Though not exactly what I was expecting, this is still a very delightful read.



The murder mystery story-line was intricate and kept me guessing. I suspected a lot of different characters, even ones that seemed ridiculous. I blame the Gone Girl plot twist trend: I trust nothing. The family dynamic was incredibly compelling, especially once the reader put themselves in Valentine’s place.



I had mixed feelings about the love triangle, but at least that made it feel different than most love triangles, so I still enjoyed it. It felt to me that one boy was the obvious choice. Though the runner-up was a familiar and safe choice, I never felt interested in him. He came across slightly mean and controlling to me, but maybe that was intentional? Maybe we weren’t supposed to get sucked into a love triangle, but rather, watch a girl face her fears and choose the better but more dangerous path for her life.



In the real world, deciding between our passions and safety can often times be extremely difficult, but in books, characters get to live their best lives, so we always assume they will go for everything. In this way, the book felt much more realistic.



The characters in A Girl at the Grave were wonderfully developed. Obviously, Valentine was the main character, the whole cast played important roles in shaping this story.



Pick up the book if you like a good murder mystery, historical fiction or young adult romance.

I did not finish this book, and will not be reviewing it on my blog. Things moved very slowly for me, and I was initially intrigued. But then the love triangle was introduced, and I wasn't on board. It actually really bothered me. The story itself wasn't Gothic, like I had hoped. It wasn't creepy or atmospheric enough for me. There just wasn't anything keeping me going.

Thanks so much for the opportunity to read and review this book.

When I first heard about this book I immediately knew I needed to read it. It's such a me book. A historical mystery set in New England? Yes, please. And while this was an interesting and atmospheric read perfect for fall, I didn't love it.

One thing that I did like was the setting. I am a complete sucker for books that take place in New England. I live in New England and I love it so much so when I find books that take place here that capture the spirit and atmosphere of New England I am all for it. This book definitely did that. It didn't lean to hard into it either. I'm not sure it had a distinctly New England feel but it had the vibe and felt familiar. It had an atmosphere that I loved. The other great thing about the setting is the small town aspect of the story. Mysteries are perfect in small town settings because everyone knows everyone and is in one another's business which makes suspects out of so many people. And this was definitely an interesting small town where that was the case.

The only thing about the setting that I didn't love was the historical aspect. I was super pumped to read a historical mystery because it is one of my favorite subgenres. However, this book was just a mystery with a historical setting. In my opinion, if you are going to write a historical novel you need to root the story in history. It doesn't have to be about a specific event but it should feel like the time period. This book just felt timeless and that's not really a good thing. Sometimes I would forget it was not set in the modern era and then they would talk about carriages. I don't know if it was a lack or research or just lack of historical grounding. I think the author should have just leaned into the historical setting more than she did.

The plot however was kind of hit or miss for me. I will say, I loved the mystery. It was a really fantastic mystery with lots of things that unfolded throughout the book. This is one of those mysteries where I suspect everyone at one point or another so I am able to figure out who the culprit is but their motives and what actually happened didn't get revealed until the end which I liked. However, there was so much focus on the romance in this book. There's one very small mention about finding love in the synopsis but it was definitely a big part of the plot. Which wouldn't have been that big a deal if I liked the romance, but I didn't. It was a love triangle that annoyed me so much because the character kept changing her mind. But then again, I am hard to please when it comes to romance.

As far as the characters, they were fine but didn't impress me much. Valentine is a fine protagonist and is relatively easy to sympathize with. She's the town outcast and I can feel compassion for her in that respect and I wanted her to solve the mystery but throughout the book she got very frustrating. For one thing she kept thinking she figured everything out and was always wrong. After awhile I stopped trusting her and that is never the good thing in a mystery protagonist. And then there is the romance. Because seriously, both romantic leads were not likable. Maybe I kept them at arms length because I suspected them of being involved in the murder in some way, or maybe they just weren't my find of characters but either way, I was not a fan. But it's kind of the name of the game when it comes to mysteries when you suspect everyone of murder.

All in all this was an okay read, but not the book I was hoping for. It had a good setting and an engaging mystery but there was way too much romance and I didn't connect with the characters. I wanted to love it, but sadly I did not.

