Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
Wow Adventures in Funeral Crashing was a really annoying book for me to read. Maybe if I were younger I wouldn't have minded so much, but Kait annoyed me to no end. Really quickly I just wanted her to shut up and stop talking. I know, that is bad, especially since the entire book is just her ramblings. So definitely not the book for me.
Kait is the weird girl at school. Her mom died, and ever since her funeral she has been crashing other peoples funerals. She likes to hear the stories and nice words people say about the person who passed. One night at one funeral she is crashing she sees Ethan. Ethan the super amazingly good looking guy who Kait has a crush on. Cue her freaking out about how gorgeous Ethan is, how he is so amazingly hot, how he would never actually like someone like her, etc. The way it is written is just...way too all over the place and on and on about every little thing and yeah. It is also quite repetitive. I mean I will probably always remember that Kait loves the peanut butter banana milkshakes at Wired. I mean she loves them. She brings it up all the freaking time how amazing the peanut butter banana milkshakes at Wired are. They are so good. She loves them. The peanut butter banana milkshakes at Wired are just so amazing. I get it. It just felt like she went on about them way too much. Maybe it is just me. But everything was like that.
Then Ethan's sister is the one who's funeral Kait is crashing, and Ethan thinks she might have been murdered. So Ethan and Kait team up to solve the case since the cops won't. Yep, they are just amazing it at...not really. They are positive it is this one guy, when even from the beginning it doesn't make sense. It is obvious it will be this other person, but they just kind of blow that off. They really don't think it can be anyone but the guy they think, even though he has no motive. It doesn't make sense! That and they were just kind of stupid kids. They just...at one point Kait is internally complaining about how the cops won't listen to them because they are kids. Haven't the cops every watched Scooby Doo or Veronica Mars? Kids knows stuff and can solve crimes! Then immediately after that she goes on to say how she knows this isn't tv, and how she is no Veronica Mars, but she hopes she can solve the case. Well...I don't know I didn't believe they would be able to. The whole way it was written bugged me. I did not like it. I was so annoyed by Kait's internal ramblings I just didn't enjoy the book.
The other main problem? The overabundance of references to popular things. Books, movies, singers, whatever. It was just like Kait was trying way too hard to include these things. Like she was trying too hard to be like see! I know what is popular now! This book is going to be sooo dated very soon. It's okay to put some references in there, but this was a bit of overkill for me. It was kind of the like Josie and the Pussycats movie where they go way overboard on purpose in a ridiculous way with the product placement. This was similar in the name dropping to the extreme. I didn't like it and ended up rolling my eyes at most of it. It just was not the book for me.
This review was originally posted to Jen in Bookland
Kait is the weird girl at school. Her mom died, and ever since her funeral she has been crashing other peoples funerals. She likes to hear the stories and nice words people say about the person who passed. One night at one funeral she is crashing she sees Ethan. Ethan the super amazingly good looking guy who Kait has a crush on. Cue her freaking out about how gorgeous Ethan is, how he is so amazingly hot, how he would never actually like someone like her, etc. The way it is written is just...way too all over the place and on and on about every little thing and yeah. It is also quite repetitive. I mean I will probably always remember that Kait loves the peanut butter banana milkshakes at Wired. I mean she loves them. She brings it up all the freaking time how amazing the peanut butter banana milkshakes at Wired are. They are so good. She loves them. The peanut butter banana milkshakes at Wired are just so amazing. I get it. It just felt like she went on about them way too much. Maybe it is just me. But everything was like that.
Then Ethan's sister is the one who's funeral Kait is crashing, and Ethan thinks she might have been murdered. So Ethan and Kait team up to solve the case since the cops won't. Yep, they are just amazing it at...not really. They are positive it is this one guy, when even from the beginning it doesn't make sense. It is obvious it will be this other person, but they just kind of blow that off. They really don't think it can be anyone but the guy they think, even though he has no motive. It doesn't make sense! That and they were just kind of stupid kids. They just...at one point Kait is internally complaining about how the cops won't listen to them because they are kids. Haven't the cops every watched Scooby Doo or Veronica Mars? Kids knows stuff and can solve crimes! Then immediately after that she goes on to say how she knows this isn't tv, and how she is no Veronica Mars, but she hopes she can solve the case. Well...I don't know I didn't believe they would be able to. The whole way it was written bugged me. I did not like it. I was so annoyed by Kait's internal ramblings I just didn't enjoy the book.
The other main problem? The overabundance of references to popular things. Books, movies, singers, whatever. It was just like Kait was trying way too hard to include these things. Like she was trying too hard to be like see! I know what is popular now! This book is going to be sooo dated very soon. It's okay to put some references in there, but this was a bit of overkill for me. It was kind of the like Josie and the Pussycats movie where they go way overboard on purpose in a ridiculous way with the product placement. This was similar in the name dropping to the extreme. I didn't like it and ended up rolling my eyes at most of it. It just was not the book for me.
This review was originally posted to Jen in Bookland
This was a super quick read and it said if you like Veronica Mars, you might like this. It was a YA book, so a little cheesy, but I still enjoyed it. It made me laugh.
