When people try to destroy someone’s reputation, they have an arsenal of outdated mindsets, prejudiced followers, media leaks and a burning rage to help them immorally, mentally and even physically attack someone. There’s an additional element faced to those in the public eye, that James knows all too well in Benjamin Dean’s predecessor to How to Die Famous.
When his father died, James becomes first in line to become King at just seventeen. This is despite his own reservations and secrets, the public do not want him on the throne. They judge his ability to be king in how he looks and his age. James would be the first Black king, and corrupt tabloid reporter is hell bent on fuelling the public’s fire to dethrone James and his family. In the almost of royal affairs, family loyalties, grief, racism and hatred, James must deal with a a mysterious stalker. Someone who is threatening to expose him and his family, including the fact that he is a gay prince, still in the closet; and in a secret relationship with a male intern in the royal household.
The King is Dead is not only a heart pounding, high stakes thriller but also an extremely relevant, profound and societally impactful novel. Benjamin Dean shines an essential, stark and honest statement on racial discrimination, LGBTQA+ stigma and societal pressure to look and act a certain way, and the fear of what people will do if you look, act or love different to how they do. Dean also intelligently and brutally honestly shows how members of the press, public and sometimes even those closest to you will do anything to destroy you, if you don’t outwardly fit the image they have of your or someone in your position such as James.
If you’re looking for a thriller, with shocking plot twists and tense mysteries, then The King is Dead will keep your heart and mind racing and reflecting, on both the mystery and society. The destructive intense escalation of James’ stalker and new royal status as everyone comes to be revealed; paired with incredibly real, understanding and inclusion presentation of the LGBTQA+ community, the stigma surrounding gay men, especially in a harsh society of media and politics, and the racism discrimination of the black community, especially in positions of authority, makes this book essential reading for the current state of society.
The King is Dead is more than a YA thriller, it is a book that everyone should read, that will leave your heart pounding and think more deeply about the injustice and harsh reality of discrimination and modern day witch hunts on oppressed and marginalised communities.
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