Reviews with content warning for Mass/school shootings - The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County: A Novel

When you hear your hometown’s podunk airport mentioned, your ears perk up and you continue on.
This book wasn’t all feel good feelings like it was marketed. It was raw with grief, abandonment, and ptsd

caused by a holiday parade shooting

.
I felt like the characters had good depth but also really liked the feeling you got; small town where everyone knows everyone and by default there’s grannies gossiping.
Overall, this reminded me so much of life in northern Wisconsin that I get nostalgic about and miss but I’m thankful I moved away from the small town. Honestly, a great read.

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acciodogs's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

For a short novel, there’s a lot of characters to keep track of…Between Esther’s family, the funeral ladies (and their daughters), and Cooper’s perspective and family, I had to stop way too many times to get my mind straight.

I didn’t hate the story, but I didn’t love (and don’t remember the blurb mentioning) the religious theming or constant Catholicism references throughout.

The story felt rushed, though I can’t say I’d love to spend more time with any of these characters.

So much talk about Esther being scammed…with little closure that felt satisfying.

A lot of it felt preachy and privileged, but also like they were trying to be your cool aunt with how much drinking was in this story. If the sun was up, they were drinking beers. I did however appreciate the Hamm’s name drop.

I loved the small town feel, the community aspect, the funeral ladies cook book and the lake setting. I just think this book would do with a better description, I probably wouldn’t have picked it up if it had.

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cesca_natalia's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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shawna_jo's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Listen, I rarely leave bad reviews but I feel so hoodwinked by this one that I feel like I have to. No hate to the author! It seems like a lot of people like this book...but it just wasn't for me. Combine that with the fact that there is some problematic points (some of the plot points seem rushed or not fleshed out, a lot of religion for a book not marketed as so, seemingly conflicting details about characters) and I just couldn't rate this high. I could maybe bump it up to 2 stars if I was feeling generous, but here we are. A more spoiler-y review below.

OK, pain point #1. For a book that never mentions religion in the description it is choc full of Catholic guilt, morality lessons, etc. If I knew it was a religious book before, I wouldn't be upset by it. Many of the characters come of as judge-y and a little hypocritical. #2 there are quite a few conservative political points peppered in as well and it is not subtle (mainly gun control and social assistance programs). These just felt a little aggressive coming from what one would think is a "sweet" book. #3 At points it felt like the author must have turned this book into her editor and the editor said they needed to cut a bunch out because some of the plot points feel super rushed. For example, we know Cooper has PTSD which is fine but all of a sudden he is an alcoholic too? It felt like there was no build up and Iris is even like "Yeah he gets like this when he drinks" but we never see him like this until he causes a scene in a restaurant. #4 Ether says she only has one daughter, but then at least once (maybe twice) she says daughters and babies plural referring to herself. That seems like it should have been caught in editing.

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sar_tej's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I ended up enjoying this more than I thought I would, considering the blurb is pretty far off from what the book is actually about.

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emleyb's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This is the perfect read for a summer Up North. I love how Claire captures the spirit of the Northwoods and Northern Midwest. I absolutely loved the first half, the second half wasn’t as good for me but still enjoyed the whole thing and would recommend. Warning for PTSD, gun violence.

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read_with_riley's review against another edition

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2.25

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