Book picks similar to
Shift by Kim Curran


young-adult
science-fiction
sci-fi
paranormal

The Awakening of Ren Crown


Anne Zoelle - 2012
    Through the hallowed halls—and criminal underworld—of the magic world's most elite institution, time and glittering evil stalk her steps.Animated creations, enchanted gadgets, and marvelous machines vie with the students themselves: mischievous engineers, diabolical tacticians, battle-hardened warriors, and terrifying roommates. But even amidst an eclectic and powerful student body, there is something off about Ren's magic...and the wrong people have started to notice.Where art comes alive and the bonds of destiny are forged, Ren will find the answer to who and what she is.A secret inside a secret world.The series:The Ren Crown series is a New Adult and College Fantasy series that deals with art magic, magical science, and technology. The Awakening of Ren Crown is the start of an epic adventure featuring a protagonist who would rather be diligently working in her lab than saving (or ending) the world -- but who will do anything to protect her family and friends.

White Cat


Holly Black - 2010
    Cursed by the memory of the fourteen year old girl he murdered. Life at school is a constant trial. Life at home even worse. No-one at home is ever going to forget that Cassel is a killer. No-one at home is ever going to forget that he isn't a magic worker.Cassel's family are one of the big five crime families in America. Ever since magic was prohibited in 1929 magic workers have been driven underground and into crime. And while people still need their touch, their curses, their magical killings, their transformations, times have been hard. His granddad has been driven to drink, his mother is in prison and his brothers detest him as the only one of their family who can't do magic.But there is a secret at the centre of Cassel's family and he's about to inherit it. It's terrfying and that's the truth.The White Cat is a stunning novel of a world changed by magic. In this world only 1% of the population can work magic but they have the power of nightmares.

Katana


Cole Gibsen - 2012
    But adrenaline doesn't explain the voice in her head giving her battle tips and warnings.While worrying that she's going crazy (always a reputation ruiner), Rileigh gets a visit from Kim, a handsome martial arts instructor, who tells Rileigh she's harboring the spirit of a five-hundred-year-old samurai warrior.Relentlessly attacked by ninjas, Rileigh has no choice but to master the katana--a deadly Japanese sword that's also the key to her past. As the spirit grows stronger and her feelings for Kim intensify, Rileigh is torn between continuing as the girl she's always been and embracing the warrior inside her.

Aberrant


Ruth Silver - 2013
    There is food, shelter and jobs for everyone. The one requirement is to follow the rules without question, including the government's match in marriage and "The Day of the Chosen", a lottery that randomly selects families to conceive children as natural means hasn't existed in generations. Following her eighteenth birthday, Olivia Parker accepts her requirement to marry her childhood best friend, Joshua Warren, and is eager to start her work assignment and new life when it all comes abruptly to an end as she's arrested and thrown in prison. The only crime committed, her existence. Olivia is unlike the rest of the world born not from "The Day of the Chosen." The truth haunts the government and puts her life in grave danger as one simple fact would destroy the perfect system. With Joshua's help, Olivia breaks free of prison and is forced on the run. Together they set out to find the promised rebel town in search of a new home and new life together. Their situation seems less than promising as they reach the town of Haven. New rules and customs must be adhered to in order to stay. Leaving would mean most certain death in the large expanse of the Gravelands. Time is running out as the government mounts an attack to destroy Olivia and bury her secret with her. Thrown into a world unlike their own, they must quickly adapt to survive.

Waterfall


Lisa Tawn Bergren - 2011
    Stuck among the rubble of the medieval castles in rural Tuscany, on yet another hot, dusty archaeological site, Gabi and Lia are bored out of their minds...until Gabi places her hand atop a handprint in an ancient tomb and finds herself in fourteenth-century Italy. And worse yet, in the middle of a fierce battle between knights of two opposing forces.Suddenly Gabi's summer in Italy is much, much more interesting.

Halflings


Heather Burch - 2012
    Sworn to defend her, misfits Mace, Raven, and Vine battle to keep Nikki safe while hiding their deepest secret—and the wings that come with.A growing attraction between Nikki and two of her protectors presents a whole other danger. While she risks a broken heart, Mace and Raven could lose everything, including their souls. As the mysteries behind the boys’ powers, as well as her role in their earthly mission, unfold, Nikki is faced with choices that will affect the future of an entire race of heavenly beings, as well as the precarious equilibrium of the earthly world.

Slated


Teri Terry - 2012
    But echoes of the past whisper in Kyla’s mind. Someone is lying to her, and nothing is as it seems. Who can she trust in her search for the truth?

Crash


Lisa McMann - 2013
    The suspenseful first of three books from the New York Times bestselling author of the Wake trilogy.Jules lives with her family above their restaurant, which means she smells like pizza most of the time and drives their double-meatball-shaped food truck to school. It’s not a recipe for popularity, but she can handle that.What she can’t handle is the recurring vision that haunts her. Over and over, Jules sees a careening truck hit a building and explode...and nine body bags in the snow.The vision is everywhere—on billboards, television screens, windows—and she’s the only one who sees it. And the more she sees it, the more she sees. The vision is giving her clues, and soon Jules knows what she has to do. Because now she can see the face in one of the body bags, and it’s someone she knows. Someone she has been in love with for as long as she can remember.In this riveting start to a gripping trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Lisa McMann, Jules has to act—and act fast—to keep her vision from becoming reality.

The Hourglass Door


Lisa Mangum - 2009
    Her future. Can love bring them together in time?Abby's senior year of high school is textbook perfect, until she meets Dante Alexander, a foreign-exchange student from Italy. Time behaves differently when they are together - too fast or slow or seeming to stop. When the band Zero Hour performs at the local hangout, they have a bizarre influence over their audience, and Abby's best friend, Valerie, is caught in their snare. Dante helped Leonardo Da Vinci build a time machine, then was sent 500+ years into the future as punishment when falsely accused of being a traitor. As past and present collide, Abby learns she holds a special power over time itself.

Dark Inside


Jeyn Roberts - 2011
    An inner rage has been released and some people cannot fight it. For those who can, life becomes an ongoing battle to survive - at any cost!

Monument 14


Emmy Laybourne - 2012
    She can see it coming down the street. You don't stop and hug her and tell her you love her. You don't thank her for being a good, kind, patient mother. Of course not-you launch yourself down the stairs and make a run for the corner.Only, if it's the last time you'll ever see your mother, you sort of start to wish you'd stopped and did those things. Maybe even missed the bus.But the bus was barreling down our street, so I ran.Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong.When Dean raced out the door to catch the school bus, he didn’t realize it would be the last time he’d ever see his mom. After a freak hailstorm sends the bus crashing into a superstore, Dean and a group of students of all ages are left to fend for themselves. They soon realize the hailstorm and the crash are the least of their worries. After seeing a series of environmental and chemical disasters ravage the outside world, they realize they’re trapped inside the store. Unable to communicate with the ones they love, the group attempts to cobble together a new existence. As they struggle to survive, Dean and the others must decide which risk is greater: leaving… or staying. Monument 14 is a post-apocalyptic YA novel that transcends age barriers.

Angelfire


Courtney Allison Moulton - 2011
    His attention is intense and romantic, and Ellie feels like her soul has known him for centuries. On her seventeenth birthday, on a dark street at midnight, Will awakens Ellie's power, and she knows that she can fight the creatures that stalk her in the grim darkness. Only Will holds the key to Ellie's memories, whole lifetimes of them, and when she looks at him, she can no longer pretend anything was just a dream.Now she must hunt.Ellie has power that no one can match, and her role is to hunt and kill the reapers that prey on human souls. But in order to survive the dangerous and ancient battle of the angels and the Fallen, she must also hunt for the secrets of her past lives and truths that may be too frightening to remember.

Deception


Lee Nichols - 2010
    Throw some parties, get a tattoo (or maybe just a piercing), and enjoy the first few weeks of her junior year. Then her best friend stops talking to her, the cops crash her party, and Emma finds herself in the hands of a new guardian-her college-age knight in J.Crew armor, Bennett Stern-and on a plane to his museum-like mansion in New England.After enrolling at Thatcher Academy, Emma settles in by making friends with the popular legacy crowd. But she can't shake the strange visions that are haunting her. She has memories of Thatcher she can't explain, as if she's returning home to a place she's never been. Emma doesn't trust anyone anymore-except maybe Bennett. But he's about to reveal a ghostly secret to Emma. One that will explain the visions . . . and make Emma fear for her life.

Lichgates


S.M. Boyce - 2011
     When Kara Magari uncovers an ancient book of dark and deadly magic, she realizes she’s the only one who can read its enchanted pages… and overnight, she becomes the most coveted magical creature in not just one, but two worlds. Now hunted by every living creature under the sun, she discovers a new world full of beautiful and terrifying things: Ourea. Out here, everyone wants something from her, and there’s no one she can trust. Kings and queens are drawn to her, assassins and demons seek her out, but it’s the charming soldier with a protective streak and a dark secret that may just be her undoing. Before this is over, Kara will have to make the ultimate choice… either she surrenders to this dangerous book of magic, heart and soul, or it will be the death of her. Welcome to Ourea, where only the cunning survive. Buckle in & experience the beginning of a timeless epic fantasy adventure with this first installment of the Grimoire Saga. If you enjoy Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time, or Eragon, you’ll love this breathtaking epic fantasy adventure with a modern twist and a slow burn romance. NEW 5th EDITION with never-before-read scenes and chapters from your favorite bad guys. Completely re-edited and revised for a smoother, more vivid reading experience. Want more? Read the full series… Book 1: Lichgates Book 2: Treason Book 3: Heritage Book 4: Illusion Book 5: The First Vagabond: Rise of a Hero Book 6: The Misanthrope Warning: this story contains adventure, action, and mild cussing.

Twinmaker


Sean Williams - 2013
    But her best friend, Libby, is determined to give it a try, longing for a new, improved version of herself.What starts as Libby’s dream turns into Clair’s nightmare when Libby falls foul of a deadly trap. With the help of Jesse, the school freak, and a mysterious—but powerful—stranger called Q, Clair’s attempt to protect Libby leads her to an unimagined world of conspiracies and cover-ups. Soon her own life is at risk, and Clair is chased across the world in a desperate race against time.Action and danger fuel Sean Williams’ tale of technology, identity, and the lengths to which one girl will go to save her best friend.