Member Reviews
I read this one so fast, I absolutely loved the dialogue and the characters were great. Despite Cassandra's loss, she is able to find a connection with someone she didn't expect to. I will say that this book was more of women's fiction than romance since there was a lot of plot that didn't entail romance. Overall a great read!
This book was very good at conveying the pain and sadness Cass experienced after the loss of her brother. That’s about it though. It is already a little bit of a weird concept, this book, but it was just made worse since their romance started to blossom so soon after the death. Like let the girl breathe.
I definitely felt bad for Cass but my god was she one of the worst characters I have ever read about. She was really annoying and rude and apathetic, and the way she reunites with Vince at the end of the book just lacked basic respect. I felt like the relationship with Vince to begin with was so separate from Cass’s brothers death, and when they did intertwine it was so forced.
Beyond that, I think the Instagram posts were really weird and cringey and didn’t really add anything to the story. I started skipping them about halfway through the book. The writing was also very boring and at one point I was just looking forward to the book ending. I am now glad that it has.
Thank you NetGalley for this arc.
This book delves deep into the complexities of grief, offering an uplifting message amidst sadness. Losing a loved one, especially a sibling, is profoundly challenging. Cass grapples with questions of identity and purpose in the aftermath of her brother's death. 🕊️💔
Vince, the funeral director and Cass's deceased brother's best friend, becomes her rock during this tumultuous time. He provides unwavering support and companionship as Cass navigates her grief, offering solace like a guiding light in her darkest moments. 🌟💖
While romance is woven into the narrative, the heart of the story lies in Cass's journey of coping with loss. It's a poignant exploration of grief and healing, reminding readers of the resilience of the human spirit. 📚✨
This book was gobbled up in one sitting. I always put down a book to eat or drink, but not this one. I sat through my hunger to finish it. It’s such a good story.
This book focuses around a grieving Cassandra who life was already a crap show, but the death of her brother took her to the trenches. The whole story focuses on how she grieved and the hardships that comes with losing someone you love, as well as the people around you.
While this book was sad, there was a romance. Vince is one of the morgue directors who does the ceremony and is also a close friend of the deceased. Vince helps Cass with her grieving process and their friendship/ relationship is explored.
This book is highlighted as a romance novel, but I wouldn’t say it is. Is there romance? Yes there definitely was but not enough to call it romance, which is why it was only a 4 star read since I was expecting more. Expect about 70% story and 30% romance.
I highly recommend this book.
***THIS ARC WAS FREE. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE MY OWN***
When Cass’s brother suddenly drops dead, her entire world turns upside down, and it wasn’t doing so great before he died. Now she has to plan his funeral, try to keep her family from falling apart, and do all of this while grieving. Which is definitely not the right time to reconnect with one of her brother’s best friends from high school.
At its core, Love at a Funeral is a romance, which is a big part of why it’s easy to hang in there until the end. Admittedly, much of the book feels like the dreaded third-act breakup (incredible, awful, horrible emotions and grief) only around a family rather than a love interest, it’s also an homage to the fragility of family dynamics and the necessity of living through grief in order to come out on the other side. The poignant twist on the brother’s best friend trope (one of my absolute favorites) delivers beautifully. Yes, you will probably be crying from page one, but it’s worth it. Also, be sure to find the bonus content for Vince’s post-epilogue POV. You’ll be glad you did.
I cannot flaw this book at all. It is incredibly moving and emotional. While the subject matter is sad, I think so many people can find comfort within this book. If you’re like me and cry easily you should probably prepare the tissues before you start reading. I will also say Vince is a great character and I love that his relationship with Cassandra (fmc) was treated as a secondary plot and Cass’ journey though grief is centre stage
For a book about grief, it was phenomenal. The main character was so funny and relatable, which ultimately carried the story through. The book follows many members of a family, and their friends, who have to deal with the loss of Raymond St. George after an unexpected heart attack in his thirties. Some characters use humor, some shut down, there’s a little bit of every pathway grief might take you down. I thought the book was very carefully done and a good read. Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC!
