4.5 stars

Death is awkward and you never know what to say or do when it happens. There is no handbook …. Well until now in some respect.
I love the fact that Sophie Andrews has written this and that it feels so raw.
You can feel what Cass is going through, it’s not all fluffy and rainbows- that everything will be alright. There’s pain. Awkwardness. Rock bottoms, mistakes from majority of the characters and best of all
There’s no right or wrong way of mourning.
Everyone does it differently.

This book is a cozy read great for people wanting a romance book and for someone who is going through the motions of dealing with the departed.

There are super cute moments in Cass’s version of an underworld.
Brother’s best friend romance

Thank you both Sophie and NetGalley for the chance to read this

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book because of the title, but I was not disappointed. I can really see the patrons at my library absolutely eating this one up! Can't wait for it to be published!

I didn't know ends to expect from this book, and now that I've finished it I still don't know. Funny how that works, right?

I appreciated the the author could make me cry and then laugh just a few pages later. It didn't always feel like I was doing the right one at the right time but hey, we're all on our own journey. :)

Cass is so relatable, real, and broken even before her brother suddenly died. I felt for her so much, especially after his death and her parents both falling apart, separately, to leave her to fix it all.

Vince, ah, sweet Vince. He's too good to be true, seriously. He says the right thing, and does the right thing, he's not human. I love him, but he's not real, he can't be. No man is that good.

I'd recommend this book if you're in the right head space to read about death and maybe laugh a little too.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

So I loved the beginning of the book- Cassandra loses her brother in a freak accident and she’s not prepared for the grief - ontop of that her childhood crush and dead brothers best friend, Vince runs the funeral home that she has to plan with. I can appreciate that this is based off a true story with the author - the story itself is great. The book and the writing - I just couldn’t get into a groove. I felt like it was a stalemate from 40-70% and it made me not want to finish the book. The ending was rushed after everything was the same for 40% of the book.
Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book!
All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book captured me from the very beginning. This book follows Cass has she journeys through life after the sudden death of her older brother. Its a great story about how different people handle grief differently. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and I was quite surprised on how I could relate to Cass, even though my grief dealt more with the loss of a parent. I, also, enjoyed the romance between Cass and Vince. While giving away no spoilers, it was a wonderful storyline in lieu of the sadness of the rest of the book.

Love At A Funeral And Other Awkward Conversations is a story that follows Cassandra St. George as she begins her journey of grieving her brother’s sudden death. It’s a raw and heartbreaking story that is softened by sarcasm, humor, and chaos. I was hooked to this book from the very beginning. Cassandra’s family blows up in ways she never thought were possible and Vince Marcini, who is a funeral director, her brothers best friend, and her first love, walks in at the perfect time telling her he’ll always answer her calls no matter what. He is the Hades to her Persephone! Cassandra truly steps up during the hell that becomes her new normal. She learns and grows so much throughout the book. It will take a long time for me to stop thinking about these characters and this beautiful heartbreaking yet heartwarming story.

Thank you NetGalley and Sophie Andrews for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Book Trigger Warnings: Sibling Loss, Grief, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks

This book isn't what I was expecting. When looking at the cover of this book, I was expecting an almost sarcastic story and maybe a little cheesy. This book focused a lot on loss and grief and the side effects of each on life and relationships with family and friends. It's heavy and raw and emotional.

The writing is really good, I think my only problem with this book was the expectation of something different. This isn't a feel good novel, which I feel was implied from the cover and synopsis. I liked it, but I felt the story drug on a little too much for me.

All in all, a very good book involving grief and loss of a sibling. I look forward to reading other works from Sophie Andrews!

An emotionally gripping and cathartic read for those who know the suffering of grief.

