Croak

For anyone who found Hogwarts a little too cloying for the adult palette, the tiny town of Croak will be much more to your liking. Croak has no drinking age, a thriving cottage industry of cheating tourists, and the adults more likely to pick their nose and berate all teenagers than to provide wisdom or mentoring.

Despite the rough edges, this is the perfect place for our heroine. Though I'm usually not a fan of an angry protagonist, the sassy and funny Lexington Bartleby is filled to the brim with irrational anger. Billed in the description as a delinquent, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Lex's repuation is no joke. She opens the book punching, kicking, swearing, and sassing her way to the edge of her family's patience. And the show more solution is not navel gazing and ivy covered walls for Lex, she's shipped off north to work ten hour days. CROAK is a hysterical parody of YA boarding school genre, and though that could make the story predictable sometimes, the wit and characters never lost my interest. Uncle Mort is a sexy, genius of a Dumbledore who grifts tourists for Ramen money. Driggs is the teenage heartthrob, and his awkward, adolescent chemistry is just about the best I've ever read. Lex herself has a degree of "Boy-Who-Lived" fame, as the only recruit that comes from a loving, supportive family. Don't let these character sketches fool you, however. Damico does a great job of using gallows humor to turn a difficult subject into an entertaining romp, all without sacrificing the emotional punch that makes her characters to intriguing.

With it's portrayals of teenage drinking, heartbreaking references to abuse and murder, and the very real anger issues of the teenage workforce, CROAK still manages to maintain a light, tongue-in-cheek tone that I found winning. And just because the parody elements made some things predictable, Damico pulls no punches with her plot. The ending was a well executed surprise and I can't wait to see where book two takes us.

Full review to follow.

Sexual Content: Kissing. show less

I love George from Dead Like Me and Eleanor from The Good Place. Both are pretty terrible people who try to become better people in the afterlife. I feel like Ms. Damico was trying to create a similar character in Lex (short for Lexington, whose twin sister is named Concord, ew), but didn't get the redemption part of the terrible character.

Unlike George and Eleanor, Lex isn't dead, but she does become a grim reaper (like George). After two years of being a really terrible person (including assaulting anyone who looks at her wrong) and almost getting expelled from school (Seriously? In real life, this girl would have ended up in juvee long before.), her parents decide to ship her off to her uncle's farm, where she will presumably spend show more the summer milking cows and shoveling shit (which would probably have been good for the little criminal).

This girl is so awful that her parents have to strap her to a chair with belts just to have a conversation with her. She's so awful that, upon being picked up from the bus station by her uncle, she repeatedly assaults him, including while they are on a moving motorcycle. Supposedly, all this rage has been because she's actually a Grim, someone who collects the souls of the recently dead, so they can move on to the afterlife. (The Grims can visit the lobby of the afterlife, which was one of the best parts of the book. Edgar Allen Poe & ex-presidents hang out there to see the reactions of new arrivals.)

The entire town in which Uncle Mort lives (Croak, NY) is inhabited by Grims and retired Grims. I won't get into all the details, but the cheesy names (like a butcher shop called Dead Meat) quickly moved from amusing to annoying. Lex is assigned a partner (one frees the soul from the body, the other collects it for transport to the afterlife) and almost immediately assaults him. And then she gets mad because he punches her back, because she's a girl. And this comes from a girl who is proud of the fact that she has been an equal opportunity batterer: "Nerds, jocks, cheerleaders, goths, gays, straights, blacks, whites, that kid in the wheelchair -- no one was safe."

Beyond the story of a really awful person not really becoming any less awful, there's an awkward romance and an outbreak of mysterious deaths that appear to be caused by a rogue Grim. Be warned that this ends in a cliffhanger as there are at least two more books in the series. (I won't be bothering with them.) show less

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy:
www.allthingsurbanfantasy.blogspot.com

For anyone who found Hogwarts a little too cloying for the adult palette, the tiny town of Croak will be much more to your liking. Croak has no drinking age, a thriving cottage industry of cheating tourists out of their money, and the adults as likely to berate teenagers as to provide wisdom or mentoring.

