When I saw that Queen Among the Dead by Lesley Livingston was a fantasy novel based on Celtic folklore, I was intrigued! The novel follows Neve, a princess who is second in line for the throne, but no one sees her as worthy of ruling Eire. Fascinated with her land’s history and her fierce, and maybe slightly maniacal, ancestress known as the Scathach, Neve becomes enthralled with the idea of being a warrior. However, a chain of events leads her to being forced into considering the possibility that she will one day rule Eire.

I felt really conflicted about this book for the majority of it. It starts off pretty slow, and doesn’t really pick up until about halfway through. I would have liked to see more interaction between the characters in the first half of the book, and definitely more actions scenes.

That being said, the second half of the novel was fantastic! There were a few plot twists that I didn’t see coming, and I was happy with how the story ended. The relationships between the characters were interesting, and I enjoyed seeing Neve grow as a person.

Neve’s love for her people and sense of justice added a lot to the story. Her motivations seemed sincere, and as a reader, I couldn’t help but to root for her. I was intrigued by the idea that she did not want to be a queen, but wanted to be a king instead. I get that the author was likely trying to suggest that women are just as worthy and capable of ruling as men, but I almost would have preferred Neve to change the perceptions and connotations around the word “queen” than to strive towards being a “king.” Perhaps this is the feminist in me, but Neve’s adoption of the latter term indicates that she must be like a man in order to rule, whereas embracing the title of queen maybe would have changed her peoples’ perspectives and shown that she didn’t need to change anything about herself.

Overall, I’m not sure if there will be a sequel to this book. The ending kind of leaves open that possibility. However, I don’t know if I would read it or not. On the one hand, I did find this book to be a little slow, and on the other, I was content with the ending of this novel. As a whole, it’s not necessarily one of my favorite books, but it was worth the read!

I wanted to love this, but sadly, this wasn't for me. The dense world building is a style that I know many readers love, so I expect many will love this, but personally I found it difficult to connect to the writing and the characters because of the sheer amount of detail.

I know this is a style of fantasy that I know many love, so I'd still recommend this to readers who like dense, rich fantasies.

Thank you Netgalley for sending me and eARC of this book.

3.5/5 Stars

This book had me interested near the beginning of the book, and kept my interest right till the end. I found the storyline intriguing, making myself turn page after page. Although, while reading I kept wishing for more! More conflict, more combat, more character development. I think this would have been such a higher rating for myself if the book was longer and written as a high fantasy. That being said, this is still a good quick fantasy read.

I enjoyed this book, the fantasy YA was right up my alley, and in a new territory I don't know much about: Celtic lore. Overall, I enjoyed the story and am interested in seeing what is next if there is a sequel. It was definitely a bit slow paced for my taste though. It took quite a while to build up the world and characters to reach the point where the true story began to be told, so it took me a bit longer than usual to get through this book.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Zando Young Readers for the advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this. I've become a bit dismayed, on average, with the state of YA novels, but this one was inventive. I enjoyed the characters' perspectives, and the fact that they were all different. I enjoyed the main character's slightly zany antics, and I found myself intrigued by the way the two main characters were designed.

Boy meets girl, but they don't immediately love each other, is an excellent and iconic storyline. When boy meets girl and magic happens, in the literal sense, it's exciting to wait and see what this will mean for the overarching plot. And speaking of overarching plot, I think Livingston did very well to create something that (while reasonably predictable) was full of enough twists and turns to keep the reader paying attention.

I found myself invested enough in Neve, Ronan and Sakir's story to maybe read another book - it was a well-built fantasy world, and I found myself enjoying getting lost in it. I hope there's a sequel, or that I'm able to read more in the world of Lesley Livingston's books in the future. Her writing was fantastic - evocative and well-written on multiple levels. I really enjoyed reading Queen Among the Dead.

Ratings 3.5 stars

*I received an ARC from NetGalley for my voluntary and honest review

Neve is the second daughter of the Dagda, king of the Eire. She was never meant for the throne. Her father and his druids have been outlawing magic in the land for years. When she was a child she came against a banshee and thanks to a banished Druid Ronan, she walked away with her life. Ronan however ended up with a cursed power because of it. Now adults the two reunite as the fate of the Eire is about to change. Neve’s sister Una is about to marry to ascend the throne and the burial site that is to belong to her father is coming close to completion. But underneath the Eire stirs with old magic, old gods, and old stories of the first queen. Neve will have to fight for her fate and to save the Eire.

I knew a few pages in that I was gonna love Neve. She was a feisty spirited young girl who turned into a warrior princess. Although at the beginning I did have a bit of trouble keeping track of all the groups they talked about despite there being a glossary. Despite that though I enjoyed following Neve and Ronan’s journey. And as I'm such a sucker for stories built around mythologies this was definitely gonna keep me invested. I enjoyed this book and would definitely read more stories based in this world.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC.
I really enjoyed this book. It's set in an Ireland of the past, full of magic and magical creatures. Neve is the second daughter of the King of Eire. But she doesn't want to be one. She longs to run wild and free. Ronan is an ex-Druid and a thief. And they can't stand each other. But fate made sure that their destiny is entangled. They seem to meet each other time and time again. So it's no wonder they have to work together to stop the druids' evil plans while trying not to get killed at the same time.
The story is really full of magic (even though magic is strictly forbidden). I loved the character dynamics between Neve and Ronan. The story felt a bit like Brave but with more magic, gods and shapeshifters involved.

Thank you to Zando Young Readers for sending me this ARC. All reviews are honest reflections of my own opinions, always.

In the lush kingdom of Eire an ancient magic begins to stir. Forbidden by the king himself, secretly hoarded by druids, seething below the surface.

Neve, second daughter of a jealous king, more warrior child than princess. Ronan, an outcast druid turned cutpurse, dealing in stolen magic.

When a chance encounter between these two begins to weave their fates together, truth begins to surface and magic leaves its own markings. Sworn revenge, a bid for the throne, secrets & a reluctant alliance.





I'm going to echo many other reviewers here & give this a very middle of the lane rating. While not outstanding, the book was still unique & interesting enough, especially given the not often seen Celtic lore.

Our main characters, which we switch viewpoints on & off with, are well formed, but not incredibly captivating. An outcast princess, a down on his luck ragged boy, an invisible and unexplainable force pulling them together, even against their will. A lot of the book deals with their own indecisions concerning one another, which is wearing on the reader.

When it comes to world building, there is a lot to consume, keep straight, and ultimately pronounce wrong. Info dumping is a strong presence, making it nearly impossible for the reader to keep all the clans, sects, peoples, wars, etc sorted. To make matters more difficult, there is, as should be expected, a vast array of Celtic names, which would benefit from an appendix with pronunciation guides.

The plot is a little thin, but entertaining enough against it's Celtic background (which really is the saving aspect of this book), to hold the attention of the reader, but not necessarily the imagination.

This is Neve and Ronan's story, and the idea of the book is what attracted me, Celtic Mythology is interesting and the author knows quite a bit, but for me, this book needs editing, the pacing is slow, I understand the world-building for these type of fantasy books is demanding and takes a while, however, the pacing and everything dragged for me, there were many interesting factors, I liked the characters, the plotline is interesting, but the writing made it way too slow and sometimes I think some parts could've been edited to make the pacing faster and give the reader something to want it to find out what happens next. It's a YA, so the characters might be a bit mild, I still think they could've been more developed, and the chemistry between them with more sparks.

This book felt a little flat. I've read Livingston's Norse mythology trilogy beginning with Starling, and I found that series to be entertaining yet somewhat surface-level. Queen Among the Dead had a similar impact on me: I felt that the characters did not progress significantly either in terms of their goals or their emotional/character development. Clearly Livingston has done tons of research on Celtic mythology, which I definitely appreciated. I think the story could've been better served with less info-dumping and characters with more agency.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book is my first experience with Celtic mythology, and I found it quite fascinating. I thought the plot moved along at a good pace, and some of the reveals I had guessed quite easily, while a handful were surprising. I did find myself losing interest occasionally, perhaps because a lot of the themes were new to me, but I am definitely glad I completed the book and I did end up really enjoying it.

Please ignore the fact that the description of this book sounds like the most stereotypical YA fantasy possible and give it a chance because I guarantee you that you'll be blown away by Livingston's creative writing and engaging characters.
Neve and Ronan live worlds apart in circumstances but fate keeps bringing them together and revealing that they're more alike than they could ever possibly imagine. Neve is the youngest daughter of a king that is obsessed with his legacy more than ruling his people. Ronan is an orphan who makes a living as a thief, not just of objects but of forbidden magics. They meet explosively as kids and find each other once again as young adults just as things in the kingdom are coming to a boil. What follows is a rollercoaster ride of revelations, deaths, battles, and just general badassery.
Livingston does a wonderful job of taking known, classic Irish legends and transforming them into lore that carries the story into fantasy greatness.

Excited thanks to NetGalley and Zando Young Readers for the wonderfully thrilling read!

Gorgeous lore and Celtic references, Queen Among the Dead is a fresh fantasy story with twists, turns and relationships you cannot refuse to root behind.

I adore the relationship between Neve, Ronan and Sakir. Our MC, Neve is strong from the start and I like how she consistently retains her fierceness. She does not ever seem to waiver in what she wants and appreciate that in a strong lead.

I will say, the timeline is a little jumpy at the beginning. There is very little background, just quick drama and then a jump, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing it just didn’t seem like a “prologue”. There were some missing pieces or things I felt could have been explained better.

It was a really good story line and I think with a little less lore-building (or better introductions of it) it could have went from good to amazing. The plot is there and I really feel for the characters as we go through the story. There are also some great twists and turns. It was just tough to constantly flip back to the beginning to see which lore was which.

Overall, if you love old Ireland lore and high fantasy-esque stories… definitely give this one a try!

As someone that loves anything even remotely Celtic-related I was so excited about this book, I love the tales and the mythology, all of it just makes me happy.

While I could tell our author also has a love for Celtic mythology and shows a masterful talent in world-building, there was just something missing in this one for me.

If you asked me what was missing I don't know if I could pinpoint any one thing, it just seemed kind of disjointed. That being said I did find parts of the book very enjoyable and that's what kept me reading.

I would happily read something by this author again, she has a real talent, a strong voice, and the ability to make you wonder about magic in a world filled with normal.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zando Projects for providing an advance copy of this ebook, I have voluntarily read and reviewed it and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I had a hard time really diving head first into Queen Among the Dead. I enjoyed certain aspects of the story, the characters were fun and I could see their character development. I enjoyed that the author clearly loves and knows their stuff when it comes to celtic lore, but the way it was written into the story was hard to follow at times. Particularly reading as an ebook, it was difficult to keep turning back to the glossary and it felt like there were times that half the page was terms I hadn't quite picked up yet.

All and all, if you love celtic lore this a book for you. I would also recommend it if you enjoy a story telling style!

If I had to bring the perfect example of too-intense world-building, it would be this book. Don’t think I didn’t love it, when in fact, I did enjoy it a lot, although a physical copy would’ve been better to take notes and go back to previous explanations. Part of me felt as if it was a word-vomit, too much information in too little time, resulting a bit confusing at times. This overwhelming sensation, however, was dimmed by the lore and mythology in the book - although I admit, it was weird to research the god of death and come up with the Egyptian counterpart when it was supposed to be about Celtic mythology.
Anyways, I quite liked the book, especially Neve, the main character, who, even though quite proud and entitled, had a good character development. I'm always torn whenever I encounter such characters, seeing their traits as more fitting for a bully than a heroine, because the fall is greater. In this book, however, she has a reality check, but that doesn't stop her from acting the way she always has, with her kingdom's interests at heart.
Ronan was a cupcake, I'd love to know more about him. He was Neve's counterbalance in so many ways, even the more subtle ones, and a great character on his own, fun, witty and smart, capable of escaping every kind of situation.
As for said situations, I must admit that some felt quite anticlimactic and rushed. The pace of the whole book is pretty slow at first, then it sprints toward the end and there were scenes in which I felt something was amiss, maybe a different POV.
One other thing I actually loved was the meaning behind the title and the final plot twist, both tied together. Honestly, you can sort of guess it, but then that thought gets lost during the read and you're left kinda shocked. This is the type of book I love.

I really enjoyed this book, but there were a few areas I felt the story was hard to grasp. I would say that my first challenge came with the names. I did my best to Google the common ones, but I would have really loved a pronunciation guide, especially since so much seemed to be in Gaelic and that is a really hard language to speak. I did very much appreciate the glossary of what the various things where. That was helpful.

While I feel the story flowed a lot more so towards the end, the beginning was a little bit more challenging. I had to go back several times and reread to figure out what was really going on and what timeline we were in. So it definitely took longer than I would have liked to jump into it.

I loved that it was a Celtic fantasy. That is by far the biggest selling point for me. You don't see a ton of those in the fantasy world and I felt like this was a very interesting story., It definitely makes you feel like you're standing on a moor or in a glen. It has a very gray like haze to it, but I thoroughly enjoyed many moments. I liked Neve's character and I loved the banter between her in Ronan.

Thank you to Zando Projects and Netgalley for an e-Arc of this book for review. This story is a Celtic YA fantasy set in the ancient kingdom of Eire (aka Ireland) following Neve, the young daughter of the King and Ronon, an ex-Druid apprentice. Through a series of meetings, these two individuals fates intertwine as they face together the struggle for power over Eire.

I really enjoyed Lesley Livingston's Wondrous Strange series and I absolutely loved the description of this book and how it was steeped in Celtic fantasy. Growing up I loved Celtic mythology and I got very deep into learning about the Tuatha Dé Danann, which this book incorporates as part of its world.

That being said, while I loved the premise of this book, it fell a bit flat in execution. There is a short section outlining who is who at the start of the book which helps a bit but from the get-go you are thrown right away into the plot with little idea how the mythology and world building work.. Despite immediately diving into the action, I didn’t really understand where the plot of the book was going until almost halfway through and this left the second half feeling rushed.

