The Ghost and the Goth (The Ghost and the Goth, #1) by Stacey Kade

The Ghost and the Goth (The Ghost and the Goth, #1) Reviews

• 
  Chelsea ✨Arielle’s Nebular Ally and Team Acrux✨

  
  There’s nothing better than a book that surprises you… in a good way. My story for this book is a long one, dating years back to when I added pretty much anything and everything to my ever-growing tbr pile. I was picky back then, too-Don’t be fooled. However, I didn’t quite know what I loved and how to decipher what made me tick, down to my deepest molecule.
  
  
  
  
  So when I did my most recent delete spree for my tbr pile, this had to go. I mean, it had all the signs of books I try to stay away from: Fugly cover (I know, I know, shut up), hardly any friend’s ratings, no quotes that appealed to me (but I'll change that in my review ;) ), and just nothing to back it up and not enough ratings. But, after reading my beloved Mediator series again, I was in the mood for this book. And guess what?? I immediately added it back onto my tbr and bought it immediately. Best decision I've ever made (well...).
  
  

  I pulled the Dodge over to the side of the road on Henderson, next to the tennis courts, flipped the hazard lights on, and waited. Alona hadn’t committed suicide, I knew that. The girl had enough arrogance and self-esteem to choke a horse. She had, however, died a violent and unnatural death, which probably meant she was still tied to the exact place of her death.

  
  
  So, I guess since it's so late, I need to get right to the book, don't I? This story, while not wholly original (what story is these days, really), is done extremely well. That's just my opinion, but I think I read enough books to have a little bit of room to say that. I know what I like, I know what I don't, and I'm actually quite picky. This book, what with all its quirky humor and obvious disregard for what is now a social faux pas for our top reviewers today, stood above all cliches...by making itself into one.
  
  

  I sighed. “Alona.”
  “Good luck with class,” she said with faux cheer. “Hope you like musicals. I’ll make sure to tell them Annie is your favorite.”
  “Wait, just wait a—”
  Without another word, she slipped through the closed door, humming “Tomorrow” under her breath.
  Great. Not only do I have an angry spirit guide, but an angry spirit guide with a vindictive streak and an unnatural knowledge of show tunes. Better and better already.

  
  
  
  
  
  Now let me explain: Alona is your typical stereotypical bitchy cheerleader. So overdone, yeah? Well...that's all in who you ask. Me? I can appreciate a fun, over-the-top, cliched-and even cheesy-book if done correctly. Do you know how many times I desperately wish for more books like this that aren't trashed with horrid grammar, misspelling, and nasty characters you just can't root for? It's just unheard of these days, and I find it so comical that I turned my nose up to this one because, frankly, it was actually quite adorable.
  
  

  “Good. I’m not goth.”
  "Your hair is black, you have piercings, you wear black all the time and act all freaky—”
  "My hair is naturally this color. I have three earrings in one ear, that’s it. This shirt”—I tugged at the fabric across my chest—“ is navy blue, and if I act weird all the time, it’s because of ghosts like you.”

  
  
  
  
  
  And that's the thing-it's all in your personality. For one, Will wasn't even a goth. I mean...perhaps he dresses a little dark, but he's hardly Emo. And his personality, another shocking factor, actually had me swooning from his first POV. He was actually...butterfly inducing from the moment I was in his head. Yikes. Shocked Chelsea. Chelsea is shocked.
  
  

  "Are you staying … or just passing through?” I asked through gritted teeth.
  “Why? Does it matter to you?”
  A thousand smart-ass replies leaped to mind, but she would be expecting that. So, I went for the truth. “Yeah, it does.”
  Her eyes widened and the faintest hint of pink spread across her face. I grinned. Had I just embarrassed Alona Dare, the Alona Dare?

  
  
  So back to my original point (man I can get off topic like no-one's business)-typical cheerleader. Judgmental. Rude. On a pedestal...but she was meant to be this way, therefore making her wholly likable (and don't forget what I said: Don't ever judge a book by its cover....)-She had me laughing out loud from chapter one on. Nothing felt overdone, nothing felt cheesy-it was all perfectly balanced and, frankly, had the sweetest message.
  
  
  
  
  But, hey, this obviously wasn't without its flaws or I'd have given five, right? I think a lot of my problem stemmed from how fucking tired I was. Endless tiredness. Endless running. Go Chelsea run Chelsea find Chelsea clean Chelsea-Go go go. So, yeah, putting this down every 10% really pissed me off, if I'm being honest. When you pick up a book fifty times in 100 different moods, it tends to effect a book.
  
  And yes, while not wholly cheesy, it did have its more exaggerated moments-like his therapist-puh-lease. And Joonie-bleh. Also, I guess I wanted a little....more? But, candidly speaking, that's really all that bothered me. *shrugs* I just loved it so much.
  
  

  “You don’t have to follow her,” I said. “It’s Friday. I know exactly where she’s going after school.” No way would Joonie miss a visit to Lily, not after what she’d told me today.
  "So are we going, too, or what?” Alona idly flicked a piece of … ghost lint? … off her shorts.

  
  
  Refreshing, sweet, lots of banter between Will and Alona, and a story that actually fuels itself without reaching, I fell in love within moments. Will was a beautifully tortured boy that I totally didn't expect and Alona had a hidden life that no one could possibly see behind the veneer....just like she wanted. A story constructed of not only laughter and wise-ass remarks, but learning what it means to be a kinder person-even if she isn't with her kind anymore and even if she struggles with it up until the very end (perhaps more...). A book filled with muddled social tiers such as jocks and mean girls and cheating bfs, cliched to the max merely to make us laugh....and it surely succeeded. Whether this book is for you or not, I really don't know. But when life got just a little too tough around here, I turned to what makes me happy, and that's apparently a ghostly significant other, happy to haunt (and annoy) the one they love just because they can (a la Mediator :P).
  
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  Well, color me surprised. This book was not at all what I perceived it to be, once again proving that you can't simply judge a book by its [horribly cheesy] cover. Cute, funny, witty, sarcastic, well-written, and not at all what I thought it would be like, I fell in love almost immediately with Alona's snarky attitude and Will's desperation to not see those who haven't went to their final resting place.
  
  I still can't believe I loved this book as much as I did. Even more surprising is that I can't wait to read the second installment. For those of you judging this book by its cover...don't. It's way better than you would ever think-Even with it's stereotypical nature and play on the social tiers of High School (Though, I think this was done on purpose for comical intents and purposes) (which I loved, btw).
  
