Book Review: Slide by Jill Hathaway.

Product details:
Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books.
Paperback, 256 pages.
Rating: 4½ out of 5.
Ages: 14+
Source: Received from publisher for review.

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.

A slick murder mystery with a unique supernatural twist, Jill Hathaway’s debut novel Slide hooked me right from the get go, with great characters, witty dialogue and a complex plot that I just loved trying to unravel.  Perfect for fans of Kimberly Derting’s The Body Finder and Kim Harrington’s Clarity, if you’re looking to pick up a book that’s so good it demands to be read in one sitting, look no further than Slide.

Vee Bell has a big problem. She’s just witnessed the murder of a girl at her school and she can’t tell a soul about it – not the cops, not her dad and not even her best friend Rollins. Who would believe her anyway? It’s not like she even left her house on the night the murder was committed. And she knows that in this case, the truth won’t set her free, it’ll just make everyone think she’s fully insane!  Ever since she was little Vee has suffered from narcolepsy, but when she passes out, she doesn’t simply collapse, instead she slides into the minds of others and sees through their eyes. Usually she just witnesses mundane, everyday stuff, such as mindless cheerleader gossip, but this time things have taken a turn for the scary when Vee slides into the mind of a murderer.  Vee is freaked, but it seems that everyone around her is keeping secrets and telling lies, and soon it seems there’s nobody she can trust.

I loved the premise of Slide when I first heard about it months back, and when I saw it described as ‘Mean Girls meets Scream’ on the press release, I knew it would be a perfect fit for me. Slide is intense, it’s fast-paced and thrilling, and while I probably should have figured out ‘whodunit’ long before I did, (I know the clues were all right there!) I was so invested in Vee’s story and figuring things out along with her, that I was kept on the edge of my seat right till the end. 

Slide is a great murder mystery, but it’s also so much more than that. First off, I loved the character of Vee, how she’s always there for her sister Mattie, despite her own problems, and how she remembers her mom through the nineties music that she loved to listen to- such a nice touch.   There’s also Roland, Vee’s ever loyal best friend, who’s been acting a little stand-offish lately, and becomes even more distant when hot newcomer Zane arrives in town and sets his sights on Vee, who’s smitten.  I just want to tell Vee that the guy who gave her his Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness t-shirt is a keeper, that’s all.

So, with all that romantic tension fully in place, Vee is a little distracted, but there’s a killer on the lose, and it’s up to her to find out who it is. Slide is fast-paced, witty and fun, a quick read that I whizzed through loving every single minute. I had thought that Slide was a standalone, but no! There’s more from Vee and Co. coming in 2013 when Imposter (Slide #2) releases. I can’t wait for more!