A review by hauntedhexgirll
Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

4.25

This book dealt with grief, how we remember people in ways that we want to that may not be accurate to the truth or to someone else’s truth, that people can have a duality about them. Jessa’s dad could be a strong man she admired and also be a controlling husband to her mother at the same time. That experiences with people can be so personal. That we accept love that we want even if it isn’t good for us. We give ourselves completely and unconditionally to people who will only give them a fraction of themselves in return. 

This story is about a family who is messed up, angry at each other, lost, and not knowing how to move forward or to heal. But in the end, they love each other enough to try. That their love outweighs the anger. 

Jessa isn’t always a likable character, same can be said about every character in this book honestly. But they feel like real people. They feel like people that you love so much despite the fact that they make you so mad you could rip your own teeth out. 

This book was a bit slow since it’s so character driven, their day to days are all pretty similar, which is to be expected in a story about a family just trying to learn how to function again after so much hurt. It was very well written, it felt like real people, and you could tell there was so much care and time put into this book.