Five Funerals tells the story of a high school alumni class where the grads keep dying in mysterious ways. The book is structured to allow additional exploration of what exactly happened to all 26 alumni, if the reader wishes, that are not mandatory to the main plot.
I always say I want a new and original plot, but Five Funerals perhaps tries to shove too many innovations into one book. Just an adult choose your own path idea is brilliant. People dying in imaginative ways in a homage to Gorey’s gory A to Z Gashlycrumb Tinies is also a great idea. Even having a graduation party go horribly wrong, though not very innovative, works. However, shoving all of them into one overly long book is not a good idea. I got bored. Plus, the whole idea of children’s choose your own path books is not that you return back to the main story. That is how footnotes work—not paths.
So, while I didn’t enjoy Five Funerals as much as I expected, many readers may like it a lot. I will split the difference and rate it 3 stars.
Thanks to NetGalley and Ruadan Books for providing me with an advanced review copy.