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haleybyman's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
4.5 stars.
This book was a joyous surprise. The premise of falling in love with a ghost concerned me a bit (after watching Season 5 of Grey’s Anatomy, iykyk), but I ended up loving this one. As someone who’s lost their father recently, I felt especially connected to what the characters were going through, and comforted by their journeys. It was like a mini therapy session on grief after losing a parent. Thank you, Ashley Poston.
That being said, this is also a ROMANCE! At times it fell a little flat for me until the last third of the book which is why I knocked off a half star. The familial relationships took center stage for most of the novel, IMO. However, the romance plot line ties up nicely, and I love Florence and Benji together.
Overall, I loved the characters and the zany funeral business they run. The book managed to portray death not as something to be feared, but simply as a next step in our journeys, and served as a lovely reminder that those we have lost will always be with us.
A delightful read about family, life, death, friendship, and love that left me feeling hopeful.
This book was a joyous surprise. The premise of falling in love with a ghost concerned me a bit (after watching Season 5 of Grey’s Anatomy, iykyk), but I ended up loving this one. As someone who’s lost their father recently, I felt especially connected to what the characters were going through, and comforted by their journeys. It was like a mini therapy session on grief after losing a parent. Thank you, Ashley Poston.
That being said, this is also a ROMANCE! At times it fell a little flat for me until the last third of the book which is why I knocked off a half star. The familial relationships took center stage for most of the novel, IMO. However, the romance plot line ties up nicely, and I love Florence and Benji together.
Overall, I loved the characters and the zany funeral business they run. The book managed to portray death not as something to be feared, but simply as a next step in our journeys, and served as a lovely reminder that those we have lost will always be with us.
A delightful read about family, life, death, friendship, and love that left me feeling hopeful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Death
Moderate: Child death, Death, and Murder
Minor: Child abuse and Alcohol
chrisljm's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I wasn’t sure what I was expecting from this book because I had just read another ghost novel earlier in the year that was decent, but The Dead Romantics was….. wow.
This was everything I never knew I wanted in a story dealing with death/grief. The prose was beautiful and the story funny, wholesome, and just so feel good. Usually in stories dealing with grief, the pages are filled with an air of melancholy. That’s not to say there’s no sadness in Florence’s grief, but there was also so much more than that. In a culture where death is mostly seen as something heavy and unspeakable, The Dead Romantics focuses instead on the good memories created and left behind and how that can become a comfort to us. I don’t know, it all sounds so simple but I just really loved how Ashley Poston was able to weave it all so beautifully into her story. I loved everything from the humor, to the twist, to Benji, and to the small town of Mairmont.
This was everything I never knew I wanted in a story dealing with death/grief. The prose was beautiful and the story funny, wholesome, and just so feel good. Usually in stories dealing with grief, the pages are filled with an air of melancholy. That’s not to say there’s no sadness in Florence’s grief, but there was also so much more than that. In a culture where death is mostly seen as something heavy and unspeakable, The Dead Romantics focuses instead on the good memories created and left behind and how that can become a comfort to us. I don’t know, it all sounds so simple but I just really loved how Ashley Poston was able to weave it all so beautifully into her story. I loved everything from the humor, to the twist, to Benji, and to the small town of Mairmont.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Death of parent, Grief, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, Murder, Sexual content, Child death, and Death
Minor: Medical content, Racism, and Infidelity
stardustandrockets's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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 deserves ALL OF THE STARS! Poston really outdid herself with this one. The feeling of grief was so viscerally present throughout the book. I spoiled myself on events of the ending about halfway through because I kept reading the questions in the Reader's Guide at the back of the book. I also guessed a major plot point about the ending about 100 pages in, but that didn't ruin anything for me. This has been the first book to make me cry in my adult life (if you don't count Fruits Basket). It's such a beautifully written book and it'll stay with me for a good long while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Alcohol, Murder, and Car accident
There's one HP reference in relation to publishing, so not a pop culture referencepurplepenning's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
This one was hard to rate. It's ambitious and weird (in a good way) and the first half didn't work as well for me as the last half, but it averaged out into a pretty effective, genuinely moving, certainly interesting romance that I'll probably be thinking about for some time. And it's a smart, interesting, contemporary that's not super explicitly steamy, which isn't always that easy to find. (I don't mind the steamy but I'm always looking for good closed door contemporaries to recommend to others.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Cursing, Grief, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Bullying, Infidelity, and Murder
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