Great
Loved this book. Kept me guessing who dun it right to the end. great story line. Will read more books by this author.
Loved this book. Kept me guessing who dun it right to the end. great story line. Will read more books by this author.
Cute Quick Read
This was a quick read that dove right into the story. You got to know the characters enough to care about them but there wasn’t an abundance of details. It stayed true to being a YA book using typical teenage lingo. A think ages 12-16 would enjoy this the most. It has immature moments but again it stays true to being told through the eyes of a 16yr old girl. No cliffhangers, solid ending, all strings tied up.
This was a quick read that dove right into the story. You got to know the characters enough to care about them but there wasn’t an abundance of details. It stayed true to being a YA book using typical teenage lingo. A think ages 12-16 would enjoy this the most. It has immature moments but again it stays true to being told through the eyes of a 16yr old girl. No cliffhangers, solid ending, all strings tied up.
I got this book a few years ago and I just got around to it. The title caught my attention. I was very into the book. It really did have me guessing and the end was great. I wasn't expecting it at all. I also enjoyed how detailed the author was. I was able to imagine everything as if I was watching a movie. All I can say is way to go Kait!
3.5/5
A really fun and fast reading book!
I think it could have been a stand alone but makes me want to read the 2nd anyway
A really fun and fast reading book!
I think it could have been a stand alone but makes me want to read the 2nd anyway
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's a cute, quick read.
I'd say Adventures in Funeral Crashing is most enjoyable when you need a break for those busy, suffocating days. It just rolls right out, glides down, and makes you forget for a blissful couple of hours that there are other things in the world other than Kait and Ethan's obliviousness.
However, this is not for those who love a deep, twisting mystery. Sure, there is that whole murder investigation, but I, for one, saw the ending from miles away--at least, I had a very strong suspicion.I mean, first rule: the most obvious suspect is rarely the one who actually did it, so I knew it couldn't be Troy. It would've been too easy, too... everything. I knew right away that girl who sent Liz the Email Troy was dating her did it. It just screamed crazy, possessive stalker. Especially when Kait was told other girls who dated him thought he was cheating. I just didn't know who that crazy person was, yet. But after that, we were down to just two suspects: Vanessa's sister (Jenna) or Suzie. And Suzie was never really an option. I did find it peculiar that Vanessa/Jenna used the names of authors Suzie was reading to send her emails (too bad that was never explained), but Suzie was too damn sweet for it, and if she liked Kyle, she couldn't possibly be a crazy stalker in love with Troy, could she?
Now we were down to one: Vanessa. First of all, the moment Troy told them he dated Jenna, the switch was completely obvious. I had my suspicions before, but after that it was, like, "Okay, Jenna is not Jenna. Jenna is Vanessa." Seriously. And I was damn right. A bit disappointing, really. I wanted it to be someone else entirely, someone surprising.
But this isn't a book meant to surprise you. It is, in the end, a romance story about the unpopular girl and the school's hottie. Cinderella all over again - but I happen to like Cinderella and romance, so I'm fine with it. I did wish there was more to the investigation, but I guess they did fine for someone their age or something. Still, I like a good mystery novel, and this is not that.
What I disliked about this book was the repetition. Like the Milkshake thing. God, how many times are you going to tell us it's heaven on earth or mention it? And just for that last sentence... It drove me mad. Or how hot he was. Was she really only interested in him because he was hot? Obviously, we know it ain't so, but at times it really seemed like that.
Still a fun read, definitely. Super cute. I will be reading the next book in the series. Hopefully, there will be more romance, and it will not try to disguise itself as a mystery novel because you need more than just a murder to write something like that...
I'd say Adventures in Funeral Crashing is most enjoyable when you need a break for those busy, suffocating days. It just rolls right out, glides down, and makes you forget for a blissful couple of hours that there are other things in the world other than Kait and Ethan's obliviousness.
However, this is not for those who love a deep, twisting mystery. Sure, there is that whole murder investigation, but I, for one, saw the ending from miles away--at least, I had a very strong suspicion.
Now we were down to one: Vanessa. First of all, the moment Troy told them he dated Jenna, the switch was completely obvious. I had my suspicions before, but after that it was, like, "Okay, Jenna is not Jenna. Jenna is Vanessa." Seriously. And I was damn right. A bit disappointing, really. I wanted it to be someone else entirely, someone surprising.
But this isn't a book meant to surprise you. It is, in the end, a romance story about the unpopular girl and the school's hottie. Cinderella all over again - but I happen to like Cinderella and romance, so I'm fine with it. I did wish there was more to the investigation, but I guess they did fine for someone their age or something. Still, I like a good mystery novel, and this is not that.
What I disliked about this book was the repetition. Like the Milkshake thing. God, how many times are you going to tell us it's heaven on earth or mention it? And just for that last sentence... It drove me mad. Or how hot he was. Was she really only interested in him because he was hot? Obviously, we know it ain't so, but at times it really seemed like that.
Still a fun read, definitely. Super cute. I will be reading the next book in the series. Hopefully, there will be more romance, and it will not try to disguise itself as a mystery novel because you need more than just a murder to write something like that...