Review Detail

GRAVE THINGS LIKE LOVE is an intriguing paranormal story about family, friendship, and priorities. Elaine lives with her family in the funeral home their family has owned for generations. This means that as needed, she also helps her family with services and other small tasks for funerals. While it seems to be assumed that she will take over the business when she is old enough, Elaine dreams of seeing what else is out there and exploring the world beyond funerals.

Elaine has a close group of friends, particularly her BFF Miles, with whom she shares a deep love of fandom for the show Dragonfly. Then, a new boy arrives in town, Xander. Xander is very attractive and seems interested in Elaine - though maybe it is just because of the rumors that the funeral home is haunted. Xander is making a name for himself online as a ghost hunter. As Elaine spends time with him and lets him investigate her home, she begins to realize that maybe someone is there with her as well - the daughter of the funeral home's original owner who begins to seem like a kindred spirit.

What I loved: This was a unique setting but with themes that YA readers will appreciate. Elaine is really beginning to define herself and differentiate herself from her family, deciding what she wants, even when it does not match up with her parents' expectations for her. She is also deciding who/how she wants to be, and Xander really provides her with motive to step away from what is expected and explore the new. Elaine definitely makes mistakes, but she is learning from them and finding new paths going forward.

Elaine's family were also great characters, who, although they had their flaws, were always there for each other. Her parents are also figuring things out as they go and consider their business, the potential rival that is flashy and taking away customers, and trying to do right by their daughters. In addition to conflicts with family, Elaine also begins to stretch her friendships and really explore what makes a good friend and the ways in which she and friends could do better. She is learning about what her priorities are and balancing what she wants with responsibilities.

What left me wanting more: The romance felt flat in one case and a bit rushed in the other. It did not have quite the pull that was expected based on the premise. Xander also felt really random in a lot of ways, and it was hard to really understand the how/why in terms of how people bent over backwards for him when he was so new as well as the why for some of the rumors. The romance with Miles (as hinted in the synopsis) had a lot of potential, but it would have been great to address the way he threw her away when she did not return the romantic feelings. It was not clear that she was feeling those things, and does not speak well for his friendship if he was so ready to cast her aside, but this felt age-appropriate, although it would have been great if they could have addressed/discussed this together to fully buy into the relationship. It felt like maybe she just wanted her BFF back, and that was her only way to do it, especially as it came at a time when she needed support. The paranormal elements were also very limited and did not have quite clear enough messaging, so they felt a bit superfluous.

Final verdict: Overall, GRAVE THINGS LIKE LOVE was an interesting YA contemporary with a hint of the paranormal about priorities, responsibilities, and relationships.