Review Time--My Boyfriend is a Monster: Made for Each Other

Cybils season is in full swing and that means that I get brand new books delivered to my doorstep daily, which thrills me to no end. This week, I got a shiny new copy of the second book in the "My Boyfriend is a Monster" series, My Boyfriend is a Monster: Made for Each Other, written by Paul D. Storrie and illustrated by Eldon Cowgur. (The review for the first book, I Love Him to Pieces, can be found here.)

When we say a couple was "made for each other," we usually mean that some abstract higher power has created two halves of a whole person and placed them in different bodies so that they complete each other. However, Tom Stone and Maria McBride mean it a little more literally. At first, Maria only knows that Tom is attractive and that he seems genuinely impressed by her mad violin skills, which are usually overlooked or mocked by her classmates. But as she gets to know him better, she appreciates more than the way he fills out his black tee-shirts. Tom is kind and loyal, even going so far as to defend Maria and her friends from bullies at school. He seems perfect. The only downside is his super strict and somewhat creepy family.

Dr. Franklin Stone, Tom's dad, is the new town mortician and he definitely does not like Maria. In fact, he makes sure that Tom is so busy at the funeral parlor that he doesn't have time to see Maria much. Finally, when she is completely fed up with being pushed aside, Maria goes to Tom's house to confront him and his family. That, of course, is when she discovers just how unconventional the family is. See, Tom's dad is Frankenstein's original monster and he's made himself a little family, including Tom, his assistant, Graves, and a new sister for Tom, Heddy.

Heddy's not so happy about Tom falling for a normal girl, though, and it becomes clear that Heddy has a different plan altogether for Tom, one that doesn't involve too many sisterly feelings. So Tom and Maria set out with the Maria's friends (orchestra dorks to a man, armed with stringed instruments and a blowtorch) to save any innocent bystanders from getting involved in Heddy's scheme. Even Frankenstein--excuse me, Franklin Stone--gets in on the action.

This was a nice follow-up to I Love Him to Pieces and the pacing was much better. Tom reveals himself to be a Modern Prometheus by about page 32, leaving us with 90-some-odd pages to enjoy the gory story. Made for Each Other also added some delightfully cheesy humor into the mix. For example, when Tom is ripping his shirt off to reveal his autopsy-scarred-though-still-magnificent chest, one of his flying buttons hits Maria in the eye. His name is also Tom Bartholomew Stone. That's right, Tom B. Stone.

The characters didn't jump off the page for me, though. They're both scarred--Tom physically and Maria emotionally. Maria lost both of her parents in a terrible car accident but the fact almost never comes up. She doesn't seem any more angsty than your typical fifteen-year-old girl, which I was disappointed by. There was potential for some real depth there but only about a dozen panels are dedicated to her orphan status. Tom, too, fell flat for me. He seems to be a pretty upstanding guy, all things considered, but he has no qualms about "recycling" body parts from members of the local community after a string of mysterious accidents. And Maria has no problem with his harvests, citing that both of her parents were organ donors. So. Not. The. Same.

All in all, a funny read, especially for those familiar with the horror genre who will appreciate reference to the original story, but not as compelling as it could have been.

(And besides, I kept expecting someone to offer the other characters a glass of Ovaltine.)

Final Grade: B-