Friday, March 16, 2012

Review: Croak by Gina Damico

Croak by Gina Damico

Release Date: March 20, 2012
Publisher: Graphia/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pages: 311
Genre: YA Paranormal/Reapers
Source: Netgalley
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Haunt Author: Website | Facebook | Twitter

Sixteen-year-old Lex Bartleby has sucker-punched her last classmate. Fed up with her punkish, wild behavior, her 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 that of shoveling manure.

He’s a Grim Reaper. And he’s going to teach her the family business.

Lex quickly assimilates into the peculiar world of Croak, a town populated entirely by reapers who deliver souls from this life to the next. Along with her infuriating yet intriguing partner Driggs and a rockstar crew of fellow Grim apprentices, Lex is soon zapping her Targets like a natural born Killer.

Yet her innate ability morphs into an unchecked desire for justice—or is it vengeance?—whenever she’s forced to Kill a murder victim, craving to stop the attackers before they can strike again. So when people start to die—that is, people who aren’t supposed to be dying, people who have committed grievous crimes against the innocent—Lex’s curiosity is piqued. Her obsession grows as the bodies pile up, and a troubling question begins to swirl through her mind: if she succeeds in tracking down the murderer, will she stop the carnage—or will she ditch Croak and join in?

To start off I LOVE Reapers! They have such an interesting job! LOL I never find enough books about them so I was very excited when I first heard of this book. And it definitely has its own unique reaper concept. Lex is always getting into trouble. Her parents send her off to her uncle's house for the summer. She is really mad at them but turns out her Uncle Mort was the one that wanted her to visit him. He saw the signs that she would be perfect for his job. Turns out he scouts out troubled teens to be new reaper recruits. She gets equipped with her very own scythe and job training. Lex finally meets friends and finds a place where she feels like she belongs.

Also she has a super hot roommate and partner, Driggs. Lex is a Killer and Driggs is a Culler. The Killer kills the bodies with a touch releasing the souls, and then the Culler catches the souls into vessels until they can be released into the Afterlife. There are a ton of different reaper rules, descriptions of the reapers and the city of Croak and the Afterlife. It sounds kind of confusing but I felt like everything was explained really well throughout the book. I liked the very unique city of Croak and how they had their own bar with a special elixir drink. In Croak they can drink at sixteen. A teenagers true dream come true! lol They use lost tourists for money. A very interesting reaper lifestyle. I loved the reaper citizens of Croak as well. They all had great back-stories and were good friends to Lex, although like with any job, she did have a few rude coworkers. 

Lex is enjoying her new summer life but the job does have one difficult aspect for her. She usually can see what, as in who, killed the person. She hates not being able to interfere when she knows exactly who is responsible for such horrific crimes. So when a rogue reaper appears to be killing criminals the people of Croak think she makes the perfect suspect. Lex has to learn that some rules are not meant to be broken and when reapers begin to show up dead as well, she must put a stop to who is responsible.

The mystery was a little predictable but some of the things the killer did along the way were very surprising. I would say one of the only other things that disappointed me about this book was the romance. I loved Driggs and I did feel a lot of heat and sexual tension between them. I loved their arguing, bickering and interactions. It was just when the inevitable kiss part came, it fell kind of flat for me. On the upside there was no love triangle! Hopefully in the next book the romance will pick up.

"We have been blessed - and burdened - with a very grave responsibility, if you'll forgive the pun."

"That's why you're here. I'm going to teach you how to do what I do."
"And what is that?"
He leaned in close. She could feel his breath on her face.
"I Kill people."

"Are you a fan of intoxication?"
"What self-respecting sixteen-year-old isn't?"

Rating: 4/5 Stars!

32 comments:

  1. I enjoyed this story as well :) Glad you liked it!

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  2. We all love reapers! I think Madison Avery was the only reaper I was slightly disappointed by.
    I love the sound of this. The worlbuilding sounds like loads of fun and I love the concept of Killers and Cullers.
    It's too bad that the romance didn't work for you, but no LT is always a plus!
    Great review, Jennifer! I'm convinced.
    Maja @ The Nocturnal Library

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    1. As long as there is no love triangle usually I'm decently happy! LOL I think it will pick up more in the next one. The world building was really awesome!

