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]

Queen Among the Dead by Lesley Livingston - 4/5
Romance - Sci Fi & Fantasy - Teen & YA

In the kingdom of Erie, magic is outlawed by the King but when Erie starts to decline the Kingdom must act fast. This book gave me strong Disney's Brave vibes and I was all for it! The characters were it for me. I loved them from beginning to end, rooting for them at every chance. The magic works and the monsters were intriguing, keeping you waiting to see what would happen next when they encountered each other.

Thank you NetGalley and Zando Projects for the eARC.

I wanted to love this book. The story is epic and action packed. I loved the mythology and actually learned a lot (the story was compelling enough to send me googling trying to find out where the mythology ended and the story began) but I just couldn't get behind the writing style. Things that felt like they should be big events were glossed over in sentences and I felt little to no emotion or development from the characters.

The story was unique though and I've not read another YA fantasy with this kind of Irish lore. I'll recommend the book but with reservations.

omg this book was ... well... MAGICAL!!

the politics, the worldbuilding, the magic. I loved almost every aspect of this book. I'll definitely be purchasing a copy.

4.5/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

Queen Among the Dead was addictive, intriguing, and head over heels swoon-worthy—a true uncontrollable page turner. I never fell so hard for a book boyfriend the way I did for Ronan. This is such a grumpy-sunshine romance with a witty princess and a morally grey Druid and I loved every single sentence in this book.

Forbidden magic, a tragic meet-cute, terrifying creatures and narrow escapes from death, Queen of the Damned is an absolutely delightful whirlwind of adventure and slow-burn romance.

It tells the tale of a princess who is more powerful than she knows. It was an epic fantastical adventure and I wish I could erase it from my memory so that I can experience the greatness of this book all over again.

I have always been up for a Celtic Mythology storyline and I do think Lesley Livingston had a great idea with this story! I enjoyed the characters and. I appreciated the complexity of the world that she created. I also appreciated that the storyline kept me intrigued, however the pacing of Queen Among the Dead felt very inconsistent at times. The beginning and end felt especially rushed and I think I would have enjoyed it more if the ending especially was given more time to shine.

I really wanted to love this one. Celtic Mythology is so fascinating and I really don’t get to read about it as much as I’d like to. Unfortunately, this book fell quite flat for me.

I spent most of the book confused about what the actual plot was. I couldn’t tell what the endgame was really and it read like a series of events, not a story.

I did love the world itself as well as the references to mythology but found the story to be muddled.

I’m not sure if I’d read a sequel or if I’d read more from this author.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I have tried and tried and tried to finish reading this but I just cannot.
It’s clunky and I keep getting bored with the lack of anything really happening. The characters were flat and just didn’t interest me.

The world building was decent and I was excited to read this because it does sound wonderful but it’s just not for me.

Thank you Netgalley.

Unfortunately, I didn't like this book. I felt bored reading it and am surprised I even finished it.

I may try picking it up again at a later date.

⚔️ Main character with little agency
⚔️ Love interest that had the same amount of personality as a video game npc
⚔️ Interesting worldbuilding, but needed a little more

Queen Among the Dead is a historical fantasy inspired by Celtic history and mythology. It sounds intriguing but ultimately ended up bland and lacking the feminist messages it promises.

The worldbuilding is the only part that I somewhat enjoyed. Queen Among the Dead focuses on how stories change over time and how women are represented in history, which sounds interesting, but it needs to go deeper. I got surface-level commentary, and I needed to be able to sink my teeth into more.

I wanted the religion fleshed out as well. The book overly relied on the "I just had a feeling" or "something was telling me" or "A god chose me for SOME reason..." and never truly gave me a picture of the gods or their role in the world. It felt like plot convenience because it was so under-explained.

Our main character is Neve, and she's...so frustrating. Neve tricks you into thinking she has agency by being an active main character with a strong personality who can fight. But she just gets dragged from place to place, and the only choices she ever truly makes are the ones where she chooses to leave the palace. Inevitably, she gets caught up in something, is forced to go back, or happens to stumble on the exact answers she needs. I can't think of very many times she moved the story forward.

We're supposed to believe she's some great leader, but she never grows into that label or shows any leader-like qualities. This is frustrating because she sees these qualities in other people. She points out side characters with fantastic leadership skills, which was the perfect opportunity for her to try to emulate as part of her arc. Yet, she does nothing but continue to be bull-headed and stumble into situations that resolve themselves for her.

