138) Body & Soul by Stacey Kade

The Blurb :

The Ghost

I’ve been trapped in the body of Lily “Ally” Turner for a month now. Talk about a fashion crisis on an epic scale. What worries me more, though, is sometimes I catch Will looking at me like he thinks I’m Lily...or that he wishes I were. Without the good looks of my former self, I don’t know who I am, or if who that is is good enough. I need out of this mess. Now.

Will and I have been looking for a solution, one that would separate me from Lily without killing her. But it’s not going well. Then, when it seems like things couldn’t get any worse, we run into Misty, my former best friend and boyfriend-stealer extraordinaire, who claims she’s being haunted...by me. Seriously?

I’m determined to get to the bottom of who’s pretending to be the spirit of Alona Dare (while I’m pretending to be someone else) and then get the heck out of this body. Or die trying...

The Goth

I’ll admit it. It’s really weird to look at Alona but see Lily. I do know the difference, though, contrary to what Alona might be saying. And Alona is more than a pretty face to me, not that she would believe that.

Our one lead for some help in this messed up situation might be a page torn from the yellow pages-—the “Psychics” section-—I found in my dad’s stuff. One of the “fakes” seems a bit more real-—and odd-—than the others. Before I can investigate further, though, Alona is off and chasing a ghost that’s probably nothing more than a figment of Misty’s guilty imagination. Now Lily’s family is freaking out because she didn’t come home, my mom is ordering me to stay out of it, and something is definitely wrong with the person formerly known as Lily “Ally” Turner.

My Thoughts :

Don't judge a book by its cover. That is the phrase that really sums up this trilogy. Even this last book has the girly teenager look to it but in reality this series is so much more than that. Yes it is YA but it is far from girly. In fact a lot of the story is told from a male perspective. If you haven't already tried this series yet then I cam only highly recommend you do. You really don't know what you are missing.

There were a lot of ways this trilogy could have ended but I didn't expect it to go the way it did. It was interesting to follow Ally's new struggles and also to see how Will dealt with it. To see them get mixed up with 'Misty's Problem' was interesting and the author, once again, came up with a great storyline and plot.

So much grown up that I expected, this series has turned out to be a super read. The only problem I have with the Ghost and the Goth is that is that it is over. Sure the ending was good and was fitting but to be honest there seemed like there is more out there. Will Ally and Will share more stories with us at some point? I hope so!

A hidden delight and a very special read. Deep and intense but also funny and intelligent. I am so happy I got to read this trilogy and hope that at least one person picks up these books after reading my review. I really can't do it justice. Just try this one and be prepared to be amazed.


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The Ghost and The Goth Trilogy

#1 - The Ghost & The Goth
#2 - Queen of the Dead
#3 - Body & Soul

12) Queen of the Dead by Stacey Kade

The Blurb :

After being sent back from the light, Alona Dare - former homecoming queen, current Queen of the Dead - finds herself doing something she never expected: working. Instead of spending days perfecting her tan by the pool (her typical summer routine when she was, you know, alive), Alona must now cater to the needs of other lost spirits. By her side for all of this - ugh - “helping of others” is Will Killian: social outcast, seer of the dead, and someone Alona cares about more than she’d like.

Before Alona can make a final ruling on Will’s “friend” or “more” status, though, she discovers trouble at home. Her mom is tossing out Alona’s most valuable possessions, and her dad is expecting a new daughter with his wicked wife. Is it possible her family is already moving on? Hello! She’s only been dead for two months! Thankfully, Alona knows just the guy who can put a stop to this mess.

Unfortunately for Alona, Will has other stuff on his mind, and Mina, a young (and beautiful) seer, is at the top of the list. She’s the first ghost-talker Will’s ever met—aside from his father—and she may hold answers to Will’s troubled past. But can she be trusted? Alona immediately puts a check mark in the “clearly not” column. But Will is - ahem - willing to find out, even if it means leaving a hurt and angry Alona to her own devices, which is never a good idea.

My Thoughts :

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, The Ghost and Goth. I actually wanted to get this sequel, as soon as it came out but it either isn't available on Kindle or just isn't available to me, in Europe, on Kindle. So this went on my wishlist and was under the tree at Christmas. I nearly started reading it straight away.

The Ghost and the Goth had quite a huge surprise factor to it. It was totally different to what I expected and the cover really gave the wrong impression. I was curious how the author would continue Alona and Will's story and at first I thought it was just going to turn into a boring 'sorting out ghost problems' book. How wrong I was!

There are some huge exciting twists and turns in Queen of the Dead and I didn't expect any of them. Will finds out that his dad was part of a group who track and hunt ghosts. Alona fails to come to terms with her death even though her family has. She ends up doing something very drastic that has some huge consequences and has the book ending on a pretty interesting cliffhanger.

The story may be about teenagers and told by teenagers but it isn't your typical childish Young Adult. There is more to this series than meets the eye and where the covers look cool they do send out a different vibe than the author does in her well written and honest stories.

Definitely worth checking out. I am hoping that the third part comes out on Kindle so I can read it as soon as it comes out. This would be a must pre-order if it was available. Shame I am not buying physical books anymore...

116) The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade

The Blurb :

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?

My Thoughts :

I needed and wanted to read something fun, easy and light. So the cover for The Ghost and the Goth really shouted 'read me'. I took this book with me in my bag thinking it was going to be a fast read that I could finish in one day. How wrong I was. The cover is very misleading and even the blurb comes across as something very young and silly but actually this book has a lot of depth and I found myself needing more than a day to let everything sink in.

Even after the first few chapters I was waiting for the fun to begin but this stayed pretty serious the whole way through. Sure there were moments that could have been laugh out loud occasions but I think the whole concept put a bit of a downer on things. A young girl is dead and now a ghost and A young boy is seeing ghosts but everyone thinks he is crazy. It could have been funny but the author surprised me by keeping it quite real and intense.

Now I am not saying that because of this I didn't like the book. I actually found it to be a super read. I just wasn't expecting the seriousness and realistic angle. It made me stop a few times and take a moment to digest what was really going on. While this has Young adult focus it is quite adult at times and I wonder if younger readers will actually get 'it'.

This may not have been the best written book and it has some minor flaws but it had some great paranormal activity. The characters were interesting to follow and the plot wasn't that bad and did keep me guessing. I am really looking forward to reading the second part, Queen of the Dead, and am extremely curious to how things develop for the two main characters.