Thank you so much to NetGalley and Emma K Ohland for providing me with a complimentary digital audiobook ARC for Funeral Girl coming out September 6, 2022. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

16 year old Georgia Richter isn’t your typical teenager. She is growing up in the Richter Funeral Home. She can awaken the spirit of any person who has passed away with one touch. With another touch, she makes the spirit disappear. To copy with her anxiety about death, she tries to help the departed fulfill their final wishes.

Then her classmate Milo’s body is sent to the funeral home. He isn’t someone she had hung out with in real life, but he needs her help with his unfinished business.

This story felt a lot like a cross between Pushing Daisies and My Girl, but the teenage version. I’m not sure I understand why Georgia had so much anxiety about death. As someone who grew up in a funeral home, she’s exposed even more to death than regular people. She also chooses to bring them back to help them with final wishes. I’m not sure why she felt she had to do this. Her motives seemed a little unclear. There were some good moments like when she talked to her parents about her feelings about growing up in the funeral home. I’m just not sure if other teens would make fun someone who is surrounded by death. It seems pretty cruel. I love stories about ghosts, so I definitely thought I would be interested in this. I enjoyed it, but I think I was hoping for a little more action.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Funeral Girl is a YA fantasy horror debut by Emma K. Ohland. The ebook version is 272 pages. I listened to the audiobook, which clocks in at eight hours and is narrated by Jess Nahikian. We follow our main character with a first-person point-of-view.

Georgia Richter is a sixteen year-old whose parents run a funeral home. She has the ability to touch dead bodies to summon their ghosts. To deal with her anxiety over death, she attempts to fulfil the wishes of the recently deceased before she touches the body again to make the spirit disappear. She's still not sure where they actually go. One day, the body of one of her classmates arrives at the funeral home. He asks her to help with some of his unfinished business. Georgia has some unfinished business of her own, as she's irrationally afraid of death.

I loved Georgia's growth arc throughout this book. She grew in multiple ways with her mental health struggles and her relationships with friends and family members. Amy is the best and nobody can change my mind about them. Everyone deserves a friend like Amy.

This book made me cry with its deep exploration of death, mortality, and grieving. I'd highly recommend having a box of tissues near you while you're reading. It was a lot more emotional than I expected upon first glance.

I liked the beginning and end of this book the best, as the middle drags on a little bit. But it was still an enjoyable read overall. Side note, the audiobook narrator was great! If I was reading this with my eyes, I may have stalled out a bit in the middle section. That being said, I'm excited to see more from this author in the future.

If you were a fan of the tv series Pushing Daisies or Six Feet Under, but with prefer a more YA bent to your narratives, you might like this book!

Tropes in this book include: asexual main character, nonbinary side character

CW: description of corpses, discussion about death, anxiety about death, panic attacks

The publisher provided a audio galley of this book for me to review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This book is amazing and hits the feels for sure. The way that Georgia struggles with acknowledging her mortality throughout the book coupled with her ability to raise the ghosts of the dead to learn more about them is amazing. Throughout the book I felt for Georgia and wished that she could learn to live and be in the moment instead of being consumed with the thought of her mortality and the mortality of those in her life. This was not what I was expecting from this book, but nevertheless it was a great and insightful read.

This was hella depressing, but in a good way?
I adored how raw Georgia's emotions were.
This felt like the author took two tv shows, Six Feet Under & The Ghost Whisperer, threw them in a blender and this book popped out.
It was amazing!
I did the audio and I thought Jess Nahikian's narration was perfect!
She nailed the mood of this book and her soft cadences ushering me along felt right.
Much love to NetGalley & Dreamscape Media for my DRC.

I loved this book and ended up listening to the entire audiobook in one day! It at first felt like re-visiting a personal favorite nostalgic story of another medium, “My Girl” but with more of a supernatural twist. The explorations of grief as well as speaking of the fear around death and one’s own mortality were really well done in my opinion.

Funeral Girl is a very dark and reflective work about anxiety, understanding mortality, and depression. It was a little darker than I realized but it really fit the way the story was being told. I really enjoyed Georgia and Milo’s connection, and appreciated their growth together.

It makes me think of They Both Die at the End meets Dear Even Hansen.

This book was heavy. I really liked the rep in it. There was ace and non binary rep that I enjoyed. I liked watching Georgia grow and learn about her wants and needs, instead of putting others before herself. It is such a common thing where parents try to force their kids into perfect boxes. I also liked the mental health rep and how Amy made the fact that they go to therapy so normal.

My main thing was that it was more a growth book than a plot driven book. I do enjoy those but with the whole ghost thing, I felt like something was missing.

Writing reviews used to come easy for me. By the time I finished reading a book, I had so many thoughts written down that the review was practically written already. Lately, however, with my poor health declining even more, my brain just doesn’t seem to have much to offer the review world.

This is especially true with this book. I enjoyed it . I feel like I should have some valuable feedback to offer. But all I can really think to say is that this was a meaningful examination of death, grief, and anxiety.

