Funeral Songs For Dying Girls- Review

**Book Review: Funeral Songs for Dying Girls by Cherie Dimaline**

Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)

Introduction

I went into Funeral Songs for Dying Girls completely blind — no expectations, no real idea of what kind of story I was walking into — and I’m so glad I did. This book is quiet, devastating, and deeply beautiful in a way that doesn’t demand your attention, but earns it. It’s the kind of story that settles into you slowly and lingers long after you finish.

Quick Facts

Release: 2023
Read: December 2025
Reading Time: Short but emotionally heavy
Pages: 272
Format Recommendation: Physical or ebook to sit with the language and pacing, though audio works well for the intimacy of the voice.
Perfect for: Readers who appreciate lyrical storytelling, emotionally honest narratives, and stories centered on grief, identity, and survival.

Genre and Writing Style

Genre: YA / Contemporary / Literary Fiction
Writing Style: Lyrical, introspective, emotionally restrained
Spice Level: 🌶️ (minimal)
Trigger Level: 💀💀💀💀 (grief, death, emotional trauma, isolation)

Summary: A Brief Overview (Without Major Spoilers)

From Goodreads: After inadvertently starting rumors of a haunted cemetery, a teen befriends a ghost in this brand-new young adult novel exploring Indigenous identity from the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of The Marrow Thieves series.

Winifred has lived in the apartment above the cemetery office with her father, who works in the crematorium all her life, close to her mother’s grave. With her sixteenth birthday only days away, Winifred has settled into a lazy summer schedule, lugging her obese Chihuahua around the grounds in a squeaky red wagon to visit the neglected gravesides and nursing a serious crush on her best friend, Jack.

Her habit of wandering the graveyard at all hours has started a rumor that Winterson Cemetery might be haunted. It’s welcome news since the crematorium is on the verge of closure and her father’s job being outsourced. Now that the ghost tours have started, Winifred just might be able to save her father’s job and the only home she’s ever known, not to mention being able to stay close to where her mother is buried. All she has to do is get help from her con-artist cousin to keep up the ruse and somehow manage to stop her father from believing his wife has returned from the grave. But when Phil, an actual ghost of a teen girl who lived and died in the ravine next to the cemetery, starts showing up, Winifred begins to question everything she believes about life, love and death. Especially love.

Book Details

Cherie Dimaline approaches grief with care and honesty, never rushing healing or simplifying pain. The funeral home setting is used thoughtfully — not as shock value, but as a space where death, memory, and love coexist. The story trusts the reader to sit in discomfort and find meaning there.

What Worked for Me

The emotional honesty: This book never feels manipulative. The grief is raw, quiet, and deeply human. Being from a teenage POV added to the rawness of honesty.
The writing: Sparse but powerful — every word feels intentional.
Atmosphere: There’s a softness to the story even in its darkest moments, making it feel intimate rather than overwhelming.
Lingering impact: This is the kind of book that stays with you, resurfacing in small moments long after you’ve finished.

What Didn’t Work for Me: Trigger Warnings and Criticisms

There’s very little to critique if you connect with this style of storytelling. Readers looking for fast-paced plots or clear resolutions may find it slow or emotionally heavy. This book asks you to sit with pain rather than move quickly through it.

Trigger Warnings Include:

Death and grief
Emotional trauma
Isolation
Mental health struggles

Final Thoughts

Funeral Songs for Dying Girls is beautiful in a quiet, aching way. It doesn’t try to fix grief or make it palatable — it simply honors it. This is a story that understands how loss reshapes you, and how sometimes survival itself is an act of courage.

An easy five stars — and a book I’ll be thinking about for a long time.

📚 Study Guide

Tips for Readers

Go in blind if you can. Read slowly. Let the emotions settle rather than rushing toward the end.

Discussion Questions

How does the funeral home setting deepen the novel’s exploration of grief?
In what ways does silence function as its own form of communication in the story?
How does the protagonist’s relationship with death evolve throughout the book?
What does healing look like in a story that refuses to rush it?

ReadRantRepeat