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mehsi's review against another edition
5.0
I saw this book here, read the blurb, and immediately wanted it.
And what a trip it was. Reapers, only not like you know them. I laughed a whole lot of times, the girl has a great attitude, and she needs that attitude since some people didn't like her being there.
I loved Uncle Mort, he was awesome. Loved how he always knew what she and were up to.
Lots of action, comedy and ofcourse Death. :)
And what a trip it was. Reapers, only not like you know them. I laughed a whole lot of times, the girl has a great attitude, and she needs that attitude since some people didn't like her being there.
I loved Uncle Mort, he was awesome. Loved how he always knew what she and
Spoiler
later her boyfriendLots of action, comedy and ofcourse Death. :)
merricats_cuppa_tea's review
4.0
I enjoyed the book. there were time Lex got on my nerves, but the storyline and the idea of the whole book was interesting and I adore Uncle Mort he reminds me a lot of Sirius Black. I couldnt put it down and I've moved on to the sequel.
writings_of_a_reader's review
3.0
I took a road trip with my girls and this was the audio book pick. It was a funny, quirky read. It didn't blow me away, but the girls and I enjoyed it enough. I'm not sure if we will continue with the series or not.
Update 11/10/2021: I read this again for my book club and I pretty much still feel the same way about it. It's still a solid 3 star read for me. I enjoyed the world a lot, and uncle Mort, and all the ghosts, but Lex was rather bratty in the beginning. She changes but I didn't like her as much as I wanted to. The story was pretty predictable, but not bad. It just wasn't as exciting as I wanted it to be. I have never continued on with this series and I am still fine with leaving it that way.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader.
Update 11/10/2021: I read this again for my book club and I pretty much still feel the same way about it. It's still a solid 3 star read for me. I enjoyed the world a lot, and uncle Mort, and all the ghosts, but Lex was rather bratty in the beginning. She changes but I didn't like her as much as I wanted to. The story was pretty predictable, but not bad. It just wasn't as exciting as I wanted it to be. I have never continued on with this series and I am still fine with leaving it that way.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader.
jade_ls_lee's review
DNF after chapter 9.
Kaut kas starp 2 un 3 zvaigznēm. Ja kārojas YA pagātnes relikti ar absurdu loģiku, ir okay :D
Drusku ir žēl, jo premise vieglajam romānam bija forša, taču pats teksts nespēja sniegt tam piepildījumu.
Vēl viena vīzija ar VTPG cienīgu emo snowflake Selīnas līdzinieci, kura visus piekauj...for reasons? :D
Kaut kas starp 2 un 3 zvaigznēm. Ja kārojas YA pagātnes relikti ar absurdu loģiku, ir okay :D
Drusku ir žēl, jo premise vieglajam romānam bija forša, taču pats teksts nespēja sniegt tam piepildījumu.
Vēl viena vīzija ar VTPG cienīgu emo snowflake Selīnas līdzinieci, kura visus piekauj...for reasons? :D
bluebeereads's review
5.0
Istyria book blog ~ B's world of enchanted books
What just happened? Seriously. I literally have no words right now. I don't even know where to start. I'm just rambling here so bear with me okay? Okay. Great. So this was bloody fantastic, to say the least.
When her parents are sick of her wild behavior, sixteen-year-old Lex is shipped off to upstate New York to live with her Uncle Mort for the summer. Hoping that a few months of dirty farm work will do her some good. But Uncle Mort is not a farmer. His true job is much dirtier than that. He's a Grim Reaper and he's going to teach Lex the family business. Lex quickly gets used to life in Croak, a town populated by reapers who deliver souls from this life to the next. But then they start finding people dying of unknown causes and the murderer seems to be from Croak.