Actually, I do have one other thing to say: I saw some reviews complaining that the characters (besides Georgia) were rather one dimensional. I agree that they were, but not as a complaint. When an author uses a first person narrative, I think it leaves little room for character development beyond the narrator. It’s a tricky thing. But I do actually feel, despite the lack of nuance throughout most of the story, the author did a very good job giving the other characters emotional depth in the end, forcing Georgia to see beyond herself in a way she’d been incapable of for most of the story. So there’s character growth, as well. I think Ohland did just fine with the narration style she chose to use.

I am immensely grateful to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for my audio review copy. All opinions are my own.

Rep: Ace mc, non binary sc

We follow the main character whose family runs a funeral home in which they also live. Georgia can secretly summon the ghost/spirit of any dead person she touches. The loss of her grandmother and constantly being surrounded with death starts her spiral and descent into being terrified of dying.

I really enjoyed this book. It deals with lots of death, but also grief and mental health. It has lots of heavy topics, but it doesn't feel super depressing. I wouldn't call it fluffy sunshine and rainbows either, but it was a good blend, not always serious and sad.

Amy is such a great friend. They’re always there for Georgia. Even when she doesn't answer any of their texts and is distant. Amy deserved better. But I was happy they stood up for themself and called Georgia out. Amy was just asking for the bare minimum and Georgia couldn’t even give them that most of the time.

As for Georgia, I can sympathize with a bit, since she is going through it. She’s obviously depressed and has ptsd and severe anxiety surrounding death. That can’t be easy when you live in and work at a funeral home. Plus dealing with the grief of losing her grandmother. On top of everything she can raise ghosts. I just wanted to yell at her to at least text Amy that you’re ok or home safe or at least just not in the mood to talk.

At the beginning I assumed her family would know she can summon the spirits, or even be able to as well. To my surprise, no one knows. Not even her twin brother. Speaking of the brother, he was kinda shitty. Never really liked him.

What Georgia did with Milo’s family reminded me so much of what happens in Dear Evan Hansen.

I loved the ace and non binary rep!! Also I’m ace and my name is Amy, so that just made me laugh a bit haha
The narrator did a good job.

Overall, a pretty good book. Great for spooky season.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an audio ARC of this book

I wrote a more complete review of the story on the ebook galley's page, but I also requested this since I most often read on audio. I loved the narrator choice for the character of Georgia and felt their voice fit the soft, almost soothing vibe that was just right for the book. They enhanced what was already an amazing story by bringing the characters to life, and I really enjoyed it!

After I requested this one on netgalley I regretted it because it’s YA and I haven’t been into YA horror/thrillers recently. But this one was done really well. Less teen drama, more mental health, and real issues. A lot of tough topics were touched upon, such as death, anxiety, and grief and I’m a little surprised it didn’t make me cry. It was less of a horror and more of a paranormal, queer YA. This gets going for being different from other books I’ve read recently and having a lot of likable characters. But it was missing something that would have made it a 5⭐️read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for early access to the audiobook of Funeral Girl by Emma K. Ohland in exchange for an honest review.

CW: death, grief, death of a child, panic attacks, body horror, vomit, bullying, car accident, see growing list on StoryGraph

Georgia Richter's family owns the funeral home in town. She often finds herself the outcast at school, and she herself struggles to understand her role in the family business. She feels the weight of inheriting the funeral home in the future, and she's not sure that she wants that for herself. And lately, her experiences at the funeral home have been a bit too real. She can awaken the dead and ease them into their new world of death and what comes after. When one of her classmates dies, Georgia faces new challenges and questions about her own identity and how her gifts should be used.

This was such an interesting premise and exploration of how death and grief can deeply effect adolescents. I've had this book on my radar for a few months for the asexual and nonbinary representation, and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to read it. This is such an important story for teens to read. Georgia is such a relatable character and her struggles with feeling on the outside are so inherent to the teenage experience.

I wanted to like this book and I will say the narration was good. That’s about where the positives end. This book had so many plot holes. The main character, Georgia was incredibly unlikeable. She treated everyone around her like garbage because her feelings are the only ones that matter.

Amy is really the only good character in this book and they’re treated horribly by Georgia.

I feel like the premise had a lot of potential, but it was poorly executed.

This book was written very well and was pretty entertaining the whole way through. All the characters were likeable. This was a pretty sweet story and I really enjoyed my time reading it!

Thank you so much Netgalley & Dreamscape Media for the ARC audiobook for Funeral Girl.

If I could compare this book to anything I would say it's a combination of "The Edge of Seventeen" and "Ghost Whisperer". We follow Georgia who has the unexplained ability to summon the ghosts of recently deceased individuals. Living in a funeral home she has collected a sort of coping habit of awakening these ghosts from the people who come through her parents mortuary. She talks to them briefly, then sends them on their way. This allows her to create a sort of 'journal' of the recently deceased in the hopes that they will never be forgotten.

Unfortunately this habit of hers, and her gift, have gotten her stuck in a constant state of fear and depression. Her mental health has her trapped in this dark and withdrawn fog that strong feelings of grief can definitely contribute to. With past events, the unhelpfulness of her family and pressure from others to continue on her day to day as if nothing is wrong we find Georgia in a constant struggle of trying to be who she thinks she's supposed to be while trying to wrap her mind around the fear of inevitable death.