The dual POV and LI is Ronan, and he has as much personality as a wet paper bag. What are his goals? What are his dreams? What are his opinions on the monarchy? What does he think about the gods? What is his ten-year plan? I have no idea, and neither does he.

This made his romance with Neve...nothing. Absolutely nothing. About halfway through, Neve says she's wanted to kiss him since they first met, but she didn't do us the honour of relaying that information. It was so out of left field and awkward, especially as they've both explicitly said they don't like or trust each other.

BUT WAIT. There's more. There's another man who Neve has a genuine connection with, is an excellent character, has many qualities that she's attracted to, and he explicitly likes her. He's set up as the other LI, because, of course, there's a love triangle, and I don't understand why she keeps going to Ronan. She tells and shows us that this other man is significantly better, and she even likes and trusts him more, and yet...why Ronan. Why. The series has more books, but I can't be dragged out only to watch her settle for the blandest man ever.

As a final note, Queen Among the Dead is set up to be very feminist, but, honestly, I wouldn't say I like the kind of feminism it went for. It's the kind where she chooses to abandon any feminine labels to rise to power. For example, she explicitly says not to call her Queen and instead call her the King....but they already have a gender-neutral label for the ruler? Dagda.

The first Dagda was originally going to be a woman, Neve's ancestor, and then she was betrayed. So Neve taking back this title and becoming Dagda would have been more powerful to me than shunning any feminine labels to be seen as valuable in society. She had other options.<--- I know this is entirely my preference. I'm sure this speaks to some people, just not me.

Look, I wouldn't say I liked this book. Clearly. However, would I recommend it to someone looking for books that have a historical focus? Sure. There aren't many Celtic-inspired SFF novels, so maybe you should read it.

But also, don't.

I can see why the book blurb mentions Tricia Levenseller, the writing is similar, and the pacing is quick though the book feels almost superficial in a way. The worldbuilding is one of the best parts of the book, it can be heavy and descriptive at times, but it immersed me entirely in the world. I'd recommend it to teen readers who are fans of Levenseller but I couldn't justify purchasing it for our library because there are similar stories on the shelf. It didn't necessarily add to the narrative.

I really liked this book a lot. Everything was great: the setting, the people, the main story and the "extra" stories. The people in these chapters were easy to relate to and likable, and they were written well. I really liked Neve and her personality. She's the strong female main character that I can easily relate to, at least for me. The wonders of this world appear to be fascinating and connected to old stories and beliefs. The book Queen Among the Dead had an interesting story based on Celtic mythology. However, it focused so much on describing the world and setting that the characters and plot were not as important.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me free access to the digital advanced copy of this book.

I was hooked right away with the young female protagonist, and the Celtic lore enriched every part of the story, from characterization to plot to theme. Vivid descriptions without taking away from the pacing of the overall story was a particular strength of this book.

*Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of this book for review.*

I loved this book, I loved the story and all the various characters. I absolutely recommend reading the book.

"This is a complicated review because, at first glance, I was seduced by everything about this book: the beautiful cover, the comparisons to other authors, the premise, the mythology... And while I can boast of having enjoyed the reading, it is only fair to recognize that not all of my expectations were met.

The names were the most confusing part; I had to rely on context to try to blindly guess what the author meant each time. Was it a person's name? A clan? What does that word even mean?!
I also have to add: the variations in the writing pace... at times, too many things were happening in one chapter, and then, suddenly, 200 pages would go by without anything happening. The romance also threw me off balance... because even though I loved Ronan, my precious baby, their relationship was almost instantaneous: not my favorite trope.

However, the plot managed to keep my interest at all times, the representation of Celtic mythology was as rich as promised, and the characters won my heart... definitely an incredible experience."

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review

This was way too long for what happens in the story. I felt like I didn't even really get a good feel as to what the plot was until 70% through. It could have been a good as the characters were written well but it really needed some editing and direction.

A fantastical adventure imbued with a Celtic origins. Magic, warriors and a power struggle to try and dominate their world. Can a princess and an Outcast work together to save what that love.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me at around the 30% mark. I held off my review in hopes that I could come back to this book at some point, but after sitting at the 30% point for a long time I just didn't have any desires to finish it. The story was a little confusing and I would have like it to be a little more thought out and concise. I am sure that this book has an audience, but I was not the it.

A fantastical adventure with likable characters and a well thought out storyline and even a few laughable moments.