Reviews with content warning for Death - Funny You Should Ask

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman

45 reviews

lucyrudd's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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

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katherinek's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I had trouble getting into this at first. I didn't really like the main characters and it fell pretty flat for the first 75 pages or so, but after that it picked up and I was able to get into it more. I loved the dog!! The timeline jumping confused me a couple times, but it was a good choice for how the story unraveled. There was a lot of fluff that could've been left out, especially a lot of the articles that were sprinkled in.
When it comes to the characters, I wanted to know more about Jacinda and Ollie. I think that was the intention with Jacinda because she was supposed to feel like a perfect, untouchable celebrity, but I wish the author had gone a different direction with her. Ollie was pretty interesting at first but he quickly turned into just a stereotypical gay man which disappointed me.
I felt the same way about Gabe, too; nothing about him really excited me at all. Chani, however, was very well developed, but I just couldn't see why she really liked Gabe, other than the fact that he was her celebrity crush. The chemistry between them was barely there for me.
The plot was still pretty interesting for the most part, though. I loved the theatre and movie references sprinkled in, and the inside jokes that resurfaced throughout the story were a nice touch. I especially loved how Chani's article about her "perfect day" foreshadowed her trip to the bookstore with Gabe.

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leighannebfd3b's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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nataliegray's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted sad 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

4.0

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lauramparis's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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decklededgess's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing 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? Yes

4.0

trigger warnings: alcohol addition, alcohol and drug mention, slut shaming, sexual harassment, infidelity, emotional abuse, toxic relationship, death of family member, car accident, sexual content

A mix of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and How To Fake It In Hollywood, this was a delightful novel about a missed connection and a second chance given ten years later.

Chani is a writer who got to profile the first American Bond which leads to the explosive success of both their careers. Ten years later she gets asked to do another profile on him as he attempts to resurrect his career after conflict and rehab.

Right from the get go, you experience the weight of their relationship. Despite Chani being the pov you see through most of the book, Gabe is a looming influence throughout the book, in the flashbacks and in their present timeline. The book really hammered in that their lives were intertwined. This gave you the incredible experience of being a spectator to their lives through the articles interspersed throughout and also get the insider scoop through Chani's timelines. You get to question their lives and speculate about their relationship while also getting a lot of insider information. It creates this really intriguing dramatic irony of knowing what the public doesn't know while also knowing what perhaps Chani and Gabe weren't privy to about outside opinions on them.

I loved how strategically the story was constructed. News excerpts and flashbacks were not tossed in willy nilly for funsies. Every piece of story provided fed into the next level of development in the story. You built sympathy for the characters before you even knew what pain they were going to experience, making the low points in the book personally painful for you as the reader.

I also really enjoyed how many full circle moments the book provided. Earlier throwaway lines that the characters and even the reader would overlook were given a moment of reprise with a significantly altered a deeper meaning than before. This punctuated the emotional moments in the book beautifully, providing depth to emotional moments without saying much.

This book is a masterclass in stating and withholding just the right amount of information to keep you pondering the story past its conclusion without feeling like you were cut short on a clean ending.

Incredible.

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jasminn_perez's review against another edition

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lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

i could not bring myself to care about the characters. like i feel like i didnt know them at all. the story is so abrupt and i feel like it couldve done with a little better characterization. i absolutely hate the way it switches between timelines. i found myself wanting to read what happened the first weekend and then it would cut to “then” and i just got like so annoyed. besides that i just think there was no reason to jump like that. i understand that she was trying to make it more interesting to read but in the beginning i honestly thought it was hella confusing. i found the writing to be sometimes cringe bro like it could be very millennial at times. like her being so insecure about the way she was acting and stuff. like i get she was nervous and it was relatable but get a grip mama. and at one point she was drunk off jelly beans??? hello??? also the amount of second hand embarrassment was unreal. the shit that gabe was saying gave me the ick so bad. while he was confessing his love he really said “i love your butt” are you fucking kidding. i feel like ollie and katie were a little bit stereotypical. ollie as a gay and katie as a witch??? the articles between chapters were kinda cutesy i see what the author was going for but i feel like they could have been more relevant to what was going on ig. it honestly felt like i read two different stories at the same time?? the pacing was all in all just weird. i also wish that there were like dates on the articles or some type of timeline so that my brain could wrap around the events easier. i want to know what song they danced to so fucking bad like was it gaga?? i really didnt hate like it was at no point unbearable except like the second hand embarrassment but it was still like fun.

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