  But, for those of you who need more convincing.....
  
  RTC
• 
  Michelle

  This was a pleasant and easy read! This screams YA, from the title to the cheesy cover. Actually, I was enticed by the cheesy cover, and the models looked exactly as how they were described in the book. The plot is simple but entertaining nonetheless. For this review though, I would like to focus on the heroine: Alona Dare. She's the main reason why I enjoyed reading this book.
  
  I like reading YA but I've become more selective when it comes to this genre as I get older. Maybe it’s just my age, but I’ve noticed an unnerving number of cookie cutter heroines. They are different from "other" girls within their own stories, but ironically just a dime a dozen in the YA genre. Besides this, I wonder why they imply that just because someone is different (she’s not into hair and makeup, she’d rather read a book, fight demons, etc.) she is somehow unable to relate to “normal” girls. Further, that “normal” girls will never understand her and she will always be ostracized or bullied by them unfairly. This classification of “normal” girls and “weird” girls can’t contain the diversity of young girls in this world, let alone a classroom.
  
  Alona Dare subverts this trope. Stacey Kade has created a character that is stereotypically an antagonist and instead made her the unabashed heroine. She is the epitome of a gorgeous queen bee and she doesn’t let other people make her feel bad for her actions or her thoughts unless she is truly at fault. Actually, the story itself doesn’t shy away from tearing Alona down, and she has to come to terms with the ugly truth of how her actions affected the people around her. Despite that, Alona doesn’t accept responsibility for the behavior of her friends or her enemies, and she doesn’t try to change herself so that people will like her more. She knows who she is, and she knows who she is isn’t wrong. When Alona admits her mistakes, she admits them as mistakes in actions, not in character.
  
  As queen bees go, Alona is pretty good at getting what she wants but her skill at manipulation isn't treated as villainous. Instead, they’re used to assist her love interest’s character development. Will Killian begins the novel as your stereotypical emo kid. Alona comes in, watches his struggles, and tells him, "We can fix this. We can make people see the real you, but first you have to understand how society functions. You have to play the game, and then things can go your way." Their dynamic reflects another subversion of the YA romantic trope: that the girl is an unwelcomed misfit, and the guy is a popular Adonis just waiting to find the right manic pixie dream girl to call his own. Instead, Alona is Will’s Aphrodite, and Will her manic pixie dream boy.
  
  What I'm trying to get at with this extensive review (and for such a light book, at that!), is that we need more characters like Alona. Teenage girls need to realize that the popular girl in their class is not their archenemy. She can be their friend. She can be their frenemy. She can be whatever they want her to be in their lives, or whatever she wants to be. Every girl can be whatever they want to be. Diversity is beautiful! Dang, I feel ancient...
• 
  — nova

  i tried to give this less than five stars and i can’t. it’s such a fun read and never fails to put me in a good mood. i’ve read this three or four times now, and i still finished it with a grin on my face.
• 
  Melannie :)

  I just finished this two minutes ago and I have THE BIGGEST grin on my face.
  
  I don't know if I have a soft spot for ghosts (yeah, right) or for KICK-ASS characters,
  but luckyly for me, this book happens to have both.
  
  So imagine how happy I was all through this read.
  
  I randomly found the book description here in goodreads and was blown away by how
  similar it sounded to
  Shadowland my all time favorite YA series. And opposite to what others might do,
  being all like 'Aw there's no way something can be as awesome as Suze Simon's story (series mentioned above)' but I'm open-minded
  and was glad to find something similar so I decided to give it a try, and went and get the book by all means
  -begging, crying and acting like a 2 year old- and oh man! I'M SO GLAD!
  
  PLUS: JUST LOOK AT THE COVER! I don't think I've loved a cover so much, like, EVER! (I'm thinking about
  getting a full back tattoo of it) I loooove how accurate it actually is,
  it's like THOSE are Alona and Will, they're exactly like that, clothes and everything.
  
  Since the very first chapter things are attention grabbing and I find myself immersed in the story,
  it starts when Alona, the queen bee of her high school, seemingly perfect in every way possible... *gasp* DIES!
  But despite what people like to think about her, and what you¿re already imagining (snotty bitch):
  nooo! far from the truth!
  GIRL IS FIERCE! she's a fighter and has the master mind of Brain
  from Pinky and the Brain, no really, she could totally take you in a 'guess the murderer' contest.
  
  Not that there's a murderer in this book, just tons of hilarious, interesting, sad, hot, fun, and kickass moments.
  I can't complain here, cause I got everything I was asking for, so I will just continue summarizing the plot,
  
  so yes, Alona dies ):
  but hey! stop sobbing, girl is not going anywhere for now, and that is because (if you ever read a ghost's book or
  have been going to the movies/ watching tv this past 20 years you already know this): she has unressolved issues.
  And what's her to do, she doesn't know anything about being dead, and no one can help her, right?
  
  WRONG! There's someone out there, someone who can help Alona with her newly acquired troubles...
  and that someone is Will Killian! aka Will Kill, you might recognize him as the pseudo-goth guy sitting
  in the farthest cafeteria table that apparently talks to himself out loud and wears his hoodie over his head all the time
  to keep the voices out.
  
  Yeah, Alona thinks that too: NO WAY I'M GETTING NEAR THAT FREAK.
  But the only other person who she knows can communicate with the dead is in Puerto Vallarta and
  I mean it's a long walk to Mexico D: .
  
  So Alona and Will make a deal, he would teach her everything he knows about ghosts, death and moving on IF
  she serves as his bodyguard, that is keeping the other ghosts off of his face so he can finally have some peace and quiet
  after years and years of ghosts 'haunting' him.
  
  I bet you can guess where that leads... me= fun fun fun, Will & Alona= damn damn damn!
  
  Despite what you might think after reading this (that is if you're still with me after all this babbling):
  'Oh but it sounds SO clichéd!' I have only one thing to say about this, okay two:
  a) what's not cliche these days?, I mean, come on! nothing is 100% original now, after all this is 2011.
  and b) Cliche can be FUN.
  
  But whatever, cliché aside, this book is infinitely entretaining and with very real main charachters,
  a realistic MALE teenager and a realistic GIRL teenager, and that's not easy to pull off let me tell ya,
  not everyone can portray a boy and a girl so relatable.
  
