Queen of the Dead by Stacey Kade

A description of the book from Stacey Kade's website:

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 signs her name 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.

It did not take me long to finish this book. From the minute I finished reading The Ghost and The Goth I couldn't wait for the next installment. Will and Alona are two of my favorite characters and I couldn't wait to see what was in store for them next. Queen of the Dead did not disappoint. The only thing I did not like is that it ended. I'm so used to reading YA books that are well over 300 pages and this one didn't even break 300 and it left me wanting more. So much more. The thing that I loved about the first book was the interactions with Will and Alona and in this book while they were still my favorite parts there was less.

Though, as much as I wanted the interactions, this book was more about them as individuals then it was their relationship. Both Will and Alona go through a self-discovery in this book. Will finally learns tidbits of information about his father and begins to piece the puzzle together. Alona has to come to terms with the fact that her family is moving on which with Alona you know that is not going to be easy and because of that she gets herself stuck in a situation, literally.

*SPOILER ALERT* Don't read any further if you have not read the book yet. I warned you. I was iffy about the ending as it neared. I didn't like the fact that Alona was in another body. I didn't know if Will would be able to look at her the same and still feel the way he did about her when she didn't appear to be the same person. But it ended and what Stacey Kade did made it perfect. Will didn't care about what she looked like. All he cared about was the fact that even if she was Ally she was Alona on the inside. Everything he observed of her physically were the things that made her Alona. It's going to be interesting to see how Alona/Ally handles having a body that is nothing like the perfect tanned and toned body she was used to.

*SPOILER ALERT END*

Considering I read the Ghost and The Goth a year ago I did get confused from time to time when the story referenced back. It took me a minute for it all to come back to me. With that said, this book starts basically where the last one left off and while Stacey Kade did explain the backstory at times, I would still recommend if you don't remember much from the first book to either go back and read it before picking this book up or at least skim through it and refresh your memory.

Overall a great follow up and I look forward to the next installment. I'll be impatiently waiting.

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