SO MUCH SLUT SHAMING AND INTERNALISED MISOGYNY IN THIS SERIES! It's ridiculous. Plus I was right: Norwood and Heloise are too much. Good and funny parts aside, 'Scorch' is infuriating to no end. There's no enjoyment to be had here; misery overwhelms absolutely everything. In fiction, particularly "comedies", I really don't want to be reminded of anything relating to real life in terms of politics and how humans in groups (read: mob mentality) work. I don't want to be reminded of how evil people are. I don't want to be reminded of how stupid people are. Reality is already mean-spirited and imbecilic enough.
And I hate Ferbus so, so much.
Final Score: 3/5
Original Review:
A dark, hilarious and shocking follow-up to 'Croak'. Readers may have to be patient throughout most of ‘Scorch’ - it seems at first to suffer from the clichés/symptoms of sequelitis that pervades most middle books in a YA trilogy. Read on though, for the original, show-stopping climax makes it all worth it.
'Scorch' is clever, witty, funny - so funny I laughed out loud several times - and that's the dialogue and character interactions, which are even sharper than in its predecessor. It is also more gruesome, violent and terrifying with its subject matter of death, which goes hand in hand with the lives of our Grim Reaper teen heroes, known as the Juniors. There is also a light-heartedness in the form of the glitzy DeMyse (which I'll talk about later on), and the cotton-candy sweet Afterlife, a paradise where the dead can do whatever they want. But they can’t experience the more beautiful and tangible little things life offers, plus they have to put up with other dead people, so there is not much convenience or freedom even in death.
'Scorch' cares not at all for consistency in tone. And I like it.
Life sucks more than usual for Lex Bartleby, our protagonist, when the town of Croak - the only place that (to an extent) she and the other Junior Grims have to call home - turns against her and her friends for something they have no control over. In the last book, a fellow Junior, Zara, had turned traitor. She stole some of Lex’s soul-Damning powers after killing the heroine’s twin sister Cordy, adding to her grief and guilt. Now many people - like the Senior Grims Norwood and Heloise, who turn tyrant in the small, easily-led town - believe that all Juniors are not to be trusted. It is both frustrating and endearing to read the troubles the Juniors face everyday just for doing their jobs like everybody else. Adults can be such heartless bastards.
Zara is far from finished from her twisted goals, which include Damning innocent souls and seeking the keys to a lot of old mysteries Lex also wishes to discover.
Soon a mob mentality will blow up and win over the poor Juniors: promising blood despite the help and reassurances of Uncle Mort, Croak's mayor and Lex's mentor. But he himself is keeping dangerous secrets.
Former delinquent Lex will stop at nothing to find out just what the hell is going on - regarding the abnormalities within the Grimsphere, and the origin of her own special Damning ability, which is getting out of hand the more her temper gets the better of her, threatening the very lives of those around her...
Let's talk about Lex, shall we? She is astronomically different from a lot of the YA female leads out there on the market, so as to be from another milky way. She is brash, impulsive, a quick thinker, a smart and snappy talker, and is really just like any other sixteen-to-seventeen-year-old.
In 'Scorch', it would appear at first that Lex has learned to control her violent urges from her last ordeal in 'Croak' - at least to an extent - and this is especially important since her urges are linked to her power to Damn souls. Her self-control is literally a matter of life and death. But a twist towards the end of the story reveals just how different Lex Bartleby is from your average YA heroine. She is not perfect, she makes mistakes and pays the price for them like every human: a human teenager at that. But her mistakes can be fatal. The ultimate price? Her own soul; making her much the same as the villain, Zara, who let her powers and ambitions wither her humanity away.
The town of Croak could have every right to fear our tortured heroine after all. Lex could be one step closer to joining the dark side...
Her relationship with her boyfriend Driggs, fellow Junior Grim and roomie with her Uncle Mort, is beyond adorable. They make out every chance they get and go even further on occasion, just like a real teenage couple would. Lex and Driggs still like to exchange insults, and banter childishly, but it is affectionate and only makes their relationship all the more interesting to read. They are a team. They bond over past tragedies, and clearly see each other as equals, despite the life-threatening difficulties they face; they will risk life itself to keep one another safe.
I love the main romance in this series, and I care about Driggs deeply. He is much more than a designated male love interest, and to call him so is an insult bigger than anything Lex could ever come up with.
