Last of the Dead picks up right where Ballad & Dagger left of. It jumps right back into the thrilling world of magic, gods and love. Mateo and Chela are thrust into battles that forces then apart. As the two teens are actually gods in disguise they must find a way to save everyone from their enemies. Mateo and Chela must find their way back together while saving everyone in the process. I
really enjoyed this installment of the Ballad & Dagger but I did have to go back to the first to refresh on some of the world building,

Love everything I’ve read from Daniel José Older, and this one was no different! What a spectacular follow up to Ballad & Dagger.
Fans of the first book will love seeing what happened next to Mateo and Chela after San Madrigal.

I pulled an all nighter to read the first book and then dive right into this one. An absolutely stunning continuation of the story! I have many middle schools waiting impatiently to get their hands on this installment. However, middle schoolers can't have all the fun with this! It's a fantastic, musical read for all ages.

TL;DR: Second book in DJO's Outlaw Saints duology (although the door is left open for a potential 3rd book) which fell short of the first book (for me) -- spending too much time with the pining lovers and battling the bambaruto to fully flesh out the villains. The world that DJO brought to life so vividly in Book #1 ultimately gets lost in the Epic Battle Between Good and Evil.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC from Netgalley & Disney Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Vibes: IDK. Kinda Lost + Greek epic with at attempt at Tolkien-level stakes.

Genre: YA Fantasy / Romance

Romance Meter: 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤
There is *a lot* of angsty pining in this book -- Chela & Mateo are apart for most of the book and Mateo in particular spends a lot of time thinking about Chela and their relationship, and it's made even more angsty since they're these supernatural beings who have been together for centuries.

Character MVP: Meh. They were all a little flatter than in Book #1, and my favorite, Tia Lucia is technically dead and not a player anymore. I'm going to go with Ode Kan, who was giving Artemis vibes and I do love a strong female character.

Verdict: 3 stars, and it pained me to do it. This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2023, so much so that I went back and reread Book #1 because I wanted to be clear on the characters and relationships and mythology.

But in Book #2....IDK. It's like DJO wanted to raise the stakes -- shifting the setting from *entirely* within Little Madrigal in Brooklyn to the island, and in doing so, he wanted to raise the mythological stakes so that Chela/Madrigal/Okanla and Mateo/Galanika could have this Epic Love Story and Epic Battle and it just...didn't work for me.

Here's why (warning: spoilers):
✖️ -- WAY too much angsty pining. Chela & Mateo's relationship was hinted at in Book #1, and they kinda danced around it before getting together, but here it was like BAM. "We are epic supernatural beings and We ARE IN LOVE" and it was a bit much.

✖️ -- There was a lot of fighting with the bambaruto and killing of the bambaruto. I got very bored with the bambaruto.

✖️ -- One of my favorite parts of Book #1 was being entirely in Mateo's head and seeing his relationships with the other characters, notably Tams and Tia Lucia, and even Tolo. But those characters have significantly reduced roles and splitting time between Mateo & Chela means we get less of Mateo's personality and voice. And maybe because they've fully awakened their supernatural powers, they read as more dramatic and similar; there were times I had to pause and reorient myself to which character was talking.

✖️ -- One of my biggest issues was the villains/antagonists. There are 3 here:
(1) Mateo's dad -- super flat and seems like the conflict was contrived to give Mateo "no place else" to go, especially since the parents were absent from the first book.
(2) Vedo -- who was in Book #1, but as about as much page time there as he does here. He is, I think, supposed to be the mastermind behind the logistical elements, but he gets about 4 scenes and his "you killed my mom" revenge thing felt very flat.
(3) Archibaldo -- again, alluded to in Book #1, and is supposed to be The Big Bad but I just have questions. Like, how he is communicating with Evil Henchmen Rejects from a Bond movie, on an isolated island? I'm assuming it's Vedo, but that's never made clear.

✖️ -- Finally, the biggest issue for me was -- and I fully admit I may have missed something obvious because there were times I skimmed and glazed over -- I didn't fully understand the stakes.
That is -- Chela learns that this whole situation exists because the, last time Madrigal/Okanla and Galanika were incarnated in human forms, Madrigal/Okanla made a deal with Archibaldo to make them immortal.
Which...made me VERY confused. Because I was under the impression that these were gods/goddesses, a big part of which is being immortal. Now, maybe not, but I missed that part somewhere then. After all, these were beings who created the island as a safe haven and then watched over humans for centuries -- is that not immortal? In Book #1, they remember seeing the first humans arrive there, so like 1500s-ish. But it's not until 1810 that they're immortal? And "immortal" doesn't mean tied to human bodies, apparently, because after 1810 it takes like 200 years for them to be incarnated again.
So, I had questions that really distracted me from the plot.

The shift from the microcosm of Brooklyn to the macrocosm of the Epic Battle on the island just...narrowed the focus of the story for me in a way to deflated all of the cool, intriguing elements I loved so much about the first book. Not 'bad,' necessarily, but a seemingly incongruous follow-up to the story of Book #1.

I got this eARC via netgalley. I enjoyed this, though there was a lot going on. I also wish I had been able to get into it faster. The 3 stars is partly for that, and partly that I was confused for a good portion of the book until the end. Which, granted, was how Chela and Mateo were feeling, too lol. I don't regret reading this, it just definitely was average for me!

A satisfying follow-up to Ballad & Dagger. Fans of the first book will be excited to learn about what happened next to Mateo and Chela after they raised San Madrigal.

A marvelous continuation of a mythological series. As a former middle grades teacher/current high school teacher, I've seen the power of these books in captivating readers. What makes this entry stand apart is Daniel José Older's fantastic voice. He's a poet for the young, and a master of fanciful storytelling that can be enjoyed for older readers, as well.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. This book was action packed! I liked how even though Mateo and Chela could still die; they didn’t give up and kept fighting.

Thank you, Disney Publishing Worldwide, Rick Riordan Presents, for allowing me to read Last Canto of the Dead early!

Sequel to Daniel José Older's Ballad & Dagger, Last Canto of the Dead is as phenomenal as its predecessor. The writing and the plot keep you glued to the page and the characters are just to die for.