This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I enjoyed this Celtic YA fantasy adventure set in the ancient Kingdom of Eire and inspired by the first true queen of Ireland.

There are quite a few groups to keep straight at first, but once they become familiar it’s exciting to watch Princess Neve come into her own, mastering her magical abilities, uniting her kingdom and fighting an ancient darkness both in the present world and in the Other Realm. Plenty of tragedy and treachery but also
some good examples of female bravery and powerful leadership. Oh yeah, and a little romance.

Not sure if this will be continued (no obvious cliffhanger), but I’d read another.

My sincere thanks to the author, NetGalley and Zando Young Readers for providing the free early arc of Queen Among the Dead for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

I got this book as an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
The story is about a princess and a thief that cross paths and are in some way connected and trying to learn more about themselves. I was really excited to read this book after reading the synopsis and I loved the cover.
But to be honest I found this a hard book to read.
There are a lot of weird names for the places, the clans,the people,.. It confused me because I wasn't sure are we talking about a person, a place or a clan. I had a hard time getting into the story and didn't really connect with the characters either.
It's told from 2pov but it switches between them in 1 chapter and that's also pretty confusing.
I'm not sure how to put it all into words but this book just wasn't it for me.. I've seen some other reviews on goodreads that explain it better though.

I think the story is mysterious and I truly pictured myself in a fabled version of Ireland.
I liked the names of the characters and landscapes, pictured glowing runes in my mind and tried very hard to remember all the different folks and their powers. I've read the book until the end, but I just couldn't make out all the different meanings of the folks, It held me back for understanding the complete story. I think it might be me, for being Dutch and not knowing any Irish folklore.

I think this story contains great beauty and I wouldn't want to fault it on my inability to understand it all.

If you are a reader who loves folkore and mythics, this is the book for you! If you're a bit like me, you have to take the reading slow and take notes, for a better understanding.

On a further note: I got the ebook and every first page of a chapter was a bit warped. I read on my kindle app, and the intricate design was chopped up in four pieces every time. Also the first letter of a chapter was somewhere else on the page.

If you like a good tale of fae set back in the day, a wonderful historic fantasy, then this is the book for you.

I loved this book because of the detailed use of the myths and legends of the Fae in Ireland, a land rich in stories to start with. You have the daughter of the Dadga, a Princess of her People, along with a thief of the normal people that are ruled over by the Dadga. And their tempestuous meetings and growing friendship.

This book is steeped in lore, cleverly used in this tale, one that has the potential to make quite the series. The writing is smooth and easy on the eye, as it were, the language flowing well even with the foreign words. Lesley Livingston has done a wonderful job with this, and I can not wait to see where Neve's story goes from here.

A stunning Celtic YA fantasy adventure set in the ancient kingdom of Eire, inspired by the legend of the first true queen of Ireland, perfect for fans of Shelby Mahurin and Adrienne Young.

A great Celtic story with great action and an amazing protagonist. Neve was amazing and her adventures were captivating. And now I'm reading more Celtic mythology because this was great! This is a story that follows Neve, an Irish Princess, on her journey of self discovery and taking over a kingdom. I loved watching our heroine grow into herself. Our antagonist is someone who always knew what she wanted in life and consequently reached out and took it. With great force! I also found myself constantly rooting for our underdog Ronan as he, too, grew into and learned to embrace his own destiny.

Livingston has written an engaging book that, despite being historical fiction, I could sell to my students as action or fantasy (it's an easier sell for most of them). While the ending felt rushed, the rest of it was an absorbing adaptation of Irish mythology.

Pretty cover and a premise about royalty? Check marks for me! However, the book needed more work. Perhaps another few rounds of editing to work on dialogue and pacing.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving this ARC, and this does not influence my review. This book had a gorgeous cover, and was a very big book (as compared to the usual ones I get on NG). The fantasy world-building was great, and I liked the romance even though it seemed a bit slow. This was also a 3rd person dual POV. The female was bada** which I like.
Tropes: enemies to reluctant allies to lovers

This is such an absolutely thrilling read.
I knew immediately that I wanted to read this book because who doesn't love Celtic myths I truly think that there should be more fantasy novels based on them.

