The Celtic mythology is what drew me to this title. After reading it, I'm on the fence about how much I like it. 3 stars, average read.

The novel is well-written, but the plot itself follows a pretty familiar trope: Neve, the daughter of a King, is slightly rebellious and yearning for more freedom. She meets a boy, can't decide if she likes him or hates him, they go back and forth in confusing indecisiveness. Neve has to break gender stereotypes to save her country, even though a woman can't be King.

The pacing is a little weird, and the mythological elements might be confusing for someone not familiar with the names of creatures or clans. Overall, it would be an enjoyable read, but nothing really stood out as absolutely amazing!

I wanted to love this book so so much but I just liked it. I was super interested in this based on the blurb but it took me a while to get into the story. I think this may have been a DNF for me but then it picked up. I think this was a good YA book but I don't think I am the target audience at the moment. I would recommend this to a teen who loves historical Celtic ideas and fantasy.

An imaginative exploration of Celtic myth and history, wrapped in an engaging and propulsive YA adventure. I loved following headstrong Neve's twisty turny journey to the throne-- she's a classic YA protagonist with some unique dimensions, and she moves through a world marked by fascinating worldbuilding and mysterious magical forces. Eire was a pleasure to spend time in!

dnf at approximately 15%

I tried, but I could not finish reading this one. Queen Among the Dead is so weirdly paced, I actually thought a chunk of my ARC was missing. Turns out Ronan and Neve, the protagonists who are first introduced on the day of their fateful meeting as children, face each other again during a chance encounter in scene number two, without so much as a transition in between. I'm pretty sure that scene should have had a beginning somehow?

Similarly to the chaotic change of scenarios, the author clearly harbours a great love for Celtic folklore and wished to do her passion justice by employing as much of her knowledge in the worldbuilding as possible, but nearly crushes her readers under all those dropped facts. The narratot certainly feels a little too excited. I could barely catch my breath in between - and reading Celtic names is already hard enough for me as it is. Girl, help.

Queen among the dead

Based on the legends surrounding Irelands first Queen, Queen Among the Dead takes us into the ancient Celtic kingdom of Eire. It is a story of druids, magic, kings and queens, court intrigue, thieves, succession and power.

The world building is stunning. There is SO MUCH going on but it’s crafted so carefully that it all just works. I will say, in the front flap there is a glossary of terms, specifically related to the different people groups, and it’s definitely helpful. I read this as an e arc and found myself wishing for the paper copy (I heard someone refer hard copy as a tree copy the other day and may forever use that) so I could refer to it a few times for clarification.

I loved the characters too, especially Neve, the King’s youngest daughter, and Rowan, an ex Druid turned thief. Neve is strong, courageous and feisty; she deserves her place in this story.

I’m not sure if there will be a second installment but I sure do hope so.

Thank you @netgalley and @zando for this e arc in exchange for my honest review.

The synopsis says it is based on “The first true Queen of Ireland”, but it gave me major Merida (Brave) vibes mixed with Galadriel from The Rings of Power.

In the beginning of the book, it gives a list of tribes of Eire. The names are so close to each other that it’s really hard to keep them separate (FIR BOLG, FIR DOMNANN, FOMORI, FAOLADH, FÉ FÍADA, etc). Although it’s confusing and I couldn’t pronounce them if my life depended on it, I was able to recognize who each were when they were mentioned. So don’t get stuck on the names.

It took me a few chapters to get into the story. But after I understood the world building and history, it was a quick read and a great story.

Filled with Magic, druids/priests, shifters, royalty, lost family, claiming the throne, battles, stone circles, Magic-sniffing hounds, murder, betrayal, intertwined fates

I DNF'd this book around a third of the way in. It was supposed to be a Celtic/Irish fantasy which I found interesting, until I started reading it and found that it was a fantasy of reverse colonialism, where Ireland was colonized by Egypt.

The book is in third person, alternating between Neve and Ronan's perspectives. Neve is one of the princesses and one of her ancestors "conquered" Eire, which is the name of the current kingdom. You can read conquered as colonized because it talks about how the old customs and gods of the land from before they came were pretty much eradicated, like Ronan who was a Druid apprentice was kicked out for being too curious of the old gods. And there was even an indigenous maidservant that Neve was planning to free, which you can probably make some connections about why she needed to be free.

Towards the beginning, there was a mention of one of the new gods brought over through colonialism and it struck me as odd because it sounded like it was supposed to resemble an ancient Egyptian name (keep in mind that I'm Egyptian). A little while later though, Neve tells Ronan the story of her birth and how one of the gods had saved her as a baby. The god in question was Khenti-Amentiu who is an Ancient Egyptian god, not to mention that right after, Ronan says something about how Neve's people's gods have animal heads. Maybe there's other mythologies like that out there, but Egyptian mythology is the only mythology I know where the gods have animal heads. Lastly was when it said that Neve's ancestor came from Kemet which is another name for Ancient Egypt.

As an Egyptian, the more I thought about it, the more uncomfortable it made me and I just had to stop reading it for my sanity.

I love the world building in this and the authors writing style! I would absolutely suggest this to SJM or Holly black fans. So good.

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!