REVIEW: Shift by Em Bailey

"There were two things everyone knew about Miranda Vaile before she'd even arrived at our school. The first was that she had no parents - they were dead. And they were dead because Miranda had killed them."
 Since her breakdown last year, Olive has become the school loner, so she can only watch as new girl Miranda latches on to her old best friend, class queen bee Katie. Soon Miranda is talking like Katie, dressing like Katie - even going out with Katie's boyfriend. And then Katie dies. Olive is convinced Miranda is somehow responsible, but the only person who believes her is Lachlan, the hot boy who won't take the hint that she wants to be left alone. And then Miranda turns her attention on Olive. She makes life so much fun that soon they are best friends. But what price will Olive have to pay for this new friendship?

Shift is a thrilling, psychological, and utterly captivating book. It's different from anything I've read before, and it's addictive and exciting - I was on the edge of my seat the whole way through! There's always something going on - the author doesn't waste time with descriptions, it's action all the way through. I loved it! 

I liked the way there was two different plotlines - the mystery of what was going on with Miranda, and then the mystery of what exactly the 'big thing' that happened to Olive a few months ago. It kept me reading till the very end, because I was just dying to know what had happened/what was going to happen. The only thing I didn't like was the way that the author dropped some pretty obvious hints throughout the book about what had happened to Olive. I prefer when twists in books are like bombshells, when you're totally not expecting them! There was a few genius twists in the book though, that I definitely didn't see coming! There was one at the end of part 1, and I honestly just sat there re-reading the paragraph over and over, I was so shocked! It was so clever, and I absolutely didn't see it coming!

Every one of the characters were intriguing and unique. Miranda is so creepy, but at the same time there's something very alluring about her. She's such a fascinating character.  She's horrible, but still fascinating! What she was doing to Katie and then Olive was creepily subtle. I didn't understand how Olive didn't realise what Miranda was doing to her, when she was the one person convinced of Miranda's guilt nearly the whole way through. Olive was a strange character - I liked her though. She was fragile, and she's one of those people you just want give a big hug to! I LOVED Lachlan, he was a fantastic love interest! He really cared about Olive and they were so cute together.

I loved the ending of Shift. It was so exciting, and the book's climax was just - OMG. I'm being honest, my heart was literally racing in that scene! It was a very satisfying ending, even though is was left open to interpretation...

I think the idea of Miranda being a sort of a shapeshifter was a fantastic one  - it's so original and it's refreshing and interesting to read such an unusual story. Shift is not a book to be missed. It's a brilliant, heart-racing and fast-paced novel!

                                                 Rating: 4.5/5

Source: For Review - a massive thanks to the publisher for sending me this in exchange for an honest review.

Format: Paperback
Pages: 304

Age group: 12+

Official Publication Date: 7th May 2012
Publisher: Electric Monkey (an imprint of Egmont)