I was worried when I started this book that it would be too dark for me. Ya know, death and cremation, dark stuff. But weirdly enough (although Doughty would say totally not weird), this isn't dark and is actually rather nice. Doughty begins her quest into cremation and mortuary science fascinated with the topic but also terrified by it. So her journey is not only learning the ropes of how to cremate or embalm a body but also coming to terms with what death means. I really enjoyed her discussions on death and how death has become a business (explaining how embalming became popular during the Civil War to transport bodies back to families and has evolved into a very "dead-bodies-are-icky" mindset). I enjoyed learning about the process and have tried to begin to think of the process in a more natural and less "ew gross corpses" sort of way. Plus, I gave lots of thought to what I want done to my body once I die and it was...strangely nice. For a book on death and cremation, I found this to be one of the most pleasant books to read.