"Love at Funeral and Other Awkward Conversations" by Sophie Andrews is a collection of heartfelt moments about love, relationships, and coping with loss.
It's a great read if you enjoy feeling connected to the ups and downs of life.
This was a great read. I really liked that it felt raw rather than the sanitised version of grief often in books, especially romance.
Cass was a believable, likeable character; I enjoyed every bit of her journey following her brother’s death.
It was a story of romance, but it wasn’t the main feature and nor should it have been. I enjoyed it very much.
I saw the cover, title, read the author's note and still said to myself "this can't be that sad". Well, let me tell you it was very sad indeed.
I've been grieving different family members since I was a kid, so this was extremely hard to read at times, but also very raw and touching. It had me crying since the beginning, I thought the death part would come later on in the book, but it literally hapenned on the second page, so the whole story is very grieve heavy with some romance intertwined.
I'd say the romance in it made me want to keep going because it made it a little less heavy. Vince (the love interest) is such a good guy, I was rooting for him and Cass so hard.
Cass made some decisions that I didn't agree with, however as this book pointed out, everyone grieves differently, so who am I to judge her.
Very good book, but really triggering, read with caution if you've lost people in your life.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.
Received via netgalley as an ARC COPY
I really enjoyed this book, it was deep and moving, heart breaking and lighthearted!
Now choosing the read it 35 weeks pregnant wasn't my smartest decision, I was overwhelmed by emotions and repeatedly reduced to tears
Thank you Victory Editing and Sophie Andrews for sending me an eARC in exchange for my honest feedback. I thought this was an amazing depiction of grief and love while grieving. I throughly enjoyed it while it simultaneously broke my heart.
When I saw this cover and title on NetGalley, I requested this arc instantly. I didn’t read what this book was going to be about, I love going in blind. Blind I was. I thought this would be some cute but eccentric love story. Which I guess in a way it was but the love aspect of this story was secondary. Grief is the foremost of this story.
I was not expecting such an emotional, raw, candid and honest outlook of living a life in the aftermath of losing a sibling. Twenty pages into this book and I was a sobbing mess. I thought that would be the end of my tears for this book, what an idiot I was. I cried and cried and cried, when I thought I had no more tears to shed, I cried some more.
I can honestly say, I’ve never read a book like this. One that touches on navigating through life and grief after losing a sibling. Normally it’s parents or friends, never a sibling. Sophie takes you on Cassandra’s journey of manoeuvring through her life, grief, self destruction and self discovery. It was truly heartbreaking to read but also highly impactful.
How truly incredible it is to have a book make you feel everything and so heavily at that. What a portentous event it was to read this book.
Thank you again NetGalley & Sophie Andrews for allowing me to read and review this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The book begins and we jump straight into the story and the traumatic event in Cass's life. I must admit that in the first 20 pages and especially during the tragic announcement, I felt overwhelmed and I had difficulty understanding what was happening because all the thoughts in Cass's head were so overwhelmed and that we moved from one idea to another. When you think about it, these few pages bear witness to the reality of a person who has just learned that one of their loved ones has died. All thoughts are racing and the situation makes little sense. Subsequently, the book clearly shows the different ways of experiencing mourning. This shows that it is constant work and that many people react differently. The book also tackles more difficult topics like the detrimental impact that death can have on a family and survivor's guilt, which is rarely covered in other books. I really liked the relationship between Cass and Aunt Joanie as well as the relationship that developed with Vince throughout the novel. It's not the kind of perfect relationship like in the other books, but a more complex relationship where when we feel like its going great it is not. It is just like grief. Overall, I loved this book and highly recommend it if you are going through this type of situation.
Thank you NetGalley, Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op and of course Sophie Andrews for allowing me to read the ARC of "Love at a funeral and other awkward conversations" in exchange for an honest review.
When you think this is a lovely romance read, then you are mistaken.
Well, you are not ENTIRELY mistaken, it is absolutely a lovely read, and it absolutely has romance in it as the title might already exposes, the happy ending is also not really a secret, but the road up to this happy ending, that is something, let me tell you.