  So yeah this book is ALL ABOUT THE FUN (plus some twists you might have not seen coming).
  If you just came back from a trip to a child's hospital, got out of jail, witnessed an animal massacre,
  got your heart broken, read
  Mockingjay or lost your favorite lipstick at the mall and are SO DEPRESSED
  you can't take it anymore, I suggest you read this, it won't dissapoint IT'S MADE OF FUN, no seriously, read the tag
  it says it's made with the same stuff SIX FLAGS is made of.
  
  go buy this book, or you might find a spook!
  
• 
  Lucy

  The Ghost and the Goth was a quick, light read. It's cute but incredibly shallow. The story has no real unpredictable plot lines. The writing isn't ground breaking -- don't get me wrong, some of it is very clever, but I don't think Kade challenged herself with this very formulaic story and these very formulaic characters. I think she has enough talent to do something a lot better than this, which isn't something I say often or lightly. I'd love to read another book by her unrelated to this series and I think by the time she finishes this series the training wheels will be off. My big hope here is that she'll learn and grow instead of just getting stuck in this gear and turning out identical mediocre book after mediocre book like Maureen Johnson. This is a good start, but I think Kade's got more in her and I hope she digs it out.
  
  The characters are fun and the dialogue is natural. Kade did an excellent job with Alona, so good in fact that I'm willing to guess the author was a fair bit like her in high school. Will was enjoyable enough if flat at times.
  
  As you can guess by the cover Alona Dare is pretty, blonde, perfect, and very dead. When she was alive she worked at that perfection and her whole persona is defined by cheerleader, mean girl, and resident homecoming queen. Kade tries very hard to let you know that Alona's home life isn't as perfect as it looks and that she's mean because her life is hard. It's complicated and most definitely not perfect. *Shrugs* I wasn't really into this. I think most of the audience has enough empathy to know people have complicated lives and aren't just hair and a smile. It was weird to get treated like Alona having a life outside of cheerleading and homecoming queen was shocking. It felt more on par with younger kids, you know ten or eleven when they're shocked to see their teachers outside of school or something.
  
  Will Killian is the goth, except he's not. He's just weird because he hears and sees ghosts. Again, I felt like the execution here was a bit off. Will didn't have a lot of evolved coping mechanisms for a condition he had most of his life. If you're born without the ability to walk then by the time you hit high school you've pretty much figured shit out. The whole thing read like the author figuring out what would work and then cramming it into a teenager rather than reading about a boy who has dealt with this all his life. It just wasn't really believable and since a huge portion of the book is about it I couldn't get into it.
  
  Will copes by using an iPod. The principal takes the iPod away even though Will has a doctor's note for it... If I relied on a piece of machinery the way Will relied on that iPod I would have had four. Two on me at all times.
  
  The iPod helps him ignore the ghosts, but again... eh? The ghosts don't know he can hear them so if a ghost is standing around talking to someone, like a really obvious ghost in a bloody prom dress, why can't you tune it out the way you'd tune out a conversation you're not involved in? I can understand him needing the iPod to ignore the ghosts if they knew about him, but since they didn't he should have been capable of pretending they weren't there without the additional help.
  
  Meh. This book was okay, I liked it, but it was pretty cliche all over. I don't know if I'm reading the sequel. I might just meet up with Kade in two or three years when she's moved onto something else.
• 
  ☠Kayla☠

  This book was really tough to rate, at first it started to be a 3 star, but after I went on I seen it as a 5. There was a few flaws in it that stirred me away from it being a perfect 5 stars though so I'll give it a 4.7, this was such a wonderful read! I went into it knowing this, Alona Dare was the popular girl in school who had it all, till one day she was hit by a school bus and was killed. Will Killian who can speak to and see ghost ends up getting haunted by Alona. Quickly they learn they might be of some use to each other and an unlikely partnership arises. I loved this book! It did have some minor flaws with detail and the writing but all in all it was a very cute and light hearted read. I loved the partnership that slowly forms between the two of them and I loved the characters in general. It also had two of my favorite character qualities, ghosts and goths. I cant wait to read the other two novels in this trilogy! And I hope they're just as good if not better then this one.
• 
  Norah Una Sumner

  "Good. I'm not goth."
  "Your hair is black, you have piercings, you wear black all the time and act all freaky-"
  "My hair is naturally this color. I have three earings in one ear, that's it. This shirt" -I tugged at the fabric across my chest- "is navy blue, and if I act weird all the time, it's because of ghosts like you.”

  
  Love this so much!Stacey Kade is definitely becoming one of my favourite young-adult authors.This book was so interesting & funny.I easily connected with both Alona and Will & I really enjoyed reading about their adventures.They both realize that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover and that there are a lot of things they need to learn about death,the after life...and,well,each other.I seriously can't wait to read the sequel,I've already got and I'm starting it this evening! Woohoo,
  Queen of the Dead,here I come!
  
  
• 
  ~Tina~

  (3.5stars)
  
  Meet Alona Dare (The Ghost). Alona is your standard Miss Perfect. Popular, a cheerleader with the jock boyfriend, shallow, snobby and thinks she's better then everyone else. She's living the typical high school dream and living it large.
  That is, till she gets hit by a bus, dies and finds out that her life was basically a lie.
  Meet Will Killian (The Goth), he's eccentric, the weirdo and basically a loner.
  I guess I would be too if I could hear and see dead people since I was just a kid.
  Together, they form an unlikely partnership where Will helps Alona stop being her typical mean-girl-self so she wont go poof and Alona, kinda, unintentionally, became Will's spirit guide and also helps Will from a ghost who is out to kill him.
  
  The Ghost and the Goth is a really fun and light read, but to be honest I couldn't stand Alona's character at first. She just had one of those stupid personalities that was all "look at poor me" and I pretty much wanted to punch her nine out of ten times while reading, but then she got all tolerable and even nice. I blame Will. In fact, if it wasn't for Will's pov, I probably wouldn't have liked this book as much as I did.
  For being all tortured and haunted, Will is a funny guy and when the two are together they make a rather amusing, adorable and sweet team.
  
