Book Review: How to Date Dead Guys (The Witch's Handbook #1), Ann M. Noser

Title: How to Date Dead Guys
Series: The Witch's Handbook #1
Author: Ann M. Noser
Published: 15/07/2014, Curiosity Quills Press
Pages: 302
Source: Netgalley
Format: Ebook
Rating: 3/5
College sophomore Emma Roberts remembers her mother's sage advice: "don't sleep around, don't burp in public, and don't tell anyone you see ghosts." But when cute Mike Carlson drowns in the campus river under her watch, Emma's sheltered life shatters.

Blamed for Mike's death and haunted by nightmares. Emma turns to witchcraft and a mysterious Book of Shadows to bring him back. Under a Blood Moon, she lights candles, draws a pentacle on the campus bridge, and casts a spell. The invoked river rages up against her, but she escapes its fury. As she stumbles back to the dorm, a stranger drags himself from the water and follows her home. And he isn't the only one...

Instead of raising Mike, Emma assists the others she stole back from the dead - a pre-med student who jumped off the bridge, a young man determined to solve his own murder, and a frat boy Emma can't stand... at first. More comfortable with the dead than the living, Emma delves deeper into the seductive Book of Shadows. Her powers grow, but witchcraft may not be enough to protect her against the vengeful rivers and the killers that feed it their victims,

Inspired by the controversial Smiley Face Murders, HOW TO DATE DEAD GUYS will appeal to the secret powers hidden deep within each of us.

How to Date Dead Guys is a fun read and I didn't feel like I had to take it too seriously. It is at times a very quick read with a hell of a lot happening so it does need some concentration to keep up.

How to Date Dead Guys is set on a college campus so, from my (UK) experience both studying and working at a University, it felt real enough. This setting also suited the characters, both living and dead, perfectly. They all (for the most part) had valid reasons to be on a college campus. And I really enjoyed the majority of the characters too.

Emma is a wonderfully relatable character. She'd rather read a book than go partying which of course I can totally relate too. She also struggles with making friends and meeting guys and this is something I wholeheartedly relate to. However, I absolutely love how Emma's character is developed throughout the story. With the help of the dead guys, she really does learn to be more open and gradually starts to make friends.

The dead guys were all great in their own ways. They all had completely different personalities so it was fairly easy to distinguish between them too. They all bring something different to Emma's life. But I'm definitely not going to give too much away here.

I wasn't much of a fan of Emma's roommate, Chrissy. She really is a bit of a bitch and is so self-absorbed. I do think she cares about Emma, but she just has a horrible way of showing it.

How to Date Dead Guys is told from Emma's perspective, which us great at showing her grief at Mike's death as well as her confusion and bewilderment at all the dead guys showing up. Parts of the story were so random that I can definitely say How to Date Dead Guys is far from predictable. And the plot is so fast that I sometimes struggled to keep up with the randomness. I'm also not too sure how logical some of the story is. However, I did like the ending. It concluded the story nicely yet still left it open enough for sequels.

How to Date Dead Guys is a fun, quick read that I couldn't put down. I would definitely recommend to fans of paranormal fantasy. However, I'm not itching to read the sequel but I feel that if I have the chance to I definitely won't say no.

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