Cover Image: How to Say Goodbye

How to Say Goodbye

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

I went into this one blind & it was not what I was expecting at all. The depth to the characters was amazing. I really enjoyed seeing the characters grow & watching the story unfold.
I loved the grief club & this Mrs Norris was one of my favourite characters.

Was this review helpful?

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

Was this review helpful?

A truly uplifting and touching story on how to survive.

Follow the story of Grace Salmon who works in a funeral parlour. This is oddly the second book in a matter of weeks I've read involving funeral parlours.

Grace prides herself in going above and beyond to give her clients the send off they rightly deserve. Perhaps an introvert, Grace is a quietly lonely person.

Grace decides to set up a question and answer group for the public to come into the parlour. Here is where the story really begins.

You will be drawn in with this book. A book about death and how to live. A quirky premise that I'm sure most will love.

A really light fun read. Very easily flows and well written.

Was this review helpful?

For a book that has a funeral arranger as its main character and is all about creating the perfect goodbye, and grief, it is surprisingly not depressing at all, and in fact rather uplifting and a sensitive look at the topic.

If Grace has any faults it would be caring too much, she is clearly struggling to come to terms with things in her personal life, but at the same time is giving her all at work in order to create memorable send offs for the departed for all the right reasons.

She even stalks the deceased's social media to be able to add a more personalised touch to each funeral.

Grace doesn't have the largest group of friends, but those she has are completely wonderful, and a rather eclectic group.

There is far more to book than I'm really able to find the words to describe properly in this review. Rest assured, that it's a rather touching story, and I was interested to see what different people want for funerals, memorials and how they grieve.

Having thoroughly enjoyed the authors's Lonely Hearts Travel Club series, which is a lot more light hearted than this, I was very happy to see that she is able to write in multiple styles and still tell a fabulous story.

Thank you to HQ and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Was this review helpful?

I appear to be in the minority with regards to this book.

I found it very hard to read. I didn't like Grace at all. I felt that she was too similar to Eleanor Oliphant and Sylivia from Needle Mouse.

I don't doubt that this book will fly off the shelves though.

Was this review helpful?

This is a wonderful novel that I very much enjoyed. It follows Grace Salmon. She works at a funeral parlour and she goes above and beyond in giving her clients the very best send off. She spends her time researching the deceased so she can make each funeral service personal and special. Grace seems quite a lonely person, she’s so focused on her job. One day she sets up a group for people to come and ask a funeral organiser questions and while the first group isn’t as busy as she’d hoped, she does begin to make connections with people who all have something in common. Grace begins to talk about her own life and you start to really understand who she is and why she is so conscientious in her job. This is such a brilliant novel – it’s a fun, light read whilst exploring loss in a very real way. It’s such a talent to mix the two and I was so impressed with this book. I cried whilst reading it but I also laughed out loud. I can’t wait to read more of Katy Colins’ writing. I highly recommend this book!

Was this review helpful?

A gem! Really loved this book. As the story enfolded the reader was drawn in, very likeable cast of very different characters and many twists and turns. Ending was not as expected but was beautifully and sensitively written. Grace was a fantastic lead character, the reader really felt you could understand what she was going through.
Death is a difficult subject but this book was not about sadness and saying goodbye but more about the celebration of life.
Katy Colins has wrote a beautiful sensitive book
Thank you to Netgalley, HQ and Katy Colin’s for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review

Was this review helpful?

This is a wonderful novel about death and learning how to live again.
This is an emotional read with the key message of coping and letting go. The topic may sound gloomy but it was uplifting and sweet.
There was a rather unique mix of characters.
A brave book to write when suffering from grief

Was this review helpful?

My Thoughts: this story was beautiful, both heartwarming and heart wrenching at the same time.

On the surface you think it’s just going to be about Grace and her role as a funeral organiser, and to begin with it is, but deep down it’s so much more.

There are lots of different character in this book and they all play a very different but equally important part. My favourite by far was Mrs Norris she reminded me so much of my friend, she died 9 years ago, but this book filled me with so many happy memories.

We soon learn that the happy go lucky attitude that Grace puts out is a mask to hide something devastating that happens in her past, and the real reason she dropped everything and became a funeral organiser.

I don’t want to say too much or mention to many characters names because I honestly wish I could experience this whole book again for the first time and I don’t want to take that joy away from anyone.

But please pick this book up, especially if you’ve ever lost anyone close to you, It might just be the thing you need to make you smile.

Was this review helpful?

#HowToSayGoodbye #NetGalley A light, easy to read book seen from the perspective of Grace, A funeral arranger - which for me was a fresh and new idea. Overall, an enjoyable and at times emotional read. What stops me giving 5 stars is that at times it was a bit slow and repetitious but the last quarter of the book was an excellent read.

Was this review helpful?

