Uncommonly Tidy Poltergeists

This is a very cute and funny romance, with a light paranormal mystery and charming main characters. Michael Pauley's narration of the audiobook added a lot to my enjoyment. I really like how he performs the various accents, and overall, his cheerful style really fits the lighthearted tone of the book.

Taro is lovable and easy to sympathize with. I think a lot of people would act similarly if they won the lottery. His first priority is to make sure everyone in his family has a secure future; then, he wants to use the money to do something meaningful with his own life, and he decides to travel. But the supernatural cleaning entities ruin his plans. As a solitary type myself, I would've been just as scared as Taro at the evidence of unknown beings invading my life! His anxiety felt very real to me.

Taro has a loving, large family; sometimes they're a little overbearing, but they always have his best interests at heart, which was nice to read about. I really like the side characters in general, who all have unique personalities and relevance to the story.

Taro is asexual, which causes some angst in his getting together with his love interest, Jack, who is not asexual and doesn't know much about the topic. I will leave it to asexual reviewers to share their feelings on this book's ace rep. They eventually figure out how a relationship (including sex) will work between them. But while this story is not primarily about being asexual, Taro does believe his asexuality is the reason he's had problems with relationships in the past, and the conflict in the romance is also about his asexuality. Jack is a bit negative about it when he first finds out, but it's only from lack of understanding (and he doesn't behave horribly or anything). Still, if you avoid reading anything at all negative about ace characters, I don't recommend this book.

I really like Jack, because he's so full of life. It's easy to understand why Taro develops feelings for him. I think the audiobook narrator does an especially great job with Jack's dialogue. Jack doesn't enter the story until the plot is firmly underway, though. I thought at first the romance might be between Taro and whatever was haunting him. But Jack is a ghost hunter whom Taro hires to help him with the problem.

The ending is very happy for everyone, including the supernatural beings. I had a great time with this book and look forward to reading more by this author.