The Ghost and the Goth (The Ghost and the Goth, #1) in The Not-So Austen Bookclub

Dec 15, 2009 Miss Clark rated it liked it

Shelves: modern-presentday, paranormal

This was read as part of the 2010 Debut Author Challenge.

Stacey Kade's first novel is a quick, breezy read that was fun and actually left me excited for next summer's sequel.

The characters start out as what would appear to be total stereotypes: the preppy, perfect ice queen cheerleader and the loser, borderline psycho goth boy. But fairly early on, it becomes readily apparent that Kade is not going to leave things there and gives her characters personality and some real direction for change and This was read as part of the 2010 Debut Author Challenge.

Stacey Kade's first novel is a quick, breezy read that was fun and actually left me excited for next summer's sequel.

The characters start out as what would appear to be total stereotypes: the preppy, perfect ice queen cheerleader and the loser, borderline psycho goth boy. But fairly early on, it becomes readily apparent that Kade is not going to leave things there and gives her characters personality and some real direction for change and improvement. Alona Dare is the girl that seems to have it all together: perfect life, perfect body and flawless face. She has been homecoming queen three years in a row. Is co-captain of her cheerleading squad. Is at the top of the school hierarchy. She is also self-involved, cruel and vindictive. In short, and for lack of any nicer appellation, a bitch. But is her life really as perfect as she makes it appear? Could her circumstances have shaped her into a calculating, lonely girl who has to be the best at everything so that she can never be the one to be tossed aside or ignored? Alona may be mean, but a lot of what she says about other people stems from very insightful observations. And then Alona loses everything when she is killed by a bus.

Will Killian may dress in a lot of hoodies and always walk with his head hanging down, staring at his sneakers while listening to his Ipod. He may act sort of crazy even. And the pale skin and dark hair does not help, but he is not Goth. A bit depressed and not very eager to fix his problems, but he has a good excuse. He can see and interact with ghosts and when people don't believe that, they tend to think that you are crazy. So he is dealing with therapists and shrinks, just a step away from being committed, the day Alona says farewell to life. But he makes a mistake and Alona realizes that he can see her when no one else can.

Will and Alona quickly realize that they can each help each other achieve something important: Alona can move on and Will can be free of ghosts and the fear of being locked up. But there are other forces at work and there are a lot of things that sometimes we simply cannot change...

The writing was fresh and simple. It is simplistic and actually pretty optimistic for all that it deals with some very serious issues. That was nice though, not to be moaning and sobbing through the pages. Overall, though it has a lot of heart, some good humor and a few small missteps. The ghost aspect bothered me (as it does in most) that Alona has to concentrate half the time to not sink through something, but the rest of the time she is not sinking or thinking about it at all. How does that make sense? Also, a lot is left unexplained (like how Alona is back and why exactly, etc.) but the sequels should take care of those questions. All in all, an enjoyable read and fans of the paranormal should enjoy.

Content advisory: Suicide, parental neglect, lesbianism, alcoholism, etc. You have been forewarned. ...more

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Sep 11, 2010 Lani Woodland rated it it was amazing

I really loved this book! It was funny but also had a lot more depth than I had expected. Alona starts off as the typical snobby cheerleader but through the book we learn more about her and why her perfect image was so important to her. Meanwhile, Will is believed by most people to be a stoner goth. No one knows he can see ghosts. When Alona finds this out the two agree to help each other so they can both get what they want. For me this is where the deeper story really starts. We really get to k ...more

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May 05, 2011 Ngaio rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-fantasy, paranormal-romance, young-adult, read-in-2011

I really like this book! It was fun and funny and kept you guessing about what was going on which made it an enjoyable read.

I especially like how it was in Alona and Wills pov as that made it more interesting and fun.

I didnt like that you didnt find out hardly anything about their world only what they had guessed or experienced but i guess we will find out the sequel and she cant give all the secrets away.

It was still a good read and i cant wait for the sequel!

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Nov 01, 2010 Brittany Kimler rated it really liked it

I was really debating if I was going to read this book or not but I'm really glad I did. I thought it was very well written and it was very cute. ...more

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