I also love the many hilariously convoluted ways that Uncle Mort tries to keep Lex and Driggs from making out at his house (the shower sex scene is one of the funniest things I've ever read). That man, who, like his niece, takes crap from no one and is as snarky as the rest of the cast, is really a big daddy at heart.
The rest of the characters range from: just okay - like Elysia and the newbie Juniors Pip and Bang; to abhorrent - like Ferbus, Norwood, Heloise and Snodgrass (seriously, that's his name); to awesome-sauce - like Broomie.
I deeply disliked Ferbus for most of the book. He finds every reason to blame Lex for every bad thing that happens, even though they are both Juniors and need at this crucial time to stick together and support one another. He is probably inspired by Ron Weasley, but he has none of Ron's boyish charm or his proven loyalty and care for his friends. I think Ferbus's animosity stems less from his distrust of Lex and her Damning powers and more from his secretly being in love with Driggs. He is jealous that Driggs spends a lot of time with her and gets mad when his best friend defends her. However, Ferbus and his Butt Monkey status did get a chuckle out of me a few times, especially when he's drunk. A romance between him and Elysia looks to be on the horizon, though it's only hinted at once near the end of the story and comes out of nowhere.
A new character that I love and hope to see in the next book is Broomie. A heavy-built Asian woman who was raised in Australia, likes to drink, has a raunchy attitude and brims with confidence? Win-win!
That just leaves Zara, the rogue Junior Grim and ongoing threat to Lex and the Grimsphere. If she were any crazier she would be licking her own scythe to taste the metallic blood of her victims. She is Lex's opposite, yet isn't. With this in mind, I was a little disappointed to learn later on that Zara is not her own master; she isn't the main villain, and is a pawn to someone who is supposed to have died decades ago. Gee, how original.
Still, at least we get a battle of wills and wits between Lex and Zara - two sides of the same grimy omen. The climax is horrific, intense and brought me close to tears, which is something almost no book has ever successfully made me do. Zara is wholly aware of Lex's weaknesses, and will exploit them within an inch of Lex's suffering, as well as her sanity. Tragedy strikes both characters in the end, due to their respective impulsive desires. Desires which have nothing to do with them being in love with the same guy (they're not), thank the Void.
Another thing that separates Lex from most YA protagonists is that she actually suffers terrible consequences for her actions. She learns the hard way what her recklessness does to those she loves, and from which, despite everything, she may refuse to learn from due to her hunger for revenge. This should make her unlikable and reprehensible, but in context it is understandable, even human, tragic as it is...
'Scorch', like 'Croak', has a strong 'Harry Potter' and anime feel to it. More shonen than shoujo, I love its cast of genuinely active, passionate and relatable female characters. Harry Potter, like Lex, had to deal with adults fearing and distrusting him in his time in his story's supernatural world, due to the actions of the villain who, in the minds of complete bastards, got away all because of the hero. Part of being a dynamic hero is suffering through the ignorance and self-righteousness of rivals and authority figures - on top of fearing when the bad guy will strike next and being unable to do anything about it.
Such responsibility, including the protection of loved ones, can be too much for one human teenager, and can bring him or her to madness and to a level of moral dissonance not so different from the villain's own way of life. A self-fulfilling prophecy on the authority figure's part if there ever was one.
The themes of death and grief are also written with finesse, with some wonderful yet chilling in-context observations. The author doesn't skip out on the more emotional scenes; Lex is made more sympathetic due to her self-awareness and reflections, not to mention her guilt over her actions and how they affect others (this includes her practically abandoning her parents in their own grief over her sister's death). Most of what transpires in 'Scorch' is as much her own fault as it is Zara's and Norwood's. And, true to her character, Lex's path towards redemption might become her path to self-Damning-destruction; her penultimate fall from grace...
Another thing to note about 'Scorch' is how the Las Vegas-like city of DeMyse works. When Lex and her friends flee there to escape the brainwashed masses of Croak, they find the city is also run by a mayor with ulterior motives, and the citizens are oblivious to the chaos of the outside world. In DeMyse, everything is a happy, colourful and artificial (not to mention outrageously expensive) facade, a lie created for the "good" of its people. This totalitarian context is another theme the book delivers in the same creepy - and even a little subtle - vibe as the other themes do.
Time to wrap this review up. 'Scorch' is slower than the first book in the 'Croak' series, but it reads extremely quickly and easily, not because it is too simple but because it is so enjoyable and gets the point across always. Each chapter ends with the reader dying (no