Review: Slide (Slide, #1)

Author: Jill Hathaway
Series: Slide, #1
Release date: March 27th 2012
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Hardcover, 250 pages
Buy: Amazon 
        The Book Depository


Slide is one of those exciting books that you can (and probably will) read in one sitting, and then gladly re-read it a year or so later. It is a fast-paced thriller with a single paranormal element. I was honestly surprised by how quickly I finished it and how much I enjoyed it.

The idea of slipping into the minds of others is certainly not new or unexplored, but I liked Hathaway’s version of it. Vee’s ability can be defined as a form of psychometry – touching emotionally charged objects causes her to see things through other people’s eyes. Vee has only tried to share her secret once, with her father, who promptly sent her to a psychiatrist and refused to talk about it again. That experience has thought her never to reveal what she sees, not to anyone – her sister, or even her best friend.

I expected Slide to focus more on the romance, but the first half was practically romance-free, and I must admit I’m glad that was the case. It allowed me to take the rest – the mystery, Vee’s ability, her loneliness and her fears, more seriously and it gave the story more weight. By the time the romance came at the center, I was already fully invested in this page-turner and eager to discover the identity of the killer.

In style, Hathaway reminds me a lot of Kim Harrington, which is a big compliment in my book, with one very important difference. Harrington’s Clarity (or Perception), although equally long, never seemed rushed but rather perfectly paced, while Hathaway’s desire to be concise worked against her.

In the second half, things started coming together at a head-spinning pace. On the one side, this was good because there were no fillers, nothing to dilute the main storyline and as I already mentioned, I was kept on my toes the entire time. On the other side, though, it stopped me from forming strong emotional connections with the characters as there was simply no time to get to know them, and I was never given a chance to become fully invested in their relationships, be it father-daughter, boyfriend-girlfriend, or those between best friends.
By far the most impressive and memorable part, at least to me, was Vee’s relationship with her emotionally distant father. After Vee’s mother died, the brilliant pediatric surgeon started working himself almost to death, avoiding home at all costs and leaving Vee to care both for herself and her younger sister. Vee is full of resentment and feels utterly abandoned most of the time, but she can’t find it within herself to stand up to him because he looks so utterly destroyed that her first desire is to protect him. Their reversed roles, their entire situation was done extremely well and it really struck a chord with me.

To make the short story even shorter, Slide is a thrilling read perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon when you need something to fully occupy you for a few hours and then let you go in time for work/school on Monday morning.

Oh, and btw, hardcover is only $7.20 on Amazon at the moment (link above).