Review: Queen of the Dead (The Ghost and the Goth #2) by Stacey Kade

Synopsis (Goodreads):

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.

My Thoughts:  I loved book 1 in this series and I had high hopes for this book.  I'm pleased to say that Alona and Will lived up to the hype in my head.  More than, in fact.  To the point where I'm impatiently tapping my toes for book 3 now.  Who knew that a wise cracking ghost and the outcast boy who can hear her would end up crawling into my head and setting up base camp?

Once again, Alona is the queen of the snarky put downs.  She's a straight talking ghost with an agile mind and the ability to connect the dots quickly.  I like that she's shown some growth since book 1.  A lot of growth, actually.  She's taking her job as Will's spirit guide seriously and she's doing exactly what she told Will she'd do - namely, give him peace from the ever present ghostly voices.  I love that she's beginning to see how her actions have consequences.  She does a very brave thing toward the end of the book not knowing how it would turn out simply because she couldn't allow something bad to happen when she had a chance to fix it.

Frankly, this book puts a whole lot of balls in motion for later happenings.  Alona isn't just the bitchy prom queen anymore and Will has a chance to learn about his ability.  We meet more Ghost Talkers and see how they deal with their abilities.  Alona's changes are the biggest and the most game-changing but Will finally gets a chance to see how people like him are trained.

I love this series.  It's lighthearted and fast paced but it's not empty fluff.  The books are fun.  I can't get enough of them.

Other reviews in this series:
Book 1: The Ghost and the Goth

More books by Stacey Kade

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