Body and Soul by Stacey Kade

Title: Body and Soul
Author: Stacey Kade
Publisher: Hyperion
Release Date: May 1, 2012
Pages: 316 pages (hardcover)
How I Got the Book: Bought it.
Purchase/Pre-order: Amazon; Barnes & Noble; Book Depository

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...

Review:

With Alona trapped in Lily's body and no way to safely separate them in sight, the road ahead for Alona and Will at the end of Queen of the Dead could easily turn out smooth or rocky. And since when has anything ever been easy for this two? I had worries about Body and Soul, but Kade dispelled them and I'm not sure whether to applaud at this fantastic conclusion or cry because it's over. Talking about this book is going to be hard because I love it so much, but here goes something!

Easy answers about who they are to each other, what to do about the Lily situation, and where to go from there continue to evade Alona and Will. For both of them, the question remains: now that she is keeping Lily alive, will Alona go to the light, crushing both Lily and her family by doing so, or will she stay? Throughout the book, the question plagues them and I feel their pain. The choice they eventually make isn't easy, but I'm happy with where it leaves them and from the looks of it, they're happy too. Through their fights, their failures, and their screw-ups (sorry, but the Amazon censors won't let me get alliterative there), these two are a duo I can see sticking together for a very long time. I think they may be one of my favorite couples in YA.

In addition to their struggles, we are introduced to twins Erin and Ed. Erin is dead, Ed is not, and she is haunting him. Two characters that originally come off as rather flat fill out as the novel progresses and their reconciliation at the end of the novel made me tear up so much. One girl cut short from living her life, one boy unsure of what to do now that his sister is dead and haunting him, and a whole lot Alona and Will can teach them. It was funny, seeing Alona help Erin reach realizations and then have the same realizations herself.

And speaking of Alona's growth... From book one, Alona has never been a great person. Snobby, a liar both through omission and true-blue lies, and sometimes vicious, she is anything but the girl next door. But she's been slowly growing and changing through the experience of being dead and Will's influence. Seeing her come full circle in Body and Soul as she helps Erin, a girl so much like herself... I can't even describe it. Calling it "fantastic" feels like an insult.

There was very little I didn't like, but there were still issues. I love the cliffhangers each chapter ends on and they keep the novel well-paced, but this time around, it was more frustrating than fun. Just when we approach the juiciest part of the chapter--BAM, new chapter. And most of these chapters are about twenty pages long. This constant cycle of frustration and fulfillment was draining. More than a few times, I lost track of whether it was Alona or Will narrating. None of that impeded my ability to enjoy this book too heavily, but I couldn't ignore it either.

Alona and Will's story may be over, but I'll be revisiting their world and living through their struggles with them all over again for many years to come. There is a very good reason I love this series, and if you're looking for something fun with a surprising amount of heart to it, this is perfect. Just be ready to hold yourself back from yelling at Alona too much. The girl is a work in progress until the very end and beyond--and that's why I love her.

4 stars!

What am I reading next?: Spark by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Queen of the Dead by Stacey Kade

Title: Queen of the Dead
Author: Stacey Kade
Publisher: Disney/Hyperion
Release Date: May 31, 2011
Pages: 266 pages (hardback)
How I Got the Book: Bought it.

The Ghost

Okay, I admit it. I'm not perfect, no matter what you've heard. First off, I'm dead. Second, I got sent back from the Great Beyond. I mean, seriously, who is running things up there? Now I have to spend the summer after my senior year working--and on behalf of a bunch of whiny spirits, no less. But a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do.

It's a good thing Will Killian is still around. Even though he drives me crazy, and he could seriously do with a tan--Hello! It's summer!--I'm glad he's here to help me. Correction: was here to help me. Now he's all distracted by this frizzy-haired girl who can--big deal--communicate with the dead too. Whatever. I don't need Will. But there are some things--like saving my parents from a couple of horrible mistakes--that would be easier with his assistance. Still, I will get what I want... with or without him.

The Goth

I'm still totally amazed that Alona Dare is my spirit guide and that it works. Yes, I've had a crush on her since sixth grade, but I also kind of hated her. And sure, she had to die before she'd talk to me--but I don't know, I kind of like having her around.

Things get confusing when I meet Mina, who's the first ghost-talker I've ever encountered (other than my dad). I always thought Alona and I were doing the right thing helping those other ghosts, but Mina has me thinking otherwise. Plus, she might know some stuff about my dad that even my mom doesn't. But if there's one thing I should have learned by now, it's not to ignore Alona. That's never a good idea.

Review:

She only got sent back from the Great Beyond to Earth, but Alona Dare may as well have gone to Hell. Now she has to spend her summer working and helping out all those other ghosts that want to move on. At least it will be a little better with Will Killian, her friend-but-kinda-maybe-more and a ghost-talker. When another ghost-talker named Mina shows up and occupies Will's attention with information about other ghost-talkers and things he never knew about his dad, Alona isn't happy about her problems being neglected. After an unforgivable act, they both have some hard choices to make.

One of my favorite things about the series is the writing. Alona and Will have their own voices and stories and these are what keep me moving through the books when I feel they get a little slow. I'm just dying to see what else they have to say and see how it will all turn out for them. This time around, they have their own plot lines and lives going on instead of being stuck to each other the entire time and these dual storylines ramped up the pacing. After the disaster that was the last book I read (or attempted to read, since I didn't finish it), Queen of the Dead was exactly what I needed.

