Review: Queen of the Dead

Queen of the Dead by Stacey Kade

publisher: Hyperion Books CH

release date: May 31, 2011

hardcover, 288 pages

intended audience: Young adult

sequel to: Ghost and the Goth (my review)

rating:



source: from publisher for honest review

Warning: description and review may contain slight spoilers for those who haven't read book one!

description: 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.

Review: I love this series. Truly, I am hoping for way more than three books to it because I absolutely love these characters and Stacey Kade's writing. So very rarely do I find a book that is so fun and humorous and energetic, but still has the surprising emotional depth to make me cry. No kidding, there was part in this that I literally cried! Another thing you will hardly every hear me say is this: I loved the second book even more than the first. And yet, that is absolutely true here!
Will and Alona are just so entertaining together and their relationship is sweet with this wicked little bite to it. They are such opposites and are almost constantly bickering, but not in a hateful way. Will is this kind-hearted guy with a streak of dark intensity built up from seeing ghosts his whole life; Alona is just the same as she was in life---spoiled and always ready with the painful truth for anyone who is less than perfectly fashionable. In this book, we get to see them change a lot (especially Alona!!) as they are faced with some really personal dilemmas---Will with his father's past, Alona with her family and dealing with them moving on. Will's friend, Lily, (who those who read book one will remember is in a persistent coma from a car crash) plays a major part in this one---and it's the events that happen between Alona and Lily that have me absolutely dying to get my hands on book three!! I'm also dying to see what the cover to book three will look like---read this one and you'll know why!! There is bound to be some very significant changes. :) I can't wait! I will miss Will and Alona until then---I love the way Queen of the Dead ended. Just perfect. It claims to be a "killer cliffhanger" but I didn't find it that way...even though you know there is more, it was still came a satisfying close. There's just a lot of really good themes in this one---letting go, not letting go, self-sacrifice for someone you care about, hoping, family, love and it's unpredictablity...it's all there. Don't miss this one!

Visit Stacey Kade's website here.

Purchase Queen of the Dead: Amazon • BN.com • BookDepository • Indiebound