Originally reviewed on reutreads, a young adult book blog.

The follow up to March's first installment in the Croak series,CROAK, is that rare second book that is like most middle-books in trilogies, a bridge from setup to finale, but also manages to improve on the first book. I can now safely say thatCROAKandSCORCHare two of my favorite books from 2012.


While the synopsis makes it seem like most of the book takes place in DeMyse, this is pretty misleading, since it's to DeMyse that the characters More...

Silly, sweet and lots of fun, yet with a pleasing underbelly of bite. Newly minted grim reaper Lex returns in this sequel to Croak. Like most sequels worth reading, the stakes have become higher, and the world-building a little more fleshed out and fully realized.

Things I liked:

The Junior Grims of Croak actually act like normal teenagers. They don't know everything and can be impulsive and smart-mouthed. The chemistry between Lex and Driggs continues to be made of win. And while the copious mak More...

This was the first sequel I have read in some time that actually lives up to the interest that was built up in the previous book (Croak). Lex is back living in the Grim town with her Uncle Mort after the death of her sister at the hands of Zara. All of the Grims are panicking as Zara has gone on a rampage, killing and damning indiscriminately. No one seems to be safe, and they all have to find a way to stop her.

Besides this danger that was hidden within, many of the Grims in town are starting to More...

Lex's life has completely changed. Not only is she a Grim that helps bring souls to the Afterlife, but her life has turned upside down with the betrayal of Zara, the Culling of her power to Damn, and the death of her twin sister Cordy. When she returns to Croak, her welcome is less than warm. Most of the Seniors and residents hate the Juniors and especially Lex, blaming her for Zara's crimes and the following mayhem. As Zara's attacks get more frequent and the inhabitants of Croak get more hosti More...

Have you ever read a book that you cant help but love? A book thats characters are smart mouthed and damaged and strong and so perfectly un-perfect you cant help but fall in love with them over and over again (yes, even the bad guys). A book thats plot is so well thought out, and intricatly woven that it has you biting you nails even though you are wearing nail polish and has you mad at youself that you didnt see "it" coming sooner. A book, so funny that you find yourself smiling stupidly in the More...

So I am sure all of you remember what I said about Croak, how I hated the first 50% of the book but loved the last 50%. I was downright scared I would have the same reaction to Scorch, so I put off reading it for a while. Luckily, it has all the sass of the last 50% of Croak and none of that whiny, angsty stuff from the beginning 50%. Scorch is an awesome second book from Damico. When I wasn't laughing to myself, I was biting my nails as I flipped pages. This book kept you on edge and kept you w More...

am not a fan of reading series out of order, but I made an exception this time. I want to read Gina Damico's debut CROAK, but none of the local libraries have it. But I still went ahead and took the opportunity to review SCORCH since CROAK sounded so awesome. Teenage grim reapers are right up my alley.

When SCORCH begins, heroine Lex is not in a great place. Her ability to Damn souls was stolen by Zara (although Lex seems to still be able to use it, if uncontrollably). Zara is now going about ki More...

The predecessor to Scorch, Croak, ended in a cliffhanger and Scorch picks up right from there, so Croak should definitely be read before this book. Teenage Lex is working as a junior Grim reaper, but she’s just discovered she has the very scary ability to damn souls, and worse than that she unintentionally passed that skill on to mentally imbalanced Zara who has gone on a soul cursing spree. Consequentially, Lex and the other junior Grim Reapers are now considered a menace and have to flee the l More...

It’s not easy being a teen Grim Reaper, and it’s especially harder for Lex—not only does she have the strange and feared ability to Damn souls, but she also inadvertently transferred that power to Zara, a Grim turned psychopathic, murdering outlaw. Now it seems that everyone in Lex’s new home of Croak can’t stand the sight of her. But there’s no time for Lex to wallow, because Zara is on a killing spree, Damning criminals and innocents alike with no intention of stopping—unless Lex agrees to coo More...

Ah, I feel as if the stakes are higher with each book of this series. There were a lot less humorous situations and joking around and a lot more serious conversations. I felt more attached to the characters (view spoiler)[Ayjay and Kloo broke my heart and Corpps was just...*cries*. (hide spoiler)] and I felt so sad when some events took place.

