Funeral Girl, Emma K. Ohland's* debut book comes out tomorrow (September 6, 2022). It's YA, though more for the younger side of YA. I haven't read it, so I can't speak to its writing quality, but I'm excited about the premise.
Horror, Fantasy, Ghosts, Paranormal, Contemporary, Character-driven
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. To cope with her deep anxiety about death, she does her best to fulfill the final wishes of the deceased whose ghosts she briefly revives.
Then her classmate Milo's body arrives at Richter--and his spirit wants help with unfinished business, forcing Georgia to reckon with her relationship to grief and mortality.
Her best friend is nonbinary
Georgia gets panic attacks
Early reviews skew positive to neutral. The critiques tend to say that the pacing is slow and the main character is a little self-centered. But there's also positive remarks: the way the story reflects upon grief, how it's different for everyone; Ohland handles the queer representation well, it's not just there, but well written; and the descriptions of the anxiety about death.
Remember, whether you like it or not depends on you and your tastes.
I plan on reading it if I can get my hands on it. Give it a chance and see how it goes.
Trigger warnings: dying, corpses, grief, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, details about the embalming process
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