"I Love Him to Pieces" Review: The Bulletin (July / August 2011)

The following review appeared in the July/August issue of The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books:

Storrie, Paul D. Made for Each Other; illus. by Eldon Cowgur. Graphic Universe, 2011 126p (My Boyfriend Is a Monster) Library ed. ISBN 978-0-7613-5601-1 $29.27 Paper ed. ISBN 978-0-7613-7077-2 $9.95 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-7613-7186-1 $21.95   R Gr. 6-8

Tsang, Evonne I Love Him to Pieces; illus. by Janina Görrissen. Graphic Universe, 2011 124p (My Boyfriend Is a Monster) Library ed. ISBN 978-0-7613-6004-9 $29.27 Paper ed. ISBN 978-0-7613-7079-6 $9.95 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-7613-7185-4 $21.95   R Gr. 6-8

"In these two opening titles in a graphic-novel series featuring unlikely romances between ordinary girls and their various monster loves, one girl falls hard for a boy who has mere hours before turning into a zombie that will then want to eat her, and another finds that her perfect new boyfriend is made up of reanimated corpse parts lovingly stitched together by his dad. Of course, true love is rarely smooth, and in this case, the heroines face not only the usual misunderstandings, insecurities, and intense feelings, but also flesh-eating zombies and jealous (and murderous) “siblings” cobbled together from dead bodies.

While neither book pushes the boundaries of graphic novels (both stick to fairly structured panels, black-and-white illustrations that mirror the text, and predictable comic-book-style exclamations and plot structuring), the mixing of romance and the supernatural, an obvious nod to Twilight and its ilk, may draw in readers new to the format. The gross factor (these are, after all, monsters) is present but downplayed in favor of the progression of the romances, with love more important than, say, the desire to eat your girlfriend’s brains. This series, with the flashy titles (each extended with a sequence of several funny subtitles), eye-catching covers, and popular themes, will easily attract readers; happily, they will be rewarded with sturdy plots and clever takes on human/monster love." AS