Elaine lives at a funeral home, a business that has been in her family for generations. When Xander, a cute boy who also moonlights as a ghost hunter, helps her investigate her haunted house. But then Elaine has to juggle her new feelings for her best friend Miles. This book has a unique premise that capitalized on an atmospheric setting. Elaine is a protagonist we certainly can root for.

This story was Interesting with its approach on the topics a hand. There was a lot of mental health discussions it shows how relationships change and shift and how to navigate that. As well as family pressure and expectations and not being able to say no. I loved all the themes woven into the book, but the overall plot was fine. I would still recommend this book to students if they liked supernatural but I wouldn’t necessarily keep it in my classroom.

Thank you for the chance to read this ARC. What an incredible story. Very reminiscent of reading Nancy Drew, where you enjoy the characters and the plot. I enjoyed Elaine and her family. I also got a bit miffed with the father at times, but then again, so did Elaine it helped with the bonding experience with the character. I love that this was a light romance (not overly fluffy or sultry) with a paranormal story.

I loved the description of this book. The book itself did not live up to the description. I was really hoping that there would be more supernatural content in this book, yet the ghost barely exists. If you blink you will miss her. Elaine’s love triangle is uninspiring. You know she is not going to end up with Xander. If she did then this book would have been even worse than it already was. So, thank you for not allowing that to happen. Overall, this book was just boring. Elaine was an okay character. I am glad that she was able to finally find her voice and speak up on what she wants to do with her life. I am also glad that she realized that just because Xander is handsome and mysterious, that doesn’t mean that he is the right person for her. I did enjoy the fact that Elaine took matters in her own hands and started a show embracing her nicknames and showing the community what it really means to be the daughter of a mortician. Yet that small highlight didn’t really make up for the rest of the book. I just wanted more out of this book.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Grave Things Like Love centers around Elaine "Lainey" Gillies, highschooler and so-called "funeral-girl". As the eldest child, she's presumed to be the heir to the family funeral home business she's been helping out with her whole life. Between the family pressure, school, friends, and everything else going on in her life, Lainey isn't sure that's what she wants. Oh yeah, and her family's funeral home might be haunted.

I quite enjoyed the portrayal of Elaine in the book, mostly for the accurate characterization of anxiety as well as the realistic actions of a teenager under huge amounts of pressure by her family and coping with outside stressors.

My main complaint is that I wish the book would have leaned a bit more into the paranormal element. There were places where some more suspense could have easily been added with subtle paranormal details. While the paranormal happenings did serve several purposes throughout the book, I feel like it was a bit too light-handed of an approach.

While the book is a paranormal romance, the story centers largely on the everyday interactions of Lainey, her family, and her friends. If you go in expecting just a light touch of some ghostly experiences, you might have a better time with this book.
Also for any horror wimps out there, this book is perfect for you (no huge scares I promise). That said, if you're looking for a horror novel, this might not be a food fit. There is some really scary YA out there, but this isn't it.

Crossposted to goodreads at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4991190690

Grave Things Like Love is just the right balance between a teenager navigating her way through a complicated life and spooky vibes. A Six Feet Under for a teen audience, I recommend this book for collections where paranormal books are at the top of the checkout list.

Elaine and her best friend Miles were my favorite characters in this book, Elaines other friends were kind of jerks throughout the story, and while I could see the reasoning behind some of their behaviors, overall I didn't really like them.
Xander was an interesting character, at first he seems like someone that was really cool, that I would want to be friends with, then he kind of went off the rails with his paranormal obsession. I mean I love all things spooky, and would love to investigate a genuine haunted house, but Xanders decisions really made me dislike him by the end.
I really liked Elaine, at first she is all about doing everything she possibly can to help her parents and their business, even so far as to leave things shes already doing with her friends. Her father especially seems to have Elaines whole future planned out for her, but Elaine doesn't know what she wants, and the expectations they are putting on her has her questioning who she is.. If she doens't want to take over the funeral home does that mean that it will close? she doesn't want to be responsible for that... I think that most of all is what fuels alot of her decisions. But as we get further into the story Elaine comes to realize it all doesn't have to fall on her shoulders alone, other people do want to be apart of the business, and her parents can do somethings without her. Her mom and little sister definitely won me over towards the end.
My favorite parts were the actual paranormal investigations, when Elaine went to the convention for her favorite show, and the ending. The only thing I would have like more would be if there were more paranormal stuff going on.

