Reviews with content warning for Car accident - Dead Romantics: Roman

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Dead Romantics: Roman by Ashley Poston

163 reviews

spinesinaline's review against another edition

funny hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Overall I liked this book but it was an okay read. There were some things that really annoyed me, both in the main character’s personality and in logistics (when you write an obituary and submit it at midnight, it will not appear in the next morning’s paper, it was already sent to print).

I thought the romance was sweet but as I wasn’t sure where this story was going – is it a romance? A fantasy? A ghost story with a moral? – I was confused about what possible resolution there could be between a girl and her lover ghost.

I predicted some of the twists and other obvious revelations were only delayed because the main character kept unknowingly cutting people off which made the revelation more obvious, but it’s quite a funny read and something quick for a cute story about two people stuck in a little town at an uncomfortable time.

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dogoodwithbooks's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Florence Day finds herself in the most ultimate rut. She's dealing with a severe case of writer's block, her ex-boyfriend is turning her life story into a cheap novel that's sure to be an instant bestseller, her annoyingly handsome new book editor will not give her extension on the book she's ghostwriting for, and her beloved father is dead. When she comes back to her hometown of Mairmont for the funeral, she finds her annoyingly handsome new book editor, Benji Andor, as a ghost, an ability she has tried to ignore ever since she left Mairmont a decade ago. Now tasked with figuring why Ben is with her, Florence finds herself getting a new outlook on love.

I've been wanting to read The Dead Romantics ever since it came out last year and I was so excited to finally see it in my public library. However, I didn't love every single aspect of the book.

For starters, I didn't necessarily liked the two MCs. Florence made me somewhat sorry for her, but also had me questioning her suddenly pessimistic outlook on romance after one bad break-up and along with a string of mediocre relationships (though, Lee was a major jerk, no doubt about it). Ben was fine, but he felt flat. I mean, I guess I should expect that since he's a ghost, but you don't really get to understand him in-depth compared to Florence until near the end of the book. All I'm going to say is that it's not necessarily a good sign when the side characters seem to be more interesting than the two MCs. Though, Florence and Ben's character developments do get better near the end of the book.

As for the romance, I know there are some people complaining how this book is barely a romance. I disagree with that since you can see the chemistry between Florence and Ben, it's just not the same with your other everyday contemporary romance novel or rom-com. Mainly because Ben is a ghost. That being said, I think Poston did a good job with getting portraying that closeness between Florence and Ben.

While this book didn't fully live up to my expectations, I did found enjoyment in reading The Dead Romantics. I love the small town feel of Mairmont and the residents that live there and Poston's does provide a solid writing style with telling Florence's story. That being said, take at this review what you will but I recommend reading The Dead Romantics to form an opinion for yourselves.

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chloelj27's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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querciola's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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emeryboyd's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

It was a bit predictable but it was so sweet.

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shesawildflower's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book took me on a JOURNEY! I laughed, I cried, I couldn't put it down. There's a lot going on at times, but I loved every second of it. The side characters are GREAT, everyone of them comes across well and developed. There's a non binary character woven in so seamlessly and I love that representation. Towards the beginning there's a moment when the two MCs are present together just after meeting and another when she seems him again and I thought I would dislike the story in those moments, boy was I wrong!

Once I realized the twist, somewhere around pg 65-68, maybe? When I was like, OK, I'm down, I kinda know where this is going to go and I'm ok with it, and then I let the story take me for a ride. I loved the second twist towards the end, it made me chuckle and clutch my heart at the same time. The main thing I disliked was at the end there's an unnecessary amount of time that "goes by" before the HEA, even if Florence did need that time to work out her stuff it just felt TOO long.

I LOVED the dark humor used in this book, a lot of people don't usually like dark humor but I love it. Sometimes it's the best thing to use to cope with trauma especially when you've been around so much death in your life. I can relate to the sister who tries to handle everything, tries to make everything ok. I like that this was different, and unique and Ashley is a great story teller. It's one of my favorite books of the year so far and I'm excited to read her newest book.

Her acknowledgments section is a hoot too:

"I would like to give a very enthusiastic, FUCK YOU, to my anxiety. Thank you for, as always, being the worst."

"For anyone who has proclaimed drunkenly at a bar that LOVE IS DEAD - I've been there and trust me, love is not dead. It's simply sleeping off a raging hang over. Give it two Tylenol and tell it to call you in the morning. Thank you for reading this book. I hope you find a little bit of happiness wherever you go."

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