{Review} Queen of the Dead, The Ghost and The Goth book 2 - Stacey Kade

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.

Title : Queen of the Dead {The Ghost and the Goth, book 2}

Author : Stacey Kade

Publication : 31st May 2011

Publisher : Hyperion 

288 pages

This review may be spoilery for the first book. This book is the second of a trilogy.

My review

I loved The Ghost and the Goth, it was a refreshing, funny and entertaining read. I had huge expectations for this sequel and I was not disappointed at all. Queen of the Dead is a brilliant sequel, full of surprises and riddles. I think this one is even better than the first.

Chapters are still alternated between Alona and Will. It's really nice to have the two points of view because it enables us to have a broader view of the situation. Moreover, this shift breaks the monotony and enables Stacey Kade to always keep the reader's attention, as we always want to know what is going to happen to the other. Will and Alona are great characters because they seem real. They are as everyone, they try, they succeed and sometimes they fail. I really loved them both. It was great to see them together, they share an awesome chemistry, even if I would have appreciated that they spend more time together.

Will is really cute and he gives us a reasonable and sensible position. As to Alona, she's still sometimes a bit selfish and self-centered, but she is growing up and becoming more mature. She may seem shallow but her past explains everything. She didn't get on my nerves as it's often the case with egoistic characters. On the contrary, I wanted to comfort and protect her. In fact, she's got flaws as everyone may have and that's touching. Because, hey it's true she makes mistakes but she tries to do her best to correct them.

It's a bit less funny than The Ghost and the Goth, the tone is perhaps more mature and serious but the story is utterly compelling. I was hooked and couldn't put it down. I read it in only one evening because I so wanted to know what would happen next. I loved Stacey Kade's writing. It's smooth, compelling and delightful. It was really a pleasure to read this novel and, even if I laughed less, Queen of the Dead was still entertaining, especially because it was more intense than the first.

As we approach the conclusion, the plot takes an unexpected direction, really I didn't expect something like that, at all and I never saw it coming. It was a huge surprise for me. At first, I was a bit afraid but in fact Stacey Kade wrote this astonishing twist in a beautiful way. After a few pages, everything makes sense and it was very touching. The book ends on a small cliffhanger and I'm really really curious to see how the trilogy will end in the next installment.

To sum up, I really loved Queen of the Dead and it was an amazing read. It's packed with punches, twists, funny instants, romance and mysteries. Now, I don't know how I will be able to wait about a year for the sequel, I really can't wait and I'm curious to know how everything will end. I'm really looking forward to reading the next book and seeing Alona and Will again.