I enjoyed this YA novel. The beginning was very, very slow for me. It took me about 30% or more to get into it. Once I did get into it, I began to enjoy it and then couldn't stop reading. I love the whole idea of the story: girl lives in a funeral home and can awaken the spirit of the person who died and communicate with them. Originally, I had hoped they would work together to find the person who had struck Milo, but as you go on you realize there is a bigger picture - helping tell his story, show his art, and most of all comfort his parents and help them survive. Beautifully written.

"Funeral Girl" by Emma K. Ohland is an audiobook that stands out for its unique premise and deeply engaging narrative. This story introduces us to Georgia, a young girl whose life takes an unusual turn when her family moves into a funeral home. This setting alone sets the stage for a narrative that is both intriguing and full of potential for exploration of themes like grief, growth, and the quirky side of life.

Georgia, as a character, is brilliantly crafted. She's not your average protagonist; her new living situation and the experiences it brings create a fascinating lens through which we see the world. Her journey through the complexities of adolescence is further complicated and enriched by the backdrop of the funeral home, making her story not only about growing up but also about understanding and dealing with the concept of death in a very personal way.

Emma K. Ohland's writing style is both sensitive and engaging, striking a balance between the gravity of the subject matter and a certain lightness of touch that keeps the narrative from becoming too heavy. The audiobook captures this balance well, with a narration that conveys the nuances of Georgia's emotions and the unique atmosphere of her surroundings.

The plot of "Funeral Girl" is as much about the internal journey of its protagonist as it is about the external events. Georgia's interactions with the funeral home's clients and her own family members bring a range of emotional moments, from poignant to humorous, adding layers to her character and the story. The supporting characters are equally well-drawn, each contributing to Georgia's understanding of life and death in different ways.

One of the most compelling aspects of "Funeral Girl" is its exploration of themes like grief and mortality through the eyes of a young person. It's a story that doesn't shy away from the complexities of these themes, but instead approaches them with a kind of gentle honesty that is both refreshing and thought-provoking.

In conclusion, "Funeral Girl" is a wonderfully unique and emotionally rich audiobook. It's perfect for those who enjoy stories that blend coming-of-age themes with deeper reflections on life and death. Emma K. Ohland has crafted a narrative that is both touching and entertaining, making it a memorable listen for a wide range of audiences.

What did I just do to myself? I am now sobbing from this one. I picked this up solely based on the cover and title. I had no idea what I was getting into but I do not regret a tear. The story was creepy and interesting and a little sad. Georgia’s family lives and works in the family funeral parlor. That wasn’t the weird part. Ever since her grandma died, Georgia can see ghosts. She can wake them and send them on. This has also created a paranoia of death. When a student in her school gets killed by a drunk driver, all the pent up emotions and paranoia start to surface. I cannot tell you how much I loved this book. I will definitely be reading more by this author. Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

this one was ok. it was a little low in the beginning but it ended up getting better around halfway through. I did want more from it and it was deff not what I was expecting.

This was beautiful.

Georgia is a teenage twin who lives with her family in the family-owned/run funeral home. Surrounded by death has made Georgia feel a constant understanding that it is inevitable, and that has her freaked out. Also, she has this one weird quirk, just a small one, where when she touches a dead body, their ghost returns until she touches their body again. A bit like "My Girl" crossed with "Pushing Up Daisies".

Georgia discovered this ability after her grandmother died and brought her ghost back. Except she was the only one who could see Grandma. Cue her downward spiral of anxiety and panic attacks.

At school, the student body is informed that one of their fellow classmates was struck by a drunk driver and was killed which causes Georgia's spiral to get worse. She brings her classmate back and wants to fulfill his last request, but all he wants is to make sure his parents are okay. What follows is a hard complicated story about life and grief and what happens to those that pass on and those that remain.

This was a heartfelt story to listen to, and the narrator does a wonderful job conveying all of the emotions involved. I very much enjoyed this book.

I have tried multiple times to finish this book. There is so much going for it. I love the ability to bring ghosts back to life, I love how they interact with the world, how Georgia lives in a funeral home and yet has such intense anxiety about death.
I didn't love how her fear of death is never really explained. It just seemed like it was something that would make for an interesting story. Her brother is nonplussed by being surrounded by death. She had a weird experience with her grandmother, and was trapped with her grandmother's ghost and so therefore she has an intense fear of death. Then she brings the ghost of a classmate back and gets way too ingrained into his life.
It just never had anything that really progressed. Everything just happened, nothing was relevant, nothing was interesting. I wanted to love this book, but I couldn't read more than 50%. It was constantly the same issues, over and over again. I can't imagine what will magically make Georgia change how she reacts to anything, because nothing has worked so far.

I liked the title. I liked the narrator. I didn’t really like the main character though. I was hoping this would fill the void from an old tv show that I loved that was similar to this plot.

