Teaser Tuesday: Slide by Jill Hathaway

Title: Slide

Author: Jill Hathaway

Publisher: Balzer + Bray (March 27, 2012)

Source: ATW ARC Tours

From GoodReads:

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 by Jill Hathaway is an interesting book. Technically, the plot deals with something that could be considered paranormal (sliding into someone else's body...sounds paranormal to me), but actually, it reads more contemporary. Now, if you're not a fan of contemporary, but you're a fan of paranormal, you'd still probably enjoy this. Actually, if you're a fan of either genre, you'd probably enjoy it.

I really liked reading Slide. Lately, I've read a lot of books not in my usual genre that were good, but not great. I've had to take breaks while reading them because they didn't hold my attention well enough. I'm pleased that this wasn't my experience with Slide. It felt out of my genre because of the contemporary feel, but it was a very intriguing, quick read. I actually finished it in one sitting.

Besides Vee's unique ability, the story was captivating because of the characters and the mystery. All along, we're trying to figure out several things at once. First, the murder is unsettling and Vee is desperately trying to figure out who did it. Second, Rollins is being more distant. Vee doesn't know why and doesn't know how to fix their relationship. Third, there's this new boy Zane that is attractive and brimming with secrets. And that's all I'm going to say, but there's even more mysterious behaviors from other characters.

Trying to piece together these mysteries and figure out which ones fit together and which are unrelated definitely kept my attention throughout the story. I thought Hathaway's choices as far as what to include in the web of interrelated actions and what to cast off as separate was well thought out. Bits you think might be connected aren't, and things you didn't think would be connected are. It's good. I was able to figure some of the things out (in general, not all the details) but there was enough surprise to keep me intrigued.

Overall, Slide was an intriguing, fast read that I'd recommend to anyone who reads the summary and thinks they might be interested. Content wise, it's not for everyone, but that's why you should read the summary first.

Final thoughts:  Buy or borrow.