I would love to find something good to say about this book but I really can’t. The anxiety representation was realistic but everything else was a let down. The plot was all over the place, the romance was boring, and all of the characters were terrible. Again, I really hate to dislike it this much because I’m sure the author put a lot of time and effort into it but I would not recommend this book.

A girl who works in a funeral home finds herself having to decide between the new boy in town who is obsessed with ghost hunting and one of her oldest friends, on top of that she has to deal with the fact that her parents constantly need her help with the funeral home and that her home might actually be haunted. Elaine’s family owns a funeral home, it’s been her family’s business since the 1800s and its definitely the reason why everyone calls her Funeral Girl. Yet with the constant pressure and need to help her parents with the home, Elaine dreams about being freed and about getting out. It doesn’t help that her dad is pressuring her to take over the family business and that she can’t stand to disappoint her parents, to the point where she is constantly canceling plans with her friends. When a cute new boy named Xander comes into town, he is obsessed with ghost hunting and reels Elaine into joining him. He is especially interested since her own home has its own ghost... All the while Elaine’s best friend Miles, has started dropping hints he wants more. Stuck between deciding which boy is right for her and how to set boundaries with her parents and go after what she wants for her future, Elaine will have to deal with a lot of decisions and seeing if she has the courage to finally make up her mind and make some decisions for herself. This book was definitely not what I thought it was going to be, I was expecting more ghosts and paranormal aspects but what was the main focus of the story was the love triangle ( which I already didn’t enjoy) and Elaine struggling to say no to her parents. I wad so intrigued by the premise but the actual story itself felt anticlimactic and a bit lacking for me. I didn’t really enjoy any of the romance because it barely felt there at all and the love triangle was eh, I was hoping it would be stronger or more fleshed out since it was one of the main points of the story but it really wasn’t. This felt more like a coming of age story about a girl who works at a funeral home rather than a fun romance with paranormal elements, it definitely felt very juvenile and I guess just overall eh.

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel! 3.5/5 stars.

I loved the premise of this and the author is a Kansan, so I was double excited to see what this consisted of. Tied in with a morbid curiosity toward the deceased and the urge for spooky reads, I was hooked. Elaine is an anxious character, and I appreciated how anxiety was portrayed in this novel as well but…her choices demonstrated clear spiraling out of control and nobody noticed? I think that was the one aspect of the story I didn’t appreciate, and I didn’t like how much of the plot it was. I also was expecting more ghost hunting, but I’m also glad it didn’t end up as the focus?

Overall, this was still good. The ending had me going AWWWWWW because of how things were resolved and I’m curious what happens next with the characters. It’s a quick read and just enough spooky to start the fall spooky season with. Plus, you know, how often do you read ya books set in funeral homes?

Book: Grave Things Like Love
Author: Sara Bennett Wealer
Publisher: Random House Children’s ~ Delacorte Press
Genre: Teen/YA, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Romance
Pub Date: October 12, 2022
My Rating: 3.4 Stars

Elaine is a teenager whose family owns the Gillies Funeral Home in a small Midwestern town. Her family is expecting her to take over the family business as Elaine puts it ~ she is on the mortuary school train unless she can find a way of getting off!
She really isn’t sure that is what she wants to do. Currently she is busy being a teenager including being obsessed with a TV show.
Elaine has the believe Flossie is going to help!
WAIT! Who is Flossie? It appears Elaine’s great-great-grandfather had a sister Florence and they called her Flossie. Hmm ~ is she haunting the funeral home?

I know I am not the target audience for this story.
I am a high school guidance counselor and enjoy reading YA books so that
I know what my students are reading.: plus I find it helpful in making recommendations.

This story is a bit slow but I believe most of my students would like it!


Want to thank NetGalley and Random House Children’s ~ Delacorte Press for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for October 12, 2022

This was a cute read. I liked following the MCs story and seeing the choices she made. I'm glad she found her worth.

All of her life, Elaine has been the good girl. She has given up many of the things that other juniors in high school get to do because of her parents' business. She is asked to pick up the slack and help out whenever things go wrong, which seems to happen often.

Elaine's parents run the local funeral home and Elaine is being groomed to take over just like her dad did before her and his dad did before him. Their home and their business have been in the family for generations and it's expected that Elaine will continue that tradition.

When new guy, Xander, shows up, it's a breath of fresh air for Elaine and a reminder that she might not want to just always do what's expected of her.

When she and her friends accidentally wake up a ghost in her home, things get even more weird...

