cheerleader and friends with the popular crowd. Vee likes astronomy. She has a younger sister, Mattie, who’s a cheerleader. Her dad is a surgeon who operates on kids. Her mom died of cancer. And also, she has narcolepsy, but when she falls asleep, she tends to slide into the head of the people who imprinted on objects she’s touching at the time.

So when Sophie is murdered, and she’s the only one who knows it because she slid into the killer, she tries to find out who the killer is. She has her suspects: a teacher, a football player named Scotch and a cheerleader who may have been jealous. There’s a huge mystery behind who the killer is, and I kept on guessing.

There’s the best guy-friend, Rollins, who Vee has been friends with for over a year. He’s cool even if he smoke pot sometimes, but he’s not a super druggie, just a deep thinker who likes music and makes a zine about school issues. And then there’s the love interest, Zane. He seems like an awesome, hot guy in the beginning. He is the new guy and he didn’t know Sophie. He couldn’t possibly be a suspect. Or could he? I went back to the House at The End of the Street idea, except in reverse (because Vee wasn’t the one who just moved in, Zane was).

This book wasn’t horror, though. It was mystery. It wasn’t gory or super scary. It was thrilling toward the end. I enjoyed it all the way through. The high school drama may have been cliché, but the plot wasn’t. It was unique and surprising.

Cover Art Review: I loved this cover since the moment I set eyes on it. It’s metallic, so even better. It’s purple, which is awesome. I love the colors and the use of light. It seems very blurred or posturized. And I love the title treatment.

 

~Haley G