Review: The Secrets of Lily Graves by Sarah Strohmeyer

The Secrets of Lily Graves

By: Sarah Strohmeyer

Pub. Date: May 13, 2014

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Pages: 304

Source: Edelweiss

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. 

I received this galley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Edelweiss and Balzer + Bray.

The Secrets of Lily Graves  was an extremely fast read. The writing just flowed. I started reading, not really knowing what to expect and the next thing I knew I had about 50 pages left. I was so interested in the mystery surrounding the death, and I really had no idea who the killer was.

One night, Erin beats up Lily because Lily and Erin's ex, Matt were (kind-of) together. The next day, Erin is found murdered, but it looks like a suicide, and Matt is the main suspect. At this point we don't know much about Matt, but it looks likely that he is the killer. As the story progresses, we learn how Lily and Matt started to form a connection and we see that Matt is actually a great guy. But as the police do more investigating, it looks like Lily had something to do with the murder as well. Now Matt, Lily and Lily's best friend have to figure out who the killer is. While this story has been done over and over again in YA, I really loved the way that Strohmeyer did it. It was a mystery with a small town murder, but it was also a sweet, cute story about two young people in love.

I seriously did not see that ending coming from a mile away! I couldn't believe it. I especially was not expecting the different plot twists that were thrown at us either. I really enjoyed The Secrets of Lily Graves and excited for Strohmeyer's next book!