Monday 19 March 2012

Slide review

Slide
Jill Hathaway
1st March 2012
HarperCollins


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. 




Slide was definitely an interesting read. It kind of reminded me a bit of The Body Finder books, and a little bit of Forgotten, and I really enjoyed the thriller-ish aspects of the book. I just wish that there'd been more tension about the deaths. At points it felt a little like it didn't quite know what it wanted to be, and though I liked the more emotional parts of it, I didn't really connect that much with the characters and I just felt like there was something a bit off about it? I don't know. That doesn't sound too good does it... 


I think, for me, the plot was definitely the main thing I liked about Slide. I really love teen thrillers (something I thought I'd never say, thrillers never seemed my thing,) and I love the tautness and the threat throughout the story, and while I didn't think this had as much of that as others I've read (I never really though Vee would be threated or killed or anything until the last 30 pages. But there wasn't really a point that I knew who the killer was and it did keep me guessing a lot. Which is always good. I guess it kind of reminded me a little of Clarity in that way too. 


I also liked the fact that it had a lot of contemporary stuff in it too, though at times it felt more like it was a book about suicide it's aftermath than a book about murder. The grief was all palpable though, and definitely added a more realistic dimension to it. I kind of felt like there was too much going on though, with all of the shit that Vee had going on. Like, I personally didn't feel that all of it was completely important, for a pretty short book and all, but that's just my opinion. It didn't detract from the story, it just cluttered it up a bit, I felt.


I really, really wanted Rollins to be in it more though! He was my favourite character by far and it irritated my that Vee was so blind to his affections. Also, he was a good friend and Vee could be a bit of a bitch to him at times. Oh well, I did like her hardiness and how she could be a bit standoffish at times. At least she had a personality! And she did make a lot of character development over the course of the book, which I liked. She felt like a better version of herself by the end, like, a more healed her. 


Also, her ability was pretty cool. It's the thing that drew me most to this book, definitely. The idea that someone could slip into another person's head whilst having a narcoleptic fit is definitely something a bit out of the norm, and I loved reading these scenes and seeing all the private conversations that people don't want other people to over hear, but that might just be because I'm nosy and I like to know people's business ;)


Slide was a different read with a great premise that sometimes for me felt a bit too cluttered, but that I overall enjoyed a lot and would definitely pick up a second book if one is coming.

2 comments:

  1. Great review. This book is getting around this week.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Slide looks really awesome, especially because it sounds The Body Finder-ish ;) Fab review :)

    ReplyDelete

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