  In a nutshell, I enjoyed this one. The writing is well done, maybe a little maddening when all the ghost start talking at once, but well done none the less.
  The storyline is definitely entertaining and the characters are a hoot!
  If your looking for a fun fast read then you should get a kick out of this book.
  It really is too cute!
• 
  Nikoleta

  Εντάξει, το έπιασα στα χέρια μου επειδή βαριόμουν αφόρητα και ήθελα κάτι "χαζό" να διαβάσω. Τελικά αποδείχθηκε ότι ήταν πολύ καλύτερο από αυτό που θα μπορούσα να φανταστώ. Έξυπνοι χαρακτήρες και ωραία διάθεση. Αυτό που μου έκανε την μεγαλύτερη εντύπωση, ήταν ότι ενώ όλα και όλοι στο βιβλίο ήταν τυλιγμένοι με μια δυστυχισμένη ιστορία, οι πρωταγωνιστές, οι δεύτεροι χαρακτήρες, βασικά οι πάντες, η συγγραφέας μέσα από όλη αυτή την μαυρίλα, έβγαλε μια ανάλαφρη κ δροσερή ιστορία μου έφτιαξε εξολοκλήρου την διάθεση!!! Θέλω κι άλλο, αυτό είναι σίγουρο!
• 
  Lindsay

  
  
  
  This summer has officially been the BIGGEST READING SLUMP of my entire life! Its so sad because I have OVER 70 books on my tbr pile and I feel like I've hardly gone through any of them nor have I wanted to. Thank god their haven't been too many summer releases, otherwise I'd be buying books and letting them gather dust on my bookshelf.
  
  Basically, I struggled all of June with reading. I'd either a) find a book I liked and read through it so incredibly slowly that I'd fall asleep while reading and be so incredibly bored or b) start and immediately abandon a book. So far, before this book, I had already abandoned three books said to be bestsellers and many others before that as well. I was seriously beginning to lose hope.
  
  Thankfully, in a moment of sanity, I picked up The Ghost and the Goth off my bookshelf, which has been on my bookshelf since September. Sad I know. I just kept putting off this awesome read. And now I'm in love! Seriously, I absolutely LOVED this book.
  
  What I truly like about Stacey Kade's writing style is how she managed to write in such a teenager's perspective without trying so hard to sound like a teenager herself. I know that may not make sense but I'll try to elaborate. A lot of times when writers write from the POV of teenagers, they write the characters very well. The only thing is, the characters they often write don't feel quite real. They're either really great or really awful but their voices sound more like adults trying to be teenagers and failing at it.
  
  But Stacey Kade made these characters so real! Alona and Will were such a joy to read because they actually felt like teenagers nowadays. Yes, there were some aspects - okay a lot of aspects - of Alona's personality that were rather annoying and unbearable but her home life really explained it all. She was really a vulnerable girl on the inside, covered by years of malicious behavior, mainly someone who had been ripped apart by her parents. It's not so hard to relate for a lot of people. And god do I love Will. I feel like he's one of the ONLY guy characters in YA that sounds like an actual male teenager these days whose not a jerk but not unrealistic either. A lot of writers forget that yes, guys can be sweet but not to the point where they start sounding like a girl and Will was definitely - and thankfully not a girl.
  
  Another major important fact: NO INSTA-LOVE ROMANCE!!! Hallelujah! Even though the relationship did happen quickly, it wasn't love at first sight. It was two people, who honestly did not like each other at first but were able to work through each others differences to see how possible it could be for them both to have a relationship. So great! Will will also be going on my Top Sexiest Guys I Would Like To Fuc Rape And Keep In My Closet Forever List.
  
  Overall, I really loved this book. I haven't reviewed any books in such a long time so it feels good to finally write an opinion on something I loved as dearly as this. Although I absolutely love Alona and Will's relationship to death, it makes me sad that Alona is dead. I'm so excited for the sequel Queen of the Dead but I'm unsure of where the relationship can go...even though I love this couple dearly!
  
  Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
• 
  Sharon

  Here are some of my thoughts:
  • This is a fun read! I love the contrast between the 2 characters. The cover kinda says it all, but it’s fun to see them banter.
  • Alona can get irksome, but that’s part of her character development because she starts off snotty and self-absorbed, but learns to be nicer and more perceptive. She’s still snotty by the end because she is who she is, but is a better person.
  • Will is likable. He has a lot of shit to deal with in his life – especially with seeing ghosts and his family problems and his principal trying to get him expelled. However, he’s generally a nice guy, and I like that Alona has helped him come out of his shell a bit more and gets him to help ghosts instead of ignoring them. She has inspired him to be less resigned to his fate and more proactive. In return, he has taught her to be nicer by standing up to her but also being kind to her because it appears that a lot of people from school after she died didn’t seem to care about her as much as she thought. Thus, they both have helped one another grow as a person.
  • The full circle with how she died and Alona’s background was done well. It was rather subtle, but I was surprised I didn’t caught on sooner. In the scene when Alona finally addressed it, it knocked me off my feet a little bit. And I teared up a little when Alona confronted her ‘regret.”
  • And yeah, the romance – I ship it. This is just the beginning of the series, and I like how this is about Will and Alona getting to know one another and becoming “allies” of a sort. I can’t wait to see more developments in the future.
  
  So I have thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s a fun kind of cheesy book to read. It’s a solid 4 stars for me. Character developments, touching moments, humor, romance, etc. It’s a perfect mixture of levity and somberness.
  
  Things that you might want to know (WARNING: Spoilers below)
  Happy/satisfying ending? Happy, but not the last book
  Love triangle? Cheating? Angst level? No, no, low
  Tears-worthy? Emotional moments but not overly depressing/serious
  Humor? Yes
  Favorite scenes? When Alona goes to see her mom as her “regret” and we see her mom actually trying to get somber with a sponsor. When Alona and Will are at the nurse’s and she’s confused on why he defended her from the monster. When Alona went to the hospital room of Will, and she tells him she’s fading away and only has a few hours left and you can see how much they both come to mean one another in this short amount of time
  What age level would be appropriate? Vague references to sex, drinking, etc. Teens and up
  ---------
  I'm hoping this will be a new fun series to get into. The title is weird but amusing, so I'm hopeful.
• 
  Ferdy

  Spoilers
  
  When seventeen year old Homecoming Queen Alona Dare is not so tragically run over by a bus, she's annoyed to find herself coming back as a ghost. In life Alona believed she was popular and beloved by all, as a ghost she sees how little she actually meant to her friends. Alona doesn't want to spend her afterlife watching her family and friends forget about her, so she becomes determined to find a way to move on.
  Loner Will Killian can see and hear ghosts, he pretends not to see them for fear of being overcome with last resquests from the dead. When Alona notices Will smirking at her, she realizes that he can see her, so Alona latches onto him in the hope he can help her move on.
  