Thank god this book ended with Georgia getting therapy because the plot of the book was basically Georgia needs therapy. There are characters that are purposely unlikable, and there there are characters you're supposed to like but don't - and that was definitely Georgia for me.

Overall, the book is inoffensive, but pretty boring for a story about a girl who can talk to dead people.

The narrator was fine, but her mail voices were a little robotic.

This was a fun and sad story with the emotional learning moments we all go through in life. Obviously not exactly the same, as the MC sees ghosts of the people that are brought to the family mortuary, but I loved that Georgia learned a lot from her "lost friend" on how to deal with her emotions, fears and how to navigate not so pleasant situations.

There was good reputation on how people grieve differently, and how it can affect those around you and your interactions.

I also loved the great use of they/them pronouns and how if you make a mistake, it's easy to apologize and correct yourself. People like to make it harder than it has to be and it was nice to see a book do it easily and well.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* This was such a great book! would love to own, reread nad would recommend!

The narrator, Jess Nahikian, has an amazing and incredibly soothing voice even for this book! They don’t sound robotic and has a flowy, not too monotone voice.

The book starts with the funeral of an older lady named Betty, told by a 16 year old girl who worked at the funeral home. She comforts the ghosts of the funeral after everyone leaves, helping them understand that they are dead. She has been doing this for 3 years. She wants each ghost to give her something to do for them, a final request or wish for her to help them with before they go to their end. Nobody in her family knows about her powers of speaking to the ghosts. Soon, a terrible tragedy tears the community apart and it is left to Georgia to figure out where her place is in the tragedy.
The author includes lgbtq representation which makes me so happy!! This includes non-binary, gay, and asexual characters!! It always brings me joy to see these types of characters in a book.

If you were a fan of “What You Left Me” by Bridgett Morrissey then I would 100% recommend Funeral Girl!

A young woman whose family operates a funeral home has the ability to release the spirit from the body after death. She has very mixed feelings about her gift. When a classmate dies and his spirit asks her to help him with unfinished business, she quickly learns how she fits into the world and how much she can offer.

i really enjoyed this book it was a super interesting concept and kept me engaged the whole time. i would recommend this for others

THE DEAD ROMANTICS meets DEAR EVAN HANSEN in this tender coming of age about a girl fearing the constant reminders of our own mortality while surrounded by death everywhere she looks.

what an incredible book. I loved every minute of it. an interesting take. I loved the idea of it. I don't want to spoil anything. but its so incredible. Highly highly reccomend.

Funeral Girl by Emma K. Ohland

Sixteen Year Old Georgia attends Somerton High School in Indiana and also helps with the family business at Richter Funeral Home since she was twelve. In the future, the business will be passed down to her and her twin brother Peter who wants to be a mortician. Georgia isn't as sure but she does have a gift of waking the dead and does what she can if they have a final wish.

Georgia special ability is what makes this story interesting and her conflicted emotions about participating in running the funeral home with her brother to keep things going when her parents can retire. I enjoyed her ability to try to make things right for the young boy at her school that dies unexpectedly. Well all the dead people that come to Georgia.

So many topics discussed in this story around death with Georgia being front and center dealing with all these heavy emotions around death, grief, life choices and so on. The story pulls you in and makes you think about your own mortality and dealing with death yourself when it comes a knocking.

Jess Nahikian narrated this story it was easy to follow along and the characters where distinguishable. This was a 4 star read for me. I am looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for a free audio copy of Funeral Girl for an honest review. All opinions in this review are my own.

I loved this book. I remember hearing about this story concept a while ago, and I’ve been interested to hear it ever since! Listening to it on audiobook also really helped propel the story and add suspense!

This book was incredibly unique! It dealt with a variety of deep and heavy topics in a way that made you want to keep reading and exploring each narrative. Death is something that is a mystery to us all. It can cause a lot of natural anxiety around the topic. Funeral Girl took an otherwise weighty topic and made it digestible and less scary. Funeral Girl covered a variety of topics such as mental health, the nuances of friendship, grief, anxiety, and sexuality. Each topic was approached in ways that were deeply heartfelt. The overall theme of the book, in my opinion, seemed to be growth. I found this book to be thought provoking and very touching!

I thought this was a very interesting look at how a teenage girl views and processes death. I enjoyed the story and thought the author handled the death of a young man with compassion.

I received an advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

Georgia and her family live in the funeral home they run. She has a secret – Georgia has the ability to revive the soul of the dead one last time. When a classmate dies and ends up at her family’s funeral home and asks Georgia to help with unfinished business, Georgia has to face her anxieties about mortality that she has been trying to hide for years.

I found George very relatable, especially with her tendency to stuff her feelings rather than acknowledge them. I loved that Georgia was ace, and her best friend Amy was enby, two underrepresented groups in literature. George didn’t always make the best choices, but she is a sophomore in high school, so it was believable. Jess Nahikian did a lovely job narrating the audiobook. A great story about learning how to face the things you don’t want to

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.