Review: The Dead Romantics

 

So like I hit a really bad slump and I needed to get out of it because my own tbr wasn't really helping. It never does to be very honest. And then I remembered Jesse [from Jesse The Reader] liked this book and his recs have never really disappointed me, so why not try it out?

Florence Day is the ghostwriter for one of the most prolific romance authors in the industry, and she has a problem—after a terrible breakup, she no longer believes in love. It’s as good as dead.

When her new editor, a too-handsome mountain of a man, won’t give her an extension on her book deadline, Florence prepares to kiss her career goodbye. But then she gets a phone call she never wanted to receive, and she must return home for the first time in a decade to help her family bury her beloved father.

For ten years, she’s run from the town that never understood her, and even though she misses the sound of a warm Southern night and her eccentric, loving family and their funeral parlor, she can’t bring herself to stay. Even with her father gone, it feels like nothing in this town has changed. And she hates it.

Until she finds a ghost standing at the funeral parlor’s front door, just as broad and infuriatingly handsome as ever, and he’s just as confused about why he’s there as she is.

Romance is most certainly dead... but so is her new editor, and his unfinished business will have her second-guessing everything she’s ever known about love stories.

QUICK THOUGHTS AND REVIEW: 4.5/5, I THINK I LIKE THIS ONE MORE THAN POSTON'S OTHER NOVEL, AMONG THE BEASTS AND BRIARS

Possible Trigger Tags:

1. Mentions of bullying

2. Mentions of murder

3. Grief

4. Death of parent

5. Gaslighting

WHAT DID I FEEL ABOUT THE  BOOK'S: 

1. Writing Quality: So, comparing to Poston's other book that I read last year, this book was certainly a treat. I was hooked in from the synopsis and the writing style kept me in. Like I almost finished it within a single sitting had my mother not threatened to break my laptop if  I didn't go to sleep. Anyways, I was up beyond that, like I went to sleep at 5 am? Yeah I think 5 am. But I think I really enjoy the writing style. Because there's no drag. I'm not really on the edge of my seat, but at the same time I'm very interested to know how the story's gonna advance. 

2. Character Development: Well.

 

To be honest, there really isn't any other character to talk about other than Florence because everyone plays a really minor role. Like there are a lot of characters that I adore, like Carver, Florence's Dad and Benji, but I didn't really find them significant enough to be able to actually blog about them. Like they're fine as adorable and nice characters but that's all they're ever gonna be. Nice characters that help the story along.

I really like Florence's character. And it is probably the first one I've seen a ghostwriter MC. To be honest, even though I completely sympathize with her when she's bullied or when her family keeps her out of stuff or when she's completely not okay while handling all the responsibilities while acting like she's okay, for some reason I can't really help but think that Florence doesn't really come off as a real person to me. I mean, not about her seeing the ghosts part, that's literally what makes her Florence but for some reason, I can't really relate to her. And I'm a writer myself. Though a part of her that was relatable is the fear of what if my writing isn't good enough? because man, those doubts have been haunting me since 2018.

3. Couldn't put it down- Ness: I think a good 8/10. Been a while since I have rated a book that. The other one was This Can Never Not Be Real.

4. Plot: There isn't much to say about the plot, considering most of the story is character driven, but I do love how everything happens because of Florence's Dad. He seems like a really jolly man to me. To be very honest, there aren't much plot devices, but there are little moments in the story that I really would love to hold close to my heart. Like Florence's moments with Benji, then also her moments with her family, mostly with her family. Because the Day family looks so closely well knit it brings tears to my eyes. Just mwah, I need a family like this.

OVERALL, A NICE READ, I need more books like this please.

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