The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade

You may have noticed that I was sleeping with Jenny's Book Boyfriend, Will Killian, about a week and a half ago.  Here's the full review.


Book:  The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade

Summary: Alona is the mean cheerleader most people love to hate and when she gets hit by a bus, she finds herself stuck as a ghost and unable in interact with anybody but the weird goth kid, Will Killian.  Will has been able to see ghosts his whole life, which makes psychiatrists think he has schizophrenia.  If that weren't bad enough, his father (who committed suicide) has returned as a vengeful cloud of anger and now Alona won't leave him alone.

Characters:  I love these characters.  Yes, Alona is a b**** sometimes, but I found it kind of charming, actually.  Will is a little bit tortured and he constantly made me laugh.  Plus, I really like goth kids.  Both characters had some intense drama in their back story that they needed to work through and I love the relationship they developed.

While the main focus is on Will and Alona, the minor characters all seemed real as well.  Even though we don't spend much time with any other characters, none of them seemed one dimensional.  While we only got glimpses of Alona's mom and dad, it always felt that there was more to them than we saw.  Alona's friends, like Alona, all seemed to be working hard to maintain their shallow personas.  I've heard good characters described as "icebergs", where you see the tip and there is a ton underneath, and that was the case for all of the characters in this book.

Plot/Pacing/Structure: I realize that I did not do a good job of summarizing the book.  Please don't judge the book by my inability to tell you what happens.  This is one of the main reasons that I didn't read this book to begin with... I felt that the book was "gimmicky" and would have very stereotypical characters.  But, the book totally gets the characters right.

I had no idea what the book was about when I started, but trust me.  This book is not boring.  Lots of stuff happens for concrete reasons and the story never feels slow.  I laughed for most of the book, but there were definitely a few moments that pulled my heartstrings.  This book wove a number of story lines together flawlessly and I am eager to read book two.

Moments I Loved:  At one point Alona decides to show Will what he would look like if he kissed her... since no one would see her, he'd just be a weird guy wiggling his tongue in the air. I was seriously laughing out loud at this moment (and many others).  If you don't believe me, ask Kim and Kate, because they thought I was crazy for laughing so much.

WTF Moments: There was a big one concerning Will's psychiatrist that literally left me gasping, but it was such a good moment that I don't want to spoil it for when you get there.  It was completely unexpected and WTF.  Seriously, good.

Overall:  I loved this book.  I loved it so much.  The characters were fun, the relationship between Alona and Will developed naturally while never being boring and always making me laugh.  I can not wait to read the second book in the series... or the third.  Seriously, if you want a fun book with characters that are easy to love, read this book.

Reading Challenges: This book counts toward the following challenges: 281 pages toward the 15,000 page challenge and Support Your Local Library. Track all my progress on my 2012 Challenges page.

The Ghost and The Goth gets a Fake Steph Rating of...