Gina Damico
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Ages 12 -17
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 REVIEW:
Croak has one of the most unique premises of any book I've read in the past couple of years - a community full of grim reapers - teens whose job it is to collect souls from dead bodies and release them into the afterlife.
Damico's writing is witty and sharp, a definite page-turner. While the teen characters' snarkiness does get a bit old after a while, the fast-clip of the plot kept me engaged. There are a few details, such as the role of jellyfish in being able to track the nearly-dead, that felt a tad silly, but over all I really enjoyed this book and might even consider reading the sequel, Scorch.
A fun summer read, perfect for a trip to the beach or the pool. And a really nice change from vampires, werewolves and demons.
CONTENT RATING:
Profanity: High
Violence: High
Sexualty: Mild
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