A review for Queen of the Dead (The Ghost and the Goth #2) by Stacey Kade

Posted by Donna

Expected Published Date: May 31st, 2011
Finished Date: April 6th, 2011
The Blurb: 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. 


The Review: What a great read. I'm so glad I came across this series!!! Queen of the Dead starts of with Alona who is now Will's spirit guide helping other ghost's cross to over. Along their way, both Alona's and Will's lives get turned up side down. Firstly, Alona's parents seem to be moving on and forgetting about her and secondly, Will meets a mysterious girl who can also see the dead. As Alona starts to become jealous of Will's interest in the other girl, Alona is left to entertain herself, which leads to a life changing mistake. 


After reading The Ghost and the Goth, I was excited to start this book and I must say, it was a much more enjoyable read. I even liked it more because of the killer cliffhanger, even though it took me a few hours to get over the ending....I really didn't see it coming! and I need to know more!  Anyway, I really liked how new characters were introduced and how we finally got to see apart of Will's fathers life and what he was really up to. The story was full of loveable characters and all the the secondary characters, like Alona's parents were a great addition.


Will and Alona were great again too - I love their banter and I'm glad we got to see them actually enjoying being with each other. The only thing that I was a little disappointed with was their romance. In the first book I enjoyed that the story wasn't to focused on it but, I really thought with it now being book 2, it would of progressed a bit more. At times there was nothing and then at the end of the story your left with a little hope again. I really do hope we get to see more of their romance in next book. 


Overall, I would recommend this book, its a fun loving book and I for one will be sitting on the edge of my seat until the release of the next book.  Thank you NetGalley & Disney-Hyperion for giving my the opportunity to review this book. 

A review for The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade

Posted by Donna

Published Date: June 29th, 2010
Finished Date: April 6th, 2011
The Blurb: Alona Dare was the most popular girl in her high school class, or at least she was until she was run over by a school bus. Returning to the scene of her death as a ghost, she anticipates overwhelming grief at her untimely death. To her surprise, her classmates quickly move on. Not only that, but weird outcast Will Killian can see and hear her. Alona, used to getting her own way, haunts Will until he agrees to help her figure out how to progress from ghosthood to the big white light that she keeps expecting. Will has problems of his own; namely that every ghost in Groundsboro High, including a seething black mass of energy, now knows that he can see them, and they all want him to carry out their last wishes. Will and Alona have to work together to get the ghosts to stop tormenting Will, and to figure out exactly what Alona has to do in order to move on from this world. Their new relationship is full of surprises as they each experience a side of the other that neither expected.


The Review: I'll be honest when I say I had never heard of this book before I spotted the second book up for review on NetGalley. So when I got approved for book 2, of course I had to get this one. The Ghost and the Goth is by author Stacey Kade and I was actually quiet surprised to find that I did enjoy this book. 

The story starts with Alona Dare, who has recently died by being run over by a school bus. Alona is trying to figure out why she is walking the world as a ghost and decides to go see her former friends who she has found have moved on pretty quickly after her death. While walking through school, she's alone and upset but she soon realises that there is one person who can see her and that's outcast Will Killian - a goth with medical problems....or that's how it seems. Can Will really see Alona? or is he crazy like everyone thinks? 

I rated this book 3 stars because although I liked the story, it was a pretty basic book, nothing to confusing and even though I believe its wrote for a younger audience, I still found myself enjoying the story. What's not to like, funny characters, a good story line and romance that slowly grows. Alona and Will for me, were great main characters. Even though they are completely different, the one thing that brings them together is Will being a Sear and Alona being dead. And because of that, they connect and become the friends they never would of been at school. I'm glad that this book didn't really focus to much on the romance, you can see it starting to develop but the book itself wasn't to focused on that. I found that I enjoyed this story more because we got to read about other things rather than the main character pining over each other. One thing I loved, was the humour. Both Will and Alona have some funny lines in this story and one I will hope to see in the next book too. 

Overall, I would recommend this book over the summer. Its fun, light and loveable, a great teen read.