The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade

Title: The Ghost and the Goth
Author: Stacey Kade
Pages: 281 (Hardcover)
Publisher: Hyperion Books
Publication Date: June 29, 2010
Source: Publicist & Bought

Overall:

After a close encounter with the front end of a school bus, Alona Dare goes from Homecoming Queen to Queen of the Dead. Now she’s stuck here in spirit form with no sign of the big, bright light coming to take her away. To make matters worse, the only person who might be able to help her is Will Killian, a total loser/outcast type who hates the social elite. He alone can see and hear her, but he wants nothing to do with the former mean girl of Groundsboro High.

Can they get over their mutual distrust—and this weird attraction between them—to work together before Alona vanishes for good and Will is locked up for seeing things that don’t exist?

With a good pace and the right amount of sense of humor, The Ghost and the Goth will captivate readers with it’s appealing characters and alternating points of views. Kade has weaved a novel covered with laughs, mysteries, and romance.

The big concept of ghosts was well thought out by Kade. She successfully writes a novel with lots of background information on ghosts. Kade talks about the effects on certain energies, dimensions, and as well as little fun quirks here and there. There was lots of mysterious twists and turn in the plot and the events were well played out and nothing seemed too out of place.

Having alternating points of views between Alona and Will enhances a reader’s learning on the two of them. It also carried the plot and engages attention even more. It helps readers get to visit their minds and get to know how they feel and their thoughts, and all in all, just get an overview of their attitudes.

Appearing to be a popular stereotype ‘A’ list cheerleader, Alona dominates with her preppy attitude, sarcastic comments, and wittiness. While Will appears to be all ‘emo-goth’, his persona, being an outside, a loner, and shy, he adds onto the ghost-goth atmosphere. Will is always wearing black and you’ll see him with headphones all day long.

Both Will and Alona may seem to be very stereotype characters, but as the book moves and develops, Kade gradually starts unraveling hidden layers to their personalities. Alona has got issues with family too, her life may seem perfect, but it really isn’t. Even with more of the fact that she’s dead… she’s not on the top of the chain, she’s not. She’s got friends at her back, hating her. The father is pretty distant and unfortunately, she has an alcoholic mother. Though, what I really loved about Alona was that she was always able to stay grounded and take control of situation. Kade shows readers that that the exterior or a person isn’t always the interior of the person.

An amusing, entertaining, light hearted tale that has a lot of witty comments and laughs. Kade does spark topics on cliques, alcohol, suicide, and mental illnesses. Kade has impressed me and I’m now craving for her future novels.

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