First of all, I was not aware this was historical fiction. Boo. It’s not that I don’t like historical fiction. I mean I don’t, BUT I can be okay with it if
1. it’s well written, which I’m not saying this isn’t, and
2. I have prior warning.
I need to know what I’m getting myself into. Historical fiction is just not really my genre for a multitude of reasons, and I’d like to prepare myself before jumping into it. Just saying.

Now listen, almost every book I read on a daily basis is some form of mystery. Murder mystery is a genre I am very familiar with. This is not that. What this is, is a historical contemporary masquerading as a murder mystery.

This is a love-triangle centric book. That’s what it comes down too. There is too much love-triangle, the middle is solely love-triangle. This is the character’s motivations, not murders and missing people. There is no real sleuthing, or to be honest any real caring about the mystery. This is not a murder mystery where the main character has a stake in what’s going on. This is a contemporary where the main character also as a side has to deal with the fact that her mother was a killer and sometimes she notices that people are dying. The resolution is basically just everyone coming clean for no reason, and happens to hold on of my biggest pet peeves in mystery YA. You CANNOT make your killer someone that is COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT to the story up until that point. They cannot be someone that no one would suspect simply because they aren’t ever there TO SUSPECT. You need to have evidence, clues, or some sort of SOMETHING to back it up. You need to introduce this character with a back story and a personality, otherwise the mystery is just as flat as the characters. And throw a few red herrings in, make it suspenseful. Write it like an actual mystery or please do not market it as such.

Valentine’s mother was a murderer, and the town folk don’t trust valentine because of this. Valentine resents them because of this. That’s it. That’s her characterization. She dislikes the townsfolk because they blame her for her mother’s wrongdoings, and she is also just kind of annoying. Aside from these things, there really isn’t much too her. She’s “not like the other girls”. Her skirt is muddy, her hair is curly, she keeps to herself and doesn’t enjoy the frivolousness of beauty and clothes.

STOP. MAKING. CURLY HAIR. SOMETHING UGLY. THAT IS. ONLY BEAUTIFUL. IF A PRETTY BOY. SAYS IT IS.

i love my hair, i have always loved my hair, strangers love my hair. It is not unruly, because I am not stubborn and annoying enough to ignore it in the name of avoiding femininity. If she doesn’t care about her hair looks, fine, but don’t make it a point that it’s different and negative because she doesn’t care enough about it to make it look nice, and then fix it with a boy. Lemme tell you, if I ignored my hair for weeks, and a boy suddenly said it was beautiful, it would still look like a rat’s nest. A boy is not required for someone to love their physical features, and even if it is, you do not have to put it into every single YA book. Curly hair doesn’t make your character “not like other girls”. It’s not that uncommon. It’s a thing. Stop.

Um Sam sucked. He was mean and possessive and didn’t understand that what Valentine felt for him wasn’t comparable to what he felt for her. He pushed Valentine to chose to love him, even though she clearly also had feelings for Rowan. His family was cruel, and he didn’t care because he wasn’t. And even though all of this is true, he still managed to be rather flat and boring.

Rowan wasn’t that much better dimension wise, he was boring and very stereotypical. He is your average beautiful broody rich boy who for some reason is obsessed with the “plain” main character. He doesn’t really have that much going for him otherwise, he’s sort of a device for the MC’s life and not really a person otherwise.

Perhaps I would’ve liked this book more if it had been marketing as it is. However, I probably wouldn’t have read it if it had been marketing as it is. This genre is not for me, and I don’t appreciate being tricked into reading it.

This is overly negative though, so I feel the need to list some positive things.
- Valentine had a backbone in the beginning, and she didn’t let the other girls get to her
- Rowan had to learn to look past her connection to her mother
- The cover is nice
- It is very atmospheric
- It is cold and dark and good for fall
- The MC didn’t think her gender was lesser and fought for it, and there are side ladies who fought for ladies rights, which personally is a requirement for any and all historical fiction lest I rip my feminist hair out
- Very accurate depiction of the weirdness and rumours of a small town
- There was interesting commentary of class, considering the kids at the private school look down upon the lowly Valentine because she’s so poor

That was not a long list, and I’m sorry, but I was bored and now I’m just mad.

