Going into this, just based on the description, I thought I was in for a funny, possibly silly, but mostly lighthearted story. What I did not expect was a story that was so deliberate in its pacing, so intimate in its relationship building, and so reverent in its treatment of the business of death. While I sometimes binge audiobooks, I found myself wanting to be as deliberate in my consumption of this one as it is in the story that unfolds.

Ezra is unlike any character I can remember. Although he has shades of similar main characters who can also interact with the dead (like Florence Day, my love from The Dead Romantics), Ezra is wholly his own unique character for so many reasons: his caretaking personality, his connection and devotion to his community, his feeling of isolation due to his "gift," and not least of all, his trans identity. All of these pieces of him are treated so lovingly and with such care, that they create a fully formed person who grounds the entire story, even when it threatens to lapse into the absurd (i.e., his mom running off with the Rabbi's wife).

And Jonathan, well, there's a reason that Ezra keeps questioning whether he "deserves" him. Jonathan is one of those characters who is very nearly too good to be true, but there was not one aspect of his characterization that felt forced, overdone, or unearned. The more you learn about Jonathan and his relationship to his deceased husband Ben, the more you understand why he makes specific choices with Ezra, particularly forcing communication rather than cutting and running when things are hard. 

Those are just the two main leads - this story is rich with well-developed friends (Ollie and Nina being particular standouts), family (Aaron and Becca bringing the love and frustration in the way that only siblings can), and community (particularly the rituals taking place at the Chapel).

I've read some really lovely books lately, many of them sticking with me in different ways. But I want to savor this story for a while, possibly picking up the paperback to experience it in a different medium. The audiobook was pitch perfect for the way I experienced this--Petey Gibson provides exactly the right tone for a book that demands moments of intense intimacy and moments of intense joy. 

I absolutely adored this and I can't wait to share it with others.