Double Review: Croak & Scorch by Gina Damico

Croak
(Croak #1)

Author: Gina Damico

Publication Date: March 1st 2012

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Genre: Paranormal / Urban Fantasy

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Synopsis:

Fed up with her wild behavior, sixteen-year-old Lex's parents ship her off to upstate New York to live with her Uncle Mort for the summer, hoping that a few months of dirty farm work will whip her back into shape.

But Uncle Mort's true occupation is much dirtier than shoveling manure. He's a Grim Reaper. And he's going to teach Lex the family business.

She quickly assimilates into the peculiar world of Croak, a town populated by reapers who deliver souls from this life to the next. But Lex can't stop her desire for justice - or is it vengeance? - whenever she encounters a murder victim, craving to stop the attackers before they can strike again.

Will she ditch Croak and go rogue with her reaper skills?

My Thoughts: Ahhh, why didn't I read this sooner? <3 <3 <3!! It was so awesome! I couldn't put it down.  I'm so glad I had a copy of Scorch on hand because I almost started it immediately after finishing this. I don't even know what to say about this one, it was just too good! Definitely one of my favourite books of the year! Thank you so much Gina! You are amazing and made it so I was completely unable to put this down! It was just so different from any other book I've read, very unique and funny! so many times I was laughing out loud.

So we have Lex, a 16 year old who has a problem with everyone and everything. She uses her fists to slove her problems and it really doesn't really know why she is so violent, she hasn't always been this way. She just knows she can't help it. So she is shipped off to her uncles and becomes a teenaged Grim. She actually really enjoys it and it does wonders for her temper. Finally she has friends and seems to fit in.

Next there is Driggs, the sexy boy living with her uncle, the boy whom she immediately hates and punches in the eye the first night. He hits back of course, and they start down their rocky slope towards love. Driggs is quite the guy, he has two differently coloured eyes and is apparently extremely hot. He is hard not to like and I was just waiting for them to get together the whole time.

Needless to say, I thouroughly enjoyed Croak. It's my first book about Grim Reapers and I couldn't be any happier with it. I did guess the "bad" gut pretty early on though. I'm not at all disappointed by that though. I'm hoping for great things in Scorch, I've enjoyed what I've read so far. If you are at all interested in a laugh out loud, original, unique coming of age story, read this one! Please don't wait forever like me, you are missing out big time! Just make sure you have the next book on hand, you're going to need it. Also, the ending is very sad, I was in tears for much of it. Clearly an amazing and emotional, can't be put down book that you HAVE to read!

Scorch
(Croak #2)

Author: Gina Damico

Publication Date: September 25th 2012

Publisher: Graphia

Genre: Paranormal / Urban Fantasy

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Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old Lex Bartleby is a teenage grim reaper with the bizarre ability to damn souls. That makes her pretty scary, even to fellow Grims. But after inadvertently transferring her ability to Zara, a murderous outlaw, Lex is a pariah in Croak, the little town she calls home.

To escape the townspeople’s wrath, she and her friends embark on a wild road trip to DeMyse. Though this sparkling desert oasis is full of luxuries and amusements, it feels like a prison to Lex. Her best chance at escape would be to stop Zara once and for all—but how can she do that from DeMyse, where the Grims seem mysteriously oblivious to Zara’s killing spree?

My Thoughts: Another awesome book by Gina Damico. I have to say that I'm still very surprised at how much I enjoyed these because at first, from the synopsis I was a little wary, BUT I'd heard so many great things about them. So when I was sent this one by the publisher, I knew I had to at least try it. I don't regret it at all! Actually, I regret not reading them sooner because they are so awesome! I once again had the hardest time putting this one down! You guys should really read them if you haven't.

So Scorch basically picks up where Croak leaves off (which was a very sad ending!) and we are dropped back into Lex's life as a teenage grim reaper. She and all of the other junior grims, for that matter, are being shunned by the senior grim community (well, most of them). The seniors want to ban them and blame them for helping Zara, even saying that they still are helping her. Basically there is a huge uprising and the juniors are forced to flee Croak, with the exception of Sophie, and head to DeMyse, another grim city that is a lot like Vegas. All the while, they are still trying to figure out a way to stop Zara and get a hold of the The Wrong Book before her.

 I loved Lex and the juniors even more in this book, they are pretty amusing characters. There are a lot of laughs in these books, which is weird since they are about people who Kill and Cull for a living. But, it's really good because I love a book that makes me laugh out loud, as this one did, multiple times! At the same time, the ending once again was super sad! I was in tears for parts of it. Books that pull at my emotions are always good for me because I have a horrible tendency to hold things in. This way I get a bit of an emotional release (sometimes I even seek out books that are supposed to be sad just for that reason).

So once again, this is just as well written, funny, emotional, page turning and awesome as Croak. I will definitely not be waiting as long to read the next book, Rogue. Especially after the ending of this one where there were a lot of things that happened that left me with my mouth gaping. These were thoroughly enjoyed by me and you should really read them!