Girl at the Grave by Teri Bailey Black
Source: NetGalley
My Rating: 3½/5 stars

**MINI-REVIEW**

The Bottom Line: It took me a very long time to get through this book, in large part because of the tremendously slow start. I didn’t want to DNF this title and am glad I stuck with it as the last third of this book really kicked and got good. At its heart, Girl at the Grave is the story of an unfortunate young lady suffering for the sins of her elders. If the rumors and innuendo are to be believed, Valentine’s family, most of whom are long dead, committed grave sins which have cast a long shadow Valentine is forced to walk in daily. What’s more, the sins and secrets of the past have begun to creep into the present causing Valentine to question everything she has ever been told and believed. As events unfold and Valentine begins to put all the pieces together, she risks everything, including her life to uncover the truth and right the wrongs of the past and the present.

Once this book picked up speed, I didn’t want to put it down, but it took a great deal of page turning to get to that point. Had I tried to read this book in a single go, I think it would have ended up on the DNF list because of the slow start. However, I had hope for this read and quite like Valentine, so I wanted to give it every chance. To that end, I often set this book aside and read something else before going back to Girl at the Grave. My patience and hope were rewarded, and I found the unfolding of events in the last third of the book, the uncovering of the truths to be quite interesting and rather satisfying. I quite like it when everyone, good and bad get exactly what they deserve, and this book delivered. I would encourage readers to give this book a try, but near in mind, you’re going to have to slog through the slow to get to the good.

[Review To Be Posted on September 25th]
A gothic murder mystery filled with suspense, Girl at the Grave by Teri Bailey Black brings something new that I’ve never seen before. The twisted mystery is at the front and center of the novel, along with a brilliant love triangle subplot that enhances the mystery rather than taking away from it. This is Teri Bailey Black’s debut novel and I am always impressed when authors decide to write murder mysteries as their debuts because it really puts authors out there.

Girl at the Grave is about Valentine, a teenage girl whose past consistently haunts her. When she was six years old, her mother was hanged for murder and the two of Feavers Crossing turned their backs on her not wanting to be tarnished by her reputation. People she trusted or called friends didn’t hesitate to push her away or insult her so she remained in her own private world. Valentine and her father are poor, but she goes to an exclusive school as a mysterious benefactor paid for her whole education.

She attends this school and tries her hardest, but she only has one friend, Sam. His family also has a terrible reputation and that’s probably why they are so close, however, they have both accepted each other without fear of judgement.

Our main character Valentine is a self-reliant and mature teenage girl despite being in an age when girls were told more frequently they were so much less than boys. She is courageous and determined to figure out the truth about her mother’s death. She doesn’t crack under the pressure that everyone puts on her and instead digs up the truth that everyone around her has buried. She and the reader discover the town’s secrets and lies that will explode if they take the wrong step or route. She has no idea who to trust or if she can trust anyone so she keeps most of this to herself like she always has.

Valentine has no time to be smack dab in the middle of a love triangle and yet that’s where she finds herself. Sam, her best friend and someone who she loves unconditionally is sure that they will get married one day and is determined to make that a reality. But Rowan, a boy who’s hardly ever noticed her before this, steps into her life with his charm and high rank in society. Both of them were super sweet and totally in love with Valentine.

Girl At The Grave is a murder mystery that will make you second guess everyone’s intentions and look for the solution yourself. This book managed to pull many aspects from other good murder mysteries and incorporate them into an original novel that surprises and satisfies.

I received an ARC copy from netgalley for my honest review,  so thank you netgalley and publishers for offering me this book! ♡
The cover and title is what originally drew me to this book. It was okay. It was a gothic type setting, which I love. The characters were likable. It just wasnt how I imaged it was going to be.
This was my first book by this author, It was okay. It was slow paced but it was alltogether an easy read. ♡ I give this book a
3 star rating!

This book was Teri Bailey Black’s debut novel, taking place in a gothic 19th century setting. Black’s writing and story telling was my favorite part of this book. Her writing style was so beautifully descriptive, I feel as though it played out like a movie in my head. I could see all the characters, scenes, and places as clear as day. It really made for an easy read with a great flow.

