THE LILIES By Quinn Diacon-Furtado
I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Lilies by Quinn Diacon-FurtadoPublished by HarperTeen on 4/30/24
Genres: Contemporary, Fantasy & Magic, LGBT, Mystery & Detective, Young Adult
Pages: 333
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Everyone wants to be a Lily.
At Archwell Academy, it’s the ticket to a successful future. But like every secret society, there is something much darker beneath the surface … sometimes girls disappear.
When four Archwell students find themselves trapped in a time loop, they must relive their worst memories, untangling the Lilies’ moldering roots and unraveling the secrets at the core of their school … before they destroy their futures forever.
Short and Sweet Review
The Lilies takes place at Archwell Academy, where the goal is to make exceptional women. Everyone who goes to Archwell knows that if you’re in the Lilies your future is secure. Being in the Lilies doesn’t mean that you’re safe sometimes Lilies end up disappearing without a trace. Our four main characters end up in a time loop when the most recent Lilie initiate goes missing. Each of the four girls holds a piece of the puzzle that explains what really goes on when you’re a Lilie.
Our four main characters are Rory, Vero, Blythe, and Drew. We get all of their POVs and they don’t usually interact but one day they end up in a time loop and have to work together to get out. One of the girls in the Lilies has gone missing and each of our characters knows something. So in the time loop they go back to the night when said girl. If one of the girls goes off script from what they said that night the loop starts all over. It was interesting to see how each of our characters interacted with the girl who went missing. The book was a bit all over the place for me, there’s secret societies, a mystery to be solved, and an LGBT matter that the our characters are trying to support. The writing felt a bit choppy and I think the time loop would have worked better if it didn’t reset so often. I do think it would have been a better book with less characters, maybe instead of four just three. Each character has their own story but honestly none of them are really memorable, it felt like I was just going through the motions and didn’t want to get to know them.
Overall, this book was okay. It started off strong but it hit a big decline and the ending just felt too convenient. I will say the characters had admirable intentions and the synopsis could have been something great if it was executed better.