Review: Secrets of Lily Graves By: Sarah Strohmeyer

Title: The Secret of Lily Graves

Author: Sarah Strohmeyer

Published: May 13^th, 2014

Source: Edelweiss

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars!

Goodreads 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.

My Thoughts:

Wow, first off let me say that this book completely and totally surprised me. This is the first book I have read by Sarah Strohmeyer, her books seemed too contemporary for me and I was a bit hesitant about this one but, it sucked me in right away and was right up my alley. It was full of mystery, a bit of romance, and finding out whodunit. I liked Lily right off the bat, I tend to enjoy characters who are different and don’t care what other people think and Lily was definitely one of those people. They mystery wasn’t a complete surprise but, Strohmeyer did have me questioning and guessing which kept me glued to every page.

Lily has always been a bit different, her classmates have known it, avoiding her birthday parties because she lives in a funeral parlor with her mom, aunt, and grandma. She wears all black and is interested in death and mortuary science. For the summer she has been tutoring the hot football player Matt Houser in History and his girlfriend Erin does not like it. When Matt dumps her, Erin immediately comes after Lily thinking it’s all her fault when in reality she and Matt were just friends. But, the next morning Erin is dead and the finger pointing is at Matt and Lily, everyone believes he dumped Erin for Lily.

I was surprised at how quickly I flew through this book, I loved Lily and solving the case along with Lily, Matt, and her best friend Sarah. Lily and Matt are immediately the top two suspects in the case. Her family is warning her to stay away and she would not let them sway what she knew to be true, Matt didn’t kill Erin.

Overall, Secrets of Lily Graves was a great mystery full of twists that I wasn’t expecting, an adorable romance, and many more secrets. I agree with the summary it has a little bit of a Pretty Little Liars vibe, so if you enjoy the books or the show I definitely think you will enjoy this one!