Girl at the Grave by Teri Bailey Black {review}

Girl at the Grave
by Teri Bailey Black
♦publisher: Tor Teen
♦release date: August 7th, 2018
♦hardcover, 336 pages
♦intended audience: Young adults
♦source: from publisher for review consideration

Valentine has spent years trying to outrun her mother's legacy. But small towns have long memories, and when a new string of murders occurs, all signs point to the daughter of a murderer.

Only one person believes Valentine is innocent—Rowan Blackshaw, the son of the man her mother killed all those years ago. Valentine vows to find the real killer, but when she finally uncovers the horrifying truth, she must choose to face her own dark secrets, even if it means losing Rowan in the end. 

{Becky's Thoughts}

I found myself in a complicated relationship with this book.  I've not sure I've ever disliked so many of the characters, including the protagonist, disliked the way the mystery unfolded with so many theories being thrown out there and then disproved, felt kind of 'meh' about the romance,...and yet still found myself completely absorbed and having to find out just how it would end!

This was not at all the creepy, ghostly tale I was expecting.  It was 100% gloomy Victorian murder mystery---which didn't bother me at all! Valentine is a bit of an outcast in her small town, shut out by her peers because of her family's dark history. That history, plagued by mysterious fires and a mother accused a murder, Valentine seems to have long since resigned to her status. She has only her father who is often traveling and Sam, her best friend from another poor family with a bad reputation. When the local priest reveals that he knows her mother was innocent and then winds up dead, Valentine finds herself in the middle of a dangerous murder mystery and her world unravels.

When Rowan, one of her schoolmates from one of the wealthiest families in town AND the son of the man her mother was accused of murdering, suddenly takes an interest in her, she starts to feel like she belongs for the first time. It's all very Pretty in Pink for the 1800s (I may be aging myself with the reference, but it definitely fits). For those of you with an aversion to the love triangle, you're going to have a field day with this. Valentine becomes the ultimate waffler when it comes to romance, and even for someone like me who really doesn't hate triangles, it can get frustrating. Her reasoning just wasn't sound- not in romance, and not in her actions regarding clearing her mother's name.

Still, it was an interesting and twisty plot---some of it predictable, others not so much (the two major plot twist actually had me gasping in surpise!). But it held my attention all the way through, whether it was with awe or aggravation or a good swoony Rowan moment, I ended up enjoying watching this gothic mystery unfold.

{ABOUT THE AUTHOR}

Teri Bailey Black grew up near the beach in southern California in a large, quirky family with no television or junk food, but an abundance of books and art supplies. She’s happiest when she’s creating things, whether it’s with words, fabric, or digging in the garden. She makes an amazing chocolate cherry cake—frequently. She and her husband have four children and live in Orange County, California.

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