Slide by Jill Hathaway

Genre: YA Fantasy/Mystery
Release Date: March 27th 2012
Pages: 256 
Book Source: ARC HarperCollins Australia & NetGalley

Synopsis: 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.

My Thoughts: 

Slide is a refreshing, entertaining meld from debut author Jill Hathaway. A YA novel with a contemporary setting, a fantasy element and a page-turning mystery.  

It's assumed Vee has narcolepsy like her mum who passed away from cancer 5 years before the story begins, but Vee doesn't sleep, she Slides.

I wish i could reach in, pull out her thoughts, examine them like a roll of film. But I don't have that kind of power. I am only a passenger. A witness.

I enjoyed Vee's 'ability', sliding was essential to the whodunit experience and vital for giving Vee some spunk. What I liked almost as much as the paranormal element was Hathaway's exploration of Vee's relationships, my favourite, Vee's relationship with her younger sister Mattie but the interaction between Vee and her often absent father, and friends Rollins & Zane were close behind.

She is my sister and my exact opposite in every way. If she’s the pink glitter on your valentine, I’m the black sharpie you use to draw mustaches on the teachers in your yearbook.

There are enough twists and red herrings to keep the suspense amped and if you can suspend belief (something I found challenging) the climax will satisfy. 

For a read with a darkish tone this was a fun way to pass a few hours. 

Favourite quote:

Strangers always say they're sooooo sorry when they hear my mother is gone, but it's wrong that death is a loss.

It's something you gain. Death is always there, whispering in your ear. It's in the spaces between your fingers. In your memories. In everything you think and say and feel and wish. It's always there.

Check out the covers for Slide. My favourite is still the US cover pictured above with the Norwegian a close second. How 'bout you?

UK cover

Norwegian cover

German cover

      Spanish cover

Want to know more about Jill Hathaway ~ visit her website or blog