  -Alona wasn't a likeable character but that made sense - she wasn't a good person so she was stuck as a ghost instead of being at peace. I found it hard to sympathize with Alona's problems because she was so judgemental, self centred, shallow, mean and juvenile. She is slightly more tolerable and gains some depth towards the end when a fuller picture of the relationship she had with her parents was revealed.
  
  -Alona's parents were pathethic, I would have liked Alona to blame her dad for her death and not just her mum, but she kept putting her dad on a pedestal and demonizing her mum. Her dad was worse than her mum, her mum was depressed, a drunk and couldn't even take care of herself. Alona's dad was able, he had the responsibility and power to make sure his daughter was safe and happy but instead he left Alona to take care of her unstable mother.
  
  -Will was actually a decent love interest - he wasn't the typical YA hero. He wasn't a bad boy or rich or all knowing, he was respectful towards girls, he was occassionally bullied and he worked hard at school. I'd like more YA heroes to be like Will. I actually quite liked the little bit of romance between goth Will and cheerleader Alona. They were such opposites and their banter was actually quite entertaining.
  
  -At the beginning Alona talks about a girl getting ostracized and been looked down upon for having sex. There are some people that would treat a girl like that but it's wrong and the way the situation is described in the book conveys that there was nothing wrong with the way the girl was treated and that the treatment towards said girl was deserved..ugh. There were also too many times when some girl called some other girl a whore or a slut.
  
  This was a quick, light and easy read, I would have liked it more if Alona was more relatable, if there was more action and if there was less girl hating going on.
  
• 
  Ariana

  
  
  
  I don't know what to say about this book because I don't really know if I liked it or not that much -2.5 stars.
  
  The cover was great and this is the main reason I decided to give this book a try, and the characters were nice and entertaining (they had a voice of their own that i really got to enjoy - the sarcasm is definitely a plus) but the story seemed to miss something and it didn't kept my attention as much as I wanted.
  
  I didn't notice any attraction between the main characters and I didn't get my resolution at the end of the book. There are still lots of question without answer (maybe in the next book we will find out more) and I didn't really get the point of the story at all.. what was suppose to happen after all? I got to the end of the book and I felt like I've only been reading some nice dialog lines and some character insights but nothing more... A lot of mystery but no action, lots of questions but no answers, some romantic-wanna-be moments but no attraction.. I guess it was ok and I almost liked it, but nothing more :|
  
  
  
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  ReadingAfterMidnight.com
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• 
  Anne

  This was absolutely perfect! Well, it was perfect for what I was looking for at the time. It's a light 'n fluffy read with a little bit of a paranormal mystery thrown in. The plot was different enough to keep me interested, and the budding romance between the two main characters was cute and sweet.
  
  The blurb on the back does a pretty good job describing the book, so I'm not going to bother you with it in my review. I will say that it's definitely worth checking out when you're in the mood for something that's easy on the brain, but not insipid.
  
  The romance in the book is PG, so this would be a good choice for younger YA readers.
• 
  Keertana

  Rating: 3.5 Stars
  
  I'll admit I liked this book against my better judgement. The Ghost and the Goth is one of those books you can't really analyze, can't really dissect, and can't help but find fault with. Is the story predictable? Hell, yes! Are the characters unique and different? Not really. So what was so great about this book? Why the 3.5 Star rating? I have one word to tell you: enjoyment. Sometimes a book comes your way that isn't particularly unique, isn't particularly edge-of-your-seat-gripping, isn't particularly anything new; yet, it manages to make you laugh-out-loud, fall in love with its characters, and grin like an idiot while reading it. The Ghost and the Goth was a light, quick, and funny read that I found to be utterly adorable!
  
  Alona is your typical high school cheerleader: tall, blonde, popular, and seems to have the school wrapped around her finger. So, imagine her surprise when she finds out that she really wasn't as popular or loved as she once thought she was! When Alona is hit by a bus and instantly killed, she returns as a ghost only to find that her boyfriend was cheating on her with her best friend, everyone she thought she knew liked her really didn't, and the only person who can see her is Will Killian - the freak. Killian has spent his life trying to avoid ghosts, but he can see them everywhere. The real trouble starts when they find out that he can see them since that's when they begin to flood him with request after request. So, when Will finds himself face-to-face with Alona's ghost, all he wants to do is get rid of her. But, if there's one thing he learns about Alona it's that it's next-to-impossible to make her leave. Thus, the two find themselves striking an unlikely companionship: Alona will help Killian deal with his ghosts if he helps her understand about her life as a ghost and helps her to hopefully leave. Yet, what neither of them bargain for is a strange attraction to one another and a mysterious (and terrifying) ghost on their hands...
  
  I know what you're thinking - Alona and Killian sound like every single typical high school character we've read about! What's so great about them? I thought the same thing when I started this book, but I soon found out how wrong I was. Yes, Alona is petulant and can be a bitch, but she's also a girl with very real issues. Life for Alona is far from black and white and I think that Kade does a remarkable job of introducing some depth into this otherwise light tale. The Ghost and the Goth was told in alternating perspectives between Alona and Killian and I loved both their POVs. Alona, despite seeming to have an irritating voice, was actually really funny and I found myself admiring her strength and independence. Killian too was an interesting character who had to deal with a plethora of problems of his own, from his evil teacher, his psychiatrist who is bent on proving that he is insane, and his father who has committed suicide three years ago and seems to be haunting him. I think what struck me the most about Killian's perspective was how male he was. Authors usually fail to truly make me realize that I'm reading a guy's POV, but Kade was spot-on with Killian. I absolutely adored the interaction between Killian and Alona and thought that the pacing from their unlikely companionship to friendship to something a little more than that was perfect. The manner in which their relationship progressed was remarkably realistic and more than a little fun to read!(:
  
  I don't usually like ghost stories, especially ghost love stories since I always think that they're going to end in heartache, but I found myself falling for this couple - hard. In addition to the incredible friendship between Killian and Alona, I thought that the plot of The Ghost and the Goth was rather well written. Yes, it was juvenile and strange, but it also kept me guessing till the very end. Was it a little out there and unbelievable? Yes, it was, but only slightly. For the most part I found myself admiring Kade's ingenuity at thinking up a story line like the one she did. Honestly, I only have a few qualms with this book and even they weren't big enough to make me not like this book. I think The Ghost and the Goth would have benefited from a little more information about Alona and Killian's lives, giving these characters more of a fleshed-out and defined feel. I also think that some of the situations were a bit too predictable and the high school setting was beyond typical, which very nearly made me give up on this story in the beginning; yet, the characters managed to make everything worth it. I'm hoping that Kade will step up her game in the sequel as I'd love to see the more vulnerable side of Alona that we only got a glimpse of in this story. Perhaps what I like the most about this book is that the characters know that they're imperfect and have flaws and they like each other despite those flaws. It's not everyday that you see a relationship like that and that truly made me fall in love with this book.
  
