title: Destination Funeral
author: Paige Harbison
publisher: St. Martin's Press
publication date: July 21, 2026
pages: 352
peppers: 2 (on this scale)
warnings:
- death
- drugs
- alcohol
- car accident (in past)
- violence
summary: When Babe dies, she leaves clear instructions that her daughters, Sammie and Didion, and their two childhood friends, Matt and Austin, have to stay for a weekend in the house they will inherit together. They all follow the directive by arriving on Friday night, and they wake up to figure out what's next on Saturday. But then they keep waking up on Saturday morning, reliving the same day until...well, that's what you'll have to read the book to learn. The story is told in alternating narratives between the past, told in third person, and the present, in Didion's point of view.
tropes:
- first love
- Groundhog's Day/time loop
- small town
- gay best friend
- sisters
- confusing childhood
- chef who can't cook
- can't quit the bad boyfriend
- beach house = happy place
what I liked:
- small town
- sisters
- mothers and daughters
what I didn’t like:
- Didion probably could have figured her stuff out more quickly
overall rating: 5 (of 5 stars)
As always, you can click on the photo above if you want to buy the book.