The plot of this book was compelling. The pace wasn’t all action all of the time (which I prefer) but slowed in some places. Normally I do not like slow places in books, but these pauses helped the world building, character development, and helped me as the reader to reflect on the well information I’d just received.

The reveal of the mystery helped drive this story forward. The author was smart about how much information to give out and when and kept me wanting more. I thought it was really well balanced and all the moving parts of the mystery came full circle in the end and wrapped up nicely.

The characters were well written and interesting. I really don’t have any complaints about their actions or how they were written. Everyone was suspicious for one reason or another throughout the whole story and it seemed as though everyone in the town had motive. I really liked the fact that the culprit could’ve been anyone in town and ended up not being the obvious choice which was a nice surprise.

Overall this was a great debut and solid 4 stars in my opinion. I highly enjoyed this book and recommend it, especially if you’re looking for a dark, gothic mystery to read this fall/Halloween. I will definitely be watching for more from Teri Bailey Black.

I found it interesting that it is portrayed as a mystery book, and many times the mystery took a backseat to the characters and their side stories. The "mystery" itself was interesting, and all the twists did keep me turning the pages until the end. On that note...the ending did seem a little rushed and chaotic, and while it might have been the point, it almost seemed out of place after the slow build of the rest of the book. Overall, I did find the characters generally interesting and my historical fiction teens will probably love it.

This was an excellent gothic-esque, mystery... love storry-ish... okay, well, it was a lot of things. Black did a really nice job bringing the reader along Valentine's search for who shes is and how to come out from under the dark shadow cast over her. Growing up under the view of a mother hung for murder was one thing but when more and more murders begin to happen, all surrounding Valentine, fingers and waging tongues all begin to point towards the girl.

The only reprieve that Valentine receives is through the kindness of the two boys that wish they could catch her heart. One she has known as a friend for ever while the other has noticed her forever but is the son of the man her mother was punished for murdering in their youths.

I knew which relationship I was rooting for from the beginning. What I couldn't figure out was who was committing the murders around Valentine now and why they were committing them at all. While I wish that Valentine, as a character, had spent more time trying to figure that out too (and not so much dwelling on the separating the boys that were vying for her affections) I appreciated the story that was built up around the mystery and the resolution.

GIRL AT THE GRAVE is a small town, atmospheric novel full of dreary days and mysterious murders. While the title may imply a supernatural element, the only monsters in this story are human ones.

Valentine, isolated because of her mother's alleged actions and largely left alone by her father, has two love interests and no other friends. As such, the majority of the book is focused on developing her relationship with Sam and with Rowan. I would have loved for the mysterious deaths to take center stage. Instead GIRL AT THE GRAVE largely depends on relationship drama to pad out the pages; however, it's quickly determined which of the two boys is meant to be Valentine's true love.

In the end, I wanted more from GIRL AT THE GRAVE. While I was initially drawn in by Valentine's character, I quickly lost interest as Valentine remained passive and indecisive until the last pages. Readers who enjoy characters agonizing over the right love choice and gothic atmospheres will find more to like in GIRL AT THE GRAVE.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a digital ARC of Girl at the Grave" by Teri Bailey Black. I very much liked the writing style. The author has skills. I did not enjoy the plot. It felt very recycled and cliche. The romance was not swoon worthy. I will not be purchasing this particular book for the library but I will be watching this author in the future and interested in the next book she publishes.

How can a book with this many dead bodies in it also be THIS BORING?


It's honestly astounding how little mystery is in this book, considering it's what the bulk of the summary is about. Early on in the story, one person dies and two more go missing. Our main character then proceeds to do nothing for months, to the point of not even telling anyone that her father has apparently abandoned her. Literally. Months. Christmas to spring. She just stays home going 'hm, sad my father left me, it's kind of odd but oh well.' Her friend dies and after a flurry of activity at the crime scene she just...nothing from Christmas to spring. 'Hm, sad my friend died after hinting some mysterious information about my infamous mother and then everyone connected to him/his death just straight-up disappeared. Oh well. I'm going to make gingerbread, that sounds nice.'


DO SOMETHING. She doesn't even try to do something and then lament running into brick walls. She just doesn't try. It's the most bizarre thing, this utter lack of caring that the character displays.