The book took some very unexpected turns. (view spoiler)[Grottin in the cabin? Lex secretly Damning souls? (hide spoiler)]

I'm glad to say that Scorch was more entertaining and had a deeper plot than the first one. More...

Ink and Page's Quick & Dirty Review

***IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE FIRST BOOK IN THE SERIES, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS***

Rating : 4

The Low Down : Zara has escaped and is on the run. The Croak newspaper, The Obituary, is full of stories where Zara has been gallivanting around and damning bad guys. The Senior Grims in Croak trust Lex even less now that they know Lex accidentally “shared” her ability to damn souls with Zara. Norwood and Heloise are in peak form, calling secret meetings, twisting the More...

Lex has returned to the comfort of Croak after the death of her twin sister, Cordy. But even though she's suffered this tragedy, no one in town is going easy on her. They all blame her for the fact that Zara, the rogue reaper, is Damning innocent people all over the country. Since she's gone off the grid, no one seems to be able to stop her--but Lex is determined to find a way.

Along with the help of her friends and her ever so sexy boyfriend Driggs, Lex works to unravel clues that lead to a myst More...

If you love "Dead Like Me" you'll probably enjoy this series - it mixes the Reaper idea (here called Grims) with the Vladimir Tod humor vibe, and adds a little something. Problem is there's not enough of everything to work.

My feeling about series are that books should lead from one to another, but that they should also be able to stand alone; not having read Book One, I came to the Grimsphere with no expectations and a lot of questions. The first chapter or so was mostly showing What Came Befor More...

3.5 stars — spoilers

Lex returns to Croak determined to find and stop Zara - the rogue Grim that murdered her sister.

-Lex wasn't the easiest heroine to relate to — she was aggressive, selfish and reckless but I've actually grown to like her, she made a change from the regular old Mary Sue heroines. Compared to the first book, Lex's attitude was more toned down, so she was a lot more tolerable for me this time around. Her tendencies to act reckless did get a bit annoying but if she acted any other More...

Ideally, sequels not only expand upon the stories and themes introduced in their preceding books, but they also improve upon them. Scorch does a great job of upping the stakes for a group of young grim reapers in an entertaining way, in both the action and character development departments. This sequel features tighter plotting, is faster and funnier, and makes you enjoy your time with its likable protagonists even more than you might've the first time around.

I really liked: Uncle Mort's hilario More...

****More reviews at mafiacardreviews.blogspot.com****


Going into this, I had totally forgotten how much I LOVED Croak. But once I finished the first chapter, I was hooked, and already laughing.

Even though this series has it's serious and sad moments, Damico always finds a way to get her readers to laugh. I spent a lot of the time laughing, her characters are just so FUNNY.

And the romance was awesome, I loved how it wasn't fully described, it wouldn't have fit into the style of writing anyway, and More...

Well... this book happened.

It's not that I didn't like Scorch so much as it didn't live up to my expectations. That and I now hate Lex, but more on that later.

To its defense, Scorch does not suffer from Middle-Book-Syndrome. Instead, it's a complete story in the middle of a bigger story. Major props for that.

I also really appreciate that there is NO LOVE TRIANGLE. Instead, we deal with Lex and Drigg's contining and charming relationship. (And with Damico's best description of sexy times ever.)

Th More...

Today's post is on 'Scorch' by Gina Damico. It is the second in a Young Adult series about a sixteen year old Grim reaper, with the first one being 'Croak' (see earlier review of that one.) It is published by Graphia which is an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. It is 332 pages long. The cover has the main character Lex with her silvery scythe. Scorch is spelled with a skull in the place of the 'o'. The intended readers are Young Adult but anyone with a sense of humor woul More...

The review can also be found at www.thetwinsread.blogspot.com

Scorch is the sequel to Croak, and for those of you who haven't read Croak yet you should probably get to that first. I'll try my best not to spoil the first book. I'm not making any promises, but I guarantee that this book's a winner.

First off, let me just say something about Lex and Driggs. I adored them both so much better in this book, they were so freaking cute, adorable and sweet and had quite a number of scenes that had me grinn More...

