Shift by Em Bailey

“I believe in grey...Some things aren't straightforward. Not everything is true or false, real or imaginary, black or white. It's not that simple.” ― Em Bailey, Shift

Olive Corbett is just trying to disappear into the background.  She takes her meds, and avoids as much trouble as she can, even though she knows people are still talking about her "incident."

Then a new girl shows up, and the schools attention turns to her.

There are a lot of rumors about Miranda Vaile including that she was an orphan, who killed her parents.

Olive and her best friend Ami are the only ones who are not obsessed with Miranda.  Even Katie, the schools Queen Bee pushes girls our of her clique to make room for Miranda.

But only Olive seems to notice that the more Miranda prospers, the more Katie seems to fade away.

But who would believe Olive if she tried to convince someone that Miranda was stealing Katie's life?

Then, Miranda turns her sites on Olive herself.

Is she really just a lonely girl looking for a friend to gets her, or is there something Evil inside of Miranda Vaile?

"Shift" by Em Bailey is a young adult thriller, and the story keeps moving pretty fast once you get going.  There are supernatural undertones to the story, as Olive becomes convinced that Miranda is a shape shifter stealing the lives of other people.

Outside of that it has the usual drama of a teen novel.  A social outcast teen.  A "cool kid" love interest.  A no-nonsense best friend.  A "she used to be my best friend but now we're enemies" antagonist.

For much of the book I was pulled along by my interest in what Olive's "incident" actually was.  And trying to figure out why Olive's mom didn't approve of her best friend Ami, who seemed to be a good enough girl.  By the end I was trying to figure out what exactly was going on with Miranda.

I would give this novel 5 stars.  I enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who likes YA fiction.