Queen of the Dead by Stacey Kade

 

Book Summery (via Amazon.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.

Book Review:
I really enjoyed Kade's first book, The Ghost and the Goth. So I couldn't wait to get my hands on Queen of the Dead. While I enjoyed the majority of this second installment, I didn't quite enjoy it as much as its predecessor. First of all, I found the pacing in the beginning a bit slow, speeding up more as the story went along. I cherished Alona's character. I sympathized with her as she despaired over her parents and how the seemingly began to move on with their lives, and stopped grieving over her. Will was a bit more difficult to identify with this time around. He seemed distracted and engaged more into finding out about Mina. I felt like it took some time for him to come around to the character I fell in love with in the first book. Mina...well, let's just say I didn't care for her character very much. I was interested in her connection to Will, but I felt that at times, she was downright selfish and surly. It will be interesting to see if she pops up in future books. Overall,Queen of the Dead was enjoyable. However, I did have a few issues with the characters. There were some interesting plot twists that kept me hooked, especially towards the middle and ending of the story. I am looking forward to the next chapter of Will and Alona's journey. For more info, check out Kade's website.

Cover Art Commentary:
I think this is an improvement from the first cover. Still, it would not have been a book that I picked up solely based on the cover. :P

Overall Rating: