The Celtic myth drew my attention to this story, but underneath it is a story about family, self-discovery, and courage.

Neve, the main character, was fun and inspiring to read about - brave, stubborn, strong-willed, a loving sister and daughter, and a rebel in some ways. She never let what people think define her.

The family dynamics were complex, and the twist toward the end was a surprise, adding some drama without the fuss. The character names and backgrounds are recognizable, based loosely on Celtic lore. It was a fresh take on immortalizing some of the deities.

The fight scenes were epic mainly due to the draw of emotion from the secondary casts coming together for a common cause. Something about the allegiance of the different groups was touching.

Overall an enjoyable read.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I found Queen Among the Dead to be a fantastically written and completely captivating book, from start to end! I flew through this book. I loved the main character, she was headstrong and resilient, and following her journey was really enjoyable. I will definitely be reading the sequel when it comes out, and hope that it's not a long wait!!

A Celtic fantasy set in ancient Eire (Ireland). Neve is the second daughter of the king, who is hoarding the magic of the land with his Druids. The book starts a little slow and there are a lot of Celtic words used. Easy enough to look up but it does hurt the immersion a bit.

The middle of the book really starts moving and we see Neve begin to understand herself and her abilities. Along with figuring out who her true allies are. The ending is a mad dash of action and has some interesting twists.

I love Celtic mythology. But also a well-rounded YA fantasy. Refreshing to have only light romance. I can see people who like other mythology re-telling liking this book as well.

First off, thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this early. It was right up my alley, and I was able to connect to my heritage on a deeper level. I loved the world building, the magic system, the intricate lore, the characters, and most of all loved the way everything built upon each other for such a fantastic conclusion. I fully believe that this is a book that was well fleshed out, and so dynamic. There was nothing bland in Neve’s story, and I can say that it is well worth the read.

Celtic fantasy is not explored often enough in YA fantasy, so it was fun to read something more unique in the YA fantasy genre. While this book had a good plot and characters, some sections of the book needed work. A majority of the world-building was done through info-dumping. This made sections of the book hard to slog through. While Ronan and Neve were well-written separately, their relationship was awkward. It was way too rushed; they started kissing after just a few chance meetings. Overall, I think it was okay. I would be interested to read some of her other books.

I think Celtic mythology is a fasinating topic to form a fantasy novel around, but I found pretty much everything about this novel to be clunky and awkward.

I have a deep appreciation for Irish lore and mythology and this totally missed the mark structurally. This book started out pretty much like any other "not like other girls" YA fantasy and I think we needed something quite different here. The pacing was also broken up in a really odd way with the POV shift. I don't think we needed a split with the male protagonist.

The relationship that began to build between Neve and Ronan was so awkward. Every interaction felt like badly written fanfiction to me. (This isn't a diss on fantfiction, some can be really well done, but some are garbage fires and we all know it)

Overall a big disappointment and I guess I'm still on my search for the perfect young adult Celtic fantasy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

✨ WHAT I LIKED ✨
I liked the beginning of the story and how the main characters met. I love the depth of the characters and their emotions throughout the story. I enjoyed the magic, and the history of the magic and world.

I found the first 50% of this book to be very interesting and entertaining!

✨ WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE ✨
The pacing was just strange, especially the last 25%. It felt as if parts of the book were overly drawn out, while other parts of the book were glossed over too quick.
The world is confusing, and I feel as if the author hardly explained the people and the world to us. It was just left up to the reader to try to figure everything out.

Overall, I didn’t love Queen Among the Dead, but I didn’t dislike it either. I feel like you have to be familiar with Celtic mythology to fully understand and enjoy this novel. Since I am not familiar, I think I didn’t enjoy it as much as someone else might…

I was drawn to this novel for the Celtic mythology which was fairly abundant, and I could tell the author was extremely passionate about this book and the mythology its based on. The Celtic influence woven through the story was very stimulating and a nice new pace for me. I was immediate hooked...then after about the first 10%, I wasn't.

I feel the writing could have used a bit more editing. There was so much world building but it didn't necessarily translate into clarity for the reader. Additionally, the story lacked a clear direction or antagonist until much later on, I felt a bit lost at all times, and was unable to fully immerse myself into the plot. And because I couldn't focus on what was happening, reading this took me a couple months.

I did enjoy Neve's character. Though a bit chaotic, the love she has for her people and Eire is palpable and admirable. Una was a great side character and I'm still upset with what happened to her. I wish there had been more of Sakir. I preferred him over Ronan--who wasn't an entirely disagreeable love interest himself.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zando Young Readers for providing me with an ARC of this book. in exchange for my honest review.

DNF’ed at 20%

I can’t even tell you of all I read because I stumbled and tripped over words that I would love to see a young teen pronounce—or try to, anyway! This book is supposed to be YA. High praise to the 14-year-old who actually makes it through this book. O.o

This book had so much potential yet the unique (and stupidly complicated) word use made it harder to focus on the story.

The beginning felt a bit clunky. I didn’t understand the conflict between the two MCs and even afterwards it seemed whatever issues they had were resolved fairly quickly…

A very interesting story I quite enjoyed it. Celtic princess with awesome world building it’s a win in my eyes

I’ll admit, the cover and title got me real quick. It’s a good story, and I can see potential in a series for sure. But I struggled to finish this book so badly. The dialogue and writing style just weren’t for me, so while I liked the plot, I could barely get through some of the slower chapters.

Really love diving back into teen fantasy!

I enjoyed everything about this, especially all the different relationships. They were so great. I loved their background history and their chemistry, the love and support for one another, the angst, the push and pull. Everything was so well executed by the author.

The characters were not perfect, they had their own struggles and obstacles they had to overcome before they came to the realization that they are better together than apart. I’m so happy with how everything wrapped up (or, did a cliffhanger, I suppose) at the end. It was such an enjoyable book.

I really very much wanted to love Queen Among the Dead as the premise seemed like it had a lot to offer but I found the plot lacking. I'm unsure if it's the world building or the pacing but nothing really seemed to happen and the characters seemed more irritating than anything else. Just a total miss for me.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Very fascinating plot but I just couldn't get interested. Might be better for younger audiences like teens.

I really wanted to love this, but I didn't. This had everything in a book that I usually love, but the story and characters didn't hook me like I wanted it to. I have loved Lesley's work in the past, but this one didn't work for me unfortunately.

I really wanted to like this book. I enjoyed the author's Valiant series. But I struggled connecting with the folklore and the characters. I read about a third of the book before giving up on the story. There was a lot of explaining and lots of characters really early on. I was making myself read rather than enjoying it. I loved the cover and the idea of the plot seemed like something that would really grab me but it was not meant to be.

I can’t think of another book I disliked as much as this one. I love a good fantasy book as much as the next guy but this one was lacking. Firstly, the world building was basically nonexistent which made the progression confusing. Main events throughout the story were glossed over with zero emphasis placed on anything. Secondly, Neve and Ronan were so confusing. They hate each other, they love each other, one of them is going to murder the other, oh wait, they love each other again. And the reasons they would get mad at each other were pointless. Thirdly, the “twists” were predictable and truly lacked depth. They didn’t add anything to the plot. The story was inadequate and confusing. Would not recommend. 1 ⭐️

Thank you Zando Projects and the author for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Zando Projects, and Zando Young Readers for the opportunity to read an advanced reader's copy of this book for an honest review. (Publish Date: January 17, 2023)

“Queen Among the Dead” by Lesley Livingston was certainly more action-packed than I was expecting! Yes, there’s a slow burn enemies-to-lovers romance throughout the book, but so much more of the story is focused on women becoming the heroes and warriors that legends are made of.

The story has duel POVs following Neve, the youngest princess to the king of Eire, and Ronan, a Druid's apprentice-turned-thief. Both are equally exciting characters, and I found myself enjoying the portions of the book where they’re together better than when they’re apart.

While I found the story inspiring, unique and thrilling, I did have a few issues that lowered my review to 4 stars instead of 5. Without going into great detail, I was shocked by how quickly the story climaxed and ended. While most of the loose ends were thankfully tied up (since this is a one-shot book), it just felt unnecessarily rushed when so much of the rest of the story was evenly paced with striking details.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to any teen and young adult to likes Sci Fi / fantasy stories with lots of action and a bit of romance.

Eire was once a land of magic, before it was outlawed by the king and hoarded by his Druid priests. Neve, the youngest princess, has always considered herself a warrior first, a stance that makes her decidedly unpopular in her father's court. After a chance meeting with Ronan, a former Druid apprentice-turned-thief, Neve learns that a mysterious magic runs in her blood. And soon, ancient truths will cause devastation on the land of Eire unless Neve can seize the throne, despite the fact that a woman cannot become king.

QUEEN AMONG THE DEAD is not new territory for Livingston. With several mythological adaptations under her belt, one might say that she's in her zone. This book is based off of Celtic mythology, which is brimming with ancient histories and monsters, and twisted into a fantasy in which a young woman must fight for her country, though her culture would say she is unfit to lead. 3 stars.

If I'm completely honest, this is a book that was a decent read, but it will not be one that sticks with me. I would not be surprised if the majority of reviews hover somewhere in the middle of the rating scale; the novel is well-written, but it's nothing fantasy readers haven't seen before, even with the added bonus of the not-oft-seen Celtic myth.

The book switches between the third-person viewpoints of Neve and Ronan, who should be enemies but find themselves as uneasy allies. These two characters are opposite in nearly every way, yet they have an intense attraction to one another from the very beginning. And even when they try to stay away from each other, they find themselves gravitating to the other repeatedly. On a personal level, I feel like the third-person narrative tends to be a little too dry and distanced, and this novel supported that feeling in me. I never truly felt connected to Neve nor Ronan, and therefore their story was one that failed to grab me.

I was very excited to receive an arc of this book. I've read several of Livingston's books long ago and had mixed feelings about them, so I was hoping that this would be one that I would love. Unfortunately it ended up being one of those books that's hard to give attention to; I often found myself counting down the pages I had left. I do think that the book picked up a bit towards the end, but by then it felt a little too rushed and too late to make a big impression.

I did enjoy the mythological aspect of the novel. I do not know much about Celtic histories or folklore, and so I preempted this novel by reading up a bit on the "big picture" of these myths, which is a hard thing to do with a folklore as intense and prolific as Celtic myth. Livingston's focus in on the different magical peoples that had control over the land--and their connection with the gods--and does take certain artistic liberties in order to build a fantasy world. I personally think readers with a broad understanding of this particular mythology would enjoy this more--and be able to make the special connections--than those who go in blind. However, I also think that those deeply interested in the myth might be a little miffed by Livingston's poetic license.

At the end of it all, I'm a little on the fence with this one. There were some aspects that I really enjoyed, but I can't deny that I failed to feel taken with this novel or these characters. I still think that it was an enjoyable novel that many who read it will enjoy for the most part, yet I do not feel like this book will be able to stand out in a crowd of its peers.

Posted to Goodreads on November 28, 2022.

I loved the start of this book. The magic and setting had so much promise.
Neve and Ronan excited me right away and the Celtic folklore aspect was exciting but all of the characters ended up flat for me.
I didn’t feel a true sisterly bond between Neve and Una and realized halfway through I really didn’t care about Neve at all.
Ronan could have been interesting if he was an actual villain or enemy but he seemed more like a tamed pet by the end than anything. Willing to forgive and overlook anything that happened to him.
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Overall, I think the book was good and I would recommend it to YA Fantasy Readers.
I received a free copy of this book from @netgalley for an honest review.
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Rating: 3/5
Smut: 0/5