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what_karla_reads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
5/5 stars
2/5 spice
I couldn't put this one down! I loved both of the MCs, they were written very well and very relatable. Callum and Lark were compete opposites but complimented each other in all the right ways. Both of them had experienced so much pain and it was great to see how their friendship flourished. Of course, the romantic chemistry was there but it was great to see how well they did as friends first.
Overall, I highly recommend this book for fans of rom coms, friends to lovers, and Irish MCs.
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and offered voluntarily.
2/5 spice
I couldn't put this one down! I loved both of the MCs, they were written very well and very relatable. Callum and Lark were compete opposites but complimented each other in all the right ways. Both of them had experienced so much pain and it was great to see how their friendship flourished. Of course, the romantic chemistry was there but it was great to see how well they did as friends first.
Overall, I highly recommend this book for fans of rom coms, friends to lovers, and Irish MCs.
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and offered voluntarily.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Grief
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Death
the_queer_bibliophile's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
5/5 Stars
Thank you NetGalley and Putnam Books for giving me access to the eARC of this book. All thoughts are my own.
I. Loved. This. Where to begin? First off, one of our main characters is a tall demisexual man who happens to be an undertaker. I fell in love with Callum from the very beginning. His dry humor and wit had me, and what kept me going was his heart. He had me in tears with some of the things he said to Lark. I also felt they represented demisexuality well, though I am not demisexual myself so take that with a grain of salt.
I could relate so much to Lark it was eerie. While I don't have her life experiences, I understood her mind and why she thought and did the things she did. I like that the author shows you the flaws of the characters as well, because it's unrealistic for them all to be perfect.
The author also did a fantastic job explaining grief in its complexities, and how grief of a loved one passing isn't the only grief that can be felt. This book helped me learn my own lessons in grief and understanding my own grief better.
Overall, I genuinely recommend this book to romantic dramedy lovers.
Thank you NetGalley and Putnam Books for giving me access to the eARC of this book. All thoughts are my own.
I. Loved. This. Where to begin? First off, one of our main characters is a tall demisexual man who happens to be an undertaker. I fell in love with Callum from the very beginning. His dry humor and wit had me, and what kept me going was his heart. He had me in tears with some of the things he said to Lark. I also felt they represented demisexuality well, though I am not demisexual myself so take that with a grain of salt.
I could relate so much to Lark it was eerie. While I don't have her life experiences, I understood her mind and why she thought and did the things she did. I like that the author shows you the flaws of the characters as well, because it's unrealistic for them all to be perfect.
The author also did a fantastic job explaining grief in its complexities, and how grief of a loved one passing isn't the only grief that can be felt. This book helped me learn my own lessons in grief and understanding my own grief better.
Overall, I genuinely recommend this book to romantic dramedy lovers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Sexism, Violence, and Car accident
Minor: Pregnancy
battyaboutbooks'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
🦇 Morbidly Yours Book Review 🦇
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5
❓ #QOTD What do you want people to remember you for? ❓
⚠ Trigger Warnings: Grief, Death, Car Accident, Ableism, Bullying, Body Horror, Child Death
🦇 Painfully shy Callum Flannelly would rather dive into an open grave than take a stranger to dinner. But he can only inherit the family undertaking business under one condition: He must marry before his 35th birthday. Texan animator Lark Thompson moved to Galway, Ireland, to restart her life and career, not be reminded of losing her husband by moving in next to a funeral home. Can Lark help Callum find The One, or has she been standing right in front of him all along?
💜 Ivy Fairbanks has done a wonderful job at developing vibrant, realistic characters who will, no doubt, steal your heart. Despite the grief and guilt weighing on her, Lark is a ray of sunshine, and there's no discounting the charm Callum is hiding behind his seemingly dark exterior. Initially, I worried they were TOO different for chemistry to spark between them, but the progression is easy and natural, the two of them bringing light to one another despite coming from very different, dark places. The little moments between them truly build into romance, making their friends-to-lovers progression both realistic and raw. You'll fall in love as they fall in love, feel your heart ache as their hearts ache, and watch both characters grow with every page. Beyond that, Fairbanks directs readers directly into Ireland, the setting's natural beauty and rich history seeping out of the page until you can't help but breathe in the scent of flowers blooming after a heavy rain. This book is a journey, both through Galway and its intense character growth. Callum's stutter is well-represented, as is his ace/demisexual orientation. As someone who is in love with a demi-goddess (hehe), I was glad to see it depicted so richly and honestly. Lark researching to understand Callum better was all too sweet.
💙 Normally, I have limited interest in a marriage of convenience plot, but it really works well here. You feel the pressure Callum is experiencing without it seeming like a hokey plot device. I also appreciate that both characters have both internal and external conflicts they need to resolve. That being said, I do think Lark's enemy comes off as a one-dimensional villain, when so many other characters live off the page. I've encountered coworkers who are willing to take credit for another person's work, throw someone under the bus, and bully to feel powerful, but honestly, there's usually a deeper reason motivating them. I also think we should have experienced more panic from Lark when she realized how Callum planned to fix the marriage problem. Instead we skip that scene and go straight into her finding a solution.
