This book dragged. Main character was very self absorbed, which is fine, she's a grieving teenager. Her feelings are valid. Then when the *betrayal* was revealed like. Gosh middle school drama. And then when she finally talks to her family and they just brush her off and not one talks. This book was not at all what I thought it was going to be. Which isn't its fault, but had I known, I wouldn't have spent my time

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for a free advanced listening copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I really liked this book. It's incredibly ambitious and deals with grief, anxiety, and acceptance of your own mortality in a very sensitive and age-appropriate way for a YA novel. I loved the asexual representation with the main character of Georgia, and seeing her grow emotionally throughout the story was very satisfying as she deals with her anxiety, complicated relationships with her friends and family, and fear of death. The mix of contemporary fantasy here was perfect, and the ending was the perfect punctuation to this story.

The one complaint I have is with the main character's friend, Amy. I LOVED the nonbinary representation with this character, which was extremely well-done. But for someone who is supposed to be her "best friend," Amy treats Georgia really badly a lot of the time. They aren't understanding at all, when Georgia is obviously going through an extremely difficult time. It made me uncomfortable, and I also felt like Amy had absolutely no personality other than to increase Georgia's problems for the plot... And then suddenly they would be helpful again, even when they hadn't resolved their past conflict with Georgia. It just seemed that their character was there to give Georgia someone to talk to, rather than have their own stake in the story. This is the reason for 4 instead of 5 stars.

In terms of the audiobook, the narrator was wonderful and made me want to keep listening!

Sixteen-year-old Georgia Richter lives with her family over their funeral home. Enter Six Feet Under vibes! She has the ability to summon the dead, wake them up so to speak, to talk to them and release them to what comes next. She has tremendous anxiety about death, and it doesn't help that her schoolmates call her Funeral Girl after a horrible rumor was started about her at school. High School is not always the easiest place to be, especially when other kids label you and poke fun.

Then one of her classmates dies, and his family has chosen her family's business for his funeral. This kicks her anxiety into overdrive. As Georgia deals with the shock of his death, the anxiety about death, and her foundering friendships, things get interesting. Georgia must face grief, anxiety, her self-esteem, her relationships with her family members, and her feelings about death.

In helping her classmate say goodbye, will Georgia be saying hello to herself?

This book touches on so many subjects: anxiety, friendship, sexuality, loss, grief, saying goodbye, and communication. I thought these were all nicely done.

I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator did a great job! This is a book that I wanted to keep listening to and rooted for Georgia the whole way. Many are afraid of death and poor Georgia is surrounded by death as she lives and helps at her family's funeral home. What a double whammy for her! But she grows and learns to cope, to communicate and face her fear.

For me, this was a book about growth, and I appreciated how the author approached mental health and friendship. Speaking of friends, Amy was the best! I found this book to be heartfelt, moving, thought provoking and hopeful. This was a well done YA book that all ages can enjoy.


#FuneralGirl #NetGalley

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a beautiful book. I wasn't really sure what to expect other than a girl who can touch the dead and then can talk to their ghosts but if she touches them again their spirit leaves. This was a fascinating read and I enjoyed every minute of it.
I liked that the author gave some insight to embalming as well as many other factors but I like the amount of emotions I felt with the main character Georgia. I felt so bad that she had this gift because of the toll it took on her. She also had amazing character development and so did Milo. I honestly above all LOVED the ending because it was the best kind of ending for this book.
Overall, this was the best audiobook I've read this year and the narrator did a phenomenal job. I was completely captured by this and the cover I think it matches the book perfectly.

Thank you #NetGalley for allowing me to enjoy yet another magnificent book.

4.5 Funeral Girl is a book about grief, understanding of death and hope.
Georgia is a young 16 year old who lives with her family at a funeral home. She is acutely aware of death and dying, and with that knowledge, brings her more anxiety than peace. Also, with each death Georgia can summon the spirits/ghosts and help them go to the unknown.
Meanwhile, Georgia is also grieving her grandma and it becomes harder and harder to understand death and where we go afterwards. That's when she meets Milo.
Milo is a classmate who unfortunately dies from a car accident, with his death looming over his family, and community, Georgia finds herself connecting with Milo and learning about his struggles and helps him reconnect with his family one last time.
I enjoyed this book, as I too have struggled with the idea of death, and I too, had death in my life that left a huge impact on me.
This book is good for anyone who struggles with the idea of death and who have had grief hit them like a hurricane.

I really enjoyed this one! I loved the exploration of grief, fear of death and dying, and how growing up in a funeral home makes you talk about taboo subjects like these. I did feel like the MC got a bit whiny and I wish it had more of the ghost factor for a spooky atmosphere, vs. being solely about grief and death and a very emotional introspective story.

4 stars

In _Funeral Girl_, Ohland brings forth a fresh concept and great representation.

Georgia, the m.c., is a high schooler who lives in a funeral home and who has a special secret; the dead are not exactly dead to her! There's a little bit of (the actual best show in the history of shows) a _Six Feet Under_ vibe with Georgia's quirky family in this somewhat stigmatized profession and especially living arrangement, but Georgia's brother encounters a more accepting crowd than she does. The family dynamics are an unexpectedly engaging part of this novel and worth the read on their own.

What's even more compelling is Georgia's paranormal experiences and how they both enhance her consuming fear of death and offer her opportunities to better appreciate her own life and relationships. Though readers witness Georgia interacting with several ghosts of the bodies in her family's care, a couple are especially compelling. Her memories of her grandmother offer intriguing insight into how Georgia is processing loss and understanding death, and though she obviously has a pretty untraditional experience here, her takeaways may provide great support for readers dealing with more expected instances of loss. While I was a bit skeptical about the paranormal aspect at first, I am surprised by how meaningful I found these interactions.

My favorite part of this novel is the representation: nonbinary and ace. Georgia's best pal, Amy, is nonbinary, and this is woven in seamlessly throughout the novel. There are realistic conversations around Amy's pronouns with various audiences, minor interjections about how folks misgender and generally misidentify them, and so on. This never feels didactic; it just feels as it should: like a part of this character's identity. Though there is less conversation around the ace identity, this is handled in a similar fashion. I expected that the main reason I'd want to recommend this book to students is for the paranormal/grief connection, but the longer I sit with it, the more I appreciate this representation. It's so frequently done in the clunkiest ways, and Ohland really nails that here.

I was fortunate to absorb the audio version of this book, and the narrator brings these characters to life (and yes, I absolutely intended that one). This is a great read that may seem a little niche on the surface but actually encompasses themes, identities, and situations that nearly any reader will connect with, learn from, and find entertaining. Recommended with a note that Ohland is going on my instant to-read list.

Funeral Girl combines paranormal with the struggle many face in coming to terms with death. Bringing to the surface the anxiety and fear of the unknown, Funeral Girl truly achieves its desire in assisting those who fight to cope with the idea of death. While the story itself did seem to drag on at times, it succeeds in attempting to alleviate the anxiety and fear that plague many of us.