Despite the rough edges, this is the perfect place for our heroine. Though I'm usually not a fan of an angry protagonist, the sassy and funny Lexington Bartleby is filled to the brim with irrational anger. Billed in the description as a delinquent, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Lex's reputation is no joke. She opens the book punching, kicking, show more swearing, and sassing her way to the edge of her family's patience. And the solution is not navel gazing and ivy covered walls for Lex, she's shipped off north to work ten hour days. CROAK is a hysterical parody of YA boarding school genre, and though that could make the story predictable sometimes, the wit and characters never lost my interest. Uncle Mort is a sexy, genius of a Dumbledore who grifts tourists for Ramen money. Driggs is the teenage heartthrob, and his awkward, adolescent chemistry is just about the best I've ever read. Lex herself has a degree of "Boy-Who-Lived" fame, but her notoriety comes from being the only recruit that comes from a loving, supportive family. Don't let these character sketches fool you, however, CROAK has depth beyond parody. Damico does a great job of using gallows humor to turn a difficult subject into an entertaining romp, all without sacrificing the emotional punch that makes her characters to intriguing.

With it's portrayals of teenage drinking, heartbreaking references to abuse and murder, and the very real anger issues of the teenage workforce, CROAK still manages to maintain a light, tongue-in-cheek tone that I found winning. And though the parody elements made some things predictable, Damico pulls no punches with her plot. The ending was a well executed surprise that has me very interested in SCORCH this coming September.

Sexual Content: Kissing. show less

This book blew my mind! Lexington Bartleby is a great character, and throughout the story I really got attached to her! She is dark,hilarious, and tells everybody exactly what she thinks of them!

The book starts out in a principals office, where Lex is being scolded for biting a boy who called her a "wannabe vampire." But was Lex listening to her elder's remarks? No, of course not! Instead she was wondering what her Principals head would look like on a giant wooden spear...which pretty much sums up our spunky protagonist!

What i think makes this book so amazing is that it completely lacks that slow, boring beginning that most books tend to have. It starts off running, and doesn't stop in till the very end!
Everything about this story is show more captivating! The plot, the characters, and the little town of Croak were all wonderful! I really couldn't put the book down!! At the end of every chapter I was like..


Intill I was finished with the whole book!


What i hope stay consistent throughout the series is Lex's kick-butt attitude! But overall I recommend this book!! It's entertaining throughout the entire novel, and have I mentioned that its absolutely pee your pants hilarious? Because it is!


Oh, and by the way...I absolutely adore Driggs! show less

Croak caught my eye early on. Grim reapers. A strong and sarcastic main character. What more could a reader ask for? I was looking for something a little bit different in my reading list, and I thought that this would be just the ticket. As soon as I opened the book and met Lex in the flesh, I knew I was in for a treat! This book drew me in right away, and I happily followed along.

First off, I absolutely must talk characters because they are all so fabulous Each one has their own unique personality, and it's impossible not to fall in love with this motley crew. Lex's unflinching sarcasm, Drigg's cocky demeanor, overly optimistic Sofi, they all just shine off the page. I found myself giggling out loud, a lot. I also caught myself reading show more pages again, just to relive the hilarious banter and altogether random insults that they throw at one another. These are people I'd love to hang out with, and that made reading this book so much more fun.

Now that's not to say that the story here isn't good too. The beginning of the story is a little odd, but once Lex finds herself in Croak everything else starts to make sense. Without spoiling I can tell you that Lex finds herself in some pretty interesting situations. One of which involves some fluttery feelings for a boy. Now don't mistake, Lex isn't the shrinking violet type. Far from it. Let's just say that bruises ensue. Anyway, it is really the mystery aspect of the story that steals the show here. Damico drops just enough hints to keep you reading, and to keep the pace flowing really nicely. Even though I figured out the culprit pretty early on, the book was still a great read. That says a lot.

