Underwater Dogs by Seth Casteel

Is it fair to review this book? Probably not, but I just want to share it's awesomeness with my readers. Granted, there aren't many words in Underwater Dogs, just an introduction at the beginning to explain how the project came about, along with some information about each dog featured, but since when do books need words? Certainly not if they have adorable photos like these instead.

So yes, Seth Casteel's coffee table book, Underwater Dogs, was on my birthday wish list. And yes, I am very happy my mom bought it for me. Because sometimes you just need a book to make you smile, and that's exactly what this one does. It also makes me want to buy an underwater camera and start taking pictures because I really don't know what my family's dogs look like underwater. But now I'm curious.

As a side note, it is most definitely cheating to count this as one of my "books read in 2012" but I'm going to anyway. I promise not to count "rereads" though– because I will definitely continue to come back to Underwater Dogs. Who could say no to those faces? 

Release Date: October 23rd 2012 Pages: 114  Format: Hardcover 
Source: Gift  Publisher: Little, Brown and Company Buy It: Book Depository

This is a review by Zoë. You can find her here on Goodreads or on Twitter @strandedhero

Scorch by Gina Damico

Note: This review contains no spoilers of Scorch, but may contain spoilers of the first book in the series, Croak, a review of which can be found here.

Gina Damico's debut novel, Croak, about the teenage grim reaper Lex, absolutely blew me away with its intensity and hilarity, and so I was incredibly excited to pick up the sequel Scorch. It did not disappoint!

In Scorch, Lex is left behind to pick up the pieces after Zara– off on a murderous rampage– takes her twin sister's life, and her own ability to damn. Combined with Zara's thirst for vengeance, things aren't looking good. But Lex has her own craving, and no matter what it costs, she's going to make Zara pay for killing her sister.

Like the best sequels, Scorch builds on the foundation Damico laid in Croak but ups the stakes, the action, everything. The result is incredibly exciting, but also clever, well-written, and heart-wrenching. It's the kind of mix that Damico manages to balance so well. In less skilled hands, Scorch would have been a confusing mess. There are a lot of elements at play, and a lot of twists and turns along the way. But what Damico has written is a complicated and thrilling story that will keep the reader turning the page, and will definitely offer up some surprises in the well-structured plot.

There's a lot more history and background in Scorch, and the reader also gets a chance to visit another Grim city, which I loved– although it was around then that I found the story slowed down and became temporarily about Lex getting dressed up and not about catching a serial killer. Luckily, the pace picks right back up, and ends with a huge punch in the gut that has left me gasping for the final book in this trilogy. There is an element of the story, that whole punching in the gut part, that I'm not totally in love with yet and so I'm excited to see where Damico takes it and if she wins me over like I expect she will. After having been thrilled by the awesome wit and exciting story that Scorch provided, I will absolutely be picking up the final book in 2013. So far, this is a great series from a talented new author. Damico has definitely earned her place on my 'must read' list.

Release Date: September 25th 2012  Pages: 352  Format: ARC
Source: Thomas Allen & Son Ltd  Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 
Also By This Author: Croak (Croak #1)  Buy It: Book Depository

Croak by Gina Damico

Croak (Croak #1) by Gina Damico

Release Date: March 20th 2012
Pages: 311
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Buy It: Book Depository

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 in Croak 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.

From the instant I heard about this novel, it made me think of the television show I loved, but lost too soon, Dead Like Me. The fact that I was a huge fan of the show, meant that not only was interested to pick up Croak, but I had fairly high standards for what I wanted out of it as well. If it was just going to rehash what I'd seen on TV, then what was the point?

Luckily, Damico has taken the familiar concept in a totally brand new direction, and besides for the fact that George (from Dead Like Me) and Lex are both teenage grim reapers, the similarities end there. Lucky for Lex, she didn't have to die to become a grim reaper, though she did have to get sent away to the tiny and mysterious town of Croak to live with her over-the-top and scary uncle, appropriately named Mort. Mort's not the only one with a convenient name, Croak is jam-packed with them, everything from a gym named "Dead Weight" to other Grim towns like DeMeyse and Necropolis. Somehow, Damico manages to stop before going overboard, and instead just make the subtle death references really entertaining.

Lex isn't one of those main characters that is instantly likeable– she's violent and rude. Once she gets to Croak, it's not like her love of punching people suddenly makes her somebody I'd want to befriend, but it does seem more understandable given her career of killing people. Plus, fulfilling her destiny does mellow Lex out a bit. Still, I loved her angst and her dark twisted humour. Lex has such a sharp, clear personality, and I felt a connection with her that is hard to achieve in third person point of view, but which Damico executes* flawlessly.

As much as I enjoyed the relationship between Lex and her reaper partner, Driggs, there was one instance near the end that had me rolling my eyes a bit. Their snark was irresistible, and I just kept wanting them to make out already. Saying more about the event I disliked would spoil part of the book, but it involved a photograph and felt like it cheated the authentic development Damico had written thus far.

Croak is also a flat-out hilarious book, which is incredibly refreshing among a sea of paranormals that take themselves too seriously. Croak is a well thought-out and believable world, all the details seem to have been considered, but it's also filled with people who swear and joke and make the novel, despite its fantastical elements, seem completely real. I'm just glad I only have to wait a few months for book number 2, Scorch, due out in September. Croak is a fantastic, hilarious, cleverly brilliant start to a brand new series from a talented debut author and I just hope Damico has plenty of fresh puns stored up because I'll be eagerly awaiting them.

*pun fully intended

The Edumacation of Jay Baker by Jay Clark

The Edumacation of Jay Baker by Jay Clark

Release Date: January 31st 2012
Pages: 272
Format: E-galley
Source: NetGalley/Publisher
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Buy It: Book Depository

Live vicariously through Jay as he faces off against his mortal enemy, gets awkward around his dream girl(s), loses his marbles in a Bermudian love triangle, watches his parents' relationship implode, and, finally, learns to get real and be himself(ish).

First, I have to get this out of the way. It's completely unrelated to the quality of the book, but I find it really strange when authors use their own name as the name of a character, especially since in this case the name "Jay" even appears in the title.  It honestly makes me wonder if the character is based a little on him.

Now about The Edumacation of Jay Baker– simply put, it's hilarious. Sure, some of the references felt a little dated to me, I mean, I'm in my early twenties and I'm not even old enough to have watched Dawson's Creek or Full House, and some of the story was slightly outrageous (though I'm fairly certain that was the point) but overall Clark had me laughing and just, enjoying, the book, which was really refreshing in the midst of so many serious novels.

The tagline on the cover really gets it right when it says "you'll feel awkward by association", because there were definitely point in Jay Baker when I found myself cringing on Jay's behalf. It is really the humour that makes this book, but there were times when it came across as the kind of thing that work better as stand-up comedy than an entire novel, because it sometimes gets bogged down in funny remarks or references. Also, because the plot itself is not that interesting, and two importants aspects Jay's love interests and his parents, and neither of which really had the dimension I wanted.

Then again, his teacher Ms. Lambert definitely had me chuckling.

Ultimately, The Edumacation of Jay Baker isn't perfect, but it is hilarious, and sometimes, that's just what you're looking for.

Review Elsewhere: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

"Although I have loved books by both John Green (Looking for Alaska) and David Levithan (The Lover’s Dictionary) separately, together they simply blew me away with a story that is heart-warming, hilarious, and completely honest. "

Click here to read the rest of my review.