  Should you pick up The Ghost and the Goth ? Definitely! I read this book at a time when I really needed a light and fun read, so it fit together perfectly with my mood and managed to cheer me up and make me laugh almost instantly. So, if you're looking for something adorable, cute, and interesting, look no further! This ghost and goth will keep you plenty satisfied! ;)
• 
  Kristi

  I really enjoyed reading this one! There wasn't really all that much depth to the story, but I'm not saying that was a bad thing. It was a cutesy, fun... very quick read, and sometimes you just want to read that type of story! The Ghost and The Goth is told in alternating perspectives.... we have Alona... the newly dead, and then Will, the boy that can 'see dead people!'
  
  Alona was definitely a different character..... usually I wouldn't be able to stand the shallow, miss perfect persona that she alludes perfectly, but we soon discover that not all is rainbows and sunshine in the life of Alona Dare. I think besides discovering the new "life" that Alona now has was finding out the truth about her life when she was actually living. Will was the character that left the lasting impression. He seems to have a lot more depth than Alona... although I will admit she did surprise me in the end. I'm hoping for a sequel with more information about Will and what exactly his ability entails.
  
  The story moved along rather fast, the first half was a tad bit tedious, but we really got a lot of information about the characters and what was going on..... once that was established the pages went whipping by.
  
  The Ghost & The Goth was a charming story about two very different people (and I use the term people here loosely... since one is in fact a ghost) finding that you really can't judge a book by it's cover.
  
  Overall.... F.U.N!
• 
  Tynga

  The Ghost and The Goth was an amazing read: light, funny and somewhat ironic. This book is a page turner and you don’t want to miss out on this title!
  
  Alona, Queen of the Elites goes from dead to worst when she discovers, a few days after her death, that her life isn’t what she thought it was. She comes to realize her fellow schoolmates didn’t really like her, and her former BFF is real quick on making sure her former boyfriend doesn’t feel lonely, in a very touchy, feely, public way. It’s in this exact moment of Alona’s Fall that Will, one of the losers not worth Alona’s time, looks at her straight in the eyes and laugh at her misery. His first mistake.
  
  Will is known as a freak because he is acting so weird all the time, but wouldn’t you if you heard and saw the dead all day? He has always been trying to hide his abilities, but when you face the most stubborn ghost ever, and she knows you can see her, well you gotta deal with it. So that’s how Will and Alona ends up walking a very thin thread, both trying to reach their very different goals, which involves a few awkward situations and a fair share of disputes.
  
  
  I really loved this first YA novel by Stacey Kade, it’s a great story with a good pace, the right amount of humor, everything adding up for success.
  
  The characters are fantastic, you first picture them with those big stereotypes but as the story progress you discover more layers to their personalities, which takes the story to a whole new level. Also, the narration alternates between Alona and Will to give us better access to both characters thoughts and feelings.
  
  I really liked Alona, even thought she’s the kind of girl I avoided in high school I came to love her personality and witty comments. She acts all superficial, ok maybe she is, but she’s also smart and develops an interest in other people eventually. It was nice to see her grow and I can’t wait to see what’s waiting for her in the second book.
  
  Like I mentioned before, the book is written in a “light way”, but it also touches serious subjects like School Clics, sexual orientation, suicide, mental illnesses and alcoholism. It’s all handled perfectly to not weight down the story though, so kudos to Stacey.
  
  
  I read this book in only a few hours and had a hard time putting it down. I liked the end even though I didn’t want it to end lol. I think everything wrapped up nicely and we get hints of what’s to come next. No major cliffhanger here.
  
  I strongly recommend to all of you YA fantasy fans out there to get your hands on that book, you won’t regret it =)
  
  
• 
  ainhoas front soldier

  interesting at first
• 
  Rubal

  Alona and Will
  
  
  
  
  This book had all the clichés, the blonde cheer-leader,the social strata of high schools,the goth/nerdy hero.But still the author managed to make it a light,fun read with likable characters.I had a smile on my face while reading it.The interactions of the protagonists are entertaining.The romance didn't take the sappy route and that's one of the biggest reasons why I loved this one.
  
  I'm looking forward to the sequel.
• 
  Wendy Darling

  3.5 stars Adorable!
• 
  Kris

  I can't believe I read this - or even worse admitting that I've read this.

  While the writing style itself was fine for a YA I found myself vehemently against the ridiculous plot and the horrible cliched stereotypes within it. Yeah, I'm goth and yeah I was a goth 10 years ago while in high school so I know where the stereotypes come from. Been there, lived through that. I suppose that makes me biased. But really, even in high school none of the goth kids that I knew where nearly as absurd as what I saw in this story. It only seems to happen in books, movies, and the minds of the uninformed masses. Yeah, I know this is supposed to be a bit tongue-in-cheek and ironic but it felt like watching The Craft.

  It seems to me that the title should be The Ghost and the Emo Kid rather than the goth if this is to taken in a contemporary 21st century setting. The only so-called "goth" in the story was so over the top as to be absolutely ridiculous.

  What an absolute waste of time.

  If you want a cheerleader meets a goth story I'd highly recommend checking out Kelly Creagh's Nevermore instead.
• 
  kaylaaaaaaaaaa kaylaaaaaaaaaa

  This book was hilarious!
• 
  Kadi P

  A fun take on an unoriginal idea. It was quirky, cool, and sarcastic enough to feel fresh and fun thanks to the protagonists and their narrations.
  
  Alona and Will were presented as chalk and cheese and whilst their characters were outwardly different and their narrative voices were distinct, there was actually a lot they had in common. They gelled well despite their conflict-induced banter and their dynamic was exciting. What made them even more brilliant was that they both had separate personalities so they were just as compelling apart as they were together. The plot also gave both of them adequate time to explore their characters separately and together to give them depth and highlight their progression.
  
