The quickest way to earn a 5⭐️ from me is to make me feel connected to your characters. Every single character in this book was so well developed. They all had their little personality quirks and even smaller characters had clear motivations and goals. But, of course,  chemistry between the main characters is always what makes a romance successful. 

The grumpy/sunshine dynamic provides lots of good banter and dialogue. The tension was obvious and palpable from their meet cute. The two were so perfect for each other, as a reader you knew instantly you were going to be in for a nice, slow burn. 

Despite being closed door, the lead up was the perfect amount of emotion driven and lustful steam. 

The core plot line added an awkward comic relief that provided a nice contrast to the heavy topics of death, cancer, infertility, and guilt. The emotional scenes were deep and raw, I felt what they felt. This, for me, was the best part of the book. 

Overall, this book checked all the boxes and perfect for a quick, well developed romance!

3.5 stars
Started out strong, but I feel like they got together too soon so it then was a little meh. 

I picked up this book because of the blurb from Abby Jimenez  and I am so thankful I did. I loved how cozy this story was, all the while dealing in deep emotions and existential discovery. 

It is so lovely to have a story that celebrates a quiet life. This book is for anyone who dreads having to provide a ‘fun fact’ about themselves or sheepishly (but secretly gleefully) describes their weekends where they didn’t leave their house.

📖 This was a genuinely funny book, it had me laughing at multiple points. I bought the romance/chemistry. The MCs seemed like real people with real flaws.

🎧 Single POV, female narrator. I liked her. 

🌶️ 1.5/5, mostly closed door. This was disappointing for me; FMC spends a lot of mental energy thinking about her breast reconstruction and lack of nipples, and to have most of that fulfillment she finds with MMC just skipped over was a missed opportunity, I think. There is a little bit shown on page but it's like, looking and light touching, not the real passionate stuff.

🏳️‍🌈✊ BRCA survivor FMC, her mom survived cancer, one of FMC's two bffs dates women, and mental health rep kinda more generally.

The premise of this book was so unique. I really liked the way it tackled grief and showed it not as something that can be resolved and tied up with a bow at the end. Alison and Adam were SO SWEET together, and I loved seeing their relationship progress. I also haven’t read a book with mastectomy rep, so that was really cool. Alison and Adam’s characters both felt very real and relatable. The ending felt a bit rushed, and I would’ve loved to see more of Alison and Adam’s steady relationship. The friendships in this book were amazing too; you just have to love Mara and Chelsea. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

special thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

i am not the target audience because i found some pop culture references too cringy for me as gen z, or i did not understand some references completely, BUT! i can see millennials absolutely loving this.

what i really liked about this book was that heavy topics mentioned, and their impact, throughout the book, i.e. cancer and death, was softened by the humor, making it easier to read and digest. i also really liked all the quirks of the main characters – alison mullally and adam berg – and their family and friends.

but definitely one of my favorite things in the entire book was the banter between alison and adam. they were hot and cold, and overall just cuteness overload.

it was nice and informative seeing representation of carriers and survivors of the BRCA-1 gene and double-mastectomies. not only that, it was refreshing seeing how normalized and expressed talking about, or experiencing intense, extreme emotions (such as survivor's guilt, grief, self-acceptance, etc.) were in this book. no one was ever shamed for feeling what they felt.

what could need some more work was the pacing of the book. some things felt like extremely fast paced but then it all slowed down and i had to push myself forward.

overall, this book felt like watching a romcom. it had all the classic themes seen in romcoms, with the cliché grumpy-sunshine main characters, the "scandal" that separates them, and the public proclamations of love. a promising debut for the author.

 Four Weekends and a Funeral felt like a love letter to 90s romcoms in the best of ways. While You Were Sleeping is one of my fav romcoms, and this book definitely pays homage to that masterpiece. I am flabbergasted that this is a debut!

I am not a person who highlights often, but there are so many witty back and forths and laugh out loud funny exchanges that demanded to be remembered. I loved Alison and Adam's banter(!!!), and I totally believed their dynamic. Alison is a main character that was so easy to love and relate to. The way that Alison amps up her friendliness when Adam is a grump towards her was so entertaining to watch, especially when she started getting a little petty with it. Their chemistry/tension was honestly so good, and I loved watching their relationship unfold.

Honorable mention to Alison's friend group. Mara and Chelsea are truly gems of friends and I loved their interactions with Alison. The banter between these friends made them feel like I was in on their inside jokes (is that weird?). I loved them. I honestly loved everyone in this book (even the ex boyfriend, Sam).

Also- Ellie Palmer does pop culture references right in this book! I'm a 1988 millenial, and the pop culture tidbits were just so perfect and niche and did not feel forced. Referencing Devon Sawa as Casper actually unlocked core memories for me.

While this book was definitely funny, there were some heavy topics addressed. Alison is a BRCA 1 carrier and we meet her after she's had a mastectomy. Throughout the book she struggles with grieving the loss of her breasts while simultaneously feeling guilty for grieving. I thought this was handled and written so well, and really gives insight to a lot of things I never thought about in regards to breast cancer and mastectomies (and other procedures, surgeries, and worries that come along with having the BRCA 1 gene).

I cannot say enough good things about this book. I already want to reread, and I cannot wait for the audiobook version of this to come out too, so I can reread it in that format because I know that it's going to be amazing.

This is one you will want to add to your TBR asap, preorder, request from your library, etc etc. Ellie Palmer is definitely on my autobuy/read list now. Pub date is Aug 6th, 2024!

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam & Netgalley for this ARC!!!