This is 100% my fault, but for some reason I thought this was gonna be a paranormal romance. It wasn't and that made me sad, but is no fault of the books. That being said, nothing about this book really blew me away. The romance was lackluster, and the paranormal element barely existed.

As much as I enjoyed reading this book, there were some aspects that I was just not a fan of. I honestly expected a bit more paranormal aspects in the book, but other than that, it was a good read.

I really wanted to like this one, but I couldn't connect with the first chapter. The book just wasn't for me. Thank you for giving me the chance to read this.

In this coming of age novel, Elaine lives in a funeral home that has been in her family for generations. As the older sister, she’s expected to help out at the home when her parents need it. At school, she’s known as funeral girl and doesn’t have many friends. The friends she does have, she clings to. When a new, bad boy moves to town, he shows interest in Elaine. She’s flattered and interested but her friends and family insist he is bad news. When he suggests that there is a ghost in Elaine’s house, she can’t keep herself away from him.
Opinion
This is a typical teenage girl is maturing novel. However, the ghost possibility throws the typical plot for a loop. There are a multitude of subplots that keep the story rolling with fun and interest. All of Elaine’s relationships are suffering and as I read this, I couldn’t help but pity her for her situation. At one point, I couldn’t see a way out for her but Wealer does a great job with the resolution.
This book is perfect for young adult, romance, and paranormal readers.
Many thanks to Net Galley and Random House Children’s for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I remember when I read Sara Bennett Wealer's first book, Now and When. It was in the height of COVID and the story of being able to change parts of your life and watch how two people who were academic rivals turn into lovers was truly was one of my favorites and I still remember Truman (even if at points, I wanted to slap him!) Now, as I head into Grave Things like Love with a smile because I know it's bound to be good.


And it definitely does hit some spots. It's more of a spooky read perfect for this month, and if anyone watched HBO's Six Feet Under, which, yes, is a bit of an older show from the 2000's, I get huge vibes from this show (I myself haven't started season 3, but it is GREAT for the morbid humor!).


Short Summary: Lainey, the resident "Funeral girl" deals with the ins and outs of life and death while dealing with high school, two boys that drive her crazy and a ghost that's haunting her house. Nothing weird here, just the usual, right?


Longer Summary? Elaine's parents run a funeral house that's been in the family since the 1800's and while she is used to being called the "funeral girl", is it possible to be seen more as just a title? When new boy in town, Xander arrives, the sparks between them are nearly immediate. But, there's also Miles. Miles, her best friend, the guy that knows her better than anyone and it should be easy to just bury your heart in a grave. But, when there's a ghost that appears to roam her house after doing a seance, is it better to listen to the voices of the past, or to live life in the present?


After all, you only live once.


I enjoyed this one (not just because a funeral home is quite the setting for high school romances to play out, but because the morbid humor makes this all the better) and while the ghost is part of the book, it is not hugely relying on the paranormal. A lot of this book is focused on the love triangle as Elaine goes through her very demanding life.


I understand Elaine, and I like this a lot because I could relate to her a lot more than I did with Wealer's first book Skyler, who did have some annoying things that drove me crazy. Her parents who want her to help with everything, dealing with the chaos of life and with trying to not fit into the stereotypes, it was all beautifully written and while I am not a huge reader of ghost stories, this one was well done.


Overall: 5/5 stars

This was a story of glossing over things to make them work. I wished that the story would have been a full on paranormal thriller but the story just doesn't take that route. It really left me wanting more from what the premise stated it was supposed to be.

I don't normally read these types of books but this was recommended to me and I'm glad that I did read it. I enjoyed it! The cover artwork reminded me of YA books in the 2000s. Some parts were tough to get through, but others the writing really shined through.

This was an interesting paranormal YA novel! Overall, I would definitely recommend!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

good book and really enjoyed the characters and their journey. I liked the romance.. I enjoyed how the characters grew in the book and what happened.

Book: GRAVE THINGS LIKE LOVE
Author: Sara Bennet Wealer
Rating: 🪦🪦🪦/5

I enjoyed GRAVE THINGS LIKE LOVE by Sara Bennet Wealer, as it was a sweet coming of ago story about a teenage girl, that was yet believable and rife with conflict. However, I felt that it didn't keep its promise about being a supernatural thriller, or a supernatural romance? Maybe a supernatural domestic romantic coming of age drama.

Wealer introduces early the story element involving ghost-hunting in Elaine, the fmc's, family home, a very old mortuary. This element does its best work as a bone of contention between the fmc and her love interest, Xander. It generates loads of conflict, which helps keep the story moving. But it is no source of scares, at least not for the reader.

The plot shifts away from this storyline often and for long periods. Elaine is a teenager-- she has better things to think about than stale old non-ghosts that probably aren't actually haunting her house... until the ending of the book, which Wealer wraps up with a large and glossy bow, maybe a littke too neatly, considering the character and story development throughout the book.

Thank you NetGalley, Sara Bennet Wealer, and Delacorte Press for letting me read a digital copy of this book.

