A heartwarming and funny story about a young person named Marnie who dies unexpectedly, and is disappointed that they feel she wasted her life. She is not ready to move on and gets shuffled to an alien social worker who handles ghosts. As she helps the agency resolve various cases, she learns she cannot rush herself to "see the light" and that she can still do something meaningful even if she is no longer alive. The characters are pretty well fleshed out and I like how Marnie gives the agency a new perspective of how to look at cases, even the super-dedicated, energetic Xel has something to learn.

Note: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not compensated in any other fashion for the review and the opinions reflected below are entirely my own. Special thanks to the publisher and author for providing the copy.

This was a fun graphic novel. I requested it unsure what it expect but looking for a new graphic novel to read. I love picking up graphic novels (I just think they are a great way to read some very awesome stories in one day)! This one was no exception to that.

Poor Marnie - didn't plan on being blown up by her desk chair. What a way to go!

Also, Carol FTW, they're the best.

It’s Your Funeral is a darling graphic novel. Marnie dies, but instead of moving on to the ‘normal’ afterlife, things take a bit of a turn for her. Instead she ends up meeting a host of interesting characters and falling into an office job of all things. This job leads to a series of adventures with Marnie and her new co-workers that are totally fun and entertaining, for us, if not for Marnie. Contained within the story, though, are a few messages such as it is okay to not be okay and a message of healing. All in all, the graphics are good, the story is good. This was a very enjoyable read. Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity to review this graphic novel.

Really liked this graphic novel about a group of interdimensional case workers shepherding human souls to the next stage of existence, sort of like the Office crossed with No Exit. Somehow (not surprisingly?) the human dimension has the most souls who are unsettled and have to haunt before they can come to terms and move on. Each of the case workers is well characterized (I especially loved the eldritch horror receptionist) and the plot, while not too surprising, is lively and interesting. The cartoonish art style makes things more cute and endearing. A satisfying read.

This reminded me a bit of Dead Like Me, it was a funny YA comic book about a 19 year old girl who just died and is enrolled in the administrative afterlife service. I absolutely loved the graphic style, there was a lot of funny scenes while touching some more serious topics, like depression. Finally, I thought it had a great panel of secondary characters.

Why didn't I like it more then, you might ask? Well, if most of the cast was interesting, I didn't like Marnie, the main character. I get that the book want to carry the message that it's ok not to be ok, which I strongly agree with. But the continuous "woe is me" attitude of Marnie and her way to be rude to everybody around just made it impossible for me to empathize.

Overall it was an okay read but I think it had much more potential than what it ended up delivering.

This ARC was provided for review, but in no way affects the following impartial and unbiased review:
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4*
This is such a great story! It tackles serious issues such as poor self-esteem, suicidal tendencies, depression and grief, with a flair of mystique and kindness. Also a great read for the young ones that may be dealing with such issues. The characters are wholesome and lovable, the colors and art style are fantastic, and the panel sequences are very well-done. An all-together fun and important read.

Loved this book. Marnie's story is very touching.
Marnie has lived her life mostly alone and when Xel, the afterlife agent, tries to help her she is difficult to get through to. Marnie constantly feels detached and bored and is unable to appreciate Xel's help. But with time she sees that Xel means well and helps the afterlife office avert a crisis.

The story provides a great depiction of mental illness and how other people can help. It also throws light on the office politics in a humorous way. I loved the illustrations and the characters. They are all absurdly cute and weirdly adorable.

I received an eARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Quirky, fun, full of sarcastic wit and good intentions. It's Your Funeral is a unique way to look at the afterlife and how to deal with one's own death.

The momentum can be a little stoppy and starty, and Marnie isn't always a very likeable character. But the other characters bring light and laughter, and really were the heart of the story.

This book is fantastic. If I could give it higher than five stars I would. I very much enjoyed reading this and I would highly, highly recommend this to anyone!

It's Your Funeral! is charming and funny, which feel like odd words to describe a book where the main character dies in the first few pages and spends the rest of the book in a purgatory office as an intern, and yet, that's exactly what's happening here. Riesbeck's art is colorful and her character designs are interesting and fun, none of which detract from Marnie's struggles with depression and her journey to find peace in her afterlife. Some might complain that Marnie is unlikable, and she is - but that's the point. Her prickliness and Xel's, her afterlife counselor, eternal perkiness provide a good counterbalance that reconciles in the last few pages with both characters finding their own balance. I would read more in this universe.

I, honestly, kinda loved this graphic novel a lot. The art is adorable and lively, and the story itself actually has a lot of work put into it that I wasn't expecting. There's genuine talk about depression, and a lot of it seems as though it's alluding to mental illness and how not every day is going to be 100%, sometimes you're going to fall, but that doesn't mean that's it. It's generally a heavy topic, especially when you're dealing with death surrounding it, but... This manages to be cute, fun, and funny despite that.

