Review - Body & Soul (The Ghost and the Goth #3) by Stacey Kade

Title: Body & Soul

Author: Stacey Kade

Series: 3rd (The Ghost and the Goth, Queen of the Dead)

Pages: 316

Published: May 1st 2012 by Hyperion 

ISBN: 9781423134664

Source: Arranged Tour

Description: Alona Dare has been living as Lily "Ally" Turner for over a month...and it's not been easy. Besides being trapped in a body so not as good as her original one, she's failing miserably at playing the sister and daughter of people she barely knows. Plus, she can't help but think that Will Killian - the boy she hates to care about - somehow wishes the real Lily were back.  She and Will have been trying to find a solution, looking for a two-for-one miracle that would free Alona and keep Lily alive. Visits to local psychics have proven useless, but then they stumble across Malachi the Magnificent, who seems to be different. His office is full of ghosts, for one thing. But Malachi doesn't seem to hear or see them, which is odd. Plus, he bolts the moment he sees Will. To make things even weirder, Misty Evans, Alona's former best friend, is waiting in Malachi's lobby and claiming that she's being haunted. By Alona.  Will's convinced that Malachi has answers, while Alona is all kinds of pissed that someone's impersonating her. But their efforts to uncover the truth will bring them much unwanted attention and put them directly in the path of a ghost who will stop at nothing for another stab at life. Even if it means destroying Alona. 

I Give This ...

I was hoping that being the last in the series, that this installment would tie up all the story threads nicely.  Not an easy task I'm sure.  I've come to care about these characters and I want a happy ending for them. 

I am impressed with the amount of character growth Alona has had throughout this series.  It's really a shame that her death is what caused this.  I actually felt sorry for her this book.  She's not very good at articulating how she really feels.  And Will is very bad at interpreting what she really means.   So, they spend quite a bit of this book arguing and misunderstanding each other.  Which is unfortunate because since the story is told from both points of views, we know how they really feel.  

Alona is trying hard to be someone she's not.  I can't imagine how difficult it would be to impersonate someone whose characteristics are so far from your own.  For once, Alona has no confidence in who she is.  She's uncomfortable in her own skin.  And she's not ungrateful for the chance she's been given.  She knows exactly how lucky she is to be alive.  She just doesn't know how to by the Lily everybody wants her to be.  And she especially hates the fact that she feels like Will wishes it was the real Lily.

Will kind of drove me a little crazy.  He seemed to always take what Alona was saying and twist it around to something else.  He never gave her the chance to just be herself.  He was constantly tell her that it wasn't how Lily would do it.  Well of course it's not, Alona isn't Lilly.  He didn't give her half the chance.  I was happy to see him finally come to that understanding in the end.

The ghost in question in this story was the only downfall.  I think she was toned down a lot.  She's just didn't strike the fear in mean that she should have.  She will stop and nothing to have another chance at life, but yet she doesn't really come across that way.  I actually found the story her life much more interesting.  How it related to Malachi the Magnificent was one of the better parts to her story.

I was happy with the ending.  It was what I was hoping for given the circumstances.  I think it will work out in the long run.  Although, I do admit that I'm curious about the long term ramifications of it.