Final thoughts: While billed as a ghost story, this really isn't one. The ghost seems to only be there to help move the motivation of the main character along rather than do anything on her own. Xander's entrance to the group is a little confusing since he's only just arrived but some people act like they've known him for years. The love triangle goes through all of the typical trope points, which isn't necessarily bad but doesn't breathe any new life into it all.

Rating: 3/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This is a YA paranormal/romance book focusing on Elaine, whose family owns and runs the town’s funeral home. Elaine is a teenager forced to make some big decisions regarding her future - will she take over the family business like her parents seem to want or will she branch out and forge her own path? Mixed in with her regular teenage life are other things that are part of regular teenage life; love triangles, tv show obsessions with friends, breaking the rules, friendship and a little bit of the paranormal.

Pros:
- Elaine’s life and town were really relatable, as someone from a small midwestern town.
- I love a book with a good ghost story! In this book it was the driver for some of the only action that takes place.

Cons:
- This book had a lot of telling and not showing which lead to just a lot of text and details that felt monotonous to read and added no real depth to either the plot or characters.
- Elaine and her best friend’s obsession with a TV show was a great point but there was way too much detail that I honestly skipped over because I wasn’t trying to figure out a whole other cast/characters inside a book. We don’t really need to know all the details to understand how important it is to the characters.

Overall, this book was a little slow but an enjoyable read nonetheless.

*Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children’s Books for providing me with a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

I enjoyed this book a lot. The characters were real and engaging. The struggles to find your own path in a family business and a small town were communicate very realistically and without being sappy. Looking forward to exploring more of The authors books.

It's been a long time since I've read a YA paranormal romance so this one didn't disappoint! I sort of reminded me of a book I read and loved when I was younger so it felt super nostalgic for me! I definitely recommend it!

Reviewed for NetGalley:

Paranormal YA love triangle, between Elaine, who’s family owns the local funeral home, new kid, Xander, and Elaine’s oldest friend, Miles.

I didn’t really like Xander or his plausibility as a teenage ghost hunter. Elaine and Miles
were cute. But overall, it read as a middle school level book, so may have missed the mark for my particular liking.

I thought this book would be a lot more paranormal then it actually was. It focused way too much on the funeral home business instead of the paranormal element or even the relationships. It felt like something would just start to happen and then it would be stopped abruptly to focus on the funeral home again. It was a little bit hard to get through it and I honestly debated dnfing it. The writing is a little bit more juvenile as well and more geared toward a younger YA audience. Overall, it was an okay read. All opinions and views stated in this review are solely my own! Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy of the arc in return for an honest review!

I’m still not 100% sure how I actually feel about this book. But Thank You NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review.

We meet Elaine (Lainey) when she is having to bail on her friends after a parade to help her parents with the family business, a funeral home. In a small town where history matters, Elaine feels the weight of being what everyone needs. Doting daughter, successful big sister, academically sound, and actually present with her friends. That is until the new kid takes notice of her. When they begin to hunt for ghosts her long time best friend begins to get terse and seems apprehensive. But they’re all having fun right?

I really liked how Elaine is a real teenager. You see her wanting to make her parents proud but afraid to tell them that she possibly wants to go a different direction than what they want. But more than that she’s got a growing interest in the new boy in town and thinks he likes her too. Her anxiety about boys, life, and the future and her realistic coping mechanisms felt real and not forced or fake. Her position in her life felt believable.

But ghosts don’t always know the answers. And this slow burn was frustrating to get to, there was so much build up to get into the point where ghosts or any action occurred. Then we get to meet our ghost. I though from the description that the paranormal and romance would be more present than it was which had me struggling to stay interested initially. I can handle a slow burn romance wise but the build up of surface level friendships, and familial relationships was hard to stay invested in.

Overall this was a good read even though it was the slowest burn ever. I wish more of the relationship between her family was fleshed our but honestly overall I did enjoy the last half of this book. This it’s getting a 3.75 for me.

Grave Things Like Love was absolutely enchanting! Wealer wrote a story that was so well written I found myself flying through the pages, unable to put the book down, pondering what would happen next. My favorite piece of this entire story was how believable the characters were.

The writing is clear and clean, and very immersive. The book hums along at a good clip, but the pacing makes sure we're given time to breathe between plot-intensifying moments. The story was absolutely engaging and the work that went into the settings was noticeable and superb. I felt absolutely transported and I'm so incredibly glad I was able to read an arc of this story