Review: Croak (Croak #1) by Gina Damico

 Source: Received a copy from Thomas Allen and Sons for an honest review.

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Release Date: Already Released.
Number of Pages: 311 (Paperback)

(Goodreads Link.)

Blurb from Goodreads:

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?

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I absolutely loved Croak! :D I'll admit, at first I had my doubts. The description sounded amazing, but in the first couple of chapters Lex isn't a very appealing narrator...but I'll let you know people, she gets better, and once you give the book a couple of chapters, her story is fantastic! :D

I think you all probably know by now that I'm a sucker for romance, and I found Lex and Drigg's relationship to be so adorable! It wasn't the biggest part of the book...but I loved that it was there, and I also loved that their relationship wasn't just about romance, they were friends, too, and I found that to be pretty amazing in itself. I also loved their banter, and that instead of having them get together quickly, Gina Damico had the tension of it all stretch out...and when it finally happened...it was awesome! haha I loved them both separately, but I also loved them together. I loved that Lex was tough, and once she tamed down a bit, I found her to be an incredible narrator. She was sassy and hilarious. :) I really liked, actually loved, Driggs, too. He was so unique...seriously he's awesome, and I loved that he had a sweet tooth because I totally have a major sweet tooth, too! haha

While I kind of figured out this story as it went, and predicted some stuff pretty early...it was one of those stories where I loved that I was able to predict stuff! I love when I guess how something is going to turn out and then have it all kind of fall into place. It's even better when I can figure out some, but not be sure of everything or how it will all happen, and that totally happened for me in Croak. I loved it because while I guessed at some big stuff, Gina Damico still kept me interested while dropping the hints that kind of let me figure things out without giving everything away...and those are my favourite types of hints! :D

Along with the awesome mystery plot going on, and the adorable romance, I loved the little details of Croak that just made it even more awesome! The town, Croak, was so well thought out! I loved all the little technologies they had that went along with being Grims (the jellyfish, the cases they used to catch the souls, and the scythes were amazing little details!), and how the buildings in the town and even characters had punny names...I'm a sucker for puns, so when Lex's uncle was a Grim Reaper named Mort, I found it hilarious! And the building were named things like the Crypt, and even the name of the town itself...Croak, hehe :D Oh how I love the puns! haha

One of the things that I always like to read about in books involving death and Grim Reapers is the way that the afterlife is portrayed...and I loved how Gina Damico did it in Croak! It was so original, and fascinating! I also loved how notable people from the past popped up in the afterlife, like Edgar Allan Poe, and a bunch of the US presidents...they probably made up some of the most hilarious and entertaining portions of the book! haha

I absolutely loved Croak! It is a fabulous debut, and incredibly entertaining! This book will have you constantly laughing, and you will seriously love it! At least I hope you do! It's a relatively short book, so why not give it a shot, especially if you love puns, adorable romances, hilarity, and originality...plus, the sequel comes out soon, so you won't have to wait long for the next book! Yay! :D It will also pretty peak the interest of anyone who's a fan of books involving Grim Reapers! I completely recommend this one...it's definitely one of my favourite books of 2012 so far! :D

Is anyone else a fan of Grim Reapers?
Do you like to read about them?
Watch them on TV or in movies? (like Dead Like Me ---hilarious show, and it's on Netflix ;D)
Has anyone read Croak already?
If you have, what did you think?
And if you haven't, does it sound like something you'd like to read?