🦇 Recommended for fans of Tessa Bailey, Hanna Bonam-Young, and Tara DeWitt.
✨ The Vibes ✨
🪦 Dual POV
🌻 Contemporary Romance/Romantic Dramedy
🪦 Marriage of Convenience
🌻 Set in Ireland
🪦 Opposites Attract
🌻 Ace/Demisexual MMC (w/ a Stutter)
🪦 Forced Proximity/Neighbors
🌻 Friends-to-Lovers
🪦 Open Door Spice
🌻 First in a Series
🪦 Debut Novel
🦇 Major thanks to the author @IvyFairbanksBooks and publisher @putnambooks for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. #MorbidlyYours
💬 Quotes
❝ Lark’s vibrance made me fall for her. Stifling it would be akin to plucking a wild, rare bloom, only to watch it wither under a bell jar. ❞
❝ To love was to accept risk. In all honesty, the half-century old scooter was a thousand times safer than giving anyone my heart—and I’d done that months ago. ❞
❝ My heart thumps like a drum, with the taste of your lips, the sweet breath in your lungs. I tried not to fall, but I had to succumb. ❞
❝ Swear on this life, beside you I’ll stand. ❞
❝ “Mo chuisle? It means ‘my pulse.’ I never quite understood it before, what it meant to have another person be the d-driving force behind the pump of your blood, but it’s true. Lark, your smile saved me like an emergency transfusion. Your laugh is the song my every blood cell dances to. Your touch revived me from darkness. You are my pulse. You make me feel alive even when I’m surrounded by death.” ❞
❝ “I can’t b-b-believe you named my character Plague Rat.” “What can I say? You inspire me.” She shrugged. ❞
❝ “Illusions aren’t lies. They’re gifts. They give the audience something to believe in,” she replied. “Help me put a little magic in the world.” ❞
❝ “You’re absolutely gorgeous,” he murmured. “You say that after I take your glasses off?” I smiled. “I don’t need them to see you.” My heart swelled. He did see me, and it felt so right. ❞
❝ In an interview, my animation hero Hayao Miyazaki once said that he strived to portray love as a relationship where two people mutually inspire each other to live. ❞
❝ We would cherish the light and honor the darkness, together. ❞
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5
❓ #QOTD What do you want people to remember you for? ❓
⚠ Trigger Warnings: Grief, Death, Car Accident, Ableism, Bullying, Body Horror, Child Death
🦇 Painfully shy Callum Flannelly would rather dive into an open grave than take a stranger to dinner. But he can only inherit the family undertaking business under one condition: He must marry before his 35th birthday. Texan animator Lark Thompson moved to Galway, Ireland, to restart her life and career, not be reminded of losing her husband by moving in next to a funeral home. Can Lark help Callum find The One, or has she been standing right in front of him all along?
💜 Ivy Fairbanks has done a wonderful job at developing vibrant, realistic characters who will, no doubt, steal your heart. Despite the grief and guilt weighing on her, Lark is a ray of sunshine, and there's no discounting the charm Callum is hiding behind his seemingly dark exterior. Initially, I worried they were TOO different for chemistry to spark between them, but the progression is easy and natural, the two of them bringing light to one another despite coming from very different, dark places. The little moments between them truly build into romance, making their friends-to-lovers progression both realistic and raw. You'll fall in love as they fall in love, feel your heart ache as their hearts ache, and watch both characters grow with every page. Beyond that, Fairbanks directs readers directly into Ireland, the setting's natural beauty and rich history seeping out of the page until you can't help but breathe in the scent of flowers blooming after a heavy rain. This book is a journey, both through Galway and its intense character growth. Callum's stutter is well-represented, as is his ace/demisexual orientation. As someone who is in love with a demi-goddess (hehe), I was glad to see it depicted so richly and honestly. Lark researching to understand Callum better was all too sweet.
💙 Normally, I have limited interest in a marriage of convenience plot, but it really works well here. You feel the pressure Callum is experiencing without it seeming like a hokey plot device. I also appreciate that both characters have both internal and external conflicts they need to resolve. That being said, I do think Lark's enemy comes off as a one-dimensional villain, when so many other characters live off the page. I've encountered coworkers who are willing to take credit for another person's work, throw someone under the bus, and bully to feel powerful, but honestly, there's usually a deeper reason motivating them. I also think we should have experienced more panic from Lark when she realized how Callum planned to fix the marriage problem. Instead we skip that scene and go straight into her finding a solution.
🦇 Recommended for fans of Tessa Bailey, Hanna Bonam-Young, and Tara DeWitt.