Love at a Funeral and Other Awkward Conversations follows Cass, a young woman already struggling to find her place in the world after struggling to find her dream job and moving back in with her parents, who has just received the awful, unexpected and unfortunate news that her brother, Ray, has passed. Crippled not only by her own grief for Ray, but also the shattering effects it has on her family, Cass is left broken. With the help of Ray’s old high school best friend, Vince, Love at a Funeral and Other Awkward Conversations pays homage to the rollercoaster of emotions Cass encounters with grief and her journey of piecing together not only herself but her life after Ray.

Love at a Funeral and Other Awkward Conversations gracefully and cathartically depicts the dark, messy and hallow nature of grief and what it is like to lose a loved one so unexpectedly. It was an honour to read this ARC and I am appreciative of Sophie’s honesty and vulnerability in her own experience, which inspired this story. I would thoroughly recommend this for those who have experienced grief and want to feel heard and seen, who have a loved one going through grief and want to support them, or who haven’t experienced grief like me and want to acknowledge and better understand this massive life event we unfortunately must encounter with loved ones.

Thank you Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for giving me a copy of this ARC for me to review via NetGalley.

An emotional read which had the tears flowing at times. We all react so differently to death, and this book shows that clearly. I did enjoy the romantic side of the book, however I feel the sexual sections were overdone and just didn't fit the rest of the story. It spoilt the book for me, hence only 4*.

Wow! I picked up this book on my kindle from the Read Now section of NetGalley because the title piqued my interest.

It is the first arc I’ve ever read, and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. This book takes you along on a sister’s journey of grief when her brother suddenly dies. I have not experienced a loss quite like this, but I think this book’s depiction of grief is an authentic one. (I like it more knowing that it was partly inspired by the authors own life)

The FMC was annoying at times, but I think that’s just part of being human, so I can’t really fault her and still really enjoyed her character. I loved Vince with all my heart. He was so kind, such a “sweetheart” ;)

While this book does have romance in it, it is more of a subplot. I think it more centers around the exploration of what grief does not only to a person, but a family. I teared up a few times while reading this because of how raw it seemed.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and I would definitely recommend it to anyone. Again, thanks again to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought I knew what I was getting into by picking up this book, as the title (can we just acknowledge how awesome the title is) and the blurb told me it dealt with grief. But nothing prepared me for the raw emotions the first third of the book offered. I knew, even before I read the acknowledgments, that the author must have based this on her personal experience, because no one who hasn’t gone through something similar could ever replicate such pain and loneliness in grieving a sibling.

The book follows Cass as she receives the earth-shattering news of her brother’s death. Already a bit lost in life, she is forced to grow up and find her own place in the world, while simultaneously trying to parent her grieving parents and deal with her own pain. Luckily, her teenage crush Vince, now funeral home manager, is there to offer unconditional emotional support. I loved Cass as a character and I found it so easy to empathize with her, even through her angry and self-destructive phases. I wasn’t that sold on the romance between our main characters or the social media posts Cass writes throughout the book. I get that she is a writer and posting became some sort of grief journal that helped her navigate her own feelings, but it could have done without the #grief and similar hashtags. Other than that, this really was a heartbreaking exploration of grief.

Many thanks to NetGalleyUK and the publishers for this ARC.

Love at a Funeral and Other Awkward Conversations by Sophie Andrews doesn't pull any punches at the profound grieving one can go through with the loss of a loved one and then pulling yourself out of it and going to the other extreme - happiness and love.

When Cassandra's brother dies, she questions her entire life and the choices she has made and will make going forward - through sometimes abrasive behavior. Throughout her grieving process her brother's best friend, Vince, who happens to also be the funeral director who helped lay him to rest, is her best source of support and friendship.

Cass and Vince's friendship turns to more and this is more like romance-lite to me, the emphasis seemed more on exploration of emotions while in the midst of profound grief, and that's okay! I think it would have been odd to me if they had delved into an incredibly passionate relationship. It was gentle and seemed to progress naturally.

This was a good book and I'm going to recommend it as a book club choice when it is released.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in consideration of an honest review. All opinions are my own.

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.