I Date Dead People (My Boyfriend is a Monster 5)

Title: I Date Dead People (My Boyfriend is a Monster #5)
Author: Ann Kerns

Illustrator: Janina Gorrissen
Publisher: Graphic Universe (Lerner)

Copyright: 2012

Price: $29.27

ISBN: 978-0-7613-6007-0
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Summary and Quick Thoughts: Nora and her siblings see ghosts, but they try not to tell their parents because their parents would freak out, or worse: bring in a ghost hunting show. Each sibling seems to have a ghost that follows them. For Nora, it is Tom Barnes, a teenager who died at the house over one-hundred years ago and could never seem to leave. The two instantly fall for each other, leading Nora to dismiss the attentions of the most popular boy at school.

What starts out as innocent haunting for the siblings though, takes a dark turn as angry ghosts begin to make themselves known and inhabit the house, forcing the family out of the house. Nora is determined though to bring her family home. Readers return to the series with a ghost love story of Tom and Nora.

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Recommended Audience: high school

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Things to be aware of: Ghosts
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Further Thoughts: Nora prefers to date Tom. Tom is a ghost. This intriguing ghost love story features our continuing recurring characters the guidance counselor and Mr. James. The added bonus is that Mr. James actually knows Nora’s father so we get to learn a little background information on him (and watch him freak out over the ghosts, which looks like a major hint of something).

As I’ve mentioned before, our heroines are pretty strong and know what they want in this series. Although, I find it odd that Nora doesn’t mind having a relationship with a ghost when the most popular guy at school likes her, but there is an appeal to a ghost who can’t leave the house. What makes Nora fantastic though is that she refuses to back down, as previous heroines have, when their love is out fighting. Nora is just as much a part of the solution as Tom is. Once again, the ending to this love story is not exactly what one might expect, which I like because it isn’t exactly a happy ending.

My only complaint is that while the art is fantastic, I swear the one character looks like Dicey from volume 1. This volume is illustrated by the same artist as volume 1, but the character isn’t Dicey. I was actually disappointed because I was hoping I was going to finally see some overlap in stories. It’d be nice to see how our previous characters are doing, but again, I don’t expect anything until a grand finale.

Although, something interesting to note is that between volume 1 and this volume, the town names both begin as “Saint.” Coincidence? Now I’ll have to go back and look at the names and see what kind of connection there is.

Once again, I’m impressed. This volume isn’t as strong as the beginning, but then, I’m still following it and I’m still interested in what is next and still want to know why our two characters keep appearing. Well done!

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Bonus:

Source: Library copy.