✨ The Vibes ✨
🪦 Dual POV
🌻 Contemporary Romance/Romantic Dramedy
🪦 Marriage of Convenience
🌻 Set in Ireland
🪦 Opposites Attract
🌻 Ace/Demisexual MMC (w/ a Stutter)
🪦 Forced Proximity/Neighbors
🌻 Friends-to-Lovers
🪦 Open Door Spice
🌻 First in a Series
🪦 Debut Novel
🦇 Major thanks to the author @IvyFairbanksBooks and publisher @putnambooks for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. #MorbidlyYours
💬 Quotes
❝ Lark’s vibrance made me fall for her. Stifling it would be akin to plucking a wild, rare bloom, only to watch it wither under a bell jar. ❞
❝ To love was to accept risk. In all honesty, the half-century old scooter was a thousand times safer than giving anyone my heart—and I’d done that months ago. ❞
❝ My heart thumps like a drum, with the taste of your lips, the sweet breath in your lungs. I tried not to fall, but I had to succumb. ❞
❝ Swear on this life, beside you I’ll stand. ❞
❝ “Mo chuisle? It means ‘my pulse.’ I never quite understood it before, what it meant to have another person be the d-driving force behind the pump of your blood, but it’s true. Lark, your smile saved me like an emergency transfusion. Your laugh is the song my every blood cell dances to. Your touch revived me from darkness. You are my pulse. You make me feel alive even when I’m surrounded by death.” ❞
❝ “I can’t b-b-believe you named my character Plague Rat.” “What can I say? You inspire me.” She shrugged. ❞
❝ “Illusions aren’t lies. They’re gifts. They give the audience something to believe in,” she replied. “Help me put a little magic in the world.” ❞
❝ “You’re absolutely gorgeous,” he murmured. “You say that after I take your glasses off?” I smiled. “I don’t need them to see you.” My heart swelled. He did see me, and it felt so right. ❞
❝ In an interview, my animation hero Hayao Miyazaki once said that he strived to portray love as a relationship where two people mutually inspire each other to live. ❞
❝ We would cherish the light and honor the darkness, together. ❞
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Death, Sexual content, Grief, Car accident, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Minor: Child death
takarakei's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Pros: stutter and demisexual representation in Callum - Callum in general was a pro, he was so sweet. I like the becoming friends first into romance (a slower burn). I bet if they got the right narrators this would be good on audio (to hear Callum's accent).
Cons: My biggest issue with this book was Lark's coworker enemy who is quite possibly one of my most hated book characters ever (so I guess props for writing a villain so well?). I just don't really feel the need for a villain in a romance (unless they turn into the romantic interest!). Maybe it's just my past experiences with shitty men at work that it really just made me mad and even tho I suppose he gets what he deserves in the end (kinda he's still an ass), it just really took away overall enjoyment of this book.
This has the beginnings of marriage of convenience trope, but ended up being a slow burn so the 'reasons' Callum has to get married ultimately become a barrier to their romance (perhaps maybe that just wasn't what I expected from the first few chapters).
While I understand Lark's qualms with moving on after the death of her husband, it did feel a bit repetitive to continue hearing about it without much development (until the end).
Something about the writing style and pacing also felt a bit awkward at parts.
Thank you Netgalley for an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
Cons: My biggest issue with this book was Lark's coworker enemy who is quite possibly one of my most hated book characters ever (so I guess props for writing a villain so well?). I just don't really feel the need for a villain in a romance (unless they turn into the romantic interest!). Maybe it's just my past experiences with shitty men at work that it really just made me mad and even tho I suppose he gets what he deserves in the end (kinda he's still an ass), it just really took away overall enjoyment of this book.
This has the beginnings of marriage of convenience trope, but ended up being a slow burn so the 'reasons' Callum has to get married ultimately become a barrier to their romance (perhaps maybe that just wasn't what I expected from the first few chapters).
While I understand Lark's qualms with moving on after the death of her husband, it did feel a bit repetitive to continue hearing about it without much development (until the end).
Something about the writing style and pacing also felt a bit awkward at parts.
Thank you Netgalley for an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Sexual content, and Car accident
Minor: Child death
There are some descriptions of what Callum does as a mortician, so if you're not into that prob not the book for you.salomegf's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Sexual content, and Grief
Moderate: Terminal illness
Minor: Ableism
rescuemom's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
alexandryareads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Sexual content
Moderate: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
antidietleah's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Grief
Moderate: Death, Gore, and Car accident
Minor: Pregnancy
grimmbleton's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Sexual content, and Grief
Moderate: Body horror, Terminal illness, Medical content, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Car accident
theliteraryhooker's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
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
4.0
This was a super cute read! I appreciated having slightly older main characters who have some real life experiences and issues under their belts. There were definitely moments where I wish they would have just communicated better (especially on Lark's side) but overall I really loved both Lark and Callum as characters and I enjoyed watching their relationship develop!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Grief