Listening Still
by Anne Griffin
An extremely well written story that is very beautiful and very different. Set in an small village inIreland about a family of undertakers. Jeanie is the daughter and she has a special gift she hers from the dead. This book follows Jeanie life and family structures and expectations, lost love and pressures involved in many aspects of life living in a village and people’s views about the ‘family gift’. A thought provoking and humour ,sadness and many emotions besides and when Jeanie’s parents decide they are going to retire what will Jeanie decide to do the characters in the book are wonderful. This a great book from start to finish. 4.5/5

This one was just too wordy and slow - nothing had happened at the 25% mark; it was just the same rehashing of the same old, same old - and while I loved the tone, I just wanted something to finally happen. And all the while, the MC just ended up growing more and more unlikeable and I was finding myself unable to get behind her and root for her. Unfortunately, wasn't for me

This was such a Good book, Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review.

Listening Still Anne Griffin
As a huge fan of Anne's previous book When All is Said, I was delighted to get my hands on this one. I felt it got off to a slow start, but just as I found myself wondering, where is this going, I realised I was being drawn into the story, and I found myself picking up the book at every opportunity.

I loved Jeanie, and if anything, I would have loved to hear more of her conversations with dead people.

Unique story, well written.

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for this ARC

A beautifully moving story, that is poignant and heart warming. A nice easy read

Jeanie has both a blessing and a curse. She can hear the last words of the dead and they can also hear her and she feels as though she is obliged to pass these messages on to the living. Jeanie is not the only one who can do this, her father can too, but he does not always pass these messages on exactly. He will alter these messages with the hope to not hurt anyones feelings. This leads to Jeanie feeling conflicted when her father retires. Is this the right thing to do going forward?

This novel shifts from past to present. It gives us an insight into Jeanie's life, her bestfriend, Peanut, Fionn, and her relationship with Niall. Jeanie's character was frustrating at times. I'm not too sure if this was the authors intent or not as I have seen a few people say they have felt this way? Saying that though, my favourite parts of the books were Jeanie's encounters of talking to the dead and I wish we had more of that, but I suppose with only the limited amount of time this could be done that wasn't possible.

The premise to this book was extremely promising and like nothing I have ever read before, sadly it was just lacking that little something that I can't put my finger on! Despite this, it was a very enjoyable read and I would definitely be interested in picking up this authors work again!

Thankyou to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I very much enjoyed this story. It was lovely to read something so different but written in a way that felt totally natural and believable and was actually a backdrop to the story rather than being a forced supernatural tale. I've already recommended this and will certainly continue to do so.

Wow, beautiful, moving and wonderfully heartwarming. This book kept me reading long into the night and left me feeling bereft once I had finished it. Utterly beautiful.

Jeanie Masterson has a gift: she can hear the last words of the dead.

Passed down from generation to generation, this gift means she is able to make wrongs right, to give voice to unspoken love and dying regrets. She and her father have worked happily alongside each other for years, but now he's unexpectedly announced that he wants to retire early and leave the business to her and her life is called into question.

Does she really want to be married to the embalmer, or does she want to be with her childhood sweetheart, off in London? Does she want to have children, and pass this gift on to them? And does she want to be stuck in this small town, or is there more of the world she wants to see - like the South of France, where she's discovered a woman who shares her gift?

Tied to her home by this unusual talent, she begins to question: what if what she's always thought of as a gift is a curse?

Powerful, moving and completely enthralling, Anne Griffin is such a wonderful writer.

i liked the premise of the owners of a funeral parlour having the ability to hear the deceased. I also thought the cover was beautiful.

Jeanie Masterson lives in a small Irish town and has inherited this unique ability from her father. When her parents decided to retire, she must decide whether to continue the family business or try something new.

There was a nice cast of characters. I particularly liked the relationship with Jeanie and her brother, Mikey, who has autism and her school friend, Peanut, was really funny.

There was some lovely writing here and I felt engaged throughout. I had expected more about her gift, but the novel focussed on Jeanie's life and the choices she is faced with.

I will definitely look out for more by this author.

Thanks indeed to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This book held my attention and was charming in its way, without really meeting my expectations gleaned from the blurb. I didn’t really take to the main character Jeanie and so found it hard to involve myself in the ups and downs of her life. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

I found the book was good but didn’t think it got going u til the halfway point.

Jeanie can communicate with the dead who have recently passed. She works in the family funeral business. Jeanie had the opportunity to go to London with her boyfriend but circumstances made it that she stayed where she was.

It was a novel way of a story which was interesting.

Having read and fallen in love with her first book, I was really looking forward to reading this book while it was an okay read it was not a favourite and a bit disappointed. I wasn’t feeling the characters at all they had no impact on me and I found it hard to get into as the story just wasn’t that captivating. I will always read anything this author will write as her first book was an absolute favourite of mine

A good read .Enjoyable story about Jeanie who works in the familes funeral home and has the gift of hearing the dead speak after Passing away. There are quite a few misunderstandings going on especially in her private life and her relationship with her husband, Well written and especially liked her autistic brother's character but the ending was a bit sudden but overall I enjoyed it

Jeanie Masterson can talk to the dead, but only in their last few hours, a trait that has been handed down through the family, Listening Still follows Jeanie through childhood to adulthood. A really god book, I really enjoyed it.

Wow, I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait to read more from this author. It was an emotional rollercoaster for me (and Jeannie the main character) with plenty of tears! Left me wanting more. It a 5 star from me, thankyou

I had high hopes for this book, but if I'm perfectly honest it fell a bit short, perhaps because I'd enjoyed When All Is Said so much. I felt so much more could have been made of Jeannie's 'gift' of being able to hear the dead. I honestly thought this book would be quite funny but it wasn't. I liked the characters though, and the ending was lovely.

Listening Still is a beautifully written novel about life, death and relationships. The synopsis tells us that Jeanie Masterson can hear the dead, which brings great comfort to the recently deceased’s loved ones. Although this is an important storyline within the book, the various characters and their individual backstories and relationships were far more intriguing to me.
Jeanie’s family are well known undertakers in Ireland. Both Jeanie and her father can hear the dead for a few hours shortly after death, which gives them an opportunity to pass on any messages. Jeanie is still in touch with her close group of childhood friends and is married to one of them. The book takes us back in time to tell the fascinating stories of Jeanie, her family and friends. The tales are sometimes funny and often desperately sad either due to tragedy or missed opportunities.
I absolutely loved this book and hope the supernatural element does not put people off reading what is essentially a study of life and human nature. Truly beautiful.

I would like to extend my gratitude to NetGalley for giving me this advanced readers’ copy in exchange for an honest and frank review.

I could not put this book down. The premise of the book was so unusual. Jeanie was such a loveable character and I loved being part of her journey. It was beautiful and not too far fetched at all. It was very real and left me thinking about how the veil between life and death is very see through. I cannot wait to read more by this author.

What an utterly compelling read. I found myself reading into the small hours. Life has many twists and turns and not always a happy ending and this book dealt with that so delicately. It was set in beautiful Ireland and the characters shone through. A must read. This is the first book I have read by Anne Griffin and it wont be the last. Brilliant author