So... Yeah. First off, a huge thank you to Melanie and Celine from YA Midnight Reads, without whom I would have never found this book. So thanks you two for introducing me to the fabulous Gina Damico! Now that that's out of the way... I don't really know where to start. This turned out to be exactly what I needed. It's fun, hilarious, original, filled with great characters and it hooked me right from the start. I read it in one sitting. Well mostly anyway.
I loved these characters! So much! Mort was awesome, Driggs was fantastic, all the other side characters were marvelous and Lex, oh my god, Lex is all of those things and more. I loved her spunk, her sarcasm, her badassery but also her loyalty and love for her sister and family. There's a bit of a romance here, but it doesn't take over the plot in any way and I really liked it! I hope it develops more in the next two books. Also, the ending just about broke my heart. Thanks Gina.
Croak is an absolute page-turner. It's original, funny and highly entertaining. I recommend it to everyone because it's just that great to be honest. So go read it. Now!
This review is also (or -soon- will be) posted on Istyria book blog
thebookberrie's review
4.0
I swear, Don't Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult was playing in my head the whole time I was reading this book. Totally listening to it at the time of this writing as well. :p
This book was surprising. It's part funny, part morbid, and plenty parts awesome. Surprising because I thought it'd just be some "Oh hahhahahah these people are dead lets laugh about it!!111!" kind of thing. Taken, it did have a little of that BUT it's so much more than that.
So it starts off with Lexington Bartleby(lolol) getting in just too much trouble. She's gone from a straight A perfect student to a violence loving delinquent, so her parents decide enough is enough. They figure sending her off to her Uncle Mort's farm in a little town called Croak to work for the summer will straighten her out. As it turns out though, Croak is a town filled entirely of Grim Reapers. Which means her uncle is one, and so is Lex. She finds out she is pretty awesome at 'Killing' which is releasing the soul from a dead person's body for the Afterlife and she starts to find a place where she truly belongs. But soon killings with no explanation start happening; criminals that Lex isn't sure should stay alive anyway...
I loved the town of Croak! It was totally awesome. Down to the cute little shop and street names, and definitely the people. (The cute little drawing at the beginning was nice too, even though I didn't need it to picture everything!) I felt like I was hanging out with the Junior Grims at the restaurant The Morgue, the bar, or their dorms, The Crypt. (Playing the most epic board game ever by the way.) There was just enough description to feel like you were there but not so much that it punched you in the face. Also, the names of the different Grim towns were awesome in themselves: Croak, DeMyse, and Necropolis. I am seriously wondering what Grim towns outside of the United States are called.
I also really just loved the idea of the Grim Reapers as a sort of business. "Gamma Removal and Immigration Managers" doesn't sound as whimsical now does it? ;D
One major problem I had was the main character Lex. I just couldn't connect with her. Her constant bitchyness and need to physically hit people for no reason with only the fact that she was a mad little child just rubbed me the wrong way. She was a bully and I hate bullies so I just didn't really care what happened to her. ): The only time I really liked her was when she was with her sister which really didn't happen often. I guess I did care a little at the end but the damage was done. Her parents pissed me off too. Really, you tie her up with jumprope so you can TALK to her? Maybe if you didn't treat her like she was a child throwing a tantrum (even though she so often acted in the beginning) and talked to her like a human being she wouldn't say she hated you.
I didn't get the romance either. I wasn't even sure why they liked each other and when they started kissing, I didn't feel it. BUT, I did like how it was realistic instead of any kind of insta-love or a love triangle! On that case also, I liked Driggs. How can you not like a guy who loves Titanic?
Lex's Uncle Mort was pretty great too. He was exactly the kind of adult who needed to tell Lex to just grow up.
The Afterlife. Was also great! I loved the dead famous people. Edgar Allan Poe walking around with his Raven, John Wilkes Booth having an arm-wrestling match with Elvis Presley? Random presidents just walking around welcoming new comers? It's humorous tone was the perfect contrast to the dark whodunit mystery.
