Reviews with content warning for Dysphoria - Rules For Ghosting

Reviews tagging 'Dysphoria'

Rules For Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore

12 reviews

joensign's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

steen19's review against another edition

Go to review page

lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

Third person, single POV.

Ezra is the middle child born into a small business mortician family. He can also see ghosts, but has had to keep it to himself. The ghosts can’t speak to him, and tend to vanish as quickly as they appear. Mostly, he sees his grandfather at the business so, when he got older, he tried not to go there anymore.

He moves in with a group of people including his ex. They’re a funny cast of characters. A new ghost has been appearing to Ezra. One that can speak to him and seems to be breaking all the rules.

Their widowed neighbor catches his attention, and a shakeup in the family forces Ezra back to working at the funeral home.

Overall, it’s a slower read and felt a bit long and the writing is a bit choppy. There’s also an undertone of almost eeriness. It’s a good fall read.

Also, among a LGBTQ+ cast of characters, Ezra is trans. There’s definitely a diverse cast of characters and getting that kind of seamless representation was cool.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my advanced digital copy!

Content Warnings

amberlfaris's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

rachelshubin's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Rules for Ghosting was a fascinating read for me because I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with a trans MMC. I definitely gained some insight. The Jewish aspects were also really interesting because I understood most of it - but not all, it was more observant than my practice. I wish there were more explanations of the religious customs, for non-Jewish readers who may have no idea.

The story of the book is VERY character driven and the multiple plots definitely got muddled. I feel like the description from the back of the book should’ve been reworked, because Ezra doesn’t even see Ben’s ghost until around pg. 150, and to me that’s too far into the book for a key focal point. The ghostly aspects were kind of a let down and could’ve been a bit stronger. Granted I think the book overall was a bit too long (370 pages) and drawn out so it had some extraneous scenes that could’ve been cut to make it more concise and fitting to the book’s description. I also didn’t find that the physical descriptions were strong enough for all the characters (and there are a LOT of characters, too many characters), so I had a really fuzzy focus on what everyone looked like. Nina seemed so important in the beginning but was barely in the end of the book. There were too many roommates, it it was cut down to just Ollie and Lily…maybe that would’ve been okay.

I did enjoy a lot of the sibling interactions, all the text conversations, especially the picture of the dog that was included (never seen that in a book before, it should definitely be done more)!

The romance between Ezra and Jonathon is there…but it didn’t feel like enough of the main point of the book to be classified as a romance. I would’ve said this is LGBTQIA+ fiction or Jewish fiction, or combo of both.

All that said, the writing is good and I enjoyed the concept. I think it could’ve been edited a bit more before publication. I would definitely check out another book by this author.

Content Warnings

nerdbrarian's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A beautiful story of family (both by birth and found), queer love (both romantic and friendships), grief, birth and death, faith and ritual, and all of the ups and downs of life. So much was packed into this novel that I could easily recommend it to anyone.

Content Warnings

blakeandbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

I absolutely loved this book! It reminded me a lot of The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston (which I LOVE), but it was completely its own story. I fell in love with Ezra’s character so quickly. He wants to fix and help everyone else and continues to put himself on the back burner, until Jonathan comes into his life and flips all of that upside down.

I love books with messy family relationships and strong sibling bonds, and that’s exactly what Ezra’s family gave me. Ezra’s found family with his friends/roommates was amazing as well. They were all so funny and I loved the group chats!

This is a love story, but it’s so much more than that. It’s about processing grief, familial grievances and drama, new and old friendships, new relationships, queer identity, religious beliefs, and more. Shore woke up one day and decided to write an incredible book full of love, found family, and ghosts.

I loved the ending of this book. It had me in tears when Ezra mentions the date on his calendar 😭

This book comes out 8/20/24. Don’t miss it.

Content Warnings

samrockrocks's review

Go to review page

5.0

This is my favorite read of 2024 so far! I haven't read anything quite like it in the best way possible. Oftentimes, when stories have a lot going on with many themes, stories, characters, identities, etc being represented, they're too muddled and not enjoyable. Sometimes I have trouble relating to characters who are nothing like me because the way they are written. And, sometimes debut novels.... need more editing. None of that is true here.

These characters and their experiences are familiar. Their emotions are real and relatable. The story is charming but intense at times.

I can see how some may say there aren't enough ghosts or they were expecting a different storyline with more ghostly encounters, but I loved the wordplay with the book title and I think the book description does a good job of explaining the premise.

Finally, this book is a great read for anytime of year, not just during the "spooky season" (in the United States, or elsewhere). The story takes place in the spring.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Content Warnings

kaylanoellesims's review

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Rules for Ghosting follows Ezra as he navigates old and new queer friendships, intensely complex family relationships, oh and he can see ghosts! This book does a brilliant job of capturing the feelings and complexities of being the eldest afab child in a family, while also covering so many other complex topics in an eloquent way. I loved getting to see so much queer representation, both in relationships and friendships throughout the novel. I will say throughout a lot of the book, I thought it was trying to cover too many pieces and plot lines, but everything comes together at the end and ties up beautifully!

Content Warnings

disguisedposer's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

My first ARC review (thanks, NetGalley).
Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore is somewhat of a rom com with a paranormal twist on the surface, but really is about grief, family dynamics, growing up queer/trans and Jewish traditions.
I enjoyed this book because I personally really identified with the main character, Ezra. Although I am neither trans or Jewish, his internal monologues could be taken straight from my brain. I think I really identified with him as the Older Sibling who always had to be the responsible one (very Luisa from Encanto vibes).
I really liked the dialogue, the diverse cast of characters, and there's a dog! I did think it felt too long and really took me a while to get through, although I can't pinpoint a specific reason why. I just found myself asking "I'm enjoying this story, why is it dragging?"
Overall I'd give this a 4.25 and recommend it to fans of romcoms, family dramas, LGBTQIA+ community, and anyone wanting to learn more about Jewish holidays/traditions.
The book comes out August 20th and is a debut by this author.

Content Warnings

fanboyriot's review

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

♡ Spooky Vibes

♡ Funeral Home

♡ Angst with a Happy Ending

Went into this knowing nothing about it, and wow, it was so good. I loved the characters, the spooky atmosphere, and the plot. The trans rep was also fantastic and really enjoyable to read.

I loved this book so much! The characters were well thought out and the friendships were so wholesome. Ezra and Johnathan were so precious and I was rooting for them the whole time. And I loved the line: “You don't have to make up for needing to be loved.” (- Johnnathan; Chapter 35, Page 277 of the ebook edition) it was so powerful in that moment.

Overall this is a story about a trans dude who can see dead people and falls in love along the way which I mean if that doesn’t convince you then note there is a very adorable dog in this book as well.

Thank you to the author, Random House Publishing, Dell Imprint, and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️(2/5)

Angst Level: 💧💧💧(3/5)

POV: Third Person

Release Date: 20, August 2024

Rep: Bisexual Transmasc (Main Character), Transfem (Side Character), Asexual (Side Character), LGBTQIA+ (Main and Side Characters)

Content Warnings

More...