Review: The Ghost and the Goth

The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade

Publisher: Hyperion (2010)
Format:  Hardcover | 281 pages

Genre(s): Young Adult, Romance, Urban Fantasy

Description: "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? "

"The Ghost and the Goth" surprised me by being a bit more than just an easy read (which was what I was looking for when I picked up this book). I liked the cute (and not instantaneous! YAY) love story, the interaction between the characters and the general treatment of the subject.

Sure, if you've seen "Ghost Whisperer", Melinda will have remarked upon the fact that people sometimes thought she was crazy because of her gift; but you never actually see her (or I've never seen it, at least) going through that process. In this book, you do. You actually see the 'consequences' of Will's "gift" (or curse as he sometimes thinks of it): estrangement from his mother, people thinking he is crazy, people trying to throw him in the loony house and all that. I really liked that the author included this; it made it all a bit more realistic.

Will and Alona were both very likable although fairly stereotyped. Most of the characters and social environment were, but I still liked their interaction and the other ghosts. I loved Alona's snarky nature and Will being so nice (and having good teeth, ah). I simply adored the pacing, there was never a dull moment but the characters take time to get to know each other and their feelings develop, again, realistically.

Overall, this book was an entertaining (and easy) read with cute characters, decent pacing and some mystery to spice everything up. I didn't even mind the POV switch, it worked pretty well in this book! I was surprised at how much I liked this and I'm pretty interested in the sequel. :D

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