The characters are definitely one of the best parts of this, too. They're endearing, and I was a huge fan of the fact that they're all just trying their best. Seeing a lot of opposites work together well moments with V'qttyr and D'vrrah, along with some oddly relatable ones for anyone who's worked in an office, it's... It's cute. The art is just so fun.

Definitely one that's up there on my favourites list, maybe there'll be a sequel? I hope so!

It’s Your Funeral by Emily Riesbeck, Ellen Kramer, and Matt Krotzer is a young adult graphic novel currently scheduled for release on July 21 2020.

Marnie Winters was going to turn her life around; get out of the house, make friends, no more “Miserable Old Marnie!” Everything was going to plan, but then, of course, she died. Now, Marnie’s a ghost trapped on Earth, and the only one who can help her is the overenthusiastic, alien social worker, Xel, whose job is to help ghosts “close their file” and pass on. Xel has an idea to soothe Marnie’s troubled spirit: an internship in the hopeless bureaucracy of the trans-dimensional Department of Spectral Affairs! This new do-gooder duo has their work cut out for them in a series of hilarious mishaps and misadventures throughout the space-time continuum (but mostly in and around the office) as Marnie finds pathways through her feelings of worthlessness by helping others. A paranormal fantasy about healing, learning to love yourself, and being OK with being not OK.

It’s Your Funeral is a graphic novel that is fun to look at. I really enjoyed the artwork and colors, and thought the imagination involved was wonderful. It was also a read that will appeal to many on an emotional level. There are a number of very different personalities, and I liked that no one style is touted as perfect or better, rather it is those differences that make things work. I cringed a few times, especially when Marnie took her emotions out on others, but those emotions and reactions rang true and help move the story forward and raise the emotional stakes of the story. I like that the book acknowledged that dealing with anything, including depression or anxiety, is a process and that taking the time and being kind (including to yourself) is key. I thought the overall product was very good, and good read.

It’s Your Funeral is a well drawn and told story that will appeal to a number of young adult and adult readers.

The premise for this book sounded so good, but I found the story lacking and couldn’t connect to any of the characters.

Marnie dies before she can do anything with her life and that is why her soul cannot move forward and is now trapped as a ghost on Earth. This is how she meets Xel and all the workers of the department for spectral affairs. While she get to knows them and does her job as an intern, she will progress little by little on her way.
Ok, the story was not bad and the graphics are very good (I really liked the character design) but the truth is that I could not connect with the characters. I felt them quite flat and let's say I didn't really care what happened to them. For such a short graphic novel, it took me quite a while to finish reading it, I was just not interested in grabbing it and seeing what happened next.

The illustrations and the characters were cute but I did not find much depth in the characters. The main character doesn't exactly go through much character development, as much as it is just expected that we believe she does because all the other characters said so. The ending kind of seemed awkward to me because the progression looked to be taking us elsewhere. The characters although seem interesting at first, they turn out to be very one-dimensional with their only quality being that they are somehow hardworking and that they care. I think there was scope to show varied characters with individual nuances which was lost. I was expecting more of that with a cast of so many characters.

This wasnt really my type of story. I did appreciate the themes of depression, but my experience with it was completely different so I wasnt really able to relate to it. I felt like the plot was lacking and the office setting didnt do much for me. There were some heart to heart moments I enjoyed but besides that the comic failed to keep my attention. I still think some people out there will connect to the main characters experience and enjoy this more than I did, especially if they like office type settings.

Review links will be posted soon

The bright, engaging, artwork and fun characters make this graphic novel a pleasure to read. I especially enjoyed the moral of the story that personal growth is a process and we should be patient. The main character was not magically fixed at by end of the story. I think these feelings will resonate with readers of all ages.

I loved the concept of this one, featuring Marnie, who quite suddenly finds herself a ghost suddenly meeting her case worker, Xel - at the Department of Spectral Affairs. They're struggling to find her place in the afterlife so they end up working together in the DSA.

To me, Marnie was a very unlikeable character. While I understood she was upset, angry and miserable, she was often downright mean to those who were trying to help her. There were definitely lessons learned and I loved the overall messages about healing, but I would have enjoyed it more if she was dialed back just a little bit.

I did love all of the different characters and how Marnie got to know their unique personalities. I also really loved the different settings and the art style. Each characters had different styles/colors of text bubbles, so that was great when you might not be sure who is talking. Overall the story was fun and did have a number of messages conveyed.

This was a really cute comic/graphic novel that covered death, grief, differences, and learning how to accept and take care of yourself and others. I also loved the art!