THE GHOST AND THE GOTH SERIES by Stacey Kade

I cannot believe it's over :**(  This series is great for so many reasons.  It totally deserves its own post.  Body and Soul, the last book in The Ghost and the Goth trilogy, came out recently, and I just have to say: It. Was. Awesome!

There are so, SO many ways it could've gone wrong.  With a truly impossible romance, a ghost and a living person, I could think of at least about 100 ways the story could've gone off the rails.  But the way Kade wrote these books, the stories were always believable and such fun to read!

In this third installment, we get to see how the characters have grown from Book 1.  (i.e. Alona, though still being fierce, isn't just the bitchy cheerleader.  And Will Killian isn't just the goth who wants to ignore all the ghosts around him)  Alona and Will have such a great chemistry.  "The cheerleader" and "the goth" have never been quite as well-rounded while still maintaining the funny.  I felt like I knew them.

Loved how Will was loyal/loved his mom!  That's right, he was a big old mama's boy, but it made him that much cooler in my book J  Loved how Alona used her Mean Girl powers for good instead of evil.  She defended Will, even stuck her neck out for Lily (the girl whose body she took charge of in Book 2; see why you need to read the entire series??)

The writing is pitch perfect teen, with two very different, yet equally awesome, main characters.  You'll always know who's speaking b/c, as I said, Alona and Will are so real.  Fun stories that never leave the laughs behind in favor of drama.  You'll be smiling throughout these books!

So…Reasons You Should Read (in a nice, tidy list J)

1) Kade's great writing!  She's in touch with her inner-teen, and they seem to have a very close relationship.

2) The humor.  Leave all the angsty angst behind and try a taste of the funny.  It'll make you smile, promise.

3) Great covers and titles!!  Just look at those pretty pics... *___*

4) Alona Dare.  Here's a cheerleader you'll actually like, and not for because she defies all the stereotypes.  No, Alona takes those stereotypes (mean, diva, thinks she's the ish) and brings them to a new level, especially in Book 1.  But you'll love her anyway ;)  Her brutal honesty is actually one of her best traits.

5) Will Killian.  Still love the name, still love him.  With a nickname like "Will Kill," the Goth had already won me over.  I loved how he wasn't the typical male lead.  Will was so anti-perfect.  No Ken dolls here!  And he and Alona were, as I said in an earlier review, "perfectly unperfect together."

Definitely recommend this series, couldn't have been happier with the ending--but I still wish there were more Ghost and the Goth books!  Thank you Stacey Kade for a great finish to a great story!

Happy reading,

Ninja Girl

QUEEN OF THE DEAD by Stacey Kade

Confession time, I think I may have a bit of a crush on Stacey Kade J  You guys the woman can really write, and she proves just how good she is in Queen of the Dead, the second Ghost and the Goth novel.  (By the way, I can't get enough of Alona and Will!  They're just so…perfectly unperfect together)

Anyway, I think this novel could've gone really awry.  Kade did such a great job in the first novel, that this one (the dreaded sequel) could've come up crap--but it didn't.  She could've just told the same story over again and not moved the story forward.  She could've moved the story forward but in a totally crap direction.  But she didn't do either of these things, and that's why Queen came up daisies imo.

Alona and Will are still together--the ultimate odd couple--trying to help ghosts and whatnot, but now their relationship has blossomed into something more.  And there's kissing.  And Alona admitting that Will's a great kisser.  And Will admitting that he likes kissing Alona.  Can I get a "Heck yeah!" for the kissing??

Things turn sour when they run into Mina--another ghost-talker with frizzy hair and a chip on her shoulder.  Mina's part of an organization of ghost-talkers (or at least she wants to be), who believe in helping the living over the dead, and Will's world is rocked when he discovers his dad might've been one of them.  Alona's un-life is turned upside down when her parents decide to move on without her, and she's not the type of girl, dead or undead, to sit back and take it.  When Will refuses to help, she takes matters into her own hands--and things take a turn neither the ghost or the goth (or this ninja) expected.

There were so many ways this book could've gone wrong, but I really enjoyed the direction Kade took the story.  I'll be waiting to see if she can keep it up in book 3, but I think I'll like it no matter what.  I love the humor in these books and the characters.  There's something about Will and Alona that feels fresh even though it's so commercial.  Kade writes both of them beautifully, and we get a real sense of who they are and why they might (despite their bickering) actually go for each other.  If they ever make a movie, I'll be first in line to see it.

Reasons to read this book: the ghost, the goth, the kissing, the writing, the danger, the laughs…  What more do you need? J

Happy reading,

Ninja Girl

P.S. I got an honorable mention in that contest I entered YAY!!!

THE GHOST AND THE GOTH by Stacey Kade

The Ghost was good.  The Goth was better.  And the plot was what made this book such a winner in...well...my book J  Hilariously funny and heart-warming, this YA with the awesome cover (I mean, seriously, does it get any better than that?) was exactly what I've been looking for.  With basically all of Meg Cabot's books read--and read again--I was in search of something light, something that would make me smile yet give me great characters and tell a good story.  The Ghost and the Goth delivered on all counts!

It's the story of Alona Dare (Yeah, yeah.  At first, I wasn't loving the name either, but it grew on me), the homecoming queen who gets hit by a school bus, dies, and then comes back as a ghost.  A ghost with attitude to spare and a skid mark forever imprinted on the front her white tee (She's stuck in her hideous gym uniform for all eternity J  How funny is that??).

Then there's Will Killian (Just thought I'd mention that, unlike Miss Dare, I loved this character's name).  He's the Goth, obviously, who just so happens to have the ability to see, talk to, and touch ghosts.  Not that he does any of those three things--willingly at least.  With his nifty iPod in tow, Will plays it cool, trying to ignore all the ghosts in school until graduation when he'll be free.  But then Alona Dare, Little Miss Popularity, bites it, and she's determined to get him to help her--or annoy him to death.

The characters were spot on.  They were exactly who they needed to be, without being stereotypes so often found in YA.  And the pairing, oh the pairing!  Will and Alona were the perfectly un-perfect couple (if that makes sense).  I couldn't get enough of their bickering, Alona's reluctant compliments to Will, and Will's attraction to Alona even with all her faults.  Which was another thing that I liked; Alona was bitchy without being a complete bitch.  Good on you Stacey Kade.  That's a tough balance.

All in all, I'd recommend it to anyone who loves a good story and wants to laugh.  Out loud.  Possibly for long periods of time.  Great story, I can't wait to read the next one!  Who knows?  Since she's already got a ghost and goth; maybe next time there'll be a ninja? J