  The plot was an unexpected semi-mystery which felt clever with a well-timed ending. The pacing was set at breakneck speed so it felt as though the plot was made up of only three scenes. That wasn’t to say the plot was empty; no, there was a lot going on. The ultra-sarcastic narrative increased the busyness of the plot by inputting arguably unnecessary backstories from time to time, but such was the narrative voice of Alona’s character. It certainly helped to distinguish her narrative from Will’s and that made the split narrative a success.
  
  For such a solid concept it was surprising to see the characters were really what carried this book. Although perhaps not so surprising when you consider that such an overused concept needs strong personalities to set it apart from other similar stories. Regardless, this one does well with its characters, it concept, and its fleeting romance.
• 
  John Egbert

  My review!~
  
  Okay, let's start with the prose. It's cute. Alona's voice is the stereotypical cheerleading egghead voice. Well, Alona IS the stereotypical cheeerleading egghead...but still. I thought the book would take a much more serious tone, but, it didn't. Alona is very humorous, but her humorousness can get very annoying at times. For a long while, you want to tell her, "Lady you are DEAD, will you GROW UP?!" Unforgivably, she doesn't actually get a clue to grow up until more than halfway through the novel. Yes, she dies at the very beginning.
  
  Alona is a pretty little idiot. By this I mean she's supposed to be gorgeous, she's short, and she's a blithering idiot. The only thing you can say for her is that she'll stick up for herself. So, that's good. She won't let people walk all over her. She's strong willed. She's...wait a minute, those are all synonyms. Oh.
  
  Will's prose, on the other hand...(yes, this book is dually narrated)
  
  Will is boring, plain and simple. No, no, WILL isn't boring. His character is very interesting, with his history and his family and all that, but he himself is boring. Reading him from Alona's POV wasn't that bad, but his actual narration was tortuous. No offense, but I expected more from him. At the beginning, he was pretty good. But towards the middle he began to drag, and towards the end he just got worse.
  
  Will is a iron woobie (TV Tropes for reference). Bad after bad after bad keeps happening to him, from that principal to his father to his doctor, to, well, everything. It gets annoying after a while. Especially when he keeps acting like such a limp noodle about it.
  
  My major problem with the novel? The side characters.
  
  Oh, if you thought the main characters were two dimensional (which they are, but in a good way), the side characters are all cardboard cutouts. No, they're worse than cardboard cutouts. They're like...awful. I can't think of one side character I liked outside of Joonie, if that was even her name. Will's friend? Yeah, she was cool. But as for the rest of them...no point. No point at all. They were all so boring.
  
  If there's one thing I appreciate, though, it's that Will and Alona had actual chemistry. They were funny together. And pretty cute. I liked them, which is saying a lot. Their quasi-romance is really one of the things that saved this novel. She doesn't do any of that crap like forget to breath or get weak at the knees when she sees him. She regains her (little) personality when around him, and vice versa. We don't get any confessions of love halfway through either. It's called subtly. Something a lot of mainstream YA authors need to learn.
  
  As for the plot, Plot A was Alona figuring out what happened to her. That was cool. Plot B? I don't even know what you would call Plot B. There were so many little things going on in the background, and I didn't care about a single one of them. Even that plot with Will's Ex-GF dying...and Joonie being a lesbian? Or it was something like that. I don't even remember that much, that's how little I cared.
  
  The antagonists of the novel? Laughable. Alona doesn't even have a real antagonist, and Will's antagonist is the principal for Chrissakes. The cardboard cutout principal. The TSTL (too stupid to live, also TV Tropes) cardboard cutout principal.
  
  I think that this novel still needed a good editor to look over it. It felt like one of my first drafts...that I wrote two years ago. Not to say that it was bad, but it just wasn't an amazing read. Better than 60% (if not 80%) of PNR right now, mind you, but that doesn't excuse it for it's flaws. Which, yeah, it had a lot of. Like everything else.
  
• 
  Lexie

  Originally I was ready to write The Ghost and the Goth off as being a breezy teen paranormal.  The premise was interesting, but the synopsis had me sighing because I didn't want to deal with another drama queen teen.  
  
  This isn't a deep novel, which is partially a disservice to it because it does have deep concepts (the weight of your actions, survivor's guilt, grief), but it won't necessarily make you re-examine your life and make life-altering changes to it.  Put simply this was an enjoyable novel with two protagonists who banter and bicker in an entertaining fashion and touch upon the deep concepts enough to make people think.
  
  Alona for instance is brought to task for a random comment she made to a classmate.  In Alona's mind she thought she was making a comment to help the girl (a comment about her sweaters).  Unfortunately, as seems to happen often with Alona when she was alive, she was only looking at it from her (kind of twisted at times) viewpoint.  She simply didn't acknowledge that there could possibly been any other reason except that the girl didn't care how she looked.
  
  Will also made assumptions about Alona however (mainly her 'perfect' life).  The book often pointed out the trouble with making assumptions about a person you only 'see' and don't know.  Though later on it pokes at being blind to others and their problems.  In their own ways both Alona and Will were self-centered, Alona just was more upfront and aggressive about while Will did it unintentionally because of his curse.
  
  I want to point out I found the way Kade handled Will's gift/curse and the spirit world in general to be delightful.  I liked that it was based primarily on one's actions, that is the more positive you are the more likely you are to not disappear.  I hope that Kade explores this more in the second book, especially given what happens with Alona at the end of this book.
  
  I liked that the POV shifted between Alona and Will from chapter to chapter.  It gave us a better handle on the two of them and who they were.  It also gave the author a chance to tell two stories at once; from Alona's viewpoint she's newly dead and adjusting to that and from Will's viewpoint he's handling a personal tragedy and his own personal pitfalls from his curse.
  
  And while I appreciate the romance in here, it also made me feel sad.  There aren't too many ways this series (a trilogy according to the author's website) could go that wouldn't be either a deus ex machina or bittersweet farewell.
• 
  Nikoleta Katsiouli

  
  Είναι πλέον γνωστό πως είμαι λάτρης της εφηβικής φανταστικής και δυστοπικής λογοτεχνίας. Όταν ανακαλύψω ένα βιβλίο αυτών των κατηγοριών δεν μπορώ απλά να μην το διαβάσω και αυτό είναι που έγινε και σε αυτή την περίπτωση. Τυχαία έπεσε στην αντίληψη μου το « Αταίριαστο ζευγάρι » και διαβάζοντας το οπισθόφυλλο, η πρώτη μου σκέψη ήταν ότι έπρεπε να αποκτήσω αυτό το βιβλίο ΑΜΕΣΑ.
  
