Grace Kelly Rodgers is six years old when her grandfather passes. The aftermath of the devastating loss of a close family member turns a once happy, talkative child near mute. She only eats when forced, and spends a good deal of time in tears, worrying that she is going to die. When Kelly is seven, her mother takes her to see a therapist, whose final conclusion, a year some later, was that part of the problem was the home situation and family counseling might be a good idea. Needless to say, her mother utterly rejected the idea she could have any blame in the matter and removed Kelly from therapy.

But Kelly finds her own way partially free of the depression when she befriends a boy named Ty. She only saw Ty when he came to visit his grandma next door on holidays, but that didn’t stop the friendship from blooming. But time moves on, and several years later, Kelly moves away, her family going to live on her grandfather’s farm. Time eases the loss of Ty, and over the years, the move also grants the opportunity for Kelly and her sisters to learn why their mother is so protective, and so angry. And just… gods help. People suck. With all these lessons and revelations now in the fore, can Kelly relax her own inculcated responses and allow herself to fall for James, or will all her life lessons be reinforced or worse?

The book made me cry! It brought up old memories, half buried. I’ve walked those same emotional shoes as Kelly, and it all came bubbling up. Oh, how I felt for poor Kelly thinking (or knowing) she was part of the reason her parents were fighting. This hit on a visceral level because it was my own childhood experience at around the same age. Different underlying reasons, but they did fight because of me. The sadness, the wish to die, the feeling of being somehow out of place. The lesson that males couldn’t be trusted. All familiar friends.

I was equally impressed with the lesson Kelly processed on her own, about how different people handle raw emotion. Not many adults I know take the time for that level of introspection, much less teens. It helps you see that another’s emotions and the actions based on those emotions are neither your fault, nor responsibility. It was not my fault that my parents argued. It was not Kelly’s fault her sister and mother were so angry.

Jester did a magnificent job of ‘aging’ the speech, and thinking patterns as Kelly grew up over the course of the book. Being a poet, I also really enjoyed the prayer poems, though many were so sad. There were a few places where nouns that should have been pluralised were instead rendered possessive. It wasn’t often though, and did not take from my investment in the story.

Highly recommended. Jester’s The Funeral Flower is a book you won’t want to miss!

This was a bit of a confusing read in the sense where the story just seemed to move through the ages, and nothing substantial seemed to happen with the plot and story. The book starts with the main character Kelly's grandparent dying and then she starts to get very depressed and to the point where she shuts down. She gets into quite a dark spot for someone so young. While out in her backyard one day, she meets Ty and the pair of them start chatting through the fence. He is visiting his grandmother and comes for the public holidays. Over the next few years, the pair will continue to chat away, leave each other notes and presents. They will become fence buddies. That is until Kelly and her family move away. In their new town, Kelly will start to discover her feelings for boys and one in particular James. The book then has her going through her relationship with James and then a pregnancy scare. Kelly always figured if she didn't love, she would never get hurt but her heart doesn't want a piece of it and so she falls head over heels for James. Her next boyfriend Matt - I loved the twist with this one, and it made me happy. But can Kelly truly love Matt when her heart still aches for James? Much of the novel focuses on how significant events impacted Kelly's life and how, as an adult, she finally recognizes the growth from the experiences.
The Funeral Flower is a coming of age story and written from Kelly's perspective as she grows through the years. This book would be what I would put under the category of a literary read rather than a YA or NA romance.

This is overall a very quick and easy coming of age YA book, I liked the main character Kelly but struggled with some of the others. This book is Full of cliches and manages to cover so many issues that it leaves the storyline feeling a bit unbelievable. Some of the issues covered are bullying, rape, teenage pregnancy, depression, relationship breakdowns. I think if the author would have chosen just one or two of these issues and really gone into depth and explored the topic, then both the characters and storyline would have felt more believable and credible.

I also had a problem with James, I get the author was trying to do the whole mysterious bad boy thing but it just felt wrong.

I did really like Kelly's relationship with her friends, I think that part came across really well. I found Audrey a very likeable character!

Overall a quick and easy book to fill a few hours and I can see it being popular with YA readers.

When she's a young girl, Kelly Rodgers loses her grandfather. Unable to cope, her life begins to spin out of control until she meets a young boy through the fence at her grandparent's house who becomes her new foundation. Kelly learns to smile and hope again, but tragedy isn't done with her yet.

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Kelly makes the best of her bad situation and is uninterested in love until she sees him. James Delaney, the man who pushes all hesitation about love out of Kelly's mind. She may only be in high school, but Kelly knows what she wants to do.

But the breathy highs of true love, the damning lows are sure to follow.

At first glance, the novel’s very off-putting. The prose is childish, but you quickly learn as Kelly begins to grow that this is a stylistic choice. Thankfully, even though the dialogue remains clunky, the writing begins to improve.

The story quickly becomes very god-heavy, which was fine, it was just distracting. There’s a lot of stuff that I like in <em>The Funeral Flower</em>. There are little stylistic choices that are engaging. But the story didn’t grab me like it should have and although it’s a book that calls itself feminist, it is entirely focused on men.