This book left me a wreck as well as it had me laughing tears at times.
We follow our main character, Cass, on her journey to cope with grief, self discovery, finding love as well as getting her life in order and what a ride this is. Surely, we all know this from personal exprience as well and in the way Andrews writes it, so raw, so emotional, so real, I could not any different than to catch my breath sometimes, laugh and cry with Cass, suffer with and through her.
It shows you all the ugly sides of grief, not only the sadness, but the anger, the denial, the downs, the loneliness that comes with it.
Read it. It might help you in a way, too, in the future. At least I know it helped me, for my past grief as well as for all the moments in the future where I will find myself grieving. It is okay to be lost, it is okay to hurt, it is okay to feel broken and empty. Just remember, there IS a way out, eventually and the pace is dictated by no one else but yourself. Grief takes however long you need to accept it, to embrace it, to come to terms with it.
The love story is also very great, a perfect performed slow burn with a very loveable male lead, Vince.
Title: Love at a Funeral and Other Awkward Conversations by Sophie Andrews
Release Date: May, 31st, 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Stars
After Cass’s brother's sudden death, Vince Mancini, her brother's best friend and her childhood crush turned funeral director, becomes her unwavering support. Despite her shattered heart, his presence feels like a lifeline. He sees through her facade, aiming to mend her, though her heart feels irreparably broken. Yet, against all odds, she feels a flutter of something unfamiliar in her chest, complicating an already overwhelming situation.
This book took me by surprise; despite its title and blurb, I wasn't prepared for its emotional depth and focus on grief. I cried my way through the first third and beyond, moved by its raw honesty. It's a poignant exploration of self-discovery and love amidst tragedy, shedding light on the rarely discussed topic of sibling loss. While romance is present, the core of the novel lies in Cass's journey of coping with her brother's death.
Thank you to The Publisher Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op , The Author Sophie Andrews & NetGalley for an advanced reader copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest review.
Wasn’t really my cup of tea but was vey thought provoking and you could tell the author spend a lot of time on the premise of the book. Even though it wasn’t for me I’d still urge people to try it out.
The story revolves around Cassandra who recently lost her only sibling and her hardships and struggles to cope with all of it, including her family issues and job. The novel is given the title of a romance novel, and from the cover, it looks like a light read, but it is not. It heavily revolves around grief, loss, trauma, and also the fact that the FMC has self-doubt and she thinks that she's good for nothing to which Vince comes to the rescue. Vince is the sweetest person ever to exist.LITERALLY.
While the FMC is very complicated and gives off black cat energy, the MMC is the complete opposite, a golden retriever. It also captures the point of self-healing which I could relate to. All in all, it was up my alley.
PS. Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to review this amazing ARC. It was a delight!
Love at a Funeral and Other Awkward Conversations by Sophie Andrews
Rating: 3.5/5
I devoured this book wholeheartedly.
At its core, it delves into the theme of grief and explores the myriad ways individuals navigate such profound loss. We witness a spectrum of reactions to the news and the aftermath, each one poignant in its own right. Time and again, this book just ripped me apart. I too have suffered a loss only recently, so the wounds are still fresh for me.
Centered on Cass grappling with the loss of her brother, the narrative unveils her raw, authentic inner turmoil, evoking a desire to offer her comfort in any sort of way.
Cats and Vince’s relationship blossomed in a refreshingly realistic manner, despite Cass battling her inner demons.
While the story primarily focuses on grief and self-restoration, I really just wanted a more pronounced romantic element throughout.
The bond between Cass and Vince was undeniably sweet and endearing. However, I found myself wishing for more of their relationship to offset the weight of the grief that filled the story. Finding a better balance between the two aspects would have enhanced the overall experience of the book.
Thank you so much to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op and the author, Sophie Andrews, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.
I really wanted to love this book! It wasn’t bad but it also wasn’t my favorite, I felt like I didn’t get enough of Vince and cass. But i definitely can relate to grief and going through the motions