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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
This is a really great book! Highly recommend this to YA readers and adults alike. The author does such a great job with the mystery and also the romance. The hero is really a great likeable guy. The romance is a gradual build and for parents concerned about content there are only a few kisses exchanged. The story is very compelling. I could hardly put it down.
The main character Verity returns to her father after having been away for 15 years. She went to live with her aunt after her mother died when she was 2. She comes back engaged to a boy she has written to for 6 months and never met. She accidentally is taken to her mother's grave and is shocked to find it caged along with her aunt's grave. She immediately tries to sort out why her mother's grave is caged and what happened to her. Along with this mystery is a lost treasure and Verity wondering if she has made the right choice to be engaged.
I figured out the mystery fairly early on, but it was interesting to see how everything played out. Hope to read more by this author.
The main character Verity returns to her father after having been away for 15 years. She went to live with her aunt after her mother died when she was 2. She comes back engaged to a boy she has written to for 6 months and never met. She accidentally is taken to her mother's grave and is shocked to find it caged along with her aunt's grave. She immediately tries to sort out why her mother's grave is caged and what happened to her. Along with this mystery is a lost treasure and Verity wondering if she has made the right choice to be engaged.
I figured out the mystery fairly early on, but it was interesting to see how everything played out. Hope to read more by this author.
Originally posted at Beneath the Jacket
THE CAGED GRAVES is a historical mystery based around two real caged graves the author, Dianne Salerni, came across in Catawissa, Pennsylvania. After some research and still not knowing how these caged graves came to be, the author created her own story around them and formed something great.
Verity is a kind and charming character, as well as, a strong heroine: she stands up for what she believes even when others are against her. She won't let anybody deter her from finding out why these two graves that she has personal connections to are covered in cages and sitting outside the church cemetery on unholy ground. And I mean anybody. Father?** Whatever. The man who will be her husband?** Screw him. The attractive doctor's apprentice? Wait. There's an attractive doctor's apprentice? Yes. His name is Hadley Jones. He creates the third corner of a nice little love triangle that actually works with the story and has a purpose. That purpose being related to Verity's character development. Yes, there is also character development, and not just in Verity, but the other characters. This book spoils me. Now I'm going to expect it in everything I read.
The setting of the story is nice and well developed and the prose isn't flowery or over descriptive like one can find in historical novels, but rather simple with an elegant tone. I love the author's writing style. It really fits the feel of the book. As for the mystery, it had me guessing right along with Verity. Maybe I could have caught on sooner, but I was so engrossed in the story that I didn't ever stop to try and figure it out myself. Usually, I have the clues figured out before the character, but in this case, I was having so much fun reading I forgot to try to solve it.
The Caged Graves is a novel with a strong female protagonist and an interesting, well-mixed cast of supporting characters. If you're looking for your next historical novel or a light mystery then check this one out. I also recommend this to fans of A NORTHERN LIGHT.
**These two characters are very supportive of Verity, actually. But if they weren't, she still would have walked right over them.
-A copy was provided by the publisher for a fair review-
THE CAGED GRAVES is a historical mystery based around two real caged graves the author, Dianne Salerni, came across in Catawissa, Pennsylvania. After some research and still not knowing how these caged graves came to be, the author created her own story around them and formed something great.
Verity is a kind and charming character, as well as, a strong heroine: she stands up for what she believes even when others are against her. She won't let anybody deter her from finding out why these two graves that she has personal connections to are covered in cages and sitting outside the church cemetery on unholy ground. And I mean anybody. Father?** Whatever. The man who will be her husband?** Screw him. The attractive doctor's apprentice? Wait. There's an attractive doctor's apprentice? Yes. His name is Hadley Jones. He creates the third corner of a nice little love triangle that actually works with the story and has a purpose. That purpose being related to Verity's character development. Yes, there is also character development, and not just in Verity, but the other characters. This book spoils me. Now I'm going to expect it in everything I read.
The setting of the story is nice and well developed and the prose isn't flowery or over descriptive like one can find in historical novels, but rather simple with an elegant tone. I love the author's writing style. It really fits the feel of the book. As for the mystery, it had me guessing right along with Verity. Maybe I could have caught on sooner, but I was so engrossed in the story that I didn't ever stop to try and figure it out myself. Usually, I have the clues figured out before the character, but in this case, I was having so much fun reading I forgot to try to solve it.
The Caged Graves is a novel with a strong female protagonist and an interesting, well-mixed cast of supporting characters. If you're looking for your next historical novel or a light mystery then check this one out. I also recommend this to fans of A NORTHERN LIGHT.
**These two characters are very supportive of Verity, actually. But if they weren't, she still would have walked right over them.