Don’t get me wrong,<em> The Funeral Flower</em> is feminist in its own way.

It gives a perspective that I’m not used to which I appreciated. I rarely read books set from the perspectives of the deeply religious and I enjoy when I get the chance to. This novel just wasn’t for me.

Some other positives are the family. They’re loving and supporting of their daughter, allowing her to make the choices that she wants to with her body even if they don’t always agree. If that dynamic was expanded upon, I think the novel would have been much stronger for it.

Where the novel falls apart is the focus on the men in her life. James is dominating, bordering on abusive behaviour, but we’re supposed to find it endearing. He has the Edward from Twilight problem for me. His protective, jealous behaviour is meant to show how much he cares about her, but he wants to own and control Kelly.

And we’re supposed to root for them.

This is a dramatic novel and I wish that it had allowed itself to be a bit lighter. My favourite part of the novel was when Kelly was twelve years old and living her own life without being dragged around by a boy.

It was the time when she was happiest, and where the dramatic moments aren’t as intense. I don’t mind drama when it’s earned, but <em>The Funeral Flower</em> is constantly escalating.

I’d recommend this for people who like Christian romance, <em>Twilight</em>-like relationships, and soap opera dramas.

The Funeral Flower is a coming-of-age story geared towards the Young Adult age group. It's a simple read, though it does lightly address some serious issues. Beginning at 5 years old, readers follow Kelly through her difficult school years as she loses her grandfather, faces bullying, moves towns, and forms relationships. She's a sad, lonely child with a slight fascination with death. Michelle Jester shares snippets of Kelly's journal by placing poems in between each age milestone chapter. The writing and thought process of Kelly ages with the book as well, becoming easier to read and connect with as she reaches high school age. Much of the novel focuses on how significant events impacted Kelly's life and how, as an adult, she finally recognizes the growth from the experiences.

The novel is written from the perspective from a child as she grows from youth to adult and it reads as such. I was thankful to see the writing did indeed age with Kelly, but I still never felt like I was truly reading a young adult aged novel. It is difficult for any author to not have one of the many dreaded cliches in the novel, because life is a series of cliches for many, but I felt that Michelle Jester tried to fit in every single cliche possible. Kelly is often depressed, faces anxiety, falls into love almost immediately, struggles in school, and often lets down her friends and parents. Though much of that is true to real life, it seems that Kelly never changes or grows. As the main character, her development is almost hard to even recognize. There was no moment to pinpoint in which she becomes this older, smarter version of herself. The tough situations are glossed over, the thought process of Kelly often ends abruptly, and her critical thinking skills do not seem to match her age.

While The Funeral Flower comes with a gorgeous cover, an interesting synopsis, and the promise of a true coming-of-age story, I felt that it fell flat with its message. I think there is plenty of story in The Funeral Flower and that Jester could trim some of the fat and focus on just a few tough subjects, rather than so many at one time. I think young adult readers will find enjoyment with the novel though and relate to Kelly for a number of reasons.

This was a really easy and quick read, even if it does address - however vaguely - some difficult topics; difficult for an adult read, never mind a YA book. There is a reason why it is recommended for 17+ readers, albeit nothing being described in detail.

The beginning of the book sees Kelly as a five year old and the writing style is reflective of that. (Saying that, when I was reading I was hoping that the style wasn't a constant thing because it irritated me so much at the time. Looking back I can see it was a good choice as it allowed the reader to develop along with Kelly but I honestly felt a tiny speck of fear that that was just Michelle Jester’s writing style. It isn't, don't worry!) I wouldn't say it is a spoiler as the synopsis says as much, but we see little Kelly struggling to deal with her grandfathers death. It is sweet, yet harrowing, to imagine a five year old going on the journey that Kelly takes from there into a young adult goes but I found it to be fairly realistic.

A thing that I found to be really tiring about the book as a whole was how preachy it got at points. Maybe I saw it that way as I don't follow a religion, but I found it to be reflective of how Louisiana (where the book is set) to be… at least the Bible Belt state section that I see depicted on television! I did find it to be quite grating and admittedly, although I tried hard for it not to, it did impact my enjoyment of the book as whole. Preaching every now and then wouldn't be too bad but at one point it was multiple mentions every other page.

I can imagine that this will be an unpopular opinion but I can't stand James! He is so domineering and possessive. Just no. Kelly taking that behaviour from him too. No. All she did was touch another guys arm, when you weren't an item, and he broke that guys nose. Go away with your alpha male nonsense, Mr Delaney. Whilst I am at it, why is Kelly hung up on him so much years after they were together?! I get that some people get focused on the magical ‘first’ but come on, you're a modern woman, at least I think you are. The era isn't ever really examined but still…Think for yourself, love. Also, get with Matthew.

On the whole it was an enjoyable book and it didn't take much time at all to read. Definitely worth a read if you have some time to kill and it doesn't take much effort or concentration to enjoy.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are a personal thing and please don't let mine affect yours.

The Funeral Flower was a bit different than expected, but it was very good. The story was great and well written.