Even when things do get rolling again, it's not because Valentine actually makes an effort or does any searching. She just...exists, until things get told to her. That's the resolution of the mystery. People who have kept secrets for years just casually drop them in conversation at plot-convenient moments, through no effort of the protagonist or even anyone working with her.


The bulk of the story is, instead, taken up with a romantic love triangle. The kind where one party is clearly the loser because Valentine clearly and explicitly does not have romantic feelings for him. Now, on the one hand, I don't mind it as an introspective thing where a teen character is learning about squishy feels for the first time and has to process the difference between platonic affection and romantic affection. That's a fine subject to tackle and done alright here, if you take it as such instead of as a 'who will she end with.' But why couch it in a bullshit nothing-mystery?


And, as fine as that is as a romantic subject, there's just...no stakes to it. The climax of the book tries to have both the romantic plot and the mystery plot rest on Valentine possibly losing the trust/support of boy she loves. Except. It doesn't do that well. At no point in the book did I ever feel like Valentine was going to lose anything, because no one around her would back the fuck off enough for it to actually be a threat. Valentine certainly worried about certain things happening, but I never felt like her worries were justified or had a chance to actually happen, based on the actions of the other characters. It made for a extremely underwhelming end to an already underwhelming book.


So....yeah. There's certainly some promise in here with the writing and the romance, but the things that are good aren't in the right kind of book, and the things I was excited for were missing. Alas.

(To be posted 8/23)

**** Thank you to Tor Teen for providing me with a copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review ****

**** Trigger Warnings: Violence, Death & Murder, Brief Mention of Physical Abuse, and Death of a Parent ****

Actual Rating 3.5 Stars

I was expecting something very different given the synopsis but overall I was pleasantly surprised by how much I ended up enjoying this one. Was it perfect? No. But it was an enjoyable read especially since I normally don’t enjoy historical fiction!

Plot

The story didn’t actually focus on the murders as much as I thought it would, which was slightly disappointing to me. It’s actually more of a character study than anything else so at times it felt slow but overall I was pretty hooked while reading so I would say the pacing was pretty in the middle. It also stayed consistent throughout the book as well. There were also quite a few twists along the way that I was NOT expecting so that was really fun. I think there was a lot more focus on Valentine’s love life than anything but really the mystery was well done too, just not as present as I would have liked. There’s also some bits of family drama added in that kept things pretty interesting. I really never felt that there any dull moments will reading, everything kept my attention very well.

The writing was also very nice, as I’ve already said it kept me interested and never bored. Which is actually pretty impressive since I don’t normally enjoy historical fiction and tend to get bored while reading it. I’m definitely curious to see what else Teri Bailey Black will be coming up with!

There is a bit of a feminist undertone to the entire story as well. Valentine, the MC, works very hard in order to make her attendance at a prestigious, formerly boys only, private school worth it. She believes women should be able to go to college and have the some of the same rights as men. There are side characters that feel the same way and work to help further women’s rights. I thought this was a nice touch to the book, personally, and I thought it was done very well.

Overall I felt it was a story that flowed very well, nothing ever felt abrupt or rushed.
The dialogue also never felt forced or choppy.

Characters

As I already briefly mentioned this is very much a character driven story with a focus on Valentine and her two love interests: Rowan and Sam. I actually thought everyone was very complex and well fleshed out, everyone had their flaws and grew as a character throughout the course of the book too. Sure there were some decisions that were made that may have not been the smartest but I felt this was more so due to the character’s realistic flaws than just a character being….well, dumb or annoying.

I actually really enjoyed all three of these characters, they’re all extremely sweet and adorable. Valentine is just one of those heroines you can’t help but root for, she’s just so down to earth and very caring towards others. I really enjoyed her friendship with her childhood friend, Sam. I kind of wished he hadn’t turned into a love interest but in the end I wasn’t complaining, he’s just so cute, although his temper was pretty unruly at times.

Rowan’s character was a bit of a surprise to me, he definitely wasn’t how I thought he would be. He’s the most popular guy at school and all the girls moon after him, however, he wasn’t arrogant in the least bit and I loved how hard he tries to help Valentine fit in and make her feel comfortable. He’s pretty swoon-worthy!

There are many side characters that get a lot of page time as well, I liked how in depth some of their roles were in the story. Especially where you weren’t expecting it!