Rating 3.5🪦
Read this if you like:
🙍‍♀️ Coming of age tales
👨‍👩‍👦 Family drama
👩‍❤️‍👨 Young romance
🦸‍♀️ Cosplay
👫 Best friend drama
🪦 Gothic atmosphere
🏫 Highschool

I was really excited for this paranormal romance. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this one. The characters lacked depth. I found them pretty flat. I was not a fan of the love triangle. The paranormal aspects of this book were so lackluster that I almost missed them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC, but this book wasn't for me.

I really liked this book. Although I liked the ghost plot line more than the romance plot it was still really fun to read. It was really easy to read and had just enough detail of the plot that you wasn’t questioning anything and you wasn’t bored either. I would like to know more about Flossie and the main characters future.

Grave Things Like Love is a cute YA paranormal romance. Personally, I was not a fan of a lot of the characters and hated the way the parents relied on a child so much for most of the book. However, towards the end I enjoyed the character growth.

I would say this book leans more on romance, friendship & responsibilities than paranormal but there was a bit of that thrown in there. The paranormal part seemed more as a filler, than a part of the main plot of main character growth.

Overall, I enjoyed this book but was fairly frustrated with the characters and how long it took for the FMC to realize what she “wants”.

It deeply annoyed me how often Elaine made terrible decisions, and just allowed others to pay the price. When she finally does experience consequences, it is both satisfying but also upsetting at the same time, as we understand how she gets herself into this situation. She feels pressure to always be "on", to be perfect for the small town funeral home life she's been born into. Her dad is a bit much, in terms of expectations. And it feels like neither of them want to have the conversations they need to have. And while I think a lot of the problems are solved nicely in the end, it's one of those frustrating books where people don't communicate.

I thought this book was cute and a nice simple read. but it had more potential that it didn't quite live up to. The summary seemed really interesting; a girl living in a funeral home juggling boys and ghosts, but the paranormal aspect lacked a bit. The scenes that were ghosty were really interesting but the paranormal storyline felt unfinished and out of place in the grand scheme of things. The overall story seemed interesting, but the ending seemed rushed because all of a sudden Elaine went from having almost no one close to her anymore to having everyone again in almost no time. She had finally started to realize that she wasn't being treated fairly and then all of a sudden everything was fine again and then the book ended. For me, the ending really overshadowed the whole book and messed with my thoughts on it. On the other hand though, while this book wasn't quite for me, I think the book was simple and interesting, and if you're looking for an easy mildly spooky YA book, this might be it for you, so give it a shot!

Elaine's family has owned a funeral home for decades. Xander is a new boy in town that is interested in the supernatural that Elaine instantly feels instant connection with. After the two of them stage a seance, Elaine discovers that her house is haunted. I really enjoyed this book and think that its perfect for spooky season.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC to review!

A fun, angsty, paranormal teen romance? Sign me up.
The setting of this is *chef's kiss*. A family that runs a funeral home (and lives upstairs of the business) with rumors of the house being haunted + a new (bad) boy who takes an interest in our main character, Elaine? But things get complicated when everything seems to fall apart around her each day, from the family business to her own future and friendships.

This was such an enjoyable read, though it has one of my least favorite tropes (love triangle, especially when one of them is literally PERFECT and the other is just ???). It's perfect for this time of year with Halloween and ghosts. However, I wish the ghost story was a bit more fleshed out because we could've done some COOL stuff with it.

Elaine was a relatable MC due to her anxiety and inability to speak up for herself. I really enjoyed being in her head because it felt comfortable for me. Her friends, though? Hello? I suppose high school friendships can often be surface-level, but they were downright horrible sometimes.

Honestly, it lost a star for me because I think it was about 60 pages too long, and I wanted a little bit more focus on the paranormal stuff. If I was 16 or 17 I probably would've Eaten. This. Up. and made it my entire personality.

If you read a lot of YA/YA Romance and are looking for something fun for the season, this is definitely a good contender for you!

This book was a little *too* YA for me. I enjoy reading YA but after reading this book I realized that a lot of the YA I read is more for an adult audience. This was truly a YA novel for teens, with all of the age-appropriate angst, bad choices, and miscommunications. I didn’t feel like there was enough conflict driving the plot other than teenage misunderstandings. I read it quickly but didn’t feel very engaged with it.

I won’t be sharing this review elsewhere as I choose to only share 4 and 5 star reviews of ARCs. Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.

YA paranormal thriller novels are really my go to during the Halloween Fall season. Add in a funeral home setting and you got yourself one helleuva a time. However, the older I get the less patience I have for love triangles especially when I don't think either of the love interests are worthy of the heroine. Putting that aside, this was a fun, quick read that kept me engaged and entertained.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's/Delacorte PressDelacorte Press for providing an eARC for my honest review.

I've never really thought about the people who live in mortuaries until I read this book. I liked how the author used this setting to bring the past and present together to show how things sometimes don't really change over time. Parental expectations of who you are and who you can be can be hard to push back against, especially when you haven't figured it out for yourself yet.
I really liked the appreciation Elaine had for her parent's business while still resenting it. It was well balanced.
The behind the scenes glimpse of a funeral home was very interesting.
Enjoy!