For our characters, I never really grew to enjoy Neve. She was crafty in some chapters and very naive in others - she didn’t feel fully sketched out as a character and her only consistent trait throughout was being bratty. I also didn’t really understand some of Neve’s logic in the book - like when she assumed that Ronan attacked someone, her assumption sort of came out of nowhere. I actually reread a few pages to make sure I hadn't missed where her logic for making crazy assumptions came from.

I did enjoy Ronan and Sakir as character, though the half-hearted love triangle wasn’t needed unless Livingston was really willing to commit to it more. I do wish Livingston had focused a bit more on the romance, given the description of the book, as it wasn’t really fleshed out much. I would 100% read a book about Sakir though - if there is a sequel and I got promised him as a character I would 100% read it!
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I was expecting a lot more with this one and ultimately think that it needed to be fleshed out more in terms of plot, characters and romance - but I did enjoy the concept.

Rating: 4/5
I received an eARC for my honest opinion.

This wasn’t an instant love for me, I really liked the book, but I didn’t love it. I don’t know exactly why I didn’t like it because this book has enemies to lovers, action, drama, and magic and that is everything love in books. Now with all that being said I do hope that there is a second book because I would like to see where this book will go.

The world building was amazing, from the details that the author described to help you picture the scenes that are playing out, to the introductions to the characters, from the action and drama/heartbreaking scenes. This author really knows how to pull you into a world and keep you wanting to know what else is going to happen.

The pace of the book was a little slow at first, every book gives you details to the world and characters, but I felt at times throughout the book it would slow back down for no reason. Then there were times that I couldn’t put the book down with everything going on with the characters, I just had to know what else would pop up. I thought the character development was done well, we get to see a young Neve and Ronan and then years later they’re thrown back together… Dare I say fate kept those two coming back together even though the both of them would fight it as much as possible. I loved that we get to see those 2 strong headed individuals grow and learn from their mistakes and become some amazing characters. The side characters even had some growth with them. I really like Ronan the most, from his sarcastic side to his sweet/caring side. I loved that once he got something stuck in his mind he would follow through until either he would see that path wouldn’t work or he would figure it out the hard way. Neve, I loved her spitfire personality and how determined she was even though people would tell her she was too young or didn’t know better or even that she would be the death of them all. She still followed her heart and did what she knew would be the best.

Anyone who knows me, knows I love mythology/folklore of any kind and I really love Celtic mythology so much. Livingston did a beautiful job on this Celtic fantasy book; she brought this magical world of lore to the YA readers.

I want to thank NetGalley and Zando Projects for allowing me the opportunity to review this book.

When I read the synopsis for this book, I was instantly intrigued. Celtic mythology has interested me for a while but I've never fully dug into it, so a fantasy inspired by the legend of the first Queen of Ireland seemed like an exciting place to begin.

I really wanted to love this novel, told in dual third-person POVs and brimming with magic but I struggled heavily to get through it. I often found myself thinking it would have benefitted from being told from a single point of view instead because the tension of the "enemies to lovers" aspect of the central romance fizzled when as soon as something was introduced to complicate things, the other point of view immediately clarified why that was simply a miscommunication or wild leap in reasoning. The points of view also are not distinctly grouped into anything like separate chapters, so sometimes I wasn't sure which character was actually driving that portion of the chapter. It is possible that a few more rounds of tightening up this book through editing would have fixed the major issues I had with this book.

I found the romance aspect of this book to be one of its weaker links. I was shocked when the two main characters finally kissed because it felt like it came out of absolutely nowhere. There had been no real demonstration from either point of view that they felt anything but frustration with the other, and then suddenly they were kissing. The romance also went nowhere after that kiss for a significant portion of what was left in the book.

The plot meanders its way into significant events and then meanders its way to any impact of those events. For a significant portion of the book, the main plot and conflict aren't clear. It often feels like a string of events pushed together just to have events occurring between Neve and Ronan's meetings. The plot developments and plot twists feel undeveloped and unearned, with antagonists that don't have demonstrated motivations until over 70% of the way through the book. Once the plot finally found a cohesive direction, it still meandered its way to the final confrontation, easily solved the whole issue the story had been building to, and continued to lower the impact of prior events by rendering no real consequences to Neve's life beyond the impacts she specifically desired. I reached the end of the book and was still somewhat confused as to what the point of most of the material in this book was. 

Overall, I found myself struggling through this book because for a large portion of it, it feels like not much is happening and that even the events taking place don't matter much. The two main characters aren't quite distinct enough due to the third-person dual point of view this book is written in which makes the romance falter, and both characters feel somewhat flat. It isn't a terrible book by any means but my issues with it heavily overshadowed any aspects I enjoyed.