A review by symptxns
Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

“Of course the morbid specter of guilt would follow me from Austin. Grief had been my stowaway across the pond.”

Rating: 4.25 stars

Ivy Fairbanks paints a perfect picture of grief, kindness, and love in this whirlwind romance. I read this book in 4 hours from start to finish because I didn’t want to put it down. 

Grief is shown in many different ways through Lark’s loss of her husband, the different people who come through Callum’s funeral home, and Callum’s grandpa. One of my favorite things was to see how both Callum and Lark respected each other’s boundaries regarding their grief and didn’t push them for answers. I usually avoid books where a main theme is grief because it personally triggers me, but I would highly highly recommend this one. Such a delicate subject was interspersed with laughter, jokes, and down to earth characters. 

Callum’s demisexuality representation was nice to see and explained really well. The only thing I didn’t love about it was how Lark kept thinking ‘if he just needs attraction, we can do this no strings attached!’ I understand she was trying to justify it to herself, but that’s not really what demisexuality is about. It’s hard to have a ‘no strings attached’ arrangement with someone you care about. 

I do think this book dragged a little bit at the end, but not too bad. I didn’t love how Lark acted after Callum’s response to Sean (side note: fuck that guy). Overall, I did really love this book and despite reading maybe 1-2 rom coms a year, I will be on the lookout for the next Ivy Fairbanks book!