Book Review: Made for Each Other by Paul Storrie

Book Title: Made for Each Other (My Boyfriend is a Monster #1)
Author: Paul Storrie
Illustrator: Eldon Cowgur
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Release Date: 04/28/2011
ISBN: 0761356010






I'm going to have to break my review into two parts since this is a graphic novel done by two different people. The first part will be about the illustrator's work, the second will be about the author & the actual story.

Tom Stone stepped into Seward High and into Maria McBride's life like a bolt of lightning. He's the perfect guy for Maria--nice, smart, and well-built. There's just one problem: his family. Tom's father is the town's new funeral director, and business is booming. The bodies are piling up thick and fast in Persephone Falls, Alaska, so Dr. Stone keeps Tom up late at night working in the funeral home. And it's clear that Dr. Stone and his creepy assistant, Graves, don't want Maria around. Maria knows Tom was made for her. She's determined to find out what Dr. Stone has against her. When Tom refuses to stand up to his father, Maria begins to stitch together the clues...and finds out that the Stones are into recycling in ways she never could have imagined.

First off, the artwork in this was pretty well done. Cowgur did a decent job of catching emotions as well as making me feel as if I had been reading a pulp horror comic, which suits the story. His art really was the high point of the book.

Unfortunately where the book comes up short was in the story department. Storrie has an excellent story idea here, but I couldn't help but feel underwhelmed by the experience. We don't get any real character development until we're about 40 pages into the book & we never quite get any huge developments as far as Maria goes. I really feel like this book could have used an extra chapter or two where we get to see more character development & especially more buildup to the ending. There are a few moments to the book that really shine, but this really needed more development in order to really reach its full potential.

In the end I can't really justify the bare bones story under the "it's aimed towards a younger audience" excuse because I've read both books & graphic novels that have been aimed towards teens & younger, yet they've been more fleshed out than this was.


Final Diagnosis: This is worth a read & will undoubtedly find an audience, but I can't help but think that this is a "C" grade project from someone I feel could have given me an "A" with a little more effort.

(ARC provided by NetGalley)