These Are Not My Final Words had me laughing, crying, and laughing so hard I cried. I could not put this book down.

Johnny is getting ready to leave the funeral of his best friend and writing partner, Jace, when he finds an odd sight in the church. Dick the duck, the popular cartoon character created by Jace and Johnny is sitting there in a pew, holding Johnny's glasses. Thus starts this quirky yet heartrending story of grief and healing.

Ryan's writing pulled me in from the very first paragraph. I also deal with dark and hard life situations with humor so I was right there with Johnny through his grief. I absolutely loved Johnny and Dick. I know they are the same person but the way they played off each other to lighten the very heavy load of the story was perfection.

The only thing holding this story back for me was that the last third of the book felt a little rushed. Some plot points could have used a little more time to really hit home.

I am so glad I stumbled upon this ARC (thank you Netgalley and Samantha Ryan) and I will be singing it's praises for a long, long time.