And this book definitely had it's own light and funny tone. I laughed at loud at some of the banter exchanged between Lex and Driggs and anytime someone was talking to Pandora. And also when all the Juniors were just hanging out.
Then it had it's dark moments that blended so well with the light. It didn't feel out of place at all, at least to me! I gotta say, I totally didn't see it coming either when it was revealed who was doing the unexplained killings.
Also, don't count the cover out! It doesn't look like much on screen but in real life that cover is SHINY. Like so shiny you can see yourself perfectly in it. Shiny = fun. :D
Basically I thought Croak was great. I loved the town, most of the characters, even the idea was great to me. I think I've said great too much which means you should definitely give this book a shot.
This book was surprising. It's part funny, part morbid, and plenty parts awesome. Surprising because I thought it'd just be some "Oh hahhahahah these people are dead lets laugh about it!!111!" kind of thing. Taken, it did have a little of that BUT it's so much more than that.
So it starts off with Lexington Bartleby(lolol) getting in just too much trouble. She's gone from a straight A perfect student to a violence loving delinquent, so her parents decide enough is enough. They figure sending her off to her Uncle Mort's farm in a little town called Croak to work for the summer will straighten her out. As it turns out though, Croak is a town filled entirely of Grim Reapers. Which means her uncle is one, and so is Lex. She finds out she is pretty awesome at 'Killing' which is releasing the soul from a dead person's body for the Afterlife and she starts to find a place where she truly belongs. But soon killings with no explanation start happening; criminals that Lex isn't sure should stay alive anyway...
I loved the town of Croak! It was totally awesome. Down to the cute little shop and street names, and definitely the people. (The cute little drawing at the beginning was nice too, even though I didn't need it to picture everything!) I felt like I was hanging out with the Junior Grims at the restaurant The Morgue, the bar, or their dorms, The Crypt. (Playing the most epic board game ever by the way.) There was just enough description to feel like you were there but not so much that it punched you in the face. Also, the names of the different Grim towns were awesome in themselves: Croak, DeMyse, and Necropolis. I am seriously wondering what Grim towns outside of the United States are called.
I also really just loved the idea of the Grim Reapers as a sort of business. "Gamma Removal and Immigration Managers" doesn't sound as whimsical now does it? ;D
One major problem I had was the main character Lex. I just couldn't connect with her. Her constant bitchyness and need to physically hit people for no reason with only the fact that she was a mad little child just rubbed me the wrong way. She was a bully and I hate bullies so I just didn't really care what happened to her. ): The only time I really liked her was when she was with her sister which really didn't happen often. I guess I did care a little at the end but the damage was done. Her parents pissed me off too. Really, you tie her up with jumprope so you can TALK to her? Maybe if you didn't treat her like she was a child throwing a tantrum (even though she so often acted in the beginning) and talked to her like a human being she wouldn't say she hated you.
I didn't get the romance either. I wasn't even sure why they liked each other and when they started kissing, I didn't feel it. BUT, I did like how it was realistic instead of any kind of insta-love or a love triangle! On that case also, I liked Driggs. How can you not like a guy who loves Titanic?
Lex's Uncle Mort was pretty great too. He was exactly the kind of adult who needed to tell Lex to just grow up.
The Afterlife. Was also great! I loved the dead famous people. Edgar Allan Poe walking around with his Raven, John Wilkes Booth having an arm-wrestling match with Elvis Presley? Random presidents just walking around welcoming new comers? It's humorous tone was the perfect contrast to the dark whodunit mystery.
And this book definitely had it's own light and funny tone. I laughed at loud at some of the banter exchanged between Lex and Driggs and anytime someone was talking to Pandora. And also when all the Juniors were just hanging out.
Then it had it's dark moments that blended so well with the light. It didn't feel out of place at all, at least to me! I gotta say, I totally didn't see it coming either when it was revealed who was doing the unexplained killings.