This book really encapsulated the feeling of grief over a lost loved one. It definitely hit me hard a few different times and I think its a really strong story to tell that was done perfectly. The audiobook is just as impressive as Jess Nahikian's voice has this calming tone to it that fit the genre and character very well. An excellent read!

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to listen to this advanced reader copy. This honest review was based off my experience listening to this ARC, which in no way biased me. All opinions are my own.

How to start this review… I don’t know how to feel about this book. That’s to say IF I feel any which way about it.

“Sixteen-year-old Georgia Richter feels conflicted about the funeral home her parents run--especially because she has the ability to summon ghosts. With one touch of any body
that passes through Richter Funeral Home, she can awaken the spirit of the departed. With one more touch, she makes the spirit disappear, to a fate that remains mysterious to Georgia.” (Excerpt of the synopsis)

You see based on this, I was expecting something. I’m not sure what, but it’s definitely not what I got. Being able to summon ghosts is VERY cool. Apart from the whole 16 year old FMC (who is VERY much a 16 year old self absorbed teen girl) this was the reason I requested this book on NetGalley.

Here I thought maybe we would get this cool paranormal fantasy book, but in reality it’s just a (very) Young Adult Fiction book. (And I say that as someone who can generally reflect back and think “would teen me like this?” pretty accurately and I don’t think I would) Which there’s nothing wrong with it, and my expectations were my own fault.

I don’t understand the specific fascination she had with Milo after his death, other than it was him who was dead. She was OBSESSED and I don’t quite understand why if she’s so afraid of Death and her own mortality she would continue “summoning” people’s ghosts.

The idea that this “power” started and stopped out of no where and there was zero explanation about it was frustrating to say the least.

Personally this felt like it was going nowhere and I felt bored most of the time, but I was frustrated with the FMC all the time. She’s a terrible friend to Amy. And very disrespectful to her parents. While I say people are also horrible to her, that’s no excuse. Don’t take shit that’s not people’s fault out on other people.

There’s nothing wrong with this book, just not for me. And while I see now I am not the target audience for this, I still have to rate it based on who I am and what I was given. Keep in mind my 2 star rating isn’t bad. It’s just MEH 🤷🏻‍♀️.

A coming of age story about a high school student who lives in a funeral parlour run by her family.

Our MC discovers she can see and communicate with the spirits of the dead bodies if she touches them. A fellow high school student tragically dies and his body is brought to her home. She is able to communicate and help his spirit get to the other side. I liked how this book didn’t specify where spirits go, it leaves all possibilities out there for everyone.

This explores sexuality and how to fit into a world you don’t understand.

Great read for all ages, and I think it will provide a lot of comfort and hope to teenagers struggling with growing up and finding a place in this world.

What an incredible book, a book that made me so emotional and also hyper aware about my own mortality. Georgia often has panic attacks when confronted with the thought of her death, and her family owns a funeral home so she has no escape when it comes to being surrounded by grief and death. Add the fact that she can wake the ghost of the dead by touching them, and we know Georgia doesn't live the usual teenager life.
Then one day a school mate gets hit by a car and dies tragically and death is once again front and center. Usually we think about death as something far away, that happens when we're old, so when we see someone our age dying either tragically or by illness, we know that we can't take our lives for granted, anything can happen.
Georgia is terrifies about this but she stills wakes Milo's ghost to ask him if he wants to give one final message to his parents; what follows are days when Georgia has to face her own fears and insecurities, when she realizes that friends, if neglected, won't keep waiting, that forgiveness can be healing, that facing life can be both scary and liberating.
The narrator did and excellent job at putting feelings and emotions in Georgia's narration and I really really liked this story.

Thought this book i grappled with myself. My daughter is ten and On the CUSP of preteen. 🤣 Georgia, the 16 year old MC can come off as overdramatic and mopey. But remembering how i was as a sixteen year old girl…bad. So the author, Emma Ohland reaaaaaaaallly hit the personality bulls eye. Perfect for YA crowd and adults too.

SpOiLeR ALeRT:

I liked the unanswered questions. We don’t know how or why Georgia can speak with the dead. We don’t know where the dead go when she sends their spirit away. We don’t know what happened to Milo and we don’t know what happened to grandma!! But we want too. I like that we don’t find out the answers and we are left to wonder and imagine.

FUNERAL GIRL is an absolutely stunning debut by Emma K. Ohland. Heart-wrenching yet hopeful, this story beautifully explored themes of death, grief, and the anxiety that surrounds everything in between. Ohland’s writing was poignant and evocative — I FELT everything our narrator Georgia felt in my soul. I was wrapped up in the story from the first to last page.

In addition to being an emotional whirlwind, FUNERAL GIRL included an asexual lead and a prevalent non-binary side character. The main character also experienced anxiety and panic attacks.

I loved this book a lot. Pun intended, it’s truly a haunting — yet warm — exploration of grief, duty, family, and coming home.



Content warnings: grief, death, blood, dead bodies, anxiety, panic attacks