Romance

Another thing I briefly mentioned, the romance. “Girl at the Grave” is a little more focused on romance than murder and mystery, which most of the time would bother me to no end. However, I could not help but be invested in the story regardless! There IS a love triangle in this book between Valentine, Sam her childhood friend, and Rowan the popular guy. This is one of the few exceptions I’ve made for the love triangle trope, I can handle one if I feel both love interests are genuinely fitting for the main character. Boy, oh boy, were these two fitting for Valentine! I couldn’t make up my mind half the time about which boy she should choose, it was madness! They were both so wonderful!

Although one thing I didn’t like was how Valentine kind of “settled” for Sam at one point, that’s just not fair to either party but especially him. I also didn’t really like how pushy Sam could be at times, let her decide in her own time!

In Conclusion

What I Loved:

Some nice, surprising plot twists
Evenly paced
Held my attention throughout very well
The writing was very good
Feminist plot elements
Everything flowed nicely
Characters were well developed and realistic
Love triangle that I didn’t mind
Love interests that were actually swoon-worthy!

What I Didn’t Love:

Plot focused more on the romance than the mystery
Valentine and Sam’s treatment of each other at times throughout

Recommend?

I know that this is more positive than negative and it seems like it should be a 4 or 5 star read but overall I walked away from this book feeling like it’s a 3.5. There wasn’t anything truly remarkable about the story but it was just an enjoyable read. I do recommend this to fans of historical fiction romances with a mystery twist!

Girl at the Grave is the debut novel from author Teri Bailey Black. It is a Gothic tale of murder and romance set to the backdrop of 1850s New England (Feavers Crossing, Connecticut). The story's protagonist is 17 year old Valentine Barron Deluca. Val has spent 11 years trying to outrun her mother's legacy. When she was 6 years old, Isabella Deluca was charged with murdering a man and quickly hung after being found guilty.

Val has been an outcast ever since. Nobody wants to associate with the daughter of a murderer or a girl who is from the poor side of town. Thankfully, a gracious benefactor has seen the light of day and given Val the opportunity to attend the prestigious Drake University which was once an all boys school. Her best friend, Sam Frye, may be the only one who has the worst reputation. His family is a hot mess, and one that truly scares Val.

Living in a small town, residents tend to have long memories. So, when a string of new murderers occurs, all signs point to the daughter of a murderer. Only one person believes Valentine is innocent and that would be Rowan Blackshaw, the son of the man her mother killed all those years ago. Val vows to find the real killer. But, when a her father, and a girl she is friends with go missing, she uncovers the horrifying truth; her mother may have been innocent. She must choose to face her own dark secrets, even if it means losing Rowan in the end.

Feaver's Crossing is a town filled with secrets. Some of them bubble to the surface as Val struggles to keep her self from unraveling and ending up like her mother. There are more than a few characters who have such an obvious hatred and agenda when it comes to ruining Val's life. I like Val a whole lot because she has to deal with not only unseen threats, insurmountable roadblocks, and those hostile towards her. Val doesn't always make the best choices, but she wants to find the truth and do what is right.

Girl at the Grave doesn't have any ghosts or scenes I would describe as horror filled. I have no hesitation in putting this story into the category of mystery. The author does a brilliant job of letting the reader guess who the real killer is while also adding a few shocking surprises. The bad news is that the story turns into another twisted love triangle which I absolutely loathe. Val is friends with Sam, but Sam wants more. Meanwhile, Rowan ends up being the person she needs at the right time. I love that Val could have been like everyone else and ignored the town's outcast. She tried her best to do what's right for her while maintaining her status as an honor student at Drake.

Overall, a pretty good story for a debut author. Will be interested in seeing what the author comes up with next.