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  3. I really enjoyed this one too. Great review. Glad you liked it :)

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    1. Oh yay glad you liked it too! It was really unique.

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  4. Your comment on my blog was so sweet!!! Thanks!

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  5. The more I see about this book, the more interested I am in reading it. Nice review!

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    1. Yeah reapers are always fun! Especially when they are trouble makers that enjoy drinking lol Hope you give it a try sometime.

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  6. I've been seeing this around a lot lately. I think the whole reaper thing is pretty interesting, and I like the Killer and Culler jobs. Yay for no love triangles! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Great review :)

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    1. Cheers for no love triangles! Always a plus in my book. Having the reapers work in partners of Killers and Cullers was really interesting. I really enjoyed the world of this book.

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  7. I have never read a book with a similar subject and your review makes me want to start looking for them and I loved the last quote x)
    Glad you liked this book :))

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    1. Oh yes you must read some reaper books! You still need to read the Soul Screamers series! It's sooo good! I'm tempted to send you an Amazon copy as a gift now that you have a new kindle!! And I loved the last quote! Sixteen year old me agrees whole heartily!

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  8. I too really liked the last quote. Great review and I can hardly wait until the 20th!

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    1. haha Yeah I loved that they made the teenagers realistic because I know at my high school everyone was a fan of intoxication! Hope you enjoy it!

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  9. I haven't read a "Reaper" story yet, I may just have to start w/ this one! Great Review! Adding it to my TBR pile!

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    1. Oh yes you must read a Reaper book! The Soul Screamers series by Rachel Vincent has a very hot reaper too.

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  10. Oh my gosh, I'm so happy that you loved this book, Jen!! With Rachel Vincent as one of my favourite authors, how could I NOT have thing for reapers?? <3 And the ones in this book sound wicked cool -- I love that Lex actually gets a scythe! :) Plus, it's so cool that the teenagers can drink at sixteen! That IS kind of a teenage dream LOL!

    Amazing review, Jen! I'm definitely on a mad dash to get my hands on this book now! :)

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    1. Rachel Vincent definitely increased my love for reapers! Tod can really invoke enthusiasm for the reaper career. Lex's scythe is really cool! Her uncle has a diamond scythe. Hope you enjoy it!

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  11. I really want to read this. Darynda Jones has an adult series about reapers, which I love. It would be great to see this different take on them.

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    1. Oh yes I love the Charley Davidson series as well! I also love the Soul Screamers series. Reapers are fun!

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  12. I really enjoyed this book too! My favorite part would have to be Lex, she's a little crazy which made me really like her character. I too wish there had been a bit more romance between Lex and Driggs. Though I did think the kissing scene between them was so awkward it was funny.

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    1. Right?!? That kissing scene was weird! I was like okay so did they just kiss? I had to re-read it because it was so awkward and left out all details. I'm hoping Scorch has more romance now that they are finally together. It was sweet the things he said to her at the end.

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  13. I have been wanting to read this book! The cover really intrigues me and draws me in. I love the Soul Screamers books too, and the idea of no love triangles is a winner! Thanks for the great review!

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    1. The Soul Screamers series is so amazing. I love reapers and the cover is really cool. I'm always so happy to find a book without a love triangle! Thanks for visiting!

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  14. Love this book, it made me LOL and almost cry when her twin died!!

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    1. I was really sad about her twin! I was shocked that happened. I loved the town of Croak and all their drinking and wild ways made me lol too! Thanks for visiting. Glad you enjoyed the book.

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  15. I've had this one on my wishlist since I first saw the cover and read the blurb.

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    1. As soon as I saw the cover an blurb I was sold too! Love reapers! I hope you enjoy it.

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  16. Wonderful review. I have this on my TBR already. I have not read a reaper book yet, so I like starting with a YA. :) Thank you for giving more background information to the story, I have only read the blurb so far.

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    1. I hope you enjoy it! There was some really interesting world building. I think reapers are really interesting and definitely recommend trying a few books about them! Thanks for stopping by!

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