Like all good epic fantasy, the beginning always has me completely confused and going back and forth between knowing what's going on and having zero clue. I love this type of writing because it is without the info dumping and instead throws you into the action which is amazing.

Ms. Livingston does an amazing job of world-building. Everything she wrote makes me want to visit her world. The characters are absolutely minding blowing!

I can't say too much without spoiling everything... but I loved this book and can not wait to own it in paperback as well as see more from this author.

I loved:
- the mythology
- the gothic, dark setting
- the intriguing magic system
- the creatures

I didn't like
- the attention to detail (for example: on one page a character is wearing 'beaded sandal' and on the next page they are wearing 'leather sandals')
- the hurried plot (for example: character mentions her mother was rumoured to be taken by a wraith and then on the next page one appears and attacks her)
- clumsy writing in places

The premise of this book intrigues me but unfortunately it feels like it needs more editing to be a feasible read. Thank you.

I picked this up purely on the mention of Celtic mythology as mythology from across the world is a growing interest of mine and my students. It was an enjoyable story that also learnt into Eastern European mythology at times that I think my students will adore (reflected in my rating)

I started this book three times, but could never quite get into it. I did get 67% into on one of the times. The characters are fine, just the world building and plot are too all over the place.
I can definitely see some of my students liking it and have already mentioned it to several of us. It just wasn’t for me.

"Queen Among the Dead" was an enjoyable story. I liked how the author incorporates traditional Irish/Celtic mythology and near Eastern (Egyptian and Scythian) mythology. The story focuses on Neve, the younger daughter of Ruad Rofhessa, the Dagda (Good God) of the Tuatha De, the ruler of Eire, and Ronan, a former Druid's apprentice turned thief. They had a life-altering encounter as teenagers, when Ronan saves Neve from a ban sidhe demon, and then Neve saves him from the fuath demon he summoned to defeat the ban sidhe. Neve and Ronan will not meet again until seven years later. The encounter with the fuath demon has changed Ronan, for which he blames Neve. Their encounters are tense, as neither one really trusts or understands the other. However, a series of internal and external threats will force them to work together and will result in them discovering unexpected things about themselves, including that they both possess great magical abilities and that they are more alike than they realize. The story has plenty of action and intrigue, with some rather good surprises.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I chose Queen Among The Dead for its beautiful book cover and the fact that it spoke of Celtic/Irish folklore. I'm no historian of Irish/Celtic mythology, just a fan, but the book's synopsis alone had me hooked.
Livingston tells a dual perspective from Neve, the main character, the King's youngest daughter, feisty, fierce, and dubiously determined to make the realm better for her people.
Since her father, the King, has outlawed magic and deemed it dangerous, spells are still being marketed and sold unbeknownst to the King. So while the King's Druids are resurrecting a temple on the King's behalf, his Kingdom is suffering without magic.
Neve, the ever-restless child of his, goes into the village and bumps into a thief, Ronan. Ronan is a smuggler of spells who just happened to be expelled from Druid school. So now he wants nothing more than to see the Druids gone from power.
Unlikely allies as the two may be, Neve and Ronan set course on the journey to save the people of Eire and, more importantly, extricate the Kingdom and its return to practice "MAGIC" because, without magic, the Kingdom is "DOOMED."
Livingston delivers a cleverly crafted Y/A novel with a breathtaking and imaginatively impressively descriptive world.
Livingston's characters are ambitious and likable, especially her main character Neve, with her heroic female role.
Livingston's word-building is thought-provoking and engaging; readers will be thankful for her glossary accompaniment.
You get a slow burn, enemies, to friends with a compounding stellar ending.
The deciding factor is that the excellent storyline will look for the author's future novels.
Kudos to Livingston!
"Great JOB"

Thank you, NetGalley/Lesley Livingston/ Zando Projects.Zando Young Readers/ For this eARC, for my honest review. My opinions are of my own volition.

This was very enjoyable. Both familiar, in that the myths should always feel like we knew them deep down, but with plenty of twists that made sense, even if I didn’t see them coming. The narrative itself is cyclical as most myths will be, but has some beautiful symmetry that gives the entire story the feel of a an epic poem or ballad, which I suppose, at the core, is what it is. While the plot fully resolves, it leaves the door open for further adventures, and I feel like Neve and the gang will be doing much more for the bards to sing about.

