Book Review: Competitive Grieving

A Two-Minute Book Review

Competitive Grieving by Nora Zelevansky

Wren’s boring, safe, predictable little life is rocked by the sudden death of her lifelong friend. She’s thrown into the middle of memorial arrangements and sorting through his belongings while trying to process her grief. Making things even messier are “The Vultures,” Stewart’s needy friends, each in competition with the other for the biggest right to grieve.

It sounds depressing, right? But it’s not. The tone is contemplative but light. There’s plenty of humor and even a touch of romance. Having also lost a BFF at a young age, I thought Wren’s observations were fascinating and accurate. I wish I had a physical copy of the book to share some of it here.

I did manage to bookmark this in the audiobook (thanks to Modern Mrs. Darcy for teaching me the technique):

Stewart and Wren’s friendship was “like a book that you once loved and still carry from apartment to apartment when you move. Formative, but no longer top of mind.”

I read COMPETITIVE GRIEVING as an audiobook purchased from Audible. The narrator (Katie Schorr) did an excellent job — especially considering how much of the dialog was in texts and emojis.