Cover Image: Queen Among the Dead

Queen Among the Dead

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Member Reviews

"Queen Among the Dead" by Lesley Livingston is a gripping and haunting tale that seamlessly blends history, fantasy, and mythology. Set against the backdrop of ancient Rome, the novel follows the journey of its fierce protagonist as she navigates the treacherous realms of the living and the dead. Livingston's vivid storytelling and rich world-building transport readers to a time of gladiators, gods, and dark magic. With its compelling characters and intricate plot twists, "Queen Among the Dead" is a captivating read that will leave you spellbound until the very last page. A must-read for fans of historical fantasy and epic adventures.

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Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for my honest review.

I love the idea of a book with a Celtic retelling. There aren't nearly enough of those out there. This one did not disappoint.

I really enjoyed this book. It was very atmospheric and fun. There were times that felt a little slow due to some info dumping, but it definitely picked up.

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Queen Among the Dead by Lesley Livingston intrigued me with its description of Celtic mythology. Unfortunately, the story did not hold up for me, and I found myself quite confused with the mythology itself many times throughout my read. On the other hand, it was a quick enough read to be done and over with it swiftly.

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2.5 stars rounded down for Goodreads

I fully expected to enjoy this book. I love mythology - from any culture - so the Celtic mythology basis of this story should have been solid for me. It's very clear that the author is very into Celtic mythology on the whole and has done their research, but it wasn't enough to save the novel for me. The world-building here was very forced and entirely in paragraph form delivered en bloc rather than shown through the story or dialogue. Further, the plot progression wasn't very compelling. By the end of the book, I still didn't know what the characters were hoping to achieve.

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

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I personally enjoyed the celtic mythology infused into the story, but it may be confusing for readers who are not already versed in mythology. I ended up buying this book for my library collection and recommend it to readers of YA Romantasy.

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I was really excited to read this, as I thought the general premise and vibes sounded great. Unfortunately, it was just wasn’t for me! The plot didn’t grip me, and the characters didn’t have anything loveable or unique about them, in my opinion. There was a lot of world building, but it felt a bit info-dumpy and was sometimes hard to understand or get into.

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It felt like there was a lot of explaining and not enough doing.
I found some chapters to drag on and about half way I was losing interest.
I don't think it's terrible, I just think some of the filler could have been left out.

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I wanted to love this because I'm always after more books that focus on Celtic mythology, but it was just ok. It wasn't terrible, it just wasn't anything groundbreaking. The pacing was a little stop and start, the world building was fairly standard and the plot wasn't particularly memorable. I finished reading it about a week ago and honestly already don't remember a great deal about it. I enjoyed it enough that I finished it and was entertained enough that I binge read it in a day, but not enough that I want to buy a physical copy (I read an ebook) and have it on my shelves. It was a fast, fun enough read, I think I would have loved it more had I read it as a teenager though I will say that. So kind of a mixed review I guess. I would have loved to have seen more character development and the pacing needed to be more consistent.

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Lesley Livingston writes a good fantasy tale with this novel. The characters are interesting if not fully fleshed out and the plot is not easy to figure out. There are a few tropes going on here but none really takes precedence.

Overall a three star read for me. This is really intended for an adolescent/YA audience. My thanks to Zando Projects and the author via Netgalley. All opinions are my own and offered freely.

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It took me awhile to get into this book, I originally received it as an ARC from Netgalley and I struggled on my first go. I gave it another try and really enjoyed this Celtic fantasy! I really like stories where the characters have to hide their magic! Pacing was a bit slow, but overall I enjoyed this.

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I really loved the worldbuilding and and where the story is leading I just did not love the writing style as much as I thought I would. I love this type of stories but in a way this book did not feel for me. I might have to pick it up at some other time and see then how I feel about it.

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This was a good time. It was great seeing something different in YA fantasy, I loved the Irish inspiration and mythology. The romance was alright, not my favorite part as I feel like they kind of loved each other way quicker than they should have but it was still very sweet and It isn't like I hated that. The magic was also really cool!

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I just loved this book so much! Everything was so amazing : the world building, the characters, the main story as well as the "side" stories. Really a big YES for me and I truly hope there will be a sequel to this book as I feel like I can't get enough of this story!!

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This was a fun read and packed with action. I loved the Celtic folklore in this. I've always been interested in that and seeing it come to life was really fascinating. The story did have a few parts that felt a bit off and I had to reread to get the gist but over I did like the story.

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one of my favorite tropes is found family- this has loads of it! i also loved the feel of the book and it was easy to immerse myself in the celtic lore thanks to livingston's prose!

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I enjoyed this story, but I think it lacked in the pacing department a bit. It stars of amazing and strong and fast, but then it slowes too much for my liking.

All in all it was a fun read.

