Reviews

I liked the second half of the book a lot more than the first half. The first half was so heavy and it seemed like Florence and Ben would not end up together. Very glad that they do end up together - any other ending would have felt so unsatisfying. I was a little disappointed that Lee didn’t have any consequences for stealing Florence’s idea. My least favorite part was the audiobook narrator - she chose to emphasize the oddest words within sentences (in my opinion, clearly the wrong words). It got really annoying.

lookmairead's review against another edition

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5.0

I’m dead serious, this has been one of my favorite romance reads this year.
Bonus: It’s the perfect Halloween pick.

Would recommend if:

1. You loved 6 Feet Under
2. You were born in the early 1980’s
3. If you want something with ghosts but don’t want any spooky stuff.

4.5/5 Rounded up because this adorable ish needs some Hollywood love (pretty please).

mollyalbonetti's review against another edition

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4.5

This book is a beautifully written tale that captures the essence of finding joy amidst grief. I was utterly captivated by Poston's storytelling and her ability to balance the bittersweetness of mourning with moments of celebration and humor.

The story follows Florence Day, a ghostwriter for a renowned romance author, who’s lost her belief in love after a devastating breakup. When her new editor denies her a deadline extension and her father passes away, Florence returns to her hometown—a place filled with memories she's been avoiding for a decade.

Poston's portrayal of Florence's journey back home is both poignant and heartwarming. I loved the way she depicted the small-town atmosphere, complete with Florence's quirky family and their funeral parlor business.

While I found the ending a bit too convenient, it didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment. The characters are richly developed, and their interactions are filled with genuine emotion and charm. Poston excels at capturing the complexity of grief and the slow, often painful process of rediscovering love and hope.

If you're looking for a story that weaves together romance, humor, and heartfelt moments, The Dead Romantics is a must-read. This one so beautifully explores the beauty of finding light even in the darkest of times.

comrac's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

sonaki4you's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

the dead romantics = the new romantics

bookish_leslie's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.5

What To Expect:

Dealing with death and grief
Ghosts
Lack of self-belief
Writer’s block
Immature and juvenile (adult) FMC
“I have to do everything alone and can’t ask for or accept help”
Family dynamics
Insta-love

Spice: 2🌶️

Romantic tension, a few kisses, FMC removes her shirt while MMC talks explicitly about what he would like to do to/with her if he could, one semi-open-door scene but without explicit sex talk or descriptions

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My Thoughts:

I’m bummed because I loved Ashley Poston’s book The Seven Year Slip; it was a 5-star read, and I was hoping this book would be the same, but sadly, The Dead Romantics was a miss for me. It was the ending that really pulled down my rating, but I honestly had problems with the whole book.

Plot: The plot was somewhat interesting, though I felt it tried to take on too many different storylines or topics - ghosts, death, romance, career stuff, family dynamics, an eccentric funeral... It was a lot, and because there was so much breadth, it was lacking the depth I wanted in both the grief/death storyline, as well as in the romance storyline.

But it was going along okay(ish) until I got closer to the end. The ending was happy but so, so bad. Pretty much everything that happened after

Florence went to see Ben in the hospital (and - surprise, surprise - as the queen of walk-aways, proceeded to walk away before she even made it to his room, but not before assaulting her ex by punching him in the face), was a big ‘nope’ for me.

But when Ben didn’t remember Florence outside of their professional working relationship, then suddenly remembered her when she went to see him in his office, then immediately dropped everything to fly with her to her brother’s wedding, then hopped into bed with her, and they exchanged “I love you’s” - all on the same day, and after only a week spent together and months spent apart? Um, no. Hard no.

“I love you…enough to sleep with you and miss most of my brother’s wedding events, but not enough to go see you in the hospital when I thought you were dead and then found out you were miraculously still alive.”

“I love you…enough to tell you that I do after we only spent a week together while I was a ghost and barely spoke because you have avoidance issues and were also grieving the death of your father, but not enough to actually remember who you were when I woke up from my coma.”

How were we as readers supposed to take those declarations of love seriously?

I’m all for happy endings, but I absolutely LOATHE insta-love, and that ending was too much, too fast and ended up feeling so forced, rushed, and cringe.

Characters: I wasn't really a fan of any of the characters, if I'm honest.

28-year-old Florence was the FMC, and she was juvenile and straight up unlikeable. She whined about the same things over and over again. She insisted on doing everything for her father's funeral herself because she was the oldest (but didn’t actually do much of anything???), and then felt resentful about it. God forbid she ask for or accept proffered help. And she got up and walked away any time someone tried to have a conversation with her. For most of the book, we basically followed her around as she moaned about her failure as a writer, walked away from people (mostly Ben), opened her laptop to write (but didn’t), and pounded back the rum and cokes or her “zoom zoom juice” (more on that below).

Ben, the MMC, had no discernible personality, other than being tall, having great forearms and being organized.

The side characters, like Florence’s best friend and family, were mostly flat and caricature-like, and while I’m all about having representation, the LGBTQ rep (in particular, the non-binary character) felt forced, rather than organic or integrated.

Writing: The writing was a bit all over the place for me. Sometimes it was really good. There were many beautifully worded sentences throughout, as well as touching emotional moments or scenes, like, for example, when Florence found out her father had passed away (that’s not a spoiler).

“‘They couldn’t - he was gone. He was gone by the time we got there - by - he was…he’s gone, darling.”

Gone.

The word was so quiet, I barely heard it. Or maybe my heart, thundering in my ears, was too loud. But whatever it was, the word didn’t register, not really, not for a long, long moment. And then, like the cold wind, it burrowed deep into my bones, and I could feel my heart beginning to crack. Right down the center, breaking off all the pieces of me that were my father, all of the memories…”

I loved parts like that. But in addition to these better-written sentences and scenes, there were also many things that irked me. Many of them were small things, I know, but they still felt grating when taken together.

For starters, there were way too many corny puns
I couldn’t stand the way Florence referred to coffee as “zoom zoom juice," "battery fuel," or “battery acid.” Need I remind you that she was 28?
There were spelling errors (ex: “noise” instead of “nose”)
There were a few inconsistencies:
- Near the beginning of the book, for example, Florence’s hometown was said to be in South Carolina, but by the end of the book it was suddenly in North Carolina.
- Or at one point, Florence mentioned that all the food they had left in her apartment was dino-shaped mac and cheese, but then her roommate came home in the next sentence and started to eat carrots from the fridge.
Some of the dialogue occasionally felt choppy (where I felt confused about what was happening or being said)
There was a lot of repetition - both of thoughts, feelings, or events, as well as certain phrases. How many times can someone (usually Florence 🙄), either bark a laugh or bite themselves to hold back a smile/laugh, for example?
Sometimes the book was just a little too meta for me in its conversations about writing, publishing, and scene-making.
And, finally, what the hell does it mean to want to climb someone like they're a tree or a beanstalk? Because that does not sound sexy. At all.

Content Warnings

ashlo26's review against another edition

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2.75

It was fine i guess. It was too cringey too much, i didnt really feel the connection between the characters and the ending with him seeing too? Convenient
Sorry, i really liked seven year slip but this was eh

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