A thoroughly enjoyable story that anyone who has lost someone will be able to relate to. It tells of how death affects people in different ways and how they can learn to live again.

Grace Salmon is a funeral arranger with a difference as it is her mission to provide the perfect goodbye. Grace has passion and drive and puts her all into making each send-off unique, this unfortunately comes with leaving Grace exhausted. Having to deal with her own losses Grace finds it comes from an unexpected source.

My thanks to Net Galley for the ARC of this great book, which I am sure is going to be a best seller.

Was this review helpful?

When HQ asked me if I would like to take part in their latest social Blog Blast I just couldn't say no.

Now I must confess that this is the first book by Katy Collins that I'd read. I certainly was not disappointed.
🌸
It is an emotionally charged book but with that there are parts that will make you smile- which I felt with this kind of story gave the book some balance.
🌸
Grace is an undertaker who puts her work before anything else. She puts everything into her work. She seems to have an invisible barrier between her and other people.
But all that changes when she is asked to arrange the funeral of Abbi who sadly died from a road accident. Abbi who on the outside appears to have the perfect life- but as the saying goes 'never judge a book by its cover' not everything is as perfect as it seems. Abbi had some dark secrets that are to be uncovered.
🌸
This for Grace is almost like a wake up call/ reality check and she has to start to face up to things that she has kept hidden from others and herself. This could be the very reason why she is stuck in a rut with her life.
🌸
Beautifully written. Emotional story and topic but it does work.
Highly recommended read.
Thank you to both @hqstories and Katy Colins.

#bookcommunity #recommendedreads #fortheloveofreading #bookofig #bookobessed #howtosaygoodbye #bibliophile #readerofig #bookreader #loveofbooks #literatureisbeauty #tylwythtegyllyfr #blogblast #bookblogger #bookreviewer

Was this review helpful?

How to Say Goodbye is a story about death, grief, finding your support and most of all how important talking and letting time heal. I have to say it took me a while to get into this story, for some reason, the beginning just felt a bit too slow but as pages went by and I got to know Grace, the main character, more and all the supporting characters, I found myself not wanting to put down this ARC. The storyline of this book is quite simple really but flows like you were watching a movie, we get to know Grace who is almost scary in wanting to be perfect at her funeral arranger job, she finds herself caught up in the life of a recently deceased person and this person's widower, it even sounds like a trainwreck when you're writing it but somehow you find yourself rooting for Grace and wanting her to be happy even if her methods are a bit questionable. This is an emotional at times funny story about coping with grief.

Was this review helpful?

I'm not sure a lot of us give any thought to the people who ensure our loved ones get a good send off. It's really the last thing you want to think of. The thought of somebody you love dying and then having to arrange how everyone else gets to say goodbye to them. In a way the funeral isn't for the dearly departed, but rather for the living who grieve them.

I'll admit I have asked my mother to plan her funeral. I was pulling her leg a little, but it actually gave her the chance to think about the way she wanted people to say goodbye to her. Her playlist is something else I tell ya! Saying that, lately she has been telling me it's perfectly fine to pop her in a cardboard box and whip her round to the crematorium and Bob's your uncle. (Apparently that's legal here).

Grace is the kind of character readers tend to warm to, because she is like all of us. She is perfect with all of her imperfections. Part of her is afraid to live and to love. Hindered by the memories of a lost love and unwilling to confront what is keeping her from moving on.

I'm intentionally not going to go into the most emotional part of the book. I think It's best readers experience that for themselves. What I will say is that it makes this more than just Chick Lit and it ventures soundly into women's fiction.

The group meeting aspect of the story is emotional and heartfelt. In fact the whole book is, despite the light-hearted humour and the realistic characters. It's women's fiction with a lively tone and an emotional thread woven throughout.

I think one of my favourite paragraphs by far is the last one. It just speaks volumes about how far Grace has come and the difference in the way she sees life and lives it. Something so simple, and yet perfect in every way. It's a lovely read.

Was this review helpful?

I really really liked grace. This is an emotional lead but also has the light hearted element. I really enjoyed it & would recommend it.

Was this review helpful?

This is the second book I have read by this author and it is certainly different to the first.

Grace Salmon is a funeral arranger, she wants to give the deceased the best send off that she can. When Abbi, with a seemingly perfect life, dies, Grace does everything she can to give her the send off she deserves. When Grace discovers that Abbi has been keeping secrets, it pushes Grace to face up to her own secrets to enable her to move on with her life.

An emotional read but it does have some light moments. A story of coping with loss and coming out the other side.

Was this review helpful?

I wanted so much to like this book but just found it to be so twee and a total chore to finish. It's a light enough read about a woman called Grace who is a funeral arranger. She likes to keep her distance from people but finds herself sucked into the lives of this particular woman who dies in a car crash. The book isn't badly written but it just failed to hold my attention and I really struggled with it.

Was this review helpful?