Book Review: Shift by Em Bailey

Synopsis:

Olive Corbett is not crazy. Not anymore.

She obediently takes her meds and stays under the radar at school. After “the incident,” Olive just wants to avoid any more trouble, so she knows the smartest thing is to stay clear of the new girl who is rumored to have quite the creepy past.

But there’s no avoiding Miranda Vaile. As mousy Miranda edges her way into the popular group, right up to the side of queen bee Katie – and pushes the others right out – only Olive seems to notice that something strange is going on. Something almost . . . parasitic. Either Olive is losing her grip on reality, or Miranda Vaile is stealing Katie’s life.

But who would ever believe crazy Olive, the girl who has a habit of letting her imagination run away with her? And what if Olive is the next target?

A chilling psychological thriller that tears through themes of identity, loss, and toxic friendship, Shift will leave readers guessing until the final pages.

My Review: 

   Woah! That was peculiar! No really, this book was quite different from probably anything that I have read before. I mean, aside from the intensity as well as the unusualness of this book, I would say that this book was pretty good. The first few chapters were somewhat boring or not as eventful as the rest of the book, it started out fairly normal, nothing out of the real world and then BOOM! well, not boom because it kinda came out gradually but enough to say guys that there is a paranormal twist on this story which I'll be telling you what I thought of it later on in the review ;)

   So first of all, I really liked the story from Olive's - the protagonist - point of view, it was definitely something and the author's writing style was also a smooth one and I found it easy to follow. In addition that she was capable of writing her characters pretty well, like she profoundly created them while perfectly sticking to the specific theme of each character. 

   The concept which this story was built on, imitation, was actually portrayed in a way that intrigued me, it was a bit weird as well as spooky but still original. So the paranormal aspect of this story was a blast to read and took the story to a whole another level, that's for sure. However, there were also some moments in this book where I was SO close to giving up on finishing the story, I guess because the story frustrated me at some parts that I didn't want to complete reading but I am glad I did because it was good.

   Overall, it was a good book with a unique idea. I can say that the chance of coming across a story with a similar idea is a really low one. It was a story about imitation, death, friendship, love, family, finding safety, strength and hope. So I'd say to read it just for a change of scenery, away from all the vampires, werewolves and whatnot. That, and the fact that it was fun. I mean, this book can definitely still be a hit or a miss but I would say that if you are a fan of paranormal novels then go ahead and give this book a try.

Title: Shift

Author: Em Bailey

Series: Stand-alone

Source: Owned

Published: May 22nd 2012 by EgmontUSA

Links: Goodreads | Amazon

Rating: 3/5  

"Imitation is the highest form of flattery." Charles Caleb Colton
xoxo, Mariam