The Ghost and the Goth

Author: Stacey Kade
Genre: Young-Adult - Fantasy/Paranormal
Publication Date: June 29, 2010
Age Range: Young-Adult
Pages: 281
Date Scoot Read: September 2010
Source: Hardback Library Book

Scoot's Rating: 4- Mixed Feelings

Synopsis (via Goodreads): 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?

Scoot's Review:
I have mixed feelings on this book. The story follows Alona Dare & Will Killiam, as Alona struggles to deal with her death – and why exactly she ‘didn’t see the light’– and Will’s daily resistance of his ‘curse’. I enjoyed the alternating points of view as the chapters switched back and forth between Alona and Will. I liked the concept of a boy who interacts with ghosts and I really liked Will’s character. However, I think most of the other characters were over the top, and shallow. To me, Will was pretty much the only redeeming character in the book. I enjoyed the dialogue between Alona and Will and their slowly budding relationship, but found myself annoyed on other plot points. I found myself wishing the author had left out entire sections of the plot and had gone in a totally different direction. Not a good sign when you are re-writing the book in your head. Overall, an OK story with a lot of potential, but it failed to meet expectations.

YA content warnings/sexual content: underage drinking, drug references (implied past usage), homosexuality and references to sex.