Thursday, May 15, 2014

[Review: The Secrets of Lily Graves by Sarah Strohmeyer]

"The Secrets of Lily Graves"
Author: Sarah Strohmeyer
Series: None
Pages: 304
Genre: YA, Thriller, Horror
Date Published: May 13th, 2014
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Format Read: eARC provided by publisher (via Edelweiss) for honest review

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Summary:

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.
-Goodreads 
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My Thoughts:

An Open Letter To The Secrets Of Lily Graves,

Well, you were a fun ride! I don't know if it's because I'm a genius or if other people figured out your secrets early on too, but I kinda had you beg pretty early on. I'm gonna go with the fact that I'm a genius, but who really knows. That being said, you were still an exciting read. I guess I just wish I wouldn't have figured it out when I did.

-The White Unicorn

This was my first Strohmeyer book and I totally understand why people love her writing. It's super readable and enjoyable. She adds a lot of really quirky detail and I find that contemporaries are better that way. Even though I wasn't completely blown away with the story, I did love her writing and that's a good thing.

When all is said and done The Secrets of Lily Graves is a murder mystery. There are a few other things going on, like a love story and a friendship story and a death fascination, but those aren't the main plot points. Lily is trying to find out who killed the main popular girl at school and what they did it with. Sure it looks like suicide, but she knows better then that. It gets intense guys.

This is one of those books that you can't really say that much about. If you do, you might end up writing all the spoilers.  I can tell you that this book is well written and has a lot going for it. But it also left me feeling a little blah. Like I said, I figured the mystery out quickly, so I think that took some of the fun out of it, but I would say if you're looking for something quick, fun, funky and a little sinister this is the book for you.

Rating:
 3 Unicorns = I liked it a lot but it had it's issues.

3 comments:

Nicole said...

I'll keep this one o n my radar but I'll likely pick up Strohmeyer's other book Smart Girls Get What They Want first, and then circle back to this one if I like it :)

Unknown said...

This was my first Strohmeyer book and I LOVED it! I still need to write up my review, but it was definitely a fun, creepy book.

That said, I just picked up Smart Girls for $1.99 so I'm excited to see a lighter side to her writing.

Also, I am going to err on the genius side, because then I fall in that category too since I figured (most) of it out early on.

Giselle said...

Haha you're totally a genius! Duh! >.< I haven't read this one but I have seen a lot of mention about how unpredictable it was, and I'm one who always ALWAYS guesses the twist so I'm curious if this one would be one of the very rare ones that surprises me.