Cherie Dimaline

Funeral Songs for Dying Girls

Hannah DCamp

Many thanks to NetGalley for an E-ARC of this book, which I received in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

This story is beautiful and profound. The vulgarity is not to my taste, and I really feel like the story would have lost none of its impact if the strong language were absent. I have yet to finish The Marrow Thieves, and it wasn't really my cup of tea, so I was a little apprehensive, but I liked this story much better. The writing style might have been overly poetic or unrealistic in another author's hands, but Dimaline utilizes it effortlessly, and I never once questioned the authenticity of Winifred's voice.

All the character beats hit for me - Win's recurring grief (view spoiler)[for Roberta, her mother, Mrs. Dingleberry, and Phil, even her friendship with Jack (hide spoiler)] was portrayed with care and gentleness. It is interesting to me how a story with so many raw emotions going on could be so unobtrusive. This isn't to say that it wasn't affecting, but just that it was truly gentle. I think this is part of my 3.5 star rating - I liked it, but it kept a comparatively safe distance.

I'd recommend this for fans of Jeff Zentner. It was reminiscent of his powerful storytelling.

Funeral Songs for Dying Girls

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