Queen of the Dead by Stacey Kade
Hardcover, 272 Pages
2011, Hyperion Book CH
ISBN: 1423134672
Series: book 2 of Ghost and the Goth
Synopsis
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.
Review
Queen of the Dead focuses less on the relationship between Will and Alona and more on how their families effect them. As Alona freaks out about her family moving on from mourning her, she takes drastic measures to get back into their minds. Alona's on her own to make terribly bad decisions because Will is wrapped up in the mystery of his dead father's abilities. I expected more romance between Will and Alona based on the ending of The Ghost and the Goth, and while there was some, Queen of the Dead takes the story in an entirely unexpected direction that will change the future for both of them.
Alona's mom is cleaning out her room and her dad is having a brand new daughter. Alona reacts poorly, as expected, but without Will's guidance she takes things beyond what we would ever imagine. It seems as though Alona hasn't learned much from her ghostly experience so far. She's back to emotional square one. I would have liked her to have grown from her experiences in some way, but her mindset was necessary to get her where she ends up in Queen of the Dead. It's a great twist and I can't wait to see the repercussions.
Will starts out just as clueless about his father and their shared ability as when we last saw him. He meets Mina, who seems to share some of that ability and he obviously needs to know more. Mina is brash and unlikeable, but she's not the point here. Mina's connections and where she leads Will are. Will doesn't get all, or even most, of the answers he seeks in Queen of the Dead, but he learns enough to keep the reader fully entertained and the dangling of future knowledge will create a desperate need for the next novel in this series.
As self-obsessed as Alona remains to be, I find myself liking her more and more. She brings an element of surprise to the books because you never know what she'll do next. Queen of the Dead is quite satisfying and sets up a world of possibilities for Will and Alona's futures.
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