Early Review: Slide

Slide

-          Jill Hathaway

Publisher: Harper Collins

E-Arc courtesy of netgalley and 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.

I’m not ashamed to admit I read Slide in two sittings – actually I would have read it in one but I was the train when I started and I had to get off, but as soon as I got home I started reading again. The story flows like a chocolate fountain sweet, delicious and with a speed where you don’t want it to end. Vee has been diagnosed with narcolepsy, but every time she ‘falls asleep’ she actually finds herself sliding into someone else and experiencing their life for a short time. Then Vee slides into someone standing over a girl with a knife in their hands...

I really liked Vee – she doesn’t have a supportive home life with her mother dead and her father less than comfortable with his daughters. But she has an integrity to her and honesty. While other teens including her younger sister are worrying about popularity and being cool, Vee is happy to curl up on Friday nights with a horror movie with her best friend. I loved it when Vee started using her gift rather than avoiding it to find the killer. She really stood up and it felt like she was coming into her own.  Her power was unusual enough that it didn’t feel like it’s been done before.

There is a great mix of relationships and mystery. Vee’s relationship with the people in her life is a highlight for me from her sister to the new boy at school Zane each showed a different side to Vee which made her feel like a real person and added depth. Overall this was a fun read, fresh and full of verve.

Recommended for fans of Jeri Smith-Ready and Jennifer Estep’s Mythos Academy. 8 out of 10