Scorch
By: Gina Damico
This is the second book in the series, the first being Croak. I loved reading Croak and couldn't wait for the sequel
so I jumped at the chance to read and review this book.
Lex is a grim reaper and has some unusual abilities. In the book Scorch, she finds herself
trying to stay one step ahead of Zara (once a reaper and now an outlaw of Croak) and solve the
secrets kept to protect her friends and the townspeople of Croak.
When I started reading I felt as though I was missing some More...

In the first novel in the series, Croak, Lex found out that she is a teenage grim reaper and thought she'd finally found where she belonged. Until her twin sister Cordy was murdered by a fellow reaper-in-training, Zara, and she discovered she has the ability to damn souls. Oh yeah, Zara also stole that ability and is now on a murderous rampage with an illegally obtained scythe! Lex returns to Croak with her Uncle Mort after the devastation of her twin's funeral, only to find that Norwood and Hel More...

4.5 stars

Holy.Shit. Remember when I said that book one had a juvenile feel to it? Well, this certainly doesn't apply to the sequel. Things just got a whole lot more serious all of the sudden. After the happy (almost fluffy) and fun read that Croak was I never in a million years expected to find myself perched at the edge of my seat, heart beating wildly and full out sobbing while reading the sequel Scorch. I'm amazed at how attached I got to all of these wonderful characters; Mort, Lex and Drigg More...

Whoa! Intense!

The second book in the Croak series was just as good as the first one. Much more action packed and intense, but fun and interesting nonetheless. There were a few things that I found kind of obnoxious (I can't even remember the specifics of what they were, but I remember when I read them thinking "Really? Really? This is kind of dumb." but since I can't really remember them, I guess it wasn't that big of a deal :-p lol!) But most books have a few of those moments.

However now I have More...

In the second installment of the Croak series, Lex returns to the town of Croak with her Uncle Mort after recruiting the newest juniors to join the Grim community. Zara continues her tour of destruction after she has culled Lex’s ability to Damn and the grimosphere blames Lex. In an effort to escape the anger of Croak, the Juniors along with Uncle Mort flee to the grim town of DeMyse while they wait for the opportune moment to stop Zara and return to their lives in Croak.

This series reminds me o More...

Thank you to Around The World ARC Tours for allowing me to read this ARC. I read Croak and I liked it. I was not really sure a second book was needed but hey I am not an author I am a reader. So I decided to give Scorch a go. I'm glad I did because Croak is action packed and full of surprises.

Lex is a teenage grim reaper who can damn souls. She has a unique quality to her and all she wants to do is blend in with her fellow students. See after accidentally giving away her ability to Zara Lex beco More...

Neviem, ako mám túto knihu ohodnotiť. Na jednej strane autorka ešte celkom nevyčerpala zásobu vtipných fráz a pri niektorých pasážach som sa opäť nemohla zdržať smiechu, na druhej strane nádych celej knihy bol o dosť temnejší. Ale to by bolo ešte v poriadku, dalo sa to čakať pri danej téme. Čo mi však vadilo, bol koniec a smer, aký nabral dej. Hlavným dôvodom, prečo má kniha úspech býva to, že čitateľ sa dokáže (a chce) stotožniť s hlavnou postavou. V tomto prípade... platí pre mňa presný opak. More...

This series is so much fun! The snarky, sarcastic characters are a riot. The towns full of grims are fantastic and the story itself is exciting and action packed.

In this second installment, Lex is back in Croak to find a mutiny going on. Nor wood and Heloise are out to overtheoe Mort as mayor and take control of the tow. Zara is still on the loose, damning innocents right and left and Lex's coming powers are getting stronger.

When the juniors are forced to go on the run, they end up in DeMyse, an More...

Why did this book have to end? I want to live in the world of Croak, & I want Lex Bartleby as my new best friend. Trilogies (or series, or whatever) should be required to be released all at once so that you're not left frustrated & desperately wanting to know what happens next. Honestly.
Things are getting much, much worse in the small town of grims (that's professional grim reapers) in upstate New York known as Croak. Zara is still on the loose, killing & Damning innocent people in h More...