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If you ask me about my favorite places that I have ever been, Ireland often tops the list. Sure, there are others, but you can thank Darkfever for introducing me to Fae Dublin.

Less so lately, but I've read a lot of YA fantasy in my day. I don't remember seeing any that are Celtic inspired. Between that and the beautiful cover, I had to request.

For those that love the genre, I'm sure this will be a win. I personally think I've outgrown it, but I did enjoy the bits of worldbuilding. This isn't super romance heavy, which is very nice in a sea of romantasy.

I liked Neve and Ronan's characters equally. Sometimes when we have dual characters, one tends to shine. I think the magic system was explained quite well. I wasn't expecting the twists and turns, although I admit they added to a nice conclusion of the story.

If this genre is your safe space, I'd say give this a try. It's not exactly the norm, but it feels very familiar. Does that even make sense?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

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3.75/5

content warning: potential suicide, economic-societal disparity, death of a loved one, parental death, political secrets and betrayal...

> Celtic Mythology... (YES! I always need more)
> Inspired by the legend of the first true Queen of Ireland...
> Princess-turned-Dagda-turned-King and a badass Warrior...

These three points alone, I was hooked. And, while I did greatly enjoy Queen Among the Dead, it didn't wow me as much as I had hoped and wanted it to.

The world-building, though dense at times, was beautifully done. I could see in my mind's eye what Livingston was describing to us. It was atmospheric and really set the tone for the story overall.

At the centre is Princess Neve, the second daughter of the King and Dagda of Eire (Ireland). Strong-willed and stubborn, wanting to learn how to use weapons and fight/battle strategies over the how-tos of court politics, Neve is always getting into some kind of trouble, much to the chagrin of her father, the King/Dagda. Her father on the other hand, with his trusted Druid counsel, has outlawed magic and has been hoarding it for themselves in the creation of a temple of sorts.

On the other side of the tracks, we have Ronan. Not of royalty, or any aristocracy, Ronan is an ex-druid's apprentice-turned-thief, who typically steals small spells/spell scrolls, either for himself or for someone who pays him greatly. Though he is not of royal blood, he and Neve are connected and have been since the first time they met, when they were children.

There were a couple of twists in the side stories that I saw coming and some that took me by surprise. In a good way. With all the secrets and betrayals that come out, at times, I was invested in knowing the outcome, and other times, not so much.

The reasons I didn't give Queen Among the Dead a full five stars...
1 - With how dense the world-building is, the beauty and atmosphere weren't enough for how fast the story came to an end. I feel that it could have definitely been flushed out more.
2 - I don't mind instalove, enemies-to-lovers, or even situational love tropes. And Neve and Ronan went through all these tropes and back again. But, I felt that their relationship was far too forced for my liking.
3 - The titular person, Queen Among the Dead, wasn't who I thought it was going to be. (I was okay with who it was though.)

Overall, I would still recommend Queen Among the Dead as a good fantasy to read. Especially if you like fantasies that are inspired by/based on Celtic Mythology, Folklore, and Legends.

I would like to thank Netgalley, Zando Young Readers, and of course Lesley Livingston, for the opportunity to read Queen Among the Dead for an honest review. My thoughts, feelings, and opinions, are my own.

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I was very interested in this book it sounded really different and unique! But after reading it I realized it wasn’t my cup of tea. I really struggled with the characters and world building. I was confused on every page.

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Queen Among the Dead is a Celtic YA fantasy adventure set in the ancient kingdom of Eire, inspired by the legend of the first true queen of Ireland. The story follows Neve, the youngest daughter of the king, and Ronan, a Druid’s apprentice-turned-thief, who become uneasy allies when Eire is threatened by a power struggle.

Despite dfn-ing the book around the 60% mark, there’s a lot that I liked about this book. I really like Neve and Una’s characters, who were not only strong but passionate about their people and kingdom in their own way, and their sisterly bond. On a side note, I would’ve actually loved it if Una had been the protagonist since I preferred her over Neve, who was a bit too similar to other princesses in YA fantasy who want freedom, to fight, and hate dresses. Nevertheless, they were both solid characters with interesting personalities, which made it fun to follow them.

I also really liked the writing. The author has a beautiful way with words, and they often managed to immerse me in a scene. However, unfortunately, more often than not, the writing led to chunks of description and info-dumping. Which is unfortunate as the world the author painted was fascinating and the scenes interesting, but they were buried by words.

Another shortcoming that stuck out for me was the pacing/plotting. The pacing of at least the first half of the book is really slow, and I didn’t really have an idea where the story was going. The characters didn’t have clear goals, and even if the writing and events are fun, they seem unimportant and confusing when we don’t know why they're happening.

Nonetheless, while the execution fell short and there was quite a bit of info-dumping, there were aspects that I enjoyed and would be interested in giving the author’s other books a go.

[Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review]

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