-A copy was provided by the publisher for a fair review-
medium-paced
Set in the Pennsylvania countryside in 1867, this is the story of Verity who is returning to her home town after being away for fifteen years. After her mother died when she was three, Verity was sent away by her father to be raised by relatives. What awaits her in Catawissa is an arranged marriage, a gossipy town, a lost treasure, and a mystery that includes finding the truth about her mother's caged grave.
Excellent book with beautiful, believable characters. Rich in history, I would recommend this book to people especially teens who like a strong protagonist (without being overwhelming), a great cast of characters, a wonderful love triangle and an overall wonderful story.
Excellent book with beautiful, believable characters. Rich in history, I would recommend this book to people especially teens who like a strong protagonist (without being overwhelming), a great cast of characters, a wonderful love triangle and an overall wonderful story.
I admit to being a little skeptical when I started this book but it turned into a very pleasant surprise.
Seventeen year old Verity Boone returns to the town her father sent her away from age two after her mother's death. She is back to marry Nathanial McClure, scion of the most powerful family in town and a man she has never met.
While out walking together she discovers her mother's and aunt's graves, surrounded by iron cages and outside the churchyard. With a dogged stubbornness I admire she sets out to discover the truth and right a fifteen year old wrong.
The road to justice and marriage are bumpy with a buried treasure, handsome doctor and family curse thrown in but it all meshes beautifully.
I read this in the course of one evening. It's anotherYA book that I highly recommend.
Kristen, you would enjoy this book.
Seventeen year old Verity Boone returns to the town her father sent her away from age two after her mother's death. She is back to marry Nathanial McClure, scion of the most powerful family in town and a man she has never met.
While out walking together she discovers her mother's and aunt's graves, surrounded by iron cages and outside the churchyard. With a dogged stubbornness I admire she sets out to discover the truth and right a fifteen year old wrong.
The road to justice and marriage are bumpy with a buried treasure, handsome doctor and family curse thrown in but it all meshes beautifully.
I read this in the course of one evening. It's anotherYA book that I highly recommend.
Kristen, you would enjoy this book.
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
The main romance was subtle and sweet, the mystery was a little obvious and it was frustrating that Verity wouldn't follow the GIANT CLUE in the diary.
This book was profoundly "meh."
I thought the love triangle was stupid and unnecessary (we don't need a third party for falling in love with partner from an arranged marriage to be interesting) and the plot twist seemed to come out of nowhere. Mostly because I didn't think the characters had been building that way.
This turned about to be a generic mystery with a setting that made it seem like it would be fantastical, but it turned out not to be. It's really a forgettable story, but it's definitely one I would recommend to people looking for easy trash reading.
I've definitely read worse, but I've definitely read better.
I thought the love triangle was stupid and unnecessary (we don't need a third party for falling in love with partner from an arranged marriage to be interesting) and the plot twist seemed to come out of nowhere. Mostly because I didn't think the characters had been building that way.
This turned about to be a generic mystery with a setting that made it seem like it would be fantastical, but it turned out not to be. It's really a forgettable story, but it's definitely one I would recommend to people looking for easy trash reading.
I've definitely read worse, but I've definitely read better.
I thought this book would be fitting for anyone seeking some additional Halloween reading. Dianne K. Salerni is an author I’ve read before with her wonderful Eighth Day series. While that series is categorically middle grade, The Caged Graves is distinctly Young Adult. The story is based off some very real caged graves Salerni came across in Pennsylvania. While the true purpose of these cages has been lost to time, The Caged Graves constructs a fictional history for these cages. In the year 1867, Verity Boone is sent back to her birthplace in Catawissa, Pennsylvania, to be reunited with her long estranged father, and to meet her betrothed, Nathaniel McClure. Once she arrives, all her idyllic dreams of her new life in Catawissa are shattered. Her father is cold and distant, the housekeeper is belligerent, her fiancé Nate is not the man she thought he was, and rumors swirl about her family, particularly her aunt and mother, who are buried in caged graves on unconsecrated grounds. Determined to solve the mystery of the caged graves, Verity discovers her mother’s diaries that tell the story of the events leading up to her sudden death. But there may be more to the story than even the townspeople know, and Verity may risk her life trying to uncover the truth. The Caged Graves is written in the style of 19th century gothic (which is a personal favorite genre of mine) and contains everything one could want in a novel: small town secrets, accusations of witchcraft, murder, betrayal, and hidden treasure. It is a great book for someone looking for a book with a blend of light romance and a historical mystery.
Good one. Greatly enjoyed reading this book. Good twists in the mystery aspect of this book.
Just ok historical YA romance. Took me forever to finish though.