Reviewed by Cheryl
TITLE: Only Human 
AUTHOR: Meredith Katz
PUBLISHER: Less Than Three Press
LENGTH: 55 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 17, 2018
BLURB:
Getting sick sucks, and magic sucks worse. So when Saul finds out that his sudden bout of sickness is actually a curse, he’s understandably freaked out by being referred to a necromantic specialist. But the ordeal is made moderately better by the cute receptionist, Theo, who is exactly Saul’s type—aside from the fact that he’s dead.
Sure, he’s gray-skinned and put together from the remains of various corpses, but Theo is gentle, kind, and shares Saul’s tastes in TV and video games. He knows all the right places for coffee, and enjoys long walks in the park. Maybe getting involved with the undead isn’t so bad after all—and maybe you don’t have to have a heartbeat to win someone’s heart.
REVIEW:
I wasn’t sure what to expect from a book whose premise is that a man under a curse needs to sleep with a zombie. I didn’t expect what I got, which was a really sweet love story. Saul and Theo have to deal with the same issues as many people struggle with – prejudice, trust, doubt about intentions, being very different etc.
How can a human fall in love with a zombie? Well, of course Theo is not your average zombie dropping skin and icky goo wherever he goes. He’s more like the voodoo idea of a zombie, although in this case, his body has been kind of cobbled together, purely as a receptacle for his spirit. Fortunately, he kind of likes it so he’s sticking around.
Saul wasn’t impressed at first sight, and unfortunately that was obvious to Theo, who is presumably used to that kind of reaction. That was the root of the trust issues, I believe. Fortunately. Theo is far more than just his outer appearance, and it was Theo’ sweet nature and intelligence that finally won Saul over. Theo is a treasure and Saul comes to realize very soon that he couldn’t find a better man even if he were alive.
There are so many nice touches in this book. Theo is writing a mystery story, Saul likes playing video games (that might just be about a certain princess, whose name rhymes with welder and her sidekick, whose name rhymes with kink), and they both like the same television program that may or may not really exist and may or may not contain an alien.
Theo finds it difficult to trust Saul because he doesn’t know if Saul is going out with him because he likes him, or in order to break his curse. Saul finds it difficult to relate to Theo because he’s…well…dead. As they get to know each other, going on sweet dates and stumbling over everything, they become friends and then it deepens to more. It’s a very natural progression and I found them to be sweet and warm and comfortable, something I never thought I’d say about a zombie.
Everything from the characters to the story flows nicely. There is nothing jarring and nothing too dark. The writing is fluid and well-rounded and I didn’t spot any rough patches or difficulties. There are a few loose ends remaining at the end and I hope that’s because there’s a sequel. It would be a little disappointing otherwise, but well worth a read in either event.
RATING: 
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