My Boyfriend Is a Monster #1 by Evonne Tsang

My Boyfriend Is a Monster #1: I Love Him to Pieces

by Evonne Tsang; Janina Gorrissen (Illustrator)

Genre: Paranormal Graphic Novel

Reading Grade: YA

Publishing Type: traditional

Publication Date: April 2011

Source: public library

Rated: Teen (13+)

Amazon.com

Can love survive the zombie apocalypse? Maybe Dicey's first chance at a real relationship was dead from the start. She's the star of her high school baseball team, and Jack's the star of the science program. Her idea of a study session includes sleeping in the sun, and his idea of a good game involves dungeons and dice. But opposites start attracting when they're assigned to be partners in a class project. Now an outbreak of a weird infection—it eats your brains and leaves you hungry for more—might not mean just the end of their first date. It might mean the end of everything. Will their relationship fall apart faster than zombies in the Florida sun, or can Dicey and Jack beat the odds and find a happy ending?

My Review 

I Love Him to Pieces (the first book in a series) takes place in Florida where baseball star Dicey Bell is paired up with her fellow high school student, Jack Chen, for a Health Ed project. She is a jock and he is a nerd. Somehow they end up liking each other and Jack Chen asks her out on a date that turns into the worst date imaginable because the zombie apocalypse breaks-out in their area during their date. 

This is my first review of a true graphic novel (not a manga), which I love to read along with regular ol' fiction. Nice thing is, NO superheros in tights. Thus, I Love Him to Pieces is a very cute little romantic zombie apocalypse story that could easily function as paranormal romance fiction. 

There was nothing particularly earth-shattering about the story-telling, nor the characterization (but, what happens is earth-shattering to the characters' lives, of course). There's nothing here that I haven't seen done before somewhere else, but it is a nice way to turn off your brain and read a brain-eating zombie story before you turn in for the night, assuming that sort of thing relaxes you. 

I will say that it is very sweet and romantic, but I just didn't buy Dicey's and Jack Chen's very quickly burgeoning love for each other. Seriously, it was way too fast to make such confessions to each other, since they barely knew each other before being paired up for their Health Ed project. But, I did like Dicey as a character. She was lively and tough enough to be the only girl on the boy's high school baseball team. Jack Chen was cute in a geeky sort of way. 

The art is very good, although I usually prefer manga-style art. But, the art in this volume is very professional-looking and pleasing to the eye. It's worth reading if you already like zombie fiction with a side of romance, or already like reading graphic novels. 

My score: 3 out of 5 stars