Slide by Jill Hathaway - Review

Slide by Jill Hathaway

Published: March 27, 2012

Publisher: Balzer + Bray for HarperCollins

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 review:

Sylvia (Vee) slides into other people. It happens unexpectedly and without warning. She slides into the body of someone who has left an emotional imprint on something she is touching. (Therefore, Vee tries to always be very careful about touching things that belong to others.) While in that person's body, she experiences the world through their eyes. Vee has no control; no control over when or where she slides and no control over what happens while she is in the other person's body. After she slides into a killer, Vee has to figure out who she can trust. She decides she must start gaining control over her sliding so that she can figure out who is the killer and what is going on.

I found Slide to be an enjoyable read. The concept of sliding into the body and mind of someone else is an interesting one. Jill Hathaway is certainly an imaginative writer and has created strong, nicely developed characters. Slide captured my attention and kept me interested throughout, with some surprising twists and turns along the way. I did wish we could have found out more about why Vee could slide, but I suppose this is part of the mystery. I also was not overly impressed with the ending because it seemed that it wrapped up too nice, neat, and abruptly for me. However, overall, I think Slide is an attention-grabber that I would recommend, and I am excited to read the next book in this series when it is available.

A copy was provided by the publisher for review.

About the author:

Jill Hathaway lives in the Des Moines area with her husband and young daughter. Having earned her BA in English Education from the University of Northern Iowa and her MA in Literature from Iowa State University, she teaches high school English and dual credit courses for Des Moines Area Community College.

SLIDE is her debut novel.

You can find out more about Jill Hathaway and how to connect with her on her blog.