I still wanted to kick Alona sometimes for the selfish things she does, but she is strangely likable. She has never pretended to be a good girl and what you see is what you get. She's only (figuratively) human, after all; she makes mistakes, big mistakes, and she's a good, sympathetic, well-developed character. Even when she's at her worst, I can't help cheering her on. Then we have Will, the straight man to Alona who isn't afraid to call her out when she's being selfish or does something stupid. Thank goodness getting the girl didn't cost a great male character his spine. When Will got anxious to learn more about his dad and the Order from Mina, I felt it with him. In general, the book is just as good at characters as it is at the writing.

The expansions Kade made to her fictional world with Mina and the Order of the Guardians was great. The information about them was a little too info-dumpy and messy for my tastes, but Will got to find out what he wanted to know and so did the reader. The whole thing with Lily and her family was... Okay, that got me crying. It did. Not anything too special because I could see it in many movies, but it still brought tears to my eyes. I love it when books get me drying like that.

Kade caught my attention with The Ghost and the Goth and with Queen of the Dead, she's got me hook, line, and sinker. The final book of the trilogy won't be out until June 2012 or so, but I can wait. If it means there will be solid, satisfying resolution to a situation I'm not sure can end happily, I'm willing to wait. (But not if the wait is twelve years or longer like Strange Fate by LJ Smith, which I'm pretty sure is never coming out.)

4 stars!

What am I reading next?: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade

Title: The Ghost and the Goth
Author: Stacey Kade
Publisher: Disney/Hyperion
Release Date: June 29, 2010
Pages: 281 pages (hardback)
How I Got the Book: Bought it at a used bookstore

The Ghost

It's not my fault that I was born with it all--good look, silky blond hair, and a keen sense of what everyone else should not be wearing. My life isn't perfect, though, especially since I died. Run over by a bus of band geeks--could there be a worse fate? As it turns out, yes--I'm starting to disappear, flickering in and out of existence. To top it off, the only person who can see or hear me is Will Killian, TOTAL loser boy, and he refuses to help!

I need to get control of my afterlife, and fast, before I'm dead AND gone for good. If I can get Will to talk to me, I might have a chance. But that means trusting him with my secrets... and I don't trust anyone, living or dead.
The Goth

My mom thinks I'm crazy. My shrink wants to lock me up. Basically, my life sucks. And that was before the homecoming queen started haunting me. Alona Dare was a pain when she was alive; dead, she's even worse.

Yeah, I can see, hear, and touch ghosts. With just a few weeks of school left, all I want to do is graduate and get out of here, find some place with less spiritual interference. But with a dead cheerleader who won't leave me alone, and a violent new ghost who wants me dead... I'm screwed.

Alona and I might be able to help each other... if we can stop hating each other long enough to try.

Yeah, right.

Review:

Alona Dare just died by--of all the ways to go!--being run over by a bus full of band geeks. Instead of moving on to whatever afterlife there is, she's stuck floating around as a ghost in her thin white gym T-shirt and tiny red shorts. The only one who can help her is Will Killian, the weirdo who wears a lot of dark colors (but he will deny it if you try to call him Goth). Will has been able to talk to ghosts since he was young and the last thing he wants is for Alona, yet another ghost, to start bugging him to help her out. They both need help from each other for one reason or another, but they need to learn how to get along before they can get anything done.

I have not had a fun time lately. I'm seriously considering putting away the novel I wrote until the anti-vampire sentiment dies down, another round of bad moods are setting in after a few weeks of good moods, I've read two very bad books within two weeks of one another (but that's one-hundred percent my fault and I accept that, along with the headaches that resulted), and more has been going on that made things not fun. The Ghost and the Goth made everything better for just a little while and made me laugh. This was exactly what I needed right now.

Oh, Alona. She needs a swift kick in the pants sometimes for her attitude, but I love her. Her personality was likable yet flawed and her situation was very sympathetic. My main problem with the book was when Alona's attitude went too far, like when she called her best friend a slut, a word that I hate seeing characters use for any reason, and how she reacted to finding out something about another character. (But imagine my horror when I read it out loud to myself and discovered my voice fit the preppy voice I had in mind for Alona incredibly well.) I love Will too and managed to sympathize with him a little more than Alona. I can't imagine how tough it would be to be able to see ghosts like he could and be considered schizophrenic. Also, his shrink is an ass. That is all.

When I discovered the book was written in both their points of view, my scepticism acted up. In many cases, it doesn't work out when an author tries to write a book in two points of view, especially when the two narrators are of opposite genders. I was worried that would be the case here, but it wasn't! Alona and Will have very distinctive narrative voices. Will even sounds like a guy during his narrative segments instead of a girl! The book flew by like that thanks to the characters' very readable voices. I hardly even realized how much I had read until I stopped! The meat of the story happens over two or three days, but Alona and Will's connection feels real despite happening so quickly.

The Ghost and the Goth isn't trying to be particularly deep, just entertaining. Instead of Alona and Will's struggles with their past selves, present problems, and future plans with boatloads of angst, it's all light-hearted. Breaks from angst are appreciated. I know that next time I'm in an awful mood or need a quick literary pick-me-up, this book will be in mind and in reach. Its sequel The Queen of the Dead is on my list and I hope to read it soon. Need something funny and ghostly? Give this book a try.

4 stars!

What am I reading next?: Ultraviolet by RJ Anderson