Reviewed by PizzyGirl

TITLE: Uncommonly Tidy Poltergeists

AUTHOR: Angel Martinez

PUBLISHER: Mischief Corner Books

LENGTH: 117 Pages

RELEASE DATE:  January 11, 2017

BLURB:

A poltergeist haunts Taro, dogging his international travels. It washes glasses, puts dishes away, and even dusts. At least he hopes it’s a cleaning-obsessed poltergeist and not his own anxieties burbling over into neat freak fits he doesn’t remember. When his property manager suggests he call paranormal expert, Jack Montrose, Taro’s skeptical but desperate enough to try even a ghost hunter.

Jack’s arrival crushes Taro’s hopes of a dashing Van Helsing-style hero. Instead of an invincible hunter, he gets Ichabod Crane. As the paranormal puzzles multiply and Jack begins to suggest the entity might not be a ghostly one, Taro adds a budding friendship with Jack to his pile of anxieties. It’s a race to see whether Taro’s poltergeist or his relationship with the obviously-not-ace Jack will reach maximum strangeness first.

REVIEW:

If you are familiar with me from my time reviewing for Prism Book Alliance, you will know that Angel Martinez is one of my go to writers when I am in the mood for something out of the ordinary. And once again, she did not disappoint!

I LOVED Uncommonly Tidy Poltergeists. It was not at all what I was expecting, thought to be fair, I didn’t actually read the blurb before I read the book. I had a preconceived concept based on the title alone, so I was very surprised at the outcome. This story was so unique and fun and weird and yet it was also sweet and honest. I finished this book with an ooey gooey feeling of warmth and happiness and a tear in my eye.

I spent most of this novella alternating between feeling genuine curiosity and warm humor. I smiled most of my way through and really loved the concept of the “poltergeists.” I do wish this one was longer and we had more time to really get to know the world and the characters, because I felt like there was so much potential for this story to be so much more. Yet that was just a minor niggle because, in the end, I was still given everything I needed to enjoy my time spent with Taro and Jack.

I have to admit that my favorite thing about this book was the representation. I absolutely LOVED the asexual representation in this book. As an ACE myself, I may be a bit biased, but this book was well done. Taro was ACE, but it was not the only focus of this book. It was not the focus of some political statement, some long teaching session, or anything else. It was just who he was and was only discussed when it was pertinent to his relationship. It was handled with care if a bit confusing at times. I am so grateful that the author took the chance to make it very clear that ACE is not a one size fits all, and even the individual can be confused or evolve with time. This is the closest representation to my ACE identification I have found in a long time, so this book will hold a special place in my heart.

I recommend you pick this one up if you are in the mood for something outside the norm or if you are just trying out this author for the first time. I think you will enjoy your reading experience.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

Mischief Corner Books

Amazon