Bel Reviews: Jill Hathaway's - "Slide"

This was my first accepted request from Netgalley.com; (http://www.netgalley.com/ ) so I was excited to delve in and experience Vee’s story for myself. Here’s the blurb…

“Sylvia “Vee” Bell hates that, like her deceased mother, she has narcolepsy. But this embarrassing condition is nowhere near as bad as what happens during these episodes: when Vee passes out she actually slides into somebody else’s conciousness and experiences the world through that person’s eyes. This is how Vee finds herself in the head of a killer, standing over a classmate’s slashed and murdered body.

When another cheerleader turns up dead, Vee realizes that someone is killing off her sister’s friends. Suddenly everyone is a suspect, and Vee finds herself enmeshed in a terrifying web of secrets, lies and danger. She must face up to the fact that she can trust no one-not even the family and friends she thought she knew.”

As it was an electronic uncorrected proof, I don’t have a cover to respond to, but judging by the options I can see on goodreads, both the UK and the US covers are going to be beautiful.  Here, take a look.  http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9542582-slide

I tore through this book in less than 24 hours and I felt it was authentically respectful to readers.

The characters are anything but stereotypical, and I am in awe of how multifaceted and well thought out each of them are.

My favourite character is Zane, without giving away spoilers; he’s an incredibly unpredictable dark horse, with a good heart. My least favourite character is Vee’s father. He’s so preoccupied that Vee is forced to practically give up her childhood to be the emotional rock for her sister. That’s just not right.

Jill Hathaway appears to have a way with bringing up touchy subjects such as suicide, binge drinking, and bullying, so as to create a non-judgemental playing field. Her characters are the ones with the moral compass. We are allowed to make up our own minds how these things make us feel. Things just are the way they are, like it or lump it in a very non-preachy manner.

The plot is thick and juicy, making the reading process quite enjoyable.  Her use of imagery plonks you right into Vee’s head and has you galloping right along with her in first person. You can’t possibly know a person until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes and I can’t wait to walk another mile in Vee’s.

Hardcover, 256 pages

Expected publication: March 27th 2012 by Balzer + Bray for HarperCollins

ISBN 139780062077905

http://jillscribbles.blogspot.com/