DNF: 26%

I was drawn to this novel for two reasons: the Celtic mythology and the comparisons made to other prominent young adult fantasy authors. Unfortunately, I could not finish reading this novel. From the first page, this story was riddled with story construction issues that I could not overlook; if anything, they were distracting as I wanted to fix everything I was seeing.

First, I could tell that Lesley Livingston has a deep love for fantasy novels and for Celtic mythology. The passion for both was dripping off the pages of this story. However, that passion did not translate into the greater story. From page one, I was incredibly confused about the world-building and the trajectory of the plot. Both proved to be fatal flaws for the novel.

Looking at the world-building, I can’t deny that there was a great amount of it. But the amount doesn’t necessarily equate to clarity for the reader, which was the case here. The world-building was often dumped on the reader (at least one dump per chapter, by my count) and was always delivered in the same way: through paragraphs of summary storytelling. By chapter nine, I was craving other means to get the world-building by, such as, through dialogue. I also wanted more explanation for the Celtic names and terms; a glossary would be an asset for this novel.

Bigger than the world-building issue was the plotting. By the 26% mark (roughly chapter nine), I had no idea of what the story trajectory was. The characters did not have goals they were moving toward—which means they have no agency as well—and there was no clear antagonist. Without the character agency and story stakes, the story fell flat and felt empty. This story was floundering as it attempted to find its footing, but the fact that it never found it within the first 25% was discouraging. By that percentage mark, the story should have been heading into the second act after an inciting event had taken place.

While the synopsis presented a standard young adult fantasy novel, the story failed to live up to those expectations. With clearer world-building explanations and better characterization, this book would have much to offer a reader.

Thank you to Zando Young Readers and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I think this book is well crafted. The mythology and world building were excellent and the writing was good.
However, I found the pacing to be excruciatingly slow—almost 50% of the way into the book before any major event occurs.
It was less focused on romance than I expected as well, and I wish that had been a bigger part of the story.
I think it’s a good book and people looking for something more fantasy than romance will probably enjoy it.

Plot: 4
Characters: 4
Writing Style: 5
Cover: 4
Enjoyment: 4.5
Buyable/Re-readable?: Yes - I'll continue the series.

Alright, I love this book while simultaneously take issue with it. It rather instantly sucked me in with it's lovey writing style - we get two narrators, alternating chapters between Neve and Ronan who have very distinct voices and personalities. I adored the melding of myths and folklore (Ireland, Egypt, etc), and for me, found less than five minor confusing moments, though it had more to do with the style choice. And on that note, I felt that the last act felt rushed, and yet the book is fairly quick-paced. There were a few unanswered and/or not quite abandoned bits but something like that (example being the fate of a certain antagonist). I think some of the enemies were far too quickly dealt with and could have benefited from battle scenes that were fuller, more fleshed out. What romance does exist does not dominate the story (which is nice) and there maybe, *maybe* is a hinted throuple? I could be reading a tad too much into that though...pretty sure I am, actually, heh.

I didn’t see twists or surprises coming, I am thoroughly grateful it didn’t AT ALL remind me of Pixar's "Brave". It didn't feel like a cheap, repeat story; it has a life of its own.

⅖ Stars

I am just gonna go straight into it. There are many things that I like about this book. The characters were interesting and funny when they were interacting. The plot was there and was developing and I also enjoyed that the book was fast paced but I could not get into it until the last few chapters. I felt like the beginning was just too quick for my liking, it was just one thing going on to the next over and over again. But the idea behind the book is very interesting and was very well thought out but it was not for me. It is the fact that I would forget what the book is about WHILE I was reading it.

Celtic mythologies? Sign me up! This book was so easy to jump into and read. The world building was so detailed yet I found it extremely easy to understand as I was reading. The characters all had their own complexities and stories to tell which I found so interesting and really hooked me into the plot of the story. I'll be honest when I say Lorcan was truly my favourite because he really did seem like a good man. Neve was another character who I loved because she genuinely seemed strong and truly loved her people.

The way the mythology was woven through the book was so perfectly done, I found myself really enjoying that aspect as I read. While there were some spots that weren't as well paced as others, overall the book was done really well and had me falling in love with the world Lesley created.

Thank you NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.