Series:  The Ghost and the Goth
Author: Stacey Kade [website] [twitter] [facebook]
Genre:  Paranormal, Romance
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Format: 1 Hardcover & 1 eBook
Source: 1 Purchased & 1 Publisher (via NetGalley)
Parental Advisory: language, drugs, alcohol, mental illness, suicide, murder
Teachable Moments: self-worth, fidelity, dealing with loss, sibling rivalry, GLBT

Book Names:
1 – The Ghost and the Goth [Amazon]
2 – Queen of the Dead [Indie Bound] [Amazon]


Plot:
<spoilers this way come! Because I’m reviewing two books at the same time it’s impossible not to let information flow.  Beware!>

Alona Dare is your typical popular mean girl in her school’s social strata.  She is in it for number one and it doesn’t matter who gets in her way.  Especially those she considers to be the lowest of the low.  Enter Will Killian, in a uniform of all black and always with his head down he’s made himself known as an outcast.  It’s apparent early on that the two would never be caught dead together.  That is, until, Alona actually does end up dead and her ghost becomes tied to Will in an unexpected way.  It’s clear I’m not necessarily spoiling anything by saying that Will sees dead people.  It’s the reason he and Alona finally speak and bond with each other.  While this is one of the key touch points of the story (their tentative friendship) what I won’t spoil for you is the mystery surrounding why Alona is still bound to Earth, how it is and why Will can see her, and the role his father’s disappearance plays in it.   There is also small subplot that plays in as a distraction to it all with Will’s friends Lily and Joonie.  This subplot builds the relationship between he and Alona and also opens the door for story progression in book two.

Despite the connections created by characters and plot elements laid out in The Ghost and the Goth it’s follow-up Queen of the Dead felt like an entirely different read.  Some of the same plot held true — Alona was still Earth-bound, Will still spoke to spirits, and there was a mystery to continue to solve but it’s tone felt different.  It was a much darker book from the first; it felt more dire and desperate.  This comes from the fact that despite revelations about his father in book one this second in the series focused a lot on his quest to find out more.  More than that it focused on the quest of others to find more out about and manipulate him.  This book lost some of the fun and spunk that the first had and definitely didn’t go towards the “rootable” factor.  In book one I was rooting for a variety of things (Alona to get to heaven, Will and Alona to get together, Alona to stay on earth with Will, Will to find out about his past, etc etc etc) but in Queen of the Dead about the only thing I could root for was particular people’s disappearance.  I did feel more compassion and sympathy for Alona in this book than in the prior and I suppose I could construe some of my feelings as rooting for a certain outcome where she was concerned but I did feel far less invested.

Both books are told in alternating point of view which works really well for them.  We get to not only see into Alona and Will’s minds individually but we also get to see a larger and wider swath of the story and all it’s secondary characters in a much more manageable way.  The voices of each blend in well together and bring realism and emotion to a story that is based on the implausible. It was also helpful in not only providing me a more well-rounded perspective on Will and Alona as individual characters but also their progression and development as a result of their relationship and circumstances.

Characters:
As I mentioned Alona was the typical popular mean girl, maybe even bordering a little on cliched.  She wasn’t afraid to mock, alienate or torture those who were not of what she considered her same social standing.  She’s a girl who (like most her age) has secrets and problems.  She is fighting for control of anything and everything she can because there is so much now that is out of her reach.   She wasn’t completely devoid of humanity and compassion though.  She was shown to have depth over the course of these books through how she interacted with her family and how (in book two) she dealt with her circumstances with and as a result of Will and the changes in their relationship.  While I didn’t quite latch on to her at the outset I have slowly come to like her as my favorite character of the series.

Will is a recluse, sent into himself as a result of his ability to see spirits.  While most believe he is some sort of deviant or perhaps of questionable mental capability he is truly of sound mind.  He just can’t seem to clear it much with all the spirits looking to him for salvation.  He’s not completely friendless, and his loyalty to those he holds close is admirable.  It even makes him charismatic.  His ability isolates him but his endurance of the circumstances his life has handed him makes him quite lovable.  It is his strength that carries the pair through book one.  I was less taken with him over the course of book two, however, as there was a pretty significant and not so subtle shift in his character.  He becomes more self-involved and selfish, less caring of Alona’s feelings and the affects his actions have on those around him.  It makes sense, this shift in his personality, but it wasn’t something that I enjoyed.

Mina showed up in the second book positioned as the mysterious girl who had so much in common with Will.  Set up as the third point in a triangle, the one with whom Will could forge a stronger connection to, she was filled with attitude and for the most part nastiness.  All I can say is that this was a girl who was trying too hard.  Trying too hard to position herself, trying too hard to be the bad girl and just overall trying too hard to be a pain in the ass.  Of course, she was only successful in one of the three.  The latter.  I didn’t find her attractive in the capacity as friend or foe or potential romantic interlude for Will.  She was whiny and unappealing and felt like a total plot point for the story.

There are a host of secondary characters in both books, parents, friends and a variety of foes for Will.  All fit their particular purpose in the story but none stand out far enough to detract the focus from Will and Alona.  In book one Will’s friend’s Joonie and Lily make small appearances as does his mother.  As one would expect, they carry story forward for him and open doors for the future.  In book two there are a variety of Will’s father’s former associates (including Mina and her abusive father) which also carry story forward but none of them were anyone I’d want to continue to see in the future.

Setting:
The setting was typical but well dressed.  Homes, high school, hangouts.  Alona and Will don’t travel much outside of the ordinary.  Well accept occasionally they’ll hang out in locations that are haunted.  But even so these locations aren’t out of the ordinary in a physical sense but rather in the tone and feeling that surround them.  This makes sense as the story is far more plot driven than a story that requires extensive world building.  This isn’t to say that the environment doesn’t have an impact because it does.  Alona can only be present in certain places and Will’s affliction requires that certain senses be kept less acute than others.  They often find themselves tied to their surroundings in different ways that allow for the setting to play an interesting role in the story while not making it it’s own character.  Which, frankly suited me just fine.

Final Thoughts:
I definitely liked the first book better than the second.  It was far more charismatic and held a great deal more tension both from the romantic perspective and the plot.  There was a great mystery and the characters felt far more realistic and enjoyable.  Book two, well, it felt off.  First, it was far more predictable.  I saw the big twist at the end coming a mile away, which was extremely unexpected given the fact that book one did so well to avoid that pitfall.  I’ll also add that the forced triangle between Alona/Will/Mina was a big detractor.  Book one also had the advantage of creating real romantic tension.  The addition of the pseudo-triangle in book two felt incredibly forced and not in a good way.  When well done and well positioned a triangle can create a great feeling of angst.  In Queen of the Dead it was just uncomfortable.  This could be because the character Mina felt forced as well.

I realize all of these things were crafted to set up the third book but man, I was kinda sad it wasn’t executed as well as the first book.  I will say, however, that these issues won’t keep me from reading it.  Sure, the second took a less than appealing turn but in doing so it really did set up the next book well.  I’m so interested to see where things shake out with Will and Alona and how Mina and the other secondary characters of the book factor in to Will’s further progression.  It has a lot of potential; potential I hope rises to the level of book one’s greatness.

(Series Spotlight is a commonly used name for blog features blogs duplication is neither intended nor malicious)