Destination Funeral - Paige Harbison

I loved this book way more than I'd imagined and I knew it would be a new favorite quite early in my read. I'm obsessed with the fact that this book doesn't confine itself to one genre and is this beautiful amalgamation of women's fiction, literary fiction, romance, and comedy, while nailing all of it. And it is the literal embodiment of found family if that is something you crave.

Each of these characters are so wonderfully flawed and that instantly endeared them to me. Their lives outside of this bubble of birdsong feel authentic and painfully relatable, and so do their relationships with each other as they do over decades of closeness. This paired with the representations of grief portrayed in the book gave me all the feels. As the oldest daughter, so much of Didion's confusion and hurt (and sadly stubborn anger issues) felt like a mirror held up to my face and I loved how beautifully Didion's relationship with her mother was shown through the story.

And the writing was amazing!! I annotated so much in this book, because a lot of the deep, heavy conversations and topics are so meaningful. The dialogues and musings have it all, and it's such a lovely experience of self reflection and growth even as a reader. The story is written in two timelines, showing instances from the past that influence the characters in their present day.

This book bought me so much comfort in showing the ups and downs in life. It shows how different people are and how they are shaped by so much. There's so much that can go wrong and people can still find their way back to happiness.

From all this I think I've already conveyed how much I recommend this book, but I truly treasure it. And I can't thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press enough for this gift of an ARC. Everyone should grab a copy for themselves and share in this amazingness!