  Και ευτυχώς δεν διαψεύσθηκα. Είχα δίκιο που ήθελα να το έχω χθες. Ήταν ένα διασκεδαστικό και ανάλαφρο ανάγνωσμα που μου κράτησε συντροφιά και μου χάρισε ένα χαμόγελο με την ολοκλήρωση της ανάγνωσης του.
  
  Η Αλόνα είναι όλα όσα θα ήθελε ένα κορίτσι, όμορφη, έξυπνη, δημοφιλής αλλά ένα ατύχημα τα αλλάζει όλα. Η Αλάνα τώρα είναι νεκρή και σαν να μην έφτανε αυτό δεν μπορεί να προχωρήσει. Έχει «κολλήσει» στον κόσμο των Ζωντανών.
  
  Ο Γουίλ έχει θέματα. Είναι ο «παρείσακτος» του σχολείου. Όλοι τον αποφεύγουν αφού τον θεωρούν αλλόκοτο και εξαιρετικά περίεργο. Και σαν να μην έφταναν όλα αυτά ο ψυχίατρος του νομίζει πως χειρότερα δεν γίνεται. Πως χρειάζεται θεραπεία για όλα αυτά του τα προβλήματα αφού δεν γνωρίζει την πραγματική πηγή του κακού.
  
  Ο Γουίλ δεν είναι τρελός απλά έχει τη δυνατότητα να βλέπει πνεύματα , ναι ναι φαντάσματα καλά καταλάβατε. Έτσι είναι ο μοναδικός που μπορεί ακόμα να δει την Αλόνα. Ο μοναδικός που μπορεί να την βοηθήσει να προχωρήσει. Φανταστείτε την μαζορέτα του σχολείου να προσπαθεί να συνεργαστεί με τον αλλόκοτο Γουίλ.
  
  Μια χιουμοριστική αλλά και συγκινητική ιστορία που μας αποδεικνύει ότι τίποτα δεν είναι όπως φαίνεται. Πως δεν πρέπει να κρίνουμε τους ανθρώπους μόνο από αυτό που βλέπουμε αλλά να προσπαθούμε να τους καταλάβουμε. Μέσα από τη ροή της ιστορίας θα γνωρίσουμε καλύτερα τους ήρωες μας και θα κατανοήσουμε πως μπορούμε να βρούμε την αγάπη και τη φιλία με τον πιο περίεργο τρόπο , στα πιο περίεργα μέρη.
  
  
  Αφήστε το «Αταίριαστο Ζευγάρι» να σας ταξιδέψει.
  
• 
  Dee

  Definetely a good start to a series. Alona and Will are probably one of my favorite fictional couples. They mesh so well and balance each other out. A loner who's supersweet boy deep inside + a sarcastic, egotistical cheerleader = CHAOS. But then again, a good kind of chaos! So much witty lines cracked me up and took me completely. I love their chemistry! They make me melt. THAT'S what I have always longed for in a book, every book that I read but only a very few authors seem to achieve that kind of power to move me and really make me feel the emotion. Killian's pretty sexy too. It's been a while since I've been smoldered by a fictional guy and hey, K, I'm definetely starting to like you, really. Alona's adorable! She makes me laugh a lot and underneath those walls of hers, there is someone soft.
  
  I fell for Stacey Kade's writing right away. It was hard not to, with her great talent for contemporary writing, who could resist? Since Kade's done a great job in both their P.O.V's, it felt more like reading their diaries than reading a book which is another thing that I've always looked for in a book. This book gave me mixed feelings such as anger, pity, sadness and plenty others. Mostly, this book brought me several realizations about dying and the afterlife. And Alona was a character I loved and hated at the same time. I pitied her most of all because of what everyone whom she thought loved her did after she finally died. This a short but fun read. It gave me a break from all those boring and dissapointing books that I've always looked forward to reading but failed me. I was finally able to breathe well. There were certain parts that were boring but nonetheless, the pace was kept again as it went on. With just a litte more lines that could tug at the heartstrings, I could've given this a five. Looking forward to reading book 2!
• 
  Liliana

  Review also found here:
  http://lili-lost-in-a-book.blogspot.c...
  
  This book was soo good that I finished it in 2 days! What was I supposed to do after that?! Oh thats right: wait for book two! :D too bad its going to take forever, because I really, really liked this book!
  
  I really enjoyed this book, it was completely different from any other book I have read about ghosts. Having that it is also in the point of view of the ghost. Knowing what its like for a ghost being...well, a ghost, was very unique.
  
  So, we have Alona Dare, who had it all: She was gorgeous, was a cheerleading squad co-captain, and the Homecoming Queen for 3 years in a row. And then she was run over by a school bus...and killed. Now as a ghost, she is trying to figure out what she is supposed to do next, but she has no idea what that is! Thats when she realizes that she needs help. But what she didnt expect was that the outcast/freak/goth was the only one who could help her...Will.
  
  Will Killian is the outcast...the freak. What people dont know is that he can see, hear, and touch the dead (ghosts, to be exact). However, he isnt particularly fond of his gift, so he tries to ignore the ghosts as much as possible. That is until Alona died.
  
  Now they have to work together (something neither of them ever imagined in a million years. A cheerleader and an outcast working together? Weird, right?) in order for Alona to "cross over," as well as to get this other ghost from trying to kill Will.
  
  This book has mysterious aspects to it as well as humor and, believe it or not, romance ;) Loved it!!
• 
  Beth Kakuma-Depew

  Is it a good sign or a bad sign when pre-schoolers are facinated with the book cover? So the hook is right there for you to see: popular girl gets teamed-up with fringe-weirdo guy and had supernatural adventures. But the characters are thin, and talk WAY too much. The author is weaker at writing the guy than the girl, for example he never hangs out with his guy friends, and he always needs the ghost cheerleader to save him from obivous pitfalls. (Also the names? Alona Dare and Will Killian aka Will Kill? maybe a better author could get away with this...)
  
  The worst part is that I really find this hook intesting, but I just read NOTES FROM THE BLENDER, which deals with the exact same hook, just without the supernatural elements.
  
  *Sigh* this book might be a big hit with low reading level girls, since it repeatedly shows AND tells you what to think about the characters, and the silly plot tricks feel like a tv show.
  
  BTW, it's set in Decatur IL. Clues that prove this: hicks spit chewing tobacco, the cheating boyfriend is into wrestling, the Sangamon river is mentioned, and they said the town was Decatur.