I was given this ARC by the publisher in return for an honest review.
I have to start out by saying I couldn’t read this story during my commute, because I got so invested in it that one time I only made it home through sheer muscle memory. At one point I found myself on a bus and only hoped it went to my destination.
What a journey this story was! If I remember correctly, one of my favourite authors wrote a review on <i>Girl at the Grave</i> and I immediately had to read it. I was so ready to plunge in head first that I didn’t even read the year that was announced at the beginning of the first chapter.
The characters, all of them, but especially the protagonist, were so richly imagined and created that I constantly imagined sitting/standing right next to them. The protagonist, in particular, was great to follow on this mysterious endeavour. I felt with her and for her. She felt real and it was easy to like her.
The plot was intriguing to say the least and it is all I can really say without unintentionally giving anything away, but small towns and murders always have excellent potential to make for great stories, which was certainly accomplished with this one.
The writing was bewitching. As I mentioned above, I was incapable of doing anything else until I had finished it.
Overall, even though this is a story about a 17-year-old young woman, it felt less like a young adult novel and more like a murder mystery with a slightly gothic touch. It was a great, engaging and quick read that satisfied my desire for a perfect read to be part of my vacation reading list.

I was definitely expecting more witches in this book! It's not magical at all, just a straightforward historical YA with some murdery elements and a whole lot of love triangle.

Valentine, the main character, is an outcast in her small town - but despite that, two extremely attractive boys are completely in love with her unruly (read: gorgeous) curly hair and stubborn personality (read: not like other girls). Despite the narrative being in first person, I didn't really ever get a feel for Valentine's personality beyond the fact that she resents all the townsfolk for believing that her mother is a murderer. She doesn't appear to have any human feelings - even though the author was keen to show how kind she was to the even-more-outcast Birdy by teaching her to read, she seems completely unfussed when Birdy goes missing. Also, there is some question over the identity of Valentine's biological father, and as soon as doubt is cast, she seems to stop caring completely about the man that brought her up, even though nothing in the story indicates he was anything less than loving and hard-working.

I couldn't bring myself to see anything good in Sam, the first of Valentine's suitors. His father and brothers all bully her (and others), and Sam's response is less than lacklustre. He assumes they will marry, and basically seems like he expects her love simply because he doesn't punch her. Rowan was okay, but a bit of a cookie cutter fanciable boy - dreamy, artistic (he draws pictures of her when she isn't looking!), rich but not a snob. Both boys could have been better fleshed out. To be honest, this wouldn't have mattered at all if the love triangle were a subplot, but it takes up far more of the book than the murder mystery. I did like that the author showed a third option in the love triangle, and had Valentine pick something that wasn't simply Boy A or Boy B.

The murder mystery I would have found a little more interesting, except that nothing happens beyond a few people dying, and then towards the end the culprit is revealed out of nowhere. And I mean, this character had appeared only a few times in the whole book and wasn't remotely related to anything that had gone before. I didn't guess who it was because there were no hints. There weren't even really any red herrings - just two characters wildly accusing each other and then BAM! It was a third person all along.

I don't think that this plot served these characters well. Had this maybe been the paranormal read I thought it was going to be, then I probably would have liked it more, but overall, the word I keep coming back to is lacklustre. Fans of historical slice-of-life YA will like this so much more than those expecting a suspenseful, Gothic read.

This novel is an awesome murder mystery!

For one, the setting had that old-timey, gothic feel. Going into this book, I thought it would have more of the ghost/paranormal aspect to the story, but in reality, this book is all about the murder!

The characters were well written in that there was a variety of personalities in the dialogue. I really enjoyed how this book incorporated not only a main character that is 'inferior' to the community and constantly shamed on due to her family's history but there is also another friend who is the town's outcast. This particular character is in the 'special needs' category, and since this book is set in the mid-1800s, we get to read that viewpoint. It was interesting to be able to walk threw their friendship.

This books definitely surrounds the economical hierarchy and how each social class viewed the world differently from each other and how scandals can make or break a reputation. I felt a lot of empathy for these characters.

Now, back to the murder part.

The way this book is written will not give you a clue to who is behind it all. Which meant the ending for me was a complete surprise, I wouldn't have guessed it. There are a ton of plot-bombs that bring the suspense up.

I do have to say that the only downside to this story is that there is a love triangle. Towards the middle of the book, it begins to drive the characters, but I was surprised in the choices the main character enacts for herself. She definitely sticks to her inner battles and doesn't let the relationships cloud her judgment.. that much.

I gave this book a 4 out of 5 stars. I highly enjoyed the story and quickly found myself flying through it. The plot is constantly on the move, and I really enjoyed reading all the intricate details in just how deep her family history goes.

