Pretty Girls Make Graves

by Steffanie Holmes

[glowstars]

"Nothing shatters the magic of my first day at Blackfriars University quite like a naked priest swimming backstroke in the water fountain." ~ George

You know a book is going to be a fun read when it gives you a first line like that. Way to suck me in and get the curiosity going. In fact, Steffanie Holmes managed to make me as inquisitive as her protagonist, George.

George is a quirky but absolutely lovable character. She’s the sort of person I would’ve hung out with (decades ago, when I was that age). She could have easily gotten into Blackfriars and done her best to blend in, but instead stays true to herself and her individual style. She has attitude, even if it sometimes wavers under the weight of her past. I loved her inner dialogue where she keeps correcting her American dialect into British English, and the way she adapts Leigh’s northern slang. I really appreciated the down to earth and realistic use of common English – it made me feel at home.