Review: My Perfect Funeral by Patrick Goodwin

My Perfect Funeral by Patrick Goodwin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I set out to write a book review or blog piece, I usually keep personal information about myself to a minimum and try to focus exclusively on whatever I am discussing. However, in the case of this review, that is a bit of an issue, because I picked up the novel I am about to talk about because it discusses a topic I have to live with every day. While of course this review is about the book, I do feel it is important to give the context in which I picked it up.

Goodwin’s premise greatly involves individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities. This is intriguing to me because I also live with a physical disability. Some of the topics he discusses in here are very familiar territory for me because of that, and I found myself really enjoying most of what is presented in this narrative.

All that said, let’s get a summary for the story.

Summary

We open to Diane Wright and her friend Rosie spending time together. When the two girls hear commotion across the street, they go out to investigate, only to anger a known gang leader called Danny Briggs. Enraged, Briggs terrorizes the girls, forcing Diane to go into hiding with a new name to protect herself.

With this new identity, Diane enrolls in an art therapy class for adults with special needs and meets the teacher, Joseph, who ends up becoming as close as family to the rest of the group. However, with Danny still a threat even after being arrested, the group finds they must contend with a known criminal while helping Diane to remain safe.

Will Joseph and the group be able to stop Danny’s group before Diane pays the price?

Thoughts

One of the biggest things for me in this novel is the clear love and care with which Goodwin crafts his characters. Joseph and his students are so well-developed that I can still clearly distinguish each character after finishing. This ended up being crucial to the plot that develops, too, and seeing all of it tie together was fantastic!

On the side of the plot, this is where I feel like there were some minor issues. It is not the plot that develops or even the characters that drive it, but rather that I feel the plot should have been more closely knit into the narrative. I will explain what I mean by that in the structure section.

In the meantime, we should discuss some of the characters.

Characters

Joseph Matthews

I really like how Joseph is written. The art therapy position gives him great lessons and friendships, and it is obvious how he grows and changes as the story goes on. I absolutely adore how he cares for everyone as a person! He wants the best for all of them. Seeing how he actively works to show them how art can have a great impact on their lives is fantastic. The classes do not even feel like classes, but rather, actual therapeutic sessions that are there to help all of them. While the students do develop individual friendships, Joseph feels like a peer, not just a teacher. He is part of the group, disability or no disability.

One relationship that develops is the one with Simon. As I said earlier, Joseph feels like more than a teacher, and his relationship with Simon is a great example of that. Joseph goes out of his way to be there for him, helping him in both educational and personal contexts. Seeing Joseph work to help Simon grow – not just in the classroom, but outside it as well – helps cement that this position is something that he grows to love.

Diane Wright

Given that Diane is one of the first characters that we see, her arc starts being built immediately. Goodwin wastes no time telling you who she is, what she is like, and how her character will impact the main story. Her character is very interesting to me. She has a tough side to her that I respect, because as the narrative goes on it is clear that she is comfortable in her own skin and with her disability.

What she is not comfortable with is people mistreating her due to her condition, even if they do not realize that they are mistreating her, which I completely understand. It made me feel for her very early on. Concerning the plot, the conflict that surrounds her makes for a gripping narrative when we are not exclusively focusing on Joseph and the other students. While I do have some issues with the execution of the plot (which I will go into in a bit), I love that Diane knows and respects the situation she is in, actively making moves to protect herself and showing that she will go down fighting.

Danny Briggs

Danny Briggs is one of the few characters in this novel that infuriated me when I first saw him. Goodwin creates this horrible person who does not care whom he steps on to get his way, and he will do anything and everything to get what he wants. Seeing how far his influence reached worried me a bit, and I wonder if the gang he is a part of could play an even bigger role down the road if a sequel were to be written.

However, there is a minor issue with Briggs that I need to mention. The problem also ties a bit into the structure of the narrative, but I want to start with his character. As frightening as he is in the beginning, he doesn’t appear nearly enough after that to shine as a character. Goodwin establishes him as a terrible person, but he is underutilized. While the people he gets to help him are threats as well, I wish he had been seen more often, since he is the one in control of it all.  

Structure

The way this novel is structured is interesting. We open with the scene with Diane and Rosie, where we are also introduced to Danny Briggs. However, as I hinted in Briggs’ character section, there is an issue with the structure that ties into his character as well. As I said earlier, his story is not tied closely enough into the narrative. It is about halfway through the novel that Briggs is even brought up again, and I am honestly not a fan of that because it makes it seem like his story does not carry the weight that it should.

I think it would be interesting if we could see him every couple of chapters throughout the entire story. This way, he as a threat never goes away – he is always there, even as we learn about the students and Joseph, which in turn could help drive up the suspense and tension. Perhaps doing so could even drive up the impact of the people he employs to help him later. I remember seeing him recruit people and thinking how I just wished something like that had occurred a bit earlier in the story to keep the momentum going.

Writing

There is something about Goodwin’s writing that I like a lot. When focusing on the art therapy class, there is a genuinely warm feeling to the prose that manages to do just enough to be heartwarming without becoming sappy. Goodwin approaches these situations with care while showing how in the beginning Joseph must get his footing while learning to teach the class.

However, there is a significant shift when anything involving Briggs and his gang comes up. The prose becomes much darker and more foreboding as he plots to get what he wants. A good indication of this is a scene where he meets one of his allies and plots what to do next. His word choice during the scene and how he acts shifts the mood of the scene from originally tense to outright frightening because the word choice indicates that he is not messing around and will do anything to achieve his goals. Goodwin wastes no time telling you with scenes like this exactly what the art therapy class must contend with.

Conclusion

Taking it all together, I have to admit that I enjoyed this. While I do have some issues with it, I think the good things about it outweigh those issues. This is a heartwarming story with a fantastic message. The way Goodwin tackles the subject is spot-on in its execution and in some cases was able to move me to tears. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in special needs and likes a story that is hard to put down. In the end, Goodwin has created a heartwarming story of friendship, danger, and intrigue that will stay with you long after the last page is turned.