And so it continues–and at the same breathless, break-neck pace as before! Gina Damico’s Scorch–book 2 of her Croak trilogy, following Lex in her becoming a Grim Reaper–continues the wild events with the same riveting cast of characters. Indeed, I would argue that book 2 of the series not only picks up right where the last book left off, but it’s more interesting and (dare I say it?) better written, with more inflection on the part of Lex, more balance between the characters, more conflict to increase the tension and more generally at stake than in the first book.
What I Liked About the Book:
1. Lex is still a pain in the butt, but man, by the time you reach the end of this book, you are hit with the sudden realization that she’s (over the course of the book) been maturing and growing into a complex, hot-headed, but far more rational young adult. (No, that’s not perfectly across the board–we get some surprises at the end that certainly suggest that she’s still the selfish teen she was, but at least she seems to be realizing now that there are both causes and effects and that her actions do have consequences).
2. We get more development of the town, more “rules” about the world that Ms. Damico has been building and more background on some of the characters. I think that this was all very lightly alluded to in the first book, and it’s important enough information to warrant some deeper thought about.
3. Lex finally catches on that she’s not getting the full story, either. While she had some idea before, she seemed to believe that the primary way to get answers was to literally wrestle them out of the people around her, then accept what they offered as truthful. Whereas here, we get the idea that there are more complex relationships, more complex thoughts, more complex ideas.
4. We finally see another town in the Grimosphere. Finally! And it’s pretty . . . fake. But it’s at least another point of comparison, to see how Croak compares to it’s competition.
5. Ah, the humor. Again, I enjoyed this sequel on Audible, was again thrilled at the narrator, and was once again pleasantly surprised to find myself laughing out loud like I had a few marbles loose myself.All in all, though, it was totally worthwhile. 🙂
What I Didn’t Love About the Book:
1. I don’t think it’s fair that Mort and the townspeople all generally expect Lex and the other Juniors to act like adults and to take on adult responsibilities, yet insist on treating them like children. I think this might have been a general point of hypocrisy that Ms. Damico was making, and if that’s the case, well, I hear ya loud and clear! If not, then the point still stands: this feels like unfair treatment and a highly hypocritical set of expectations.
2. I’m not sure I understand how Lex could have continued damning behind Mort’s back. .. not only does it seem obnoxiously selfish in light of the risks that she’s already been made aware of, but it also feels like she just doesn’t stop to think about how her actions are affecting everyone else around her. I’m not sure if this is Mort’s fault for failing to make clear to her what shortcomings her choices were reflecting or if this was simply the result of someone not caring, but either way it felt like there was something that could have been done to more clearly communicate this to Lex in a way that she’d get.
3. Not sure I fully understand Lex’s dread at seeing her parents. Weird interlude for sure, but she has to know that it will be, all things considered. One of the things that I really liked about the first book was the fact that parents were, in fact, an active part of Lex’s life and, though Uncle Mort, continued to be throughout the tale. In this book, we see Lex’s parents taking an even lesser role in her life and Uncle Mort failing to act in a parenting capacity, as well. While I understand that one of the great hurtles of YA Lit/life in general is moving from child-cared-for-by-parent into young adult, independent and mature, Lex certainly isn’t there yet. And her decisions show this.
4. I’m not sure I needed the white tux clad character at all to keep the story moving. I understand that he adds another layer of depth to the tension being set, but I still found the character kind of unnecessary.
Overall:
Can’t wait to get book 3. Seriously. Am downloading tonight. 🙂
What do you all think? Any readers of the series out there?
The Alpha and the Omega: The Endless Ramblings of a YA Lit Lover 