Rules for Ghosting

400 pages

English language

Published 2024 by Orion Publishing Group, Limited.

ISBN:: 978-1-3987-2083-1

Ezra Friedman sees ghosts, which made growing up in a funeral home complicated. It might have been easier if his grandfather’s ghost didn’t give him scathing looks of disapproval as he went through a second, HRT-induced puberty, or if he didn’t have the pressure of all those relatives—living and dead—judging every choice he makes. It’s no wonder that Ezra runs as far away from the family business as humanly possible.

But when the floor of his dream job drops out from under him and his mother uses the family Passover seder to tell everyone she’s running off with the rabbi’s wife, Ezra finds himself back in the thick of it. With his parents’ marriage imploding and the Friedman Family Memorial Chapel on the brink of financial ruin, Ezra agrees to step into his mother’s shoes and help out . . . which means long days surrounded by ghosts that …

Ezra Friedman sees ghosts, which made growing up in a funeral home complicated. It might have been easier if his grandfather’s ghost didn’t give him scathing looks of disapproval as he went through a second, HRT-induced puberty, or if he didn’t have the pressure of all those relatives—living and dead—judging every choice he makes. It’s no wonder that Ezra runs as far away from the family business as humanly possible.

But when the floor of his dream job drops out from under him and his mother uses the family Passover seder to tell everyone she’s running off with the rabbi’s wife, Ezra finds himself back in the thick of it. With his parents’ marriage imploding and the Friedman Family Memorial Chapel on the brink of financial ruin, Ezra agrees to step into his mother’s shoes and help out . . . which means long days surrounded by ghosts that no one else can see.

And then there’s his unfortunate crush on Jonathan, the handsome funeral home volunteer . . . who just happens to live downstairs from Ezra’s new apartment . . . and the appearance of the ghost of Jonathan’s gone-too-soon husband, Ben, who is breaking every spectral rule that Ezra knows.

Because Ben can speak. He can move. And as Ezra tries to keep his family together and his heart from getting broken, he realizes that there’s more than one way to be haunted—and more than one way to become a ghost.

3 editions

enne📚 reviewed Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore

5 stars

I quite enjoyed Rules for Ghosting. I cry a lot but I don't normally cry at books--however, this one got me, several times. This is a romance/drama sort of book, if genre is important to you. Despite being about ghosts, they're honestly quite cozy and this isn't a horror book.

The protagonist of this book is Ezra, a Jewish trans man who has left his family's funeral business because he can see ghosts. Quickly on, Ezra develops a thing for his new housemate Jonathan, but unfortunately the ghost of Jonathan's dead husband starts speaking to him.

What's funny to me about this book is that the supernatural elements are not the most plot critical. This book is bursting (almost to its detriment) with family drama and trauma and relationship issues and other plot points. Ezra eventually does come out to his siblings about his psychic nature, and their …

I quite enjoyed Rules for Ghosting. I cry a lot but I don't normally cry at books--however, this one got me, several times. This is a romance/drama sort of book, if genre is important to you. Despite being about ghosts, they're honestly quite cozy and this isn't a horror book.

The protagonist of this book is Ezra, a Jewish trans man who has left his family's funeral business because he can see ghosts. Quickly on, Ezra develops a thing for his new housemate Jonathan, but unfortunately the ghost of Jonathan's dead husband starts speaking to him.

What's funny to me about this book is that the supernatural elements are not the most plot critical. This book is bursting (almost to its detriment) with family drama and trauma and relationship issues and other plot points. Ezra eventually does come out to his siblings about his psychic nature, and their reaction is (affectionately and realistically) along the lines of "ok thanks for sharing, but let's get back to all the bigger problems".

Rather than taking over the story, the supernatural elements are there like a little sprinkling of ghost drama to exacerbate Ezra's preexisting problem-solving tendencies and give him another secret that he has to come out about. (And, it's thankfully a story with multiple trans people in it that's not about coming about as trans. Just about being psychic.)

It's sweet. It's messy. It's queer. It's a warm hug of community and family. I loved it.