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debussy's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
(This book is not horror in the slightest. It's a contemporary fantasy, with an emphasis on contemporary focusing on themes surrounding anxiety over death.)
Initially I was very excited to pick up Funeral Girl based on its themes and the setting--everything about it seemed right up my alley, but I was ultimately disappointed by the book itself. Our MC, Georgia, has a deep-seated anxiety about death, which is a problem given she lives in a funeral home. When her grandmother dies when she's 13, she discovers she has the ability to summon the ghosts of the dead people she touches, leading her to touch all the dead bodies in the funeral home, chatting up the ghosts for a few minutes, and then fashioning a scrapbook of mementos from these interactions. All fine. The problem begins when Milo, a boy from school, dies in a hit and run. Georgia immediately becomes obsessed with his death--crying over this boy (whom she doesn't know) and letting his fate dictate every waking moment to the point that she starts to ignore her only friend. You could say she does this because her anxiety is that bad, but the book spends so much time throwing shade at people who make a show over grieving over people they don't know that it all seems...weird. Very weird.
Ultimately, Milo's body winds up at Georgia's funeral home and she touches him, summons his ghost, and Milo doesn't want to go to the great beyond, obviously, so he winds up sleeping on her floor and things start to unravel. He asks her to help his parents (how? she doesn't ask.) and so Georgia starts lying to Milo's parents in order to insert herself into their lives, which is also deeply weird. Then her friendship starts to fall apart, not to even mention the book keeps hinting at this falling out Georgia had with her own brother and previous best friend (it takes it until 64% of the way in to finally, blessedly, TELL US what the falling out was over, and only after Georgia has to call her on the rocks best friend to remind her what the something even is, which...okay...). Why keep something that is so pertinent to why this character is the way she is a secret was maddening to me, since I never could figure out what Georgia's deal was. Sure, her grandmother died, but I was never quite sure of how close they were to begin with, and I certainly didn't pick up on any resounding effects of this great betrayal of her ex-best friend. The book even minimizes the damage of this betrayal after the fact because it was when they were 13 and who remembers or cares what happens when you're 13 (according to this book).
So, generally, I had a big disconnect with the main character here and I didn't particularly care for how this big secret was dealt with (why was it a secret?!). Things seemed to happen for the sake of the plot, not because it made sense for the character(s), and I found the whole thing underwhelming. Additionally, the writing was plain and simplistic, with the characters and their actions bordering on too middle grade for the young adult audience this book is marketed toward. I would say it's definitely a book for younger readers (13 and under), if you can overlook the sprinkle of curse words. Ultimately, this fell flat for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Alcohol, and Mental illness
Minor: Car accident
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