Review: Queen of the Dead by Stacey Kade

Title: Queen of the Dead

Author: Stacey Kade

Release Date: May 31st, 2011

Publisher: Hyperion Teen

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 288

Source: Won ARC at TBF ‘11 (also ebook from publisher via Netgalley)

Series: The Ghost and the Goth #2

Other Titles in the Series: The Ghost and the Goth (#1)

Summary (goodreads.com): 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.

Packed with romance, lovable characters, and a killer cliffhanger, Queen of the Dead is the out-of-this-world sequel to The Ghost and the Goth.

My Review:

Alona and Will were working well together in more ways than one, then Will meets a fellow ghost talker, one thing or another leads Alona to do something stupid and BAM you’ve got a hell of a twist that makes Queen of the Dead a great book! This sequel to The Ghost and the Goth is still from the alternating perspectives of Alona (the ghost) and Will (the goth who isn’t really goth so much as a quiet kid who’s trying to find his place in a world where he sees and hears ghosts). I really liked that Will met some fellow Ghost talkers but I’m actually on Alona’s side of things. I understand why she does that big stupid thing (that I will say no more about for the fear of spoiling it) even if it was, well, stupid. All I can say is that I can’t wait for the next book. I wanna see how Alona’s gonna get out of trouble this time! I also found myself feeling bad for Alona more so in this book than in the first book because Alona is starting to cope with how her family is coping with her death; which by the way isn’t going well. Alona’s coping, I mean. Will is trying to help her but he’s got things of his own he’s coping with! Overall, I really liked this book and I recommend it to everyone who read the first book (which should be everyone).