Queen of the Dead

Author: Stacy Kade

Series: The Ghost and the Goth # 2

Genres: Paranormal, Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance

Publisher: Hyperion

Released: 31 May 2011

Summary: courtesy of 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.

For Fans Of: The Ghost and the Goth, Hereafter, and Haunting Violet

My Review:  Let me start by saying that I was a pretty massive fan of The Ghost and the Goth and I totally wasn’t planning on it. So I had some pretty high expectations for Queen of the Dead and they were met…sort of.  Queen of the Dead still has the same Alona and Will that were in The Ghost and the Goth, but we’re also introduced to some new characters and get a chance to find out some more about Will’s dad which I was excited about.  However, Queen of the Dead falls into the same trap that most “filler” novels in a trilogy do, it becomes one of those books where you could read the first few chapters and the last few chapters and be set to go for the third one.

Although Alona and Will’s relationship is definitely developing this one they begin to have some trust issues, which is actually one of the things I really enjoyed.  Alona and Will are in high school (well, barely out of, but still)  and of course they’re going to start having some trust issues, and it was really fun and interesting to see Kade handle those.  But, where I could sympathize with Alona in The Ghost and the Goth, some of the choices that she makes in this one were so selfish that I lost some respect for her as a character.

Though Alona’s choices are what make a third novel possible, so for that I am grateful, but it was definitely something that I wasn’t expecting.  So here is my advice: At times this book is going to seem really tedious and you’re probably going to want to punch Alona Dare in the face, but keep going because the third one?  Well, I think it’s gonna be great.  Also: Shout out to the cover models! They capture Will and Alona perfectly (in my opinion)