title: Grunge Gods and Graveyardsauthor: Kimberly G. Giarratano
published: 1 June 2014
publisher: Red Adept Publishing
genre(s): fantasy, romance, thrillers
pages: 313
source: book tour, publisher
format: eBook
buy/shelve it: Amazon | B&N | BookBub | StoryGraph | Goodreads
rating:
the blurb
Parted by death. Tethered by love.
Lainey Bloom’s high school senior year is a complete disaster. The popular clique, led by mean girl Wynter Woods, bullies her constantly. The principal threatens not to let her graduate with the class of 1997 unless she completes a major research project. And everyone blames her for the death of Wynter’s boyfriend, Danny Obregon.
Danny, a gorgeous musician, stole Lainey’s heart when he stole a kiss at a concert. But a week later, he was run down on a dangerous stretch of road. When he dies in her arms, she fears she’ll never know if he really would have broken up with Wynter to be with her.
Then his ghost shows up, begging her to solve his murder. Horrified by the dismal fate that awaits him if he never crosses over, Lainey seeks the dark truth amidst small town secrets, family strife, and divided loyalties. But every step she takes toward discovering what really happened the night Danny died pulls her further away from the beautiful boy she can never touch again.
my review
I absolutely loved this book! I loved the emotions it stirred. I loved the characters. I loved the 90s music references. I loved the mystery and the intrigue. I loved it all!
Lainey’s character is one that many of us can relate to, I think. She is grieving and sad and lost. Nothing in her life is going as she want it to and she is left floundering. The emotions that her character draws from the reader are often extreme. There were moments that I wanted to cry with her, others when I wanted to cheer for her. There were moments that I was so sad for her and wanted to reach through the Kindle and hug her. There were times when I was so frustrated for her, frustrated with the people around her and the way that she was treated.
All of the characters were wonderful! Some of them were clear villains, the ones we love to hate. Others had stories of their own, those stories often changing how we feel about those characters. I loved that many of the characters had moments of good and bad, never thoroughly slotted in the “ally” role, but given the depth that true humanity has.
The mystery and intrigue was on point and well paced. There were so many twists and turns that took the story in places that I never expected it to go. There was a nice blend of themes between that mystery and intrigue, a little romance, and the emotional struggles that the characters were experiencing.
This is touted as a YA novel, which it is. But I think that the music references are some that will truly appreciated by those of us that were young in that era. It was fantastic!
Things to love…
- Well developed characters. By the end of the book, I felt like I knew the characters!
- The mystery. It is a well paced mystery with lots of surprises.
- The music references. I loved the 90’s references and chapter titles.
If you love a great mystery with some real emotional pull, this is the book for you!
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Thanks for the review!!