I give the main character a lot of props for what she went through in this book! I highly recommend this read for those who love a really good murder mystery novel!

3.5 Stars

Girl at the Grave is a murder-mystery combined with historical fiction that has plenty of intrigue, angst, and Gothic elements that kept me engaged throughout most of the book. I enjoyed the atmospheric writing and environment that the author created for this.

The main character, Valentine Deluca is a clever and thoughtful protagonist seeking justice for those who are innocent including herself. She is has so much agency in this and I appreciated seeing that in a historical fiction where most female characters don't get written that way. I mostly enjoyed this because of her, even when she made mistakes.

The author nailed the small town life perfectly, and the way the history of the citizens of Feavers Crossing was intertwined within the narrative.

The love triangle and the romance, which took over a better part of the story, took away from the suspense and build-up of the murder-mystery elements for me. One of the love interests, I felt lacked development and I just didn't have enough. Sometimes I felt the story was more concerned with the romance than the actual murder mystery, which was pretty disappointing. But I did find the main love interest to be likeable.

There's many layers and surprises to this one that I think is worth checking out if you're interested in reading a historical murder mystery that has more romance on the side. I'm definitely going to be interested in more by this author.

4.5 stars

Girl at the Grave by Teri Bailey Black was one of my most anticipated reads for this summer and I’m so happy I had the opportunity to get my hands on a review copy. This book is the perfect mix of historical and Gothic mystery that I didn’t want to put it down from the moment I turned to the first page. No spoilers here because I don’t want to ruin this story for anyone so apologies in advance if anything sounds vague.

Valentine Deluca is the main character and her family is central to the story. See, years ago, her mother was hanged for murder and since then, Valentine has been a bit of an outcast in her town, Fevers Crossing because the man her mother murdered was the son of the most prominent family, the Blackshaws. In addition to that, her father isn’t around too much due to his job.

As the story begins, we find out that Valentine has had a mysterious benefactor pay her way through school at the most prestigious school in the area, Drake Academy. Valentine has worked hard but because of her past, hasn’t made many friends. It just happens to be the same school that Rowan Blackshaw, the son of the man Valentine’s mother killed, goes to as well. When Valentine is finally recognized for her hard work, things begin to change for her. She can’t just hide in the shadows and this prompts some changes in her normal day to day life.

I really liked Valentine. She is kind and like a normal teenager, doesn’t have everything figured out. Unfortunately for her, some pretty heavy things have happened in her family and now that she is pretty much on her own, she is determined to find out what exactly happened to put her mother in a position to kill someone. As Valentine digs into everything, she finds out a lot of unexpected things. Not only with her parents but also with some of the other families in Fevers Crossing.

I liked the friendship that Valentine had with Sam. He has been her rock for a long time and while he doesn’t come from the best family in town, he is there for her when she needs him. I could sense Sam’s frustration with Valentine putting him off all the time and definitely didn’t love the way he responded to her hesitation – especially when he realized he wasn’t going to be the one. With that said, I also didn’t like that Valentine basically looked to settle (in my opinion) with Sam at one point. It wasn’t fair to him and I’m glad she came to her senses.

The romance portion of this story revolves around the one boy that Valentine never would have thought to consider, Rowan Blackshaw. Rowan is the popular guy at school and comes from the richest family in town but somehow Valentine has caught his attention and as the story progresses, we learn more about him and his life with his grandmother. I loved seeing a different side to him than what I originally thought he would be and I can understand why Valentine falls for him because he’s pretty swoony.

One of the other great things about this book is the setting of the story. This takes place in 1849 and in Connecticut and it’s the small town feel of Fevers Crossing that helped to make the family histories impactful. I had this feeling that it was a “everyone knows everyone else’s business” type of situation…or at least they thought they did. I’ll admit the mystery part of the story had me guessing until the very end and I love that!

That’s it! I can’t say anything more as I don’t want to give away anything. Just know that I really enjoyed this book and it kept me turning the pages. There is mystery, romance, and a bit of danger here so if you are looking for something to read that ticks all those boxes, check this one out. I will definitely be checking out whatever is next for Teri Bailey Black and can’t wait until I have a finished copy of this on my shelves.