Also, don't count the cover out! It doesn't look like much on screen but in real life that cover is SHINY. Like so shiny you can see yourself perfectly in it. Shiny = fun. :D
Basically I thought Croak was great. I loved the town, most of the characters, even the idea was great to me. I think I've said great too much which means you should definitely give this book a shot.
hdbblog's review
4.0
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 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.
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 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.
iamhume's review
4.0
Croak didn't really seem like my type of read. Then I read a review that said it was was a bit of a farce on boarding schools and had a Harry Potter-esque feel to it. I was pleasantly surprised by this book.
Lex is a very, very angry protagonist. I was a lot hesitant about her, seeing as how the book started out with her in the principle's office for punching a boy. But then it got a whole lot better. Lex is angry, but there is a reason behind all the rage and violence. She is shipped off to the little town of Croak to live with her Uncle Mort, believing that he lives on a farm. To her surprise, she learns that she is a Grim Reaper and the plot unfolds from here.
Lex posesses a good mixture of good and bad traits: She's smart, determined, and loyal to those she loves. She can't keep secrets, always seems to be looking for a fight, and lets her temper get the best of her. She's not perfect and she's not apologetic about it.
Driggs, Lex's Killing partner, is adorable, awkward, and a total cutie. He acts just like an 18 year old boy should and Gina Damico should be given a metal for her writing. So often teenage boys are written way too mature and suave for their age. I'm not saying teenage boys can't be mature, but I have yet to meet one.
Uncle Mort was awesome. I wish I had an uncle like him. He was serious when he needed to be, but also funny and full of wisdom that Lex needed.
The rest of the supporting characters all sort of blurred together, which is my one biggest complaint. I couldn't keep track of who was who, and I feel that part of it was because of some of the really odd names. Kloo?
The plot was paced well, and only slowed a bit in the middle when the real problem of the story emerged. I really liked the details that went into the world building here. Nothing was confusing, everything was explained. The town was well established, along with how Grim Reapers work. I want my own Scythe.
The bad guy, however, was easy to spot. I won't say much here, but I would have liked to be surprised by who it was. Oh well, can't have everything.
If you're looking for a light, fun read, Croak is certainly a good choice. There's tons of witty banter, teenage angst and sexual tension, and fun characters to fall in love with.
Lex is a very, very angry protagonist. I was a lot hesitant about her, seeing as how the book started out with her in the principle's office for punching a boy. But then it got a whole lot better. Lex is angry, but there is a reason behind all the rage and violence. She is shipped off to the little town of Croak to live with her Uncle Mort, believing that he lives on a farm. To her surprise, she learns that she is a Grim Reaper and the plot unfolds from here.
Lex posesses a good mixture of good and bad traits: She's smart, determined, and loyal to those she loves. She can't keep secrets, always seems to be looking for a fight, and lets her temper get the best of her. She's not perfect and she's not apologetic about it.
Driggs, Lex's Killing partner, is adorable, awkward, and a total cutie. He acts just like an 18 year old boy should and Gina Damico should be given a metal for her writing. So often teenage boys are written way too mature and suave for their age. I'm not saying teenage boys can't be mature, but I have yet to meet one.
Uncle Mort was awesome. I wish I had an uncle like him. He was serious when he needed to be, but also funny and full of wisdom that Lex needed.
The rest of the supporting characters all sort of blurred together, which is my one biggest complaint. I couldn't keep track of who was who, and I feel that part of it was because of some of the really odd names. Kloo?
The plot was paced well, and only slowed a bit in the middle when the real problem of the story emerged. I really liked the details that went into the world building here. Nothing was confusing, everything was explained. The town was well established, along with how Grim Reapers work. I want my own Scythe.
The bad guy, however, was easy to spot. I won't say much here, but I would have liked to be surprised by who it was. Oh well, can't have everything.
If you're looking for a light, fun read, Croak is certainly a good choice. There's tons of witty banter, teenage angst and sexual tension, and fun characters to fall in love with.