Release Date: May 13, 2014
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Rated: YA 14+
Format: eGalley
Source: Edelweiss
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
Goodreads ● Website
With the intrigue of Pretty Little Liars and plenty of romance, bestselling author Sarah Strohmeyer weaves a story of secrets and lies—set in a funeral parlor.
Growing up in a house of female morticians, Lily Graves knows all about buried secrets. She knows that perfect senior-class president Erin Donohue isn’t what she seems. She knows why Erin’s ex-boyfriend, hot football player Matt Houser, broke up with her. And she also knows that, even though she says she and Matt are just friends, there is something brewing between them—something Erin definitely did not like.
But secrets, even ones that are long buried, have a way of returning to haunt their keeper.
So when Erin is found dead the day after attacking Lily in a jealous rage, Lily's and Matt’s safe little lives, and the lives of everyone in their town of Potsdam, begin to unravel. And their relationship—which grew from innocent after-school tutoring sessions to late-night clandestine rendezvous—makes them both suspects.
As her world crumbles around her, Lily must figure out the difference between truth and deception, genuine love and a web of lies. And she must do it quickly, before the killer claims another victim.
Growing up in a house of female morticians, Lily Graves knows all about buried secrets. She knows that perfect senior-class president Erin Donohue isn’t what she seems. She knows why Erin’s ex-boyfriend, hot football player Matt Houser, broke up with her. And she also knows that, even though she says she and Matt are just friends, there is something brewing between them—something Erin definitely did not like.
But secrets, even ones that are long buried, have a way of returning to haunt their keeper.
So when Erin is found dead the day after attacking Lily in a jealous rage, Lily's and Matt’s safe little lives, and the lives of everyone in their town of Potsdam, begin to unravel. And their relationship—which grew from innocent after-school tutoring sessions to late-night clandestine rendezvous—makes them both suspects.
As her world crumbles around her, Lily must figure out the difference between truth and deception, genuine love and a web of lies. And she must do it quickly, before the killer claims another victim.
Being a huge fan of Sarah Strohmeyer’s Smart Girls Get What They Want, I wanted, no, I NEEDED The Secrets of Lily Graves. I probably did the largest internal squeal possible when this popped up Edelweiss, and so my life was made having the chance to read this early. It sounded interesting, really mysterious and thrilling, nothing like her cutesy YA debut... but then again I found out that she’s written quite a few award-winning mystery novels so I knew this was going to be good.
I LOVED Lily. This author has yet once again made me fall in love with the main character. A strange feat since lately I’ve been finding myself on the fence about the protagonist or just flat-out hating him or her. Thank goodness for breaking the trend! I would have honestly done what her character does in the book – go to the police and come clean about herself. For reasons I cannot understand, most YA heroines or heroes tend to keep the important details to themselves and that ends up going VERY well *note the sarcastic tone.
MATT IS THE LOVE OF MY LIFE AT THE MOMENT. After a dry spell of book boys who are simply meh or not-too-bad (but not-too-great either), in comes this hunk of pure swoony-ness. I love that we see the stupid bone-head side of him as well as the version of him that hangs out with Lily, because clearly there’s so much more to his character. There were so many cute scenes between the two of them. I mean, the driving lesson? *fans self and swoons to the point of fainting*
I loved the concept. Yes, there are probably a bajillion YA murder mysteries, but books about morticians? Nope. Nothing comes close! And you can really tell, Strohmeyer has clearly done her research. I actually learned a lot from reading this, particularly on how to prep a dead body. Does this mean I’m qualified? Only time will tell... (A joke. Clearly, even though I watch some of the goriest shows out there, I will FREAK if I’m presented with a dead body.)
There’s a huge twist that I did not see coming. It was the absolute last person I would suspect, literally the furthest person away from who I thought did it. At first I was so confused and a little befuddled by the revelation, and then it all pieced together and made total sense. Really a thrilling ending, one that made me catch my breath and hold it all the way till the end.
I am so excited about Sarah Strohmeyer because I’m clearly loving everything she writes. The Secrets of Lily Graves was a spine-crawling mystery with a romance (and swoon-worthy boy) to top it off. Chilling and beguiling, I would recommend that you immediately stop what you’re doing and run to your closest bookstore, because you need this book – trust me, you do. Loved it!
If you like this, try...
- When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle ● Goodreads
- Catherine by April Lindner ● Goodreads
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