I am begging Harper to give this book a new cover when the PB gets released. This cover is one of the worst I've seen in modern years and it does not do the book justice.

On to the book itself, I had a good time with this one. It's fast paced, an interesting take on time loops, and a fresh approach to generational trauma. That said, I was a little confused by some of the more minor details. For example, we're told a character is trans and it's implied that their parents know, but then later another character is accused of outing the trans character to their parent when it's already been implied that the parents know? Little things like that bogged me down and left me a little perplexed at the end. However, these are things that could be caught and changed before a final copy and I would still recommend this one.

This book is definitely targeted for YA that gives voice to trans, queer, gay, and non-binary youth. The premise is that four students are at an exclusive all female private school that has a secret society called The Lilies, named after a character who disappeared two generations before these four. They find themselves trapped in a closet that takes them through a journey of self discovery to reckon with the wrongs that they have caused as they relive their memories. The story itself is interesting, and I may recommend this to students who are looking for books with different perspectives. While I understand the metaphors used throughout, the story was almost a parable in a context with the Skull and Boned vibe that wasn't my cup of tea.

Honestly, I went into this thinking "dark academia, secret society, and secrets," and it delivered on that, but it was poorly to me.
So I liked the premise of this book: disappearances, time loops, mystery...what's not to like?
But there was stuff I didn't like. I didn't like that the book was confusing: I didn't know when it was past, present, or time loop since each chapter had multiple timelines in each. I also didn't like the actual mystery. It fell flat to me.

"The Lilies" was an enjoyable read with a really cool premise. If you like reading fast-paced YA Mystery Thrillers I think this book is worth looking into.

The cover is what initially caught my eye but I really liked the idea of Dark Academia setting with a time loop. The potential for this storyline was really intriguing and overall I think the author did a pretty good job.

Thank you to Quinn Diacon-Furtado , Net Galley and Harper Collins Children's Books- Harper Teen for providing me with an ARC of this book.

strong work, tho ofc it does have its flaws. still it's a cool dark acadamia thriller that's utterly queer. thanks for the arc

Thank you to Harper Collins for my arc


Hi Hello this was the dark academia queer book of my dreams. I could not put this down. I loved the female friendships, I loved all of the characters, i felt so seen in this book. Where was this book when I was a teenager?