QUEEN OF THE DEAD by Stacey Kade

Confession time, I think I may have a bit of a crush on Stacey Kade J  You guys the woman can really write, and she proves just how good she is in Queen of the Dead, the second Ghost and the Goth novel.  (By the way, I can't get enough of Alona and Will!  They're just so…perfectly unperfect together)

Anyway, I think this novel could've gone really awry.  Kade did such a great job in the first novel, that this one (the dreaded sequel) could've come up crap--but it didn't.  She could've just told the same story over again and not moved the story forward.  She could've moved the story forward but in a totally crap direction.  But she didn't do either of these things, and that's why Queen came up daisies imo.

Alona and Will are still together--the ultimate odd couple--trying to help ghosts and whatnot, but now their relationship has blossomed into something more.  And there's kissing.  And Alona admitting that Will's a great kisser.  And Will admitting that he likes kissing Alona.  Can I get a "Heck yeah!" for the kissing??

Things turn sour when they run into Mina--another ghost-talker with frizzy hair and a chip on her shoulder.  Mina's part of an organization of ghost-talkers (or at least she wants to be), who believe in helping the living over the dead, and Will's world is rocked when he discovers his dad might've been one of them.  Alona's un-life is turned upside down when her parents decide to move on without her, and she's not the type of girl, dead or undead, to sit back and take it.  When Will refuses to help, she takes matters into her own hands--and things take a turn neither the ghost or the goth (or this ninja) expected.

There were so many ways this book could've gone wrong, but I really enjoyed the direction Kade took the story.  I'll be waiting to see if she can keep it up in book 3, but I think I'll like it no matter what.  I love the humor in these books and the characters.  There's something about Will and Alona that feels fresh even though it's so commercial.  Kade writes both of them beautifully, and we get a real sense of who they are and why they might (despite their bickering) actually go for each other.  If they ever make a movie, I'll be first in line to see it.

Reasons to read this book: the ghost, the goth, the kissing, the writing, the danger, the laughs…  What more do you need? J

Happy reading,

Ninja Girl

P.S. I got an honorable mention in that contest I entered YAY!!!