Queen of the Dead by Stacey Kade

Queen of the Dead
After being sent back from the light, Alona Dare - former homecoming queen, current Queen of the Dead - finds herself doing something she never expected: working. Instead of spending days perfecting her tan by the pool (her typical summer routine when she was, you know, alive), Alona must now cater to the needs of other lost spirits. By her side for all of this - ugh - “helping of others” is Will Killian: social outcast, seer of the dead, and someone Alona cares about more than she’d like.

Before Alona can make a final ruling on Will’s “friend” or “more” status, though, she discovers trouble at home. Her mom is tossing out Alona’s most valuable possessions, and her dad is expecting a new daughter with his wicked wife. Is it possible her family is already moving on? Hello! She’s only been dead for two months! Thankfully, Alona knows just the guy who can put a stop to this mess.

Unfortunately for Alona, Will has other stuff on his mind, and Mina, a young (and beautiful) seer, is at the top of the list. She’s the first ghost-talker Will’s ever met—aside from his father—and she may hold answers to Will’s troubled past. But can she be trusted? Alona immediately puts a check mark in the “clearly not” column. But Will is - ahem - willing to find out, even if it means leaving a hurt and angry Alona to her own devices, which is never a good idea.

Stacey Kade created an amusing and memorable cast of characters in the first book of this series, The Ghost and the Goth. And in this second book, she continues to impart her wonderful sense of humor, snarky characters and touching relationships.

Big changes are coming for Will and Alona, and they involve people from the past as well as a secret society that has ties to Will he never could have imagined. Mina is a mystery, and she tricks Will into helping her, promising him information in return, only things don't go as Will had planned and he finds himself running from the authorities. Will and Alona are up against a whole new adversary; one who would force Will to choose sides: work for the living or work for the dead. But they may have the answers to questions Will has been asking his whole life, and when Alona gets herself into trouble he may be forced to cut those ties before they have a chance to fully form.