The Ghost of You and Me – Kelly Oram | BOOK REVIEW

Title: The Ghost of You and Me  
Author: Kelly Oram  
Publications: June 20th 2017 

Synopsis

How do you tell someone who hates you and blames you for the death of his best friend that you miss him? 

From the bestselling teen and young adult author of Cinder & Ella comes a new heart-wrenching romance sure to bring all the feels. 

The tragic death of Spencer Schott unravels the lives of the two people he loved most—his girlfriend, Bailey, and his best friend, Wes. Secrets and guilt from that fateful night keep both Bailey and Wes from overcoming Spencer’s loss and moving on with their lives. 

Now, nearly a year later, both Bailey and Wes are still so broken over what happened that Spencer can’t find peace in the afterlife. In order to put his soul to rest, he’s given one chance to come back and set things right…even if that means setting up his girlfriend with his best friend. 

With the emotional resonance of Jellicoe Road and the magical realism of The Lovely Bones, The Ghost of You and Me is a story about overcoming grief, finding redemption for past mistakes, and the healing power of friendship and love. Fans of John Green, Sarah Dessen, and Nicholas Sparks are sure to love this haunting new tale from Kelly Oram. 

This is a clean young adult romance stand alone novel that reads like contemporary drama romance and has just a touch of magical realism.

This book caught my attention right away after I read the synopsis. I’ve enjoyed a few other Kelly Oram books in the past (The Avery Shaw Experiment is my favourite!), so I know that this is going to be good. I was right. 

As you can guess from the synopsis, it’s a story of grieving and healing. It’s really easy to feel sorry for Bailey. She lost her boyfriend, who she loved very, very much. The story follows her journey of healing and moving on – with the help of her dead boyfriend. 

The story shows how Spencer’s death affected Bailey’s relationship with everyone around her, including her friends and family.  Throughout the book, I got to see how Bailey learned a lot about the people around her through this one horrible tragedy in her life – who’s there for her and who’s not. 

Start from the first page of the book, you will be presented with Bailey and Spencer’s love story. It’s a story about first love – the innocence of it all was ever present in the pages. 

Losing Spencer hurt Bailey so much, especially the guilt. There was a part of her that couldn’t forgive herself for that night. She blamed herself for his death and didn’t know how to get out of it. 

“You have a long life ahead of you. Please don’t spend it sad and alone and pining after me.” His smile falls crooked. “It’ll make me feel really guilty when I start dating all those hot angel babes in heaven”

– Spencer

I love Spencer! He is just a really happy guy, even in the afterlife. He still wants to be there for Bailey even in his death. SWEET. The qualities you see in Spencer will make you see why Bailey loved him so much. This guy is a just a ball of sunshine. 

When Spencer was given the chance to help Bailey, he took it and helped her. It was bittersweet to read how much Spencer try to convinced Bailey to move on. That it was ok for her to be happy.

“His voice is so soft, so full of compassion that even the Wicked Witch of the West would fall for him right now”

– Bailey on Wes 

And then we have Wes. He is that guy in young adult fiction who is easy to be misunderstood. He has the tendency to be the bad boy who breaks girls’ hearts. 

In term of Bailey and Wes’ relationship, it focuses on the two fixing it. Communication is a massive factor in this relationship. Throughout the story, these two always hid their feelings and things they really want to say (and they should). Also compared to Bailey and Spencer’s innocent, sweet relationship, theirs is more sexy and fiery. 

In a lighter note, I love every scene where they spend their time together. The two are comfortable with each other and they are almost normal whenever they are together. Although their guilt about Spence’s death always came and brought them back to square one. 

I have to say that I like the pace that Kelly took in writing their relationship. It feels appropriate – not too fast or too slow. The two obviously needed time to deal with their guilt and other feelings they have. 

In school, Bailey is part of the popular kids’ group. However, spoiler alert, they are not exactly good friends – jealousy is ugly. I’m so glad when the new girl, Charlotte, came in and became Bailey’s friend. She made Bailey happy again and always there for B. Charlotte is also not afraid to push Bailey out of her new anti-social tendencies. I wouldn’t mind having a Charlotte by my side. Also, Bailey started to hang out with the orchestra kids and they were clearly the better friends compared to her old group. 

Spencer’s death not only affected Bailey’s relationship with her peers but also her family. Her sister and mother are awesome! They were very understanding and supportive of Bailey. Also, trust me, her mum is the coolest fictional mother ever. 

The moment where Bailey realized that her family was also hurting was beautiful to me. There was no unnecessary drama, it was more because of how she came to her family and tackled the issue right away. 

If I have to point out a part of the book that really annoys me is when her “friends” complain about Bailey moping around. I think she’s just holding up the way many teenagers would. People deal with grief differently and I guess this is how she deals with it. 

At the end of the day, it’s a story about hope. You will be hit with so many feels. Bailey and Wes’ feelings are very present in the story and they are very raw. It’s messy and complicated but Kelly Oram makes it all ok.

I love the balance. As I mentioned above, we got to see Bailey’s relationships with her peers and family. We also got to read about the accident from Bailey, Wes, and Spencer’s POV. Kelly Oram did a good job in making The Ghost of You and Me very engaging. 

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