Title: The Ghost and the Goth
Author: Stacey Kade
Genre: YA paranormal/fantasy
Format: print and Ebook
Publisher: Hyperion 2010
Synopsis (courtesy of GoodReads)
Alona Dare–Senior in high school, co-captain of the cheerleading squad, Homecoming Queen three years in a row, voted most likely to marry a movie star… and newly dead.
I’m the girl you hated in high school. Is it my fault I was born with it all-good looks, silky blond hair, a hot bod, and a keen sense of what everyone else should not be wearing? But my life isn’t perfect, especially since I died. Run over by a bus of band geeks—is there anything more humiliating? As it turns out, yes—watching your boyfriend and friends move on with life, only days after your funeral. And you wouldn’t believe what they’re saying about me now that they think I can’t hear them. To top it off, I’m starting to disappear, flickering in and out of existence. I don’t know where I go when I’m gone, but it’s not good. Where is that freaking white light already?
Will Killian–Senior in high school, outcast, dubbed “Will Kill” by the popular crowd for the unearthly aura around him, voted most likely to rob a bank…and a ghost-talker.
I can see, hear, and touch the dead. Unfortunately, they can also see, hear and touch me. Yeah, because surviving high school isn’t hard enough already. I’ve done my best to hide my “gift.” After all, my dad, who shared my ability, killed himself because of it when I was fifteen. But lately, pretending to be normal has gotten a lot harder. A new ghost—an anonymous, seething cloud of negative energy with the capacity to throw me around—is pursuing me with a vengeance. My mom, who knows nothing about what I can do, is worrying about the increase in odd incidents, my shrink is tossing around terms like “temporary confinement for psychiatric evaluation,” and my principal, who thinks I’m a disruption and a faker, is searching for every way possible to get rid of me. How many weeks until graduation?
My review (courtesy of me)
This was a really fun book. I have to say that it is quite different than most of the other books I have read, yet it is still within the same genre (young adult, paranormal). I think that is a good thing. Sometimes a girl and a book has to break out of the mold and that is what this book (and me!) did.
I really enjoyed the “voice” of this novel. Alona Dare is in the popular crowd, the “in” crowd. She is used to getting everything she wants and when she wants it. She is seemily self absorbed, selfish and silly at times. But she is so likable. She is funny too. I think that most everyone has a little of Alona Dare in them (or is that just me?). Seeing the story through her eyes was humorous but it was also real because we see that even people that appear as superficial as Alona aren’t. She has (or is it had…?) a lot more going on in her life than anyone knew. Her home life was troubled and she pretty much did what she could to just get through the day.
However, Alona isn’t the only POV in this book. The story is also told from Will’s POV. Will is unpopular, a “goth” and also branded a troublemaker by most the faculty of the school. Even his mother is at a loss for what to do for him. But you see, Will isn’t what everyone thinks he is… he isn’t a troublemaker, he isn’t a freak… he just has an unusual ability. He can see ghosts. And let me tell you, ghosts are noisy! Poor guy never gets any peace. I really like him too. He’s a kid stuck in a weird situation and he doesn’t know how to get out.
And then he “meet’s” Alona. Allow me explain, sure he always knew who she was but he never met her until she became a ghost. Because Will is the only person who can see and hear Alona the pair are thrust together in a situation together that I found unique and interesting.
The Ghost and the Goth is well written, it’s an easy read and it is entertaining. There is enough mystery to keep the reader turning the pages to see what will happen next. But there are enough explanations throughout the story so the reader isn’t left feeling frustrated about what they don’t know (don’t you hate that?!)
The cover is awesome and bright and colorful and I think it is perfect for this novel. In short, The Ghost and the Goth is all tied up in a neat little package.
I am really looking forward to reading the next book in the series Body and Soul to see what else happens with Will and Alona… I have a feeling it’s going to be as unique and fun as this book.
So there you have it. My opinion.
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