The one thing that I was so disappointed about was the ending. After being so caught up in Lex's life, and so enthralled by the mystery surrounding Croak, the ending just felt so flat to me. I'm sure others will love it, and still others will feel no big emotion either way. In my opinion though it was just too convenient and kind of anti-climactic. I know that this is the first in a series though, so I'm hopeful! I'll be back for more. show less

I've been in a bit of a slump regarding books, having a really hard time finding something that really drew me in and held my attention (seriously, I have four that I've started and set aside just in the last couple of days). That was cured by Croak; I started this book and didn't even THINK about reading anything else until this one was done. This book is very charming and has a wonderful sense of humor about it - sometimes sarcastic, sometimes just LOL-funny - which is especially interesting for me personally considering the subject matter. I mean, Grim Reapers and death isn't really all that laugh-worthy, right? But in the world of Croak, and especially in the narration of our main character, Lex, it totally is. I loved every single show more second of this book.

First off, Lex is probably not what you would consider a charming main character, considering that when we first meet her, she's in the principal's office with her parents after getting into yet another fight. But the fact of the matter is that her inner monologue is simply hysterical; there's really no other word for it. She has a very dry outlook on life, and it shows in her inner musings. She says exactly what she thinks, and doesn't really care of her opinion bothers other people. And while she's suddenly given in to these violent tendencies, the truth is that she doesn't know why, she doesn't know where the anger has come from, and she doesn't know how to stop herself from lashing out. You can tell that she's just as confused as everyone else. So when her parents decide to send her to her uncle, she is of course hurt that they'd send her away, because they're her parents and they're supposed to love her unconditionally and put up with all her crap.

But then she meets Uncle Mort, and things suddenly become crystal clear: she's angry and lashing out because she's hit the age where her Grim Reaper blood has stirred. And this is when things got really fun and exciting. She meets a whole group of Juniors - kids around her own age who all have their own stories and histories and can exchange stories about their own falls into delinquency - and it's at this point where I was just completely charmed by the entire world, all the characters, and the story itself. Lex is thrown headfirst into the art of Killing and Culling souls, and of course is paired with a ridiculously attractive guy named Driggs (who was also taken in by her uncle, who, by the way, the family thinks is a farmer) and t~e~n~s~i~o~n starts to form between them, but it was done in such a way that it didn't feel ridiculous or overdone and definitely couldn't qualify for insta-love (which, thank God, seriously, because I would have hated to take away any stars!). On top of all of this, Driggs and Lex start to realize that something weird is going on, in that people are dying who aren't supposed to be. And this is where the mystery and danger start to come into play.

Now, I have lamented the fact that I have read several books already this year that use the "teenage girl tries to solve the crimes instead of leaving things up to the proper authorities" trope, but, again, this was done in a way that was different and refreshing, and, yes, I'm going to use that word again, just utterly charming. Mixed in with the strange deaths are all of these humorous asides like how random people have died (shooting themselves in the chest with a nail gun to kill the mosquito that had landed there, choking on a hamster, getting run over by an airlines luggage cart, etc.), and the fun things that Lex and her fellow Juniors do for fun. It really helped keep the grimness (yes, pun intended!) of their occupation from getting too dark.

And then you had the mythology of the Reapers, and the story of that one frightening Grim who took his powers and disobeyed the laws and killed for fun, which turns out to be a main focal point of the book and the overlying mystery. I probably should have seen the "bad guy" before it was revealed, but was so caught up in Lex and Driggs' adventures and growing relationship that I didn't. Needless to say, that part of the book - just like the rest of it - was well done.

The ending's a little achy-breaky, though, and definitely sets itself up for the second installment (anyone know how many there are going to be total?), so be forewarned about that. But this was just such a good, fun and different book that I was utterly captivated from beginning to end, to the point where I could hardly put it down. If you're looking for a book that's a bit different but utterly charming and hilarious, give this one a read. I would highly recommend it! show less

On the surface level, this was really fun to read. Plucky teenagers, snappy dialogue, snarky narration, awesome death utopia where I totally want to try some of that Elixir. It could totally work as a campy Hollywood teen horror-comedy.

That's probably also because it plays into your same old Hollywood stereotypes. The very few PoCs were super flat and stereotyped (you were made sure to notice they were there by the food-like hue of their skin and that the Latina is the only one who says "chica"), and women almost always deferred to men. I found the Driggs confession at the very end to be made even creepier by his insistence that it wasn't creepy. Also, there is virtually no one else to greet you in the Afterlife except for old white show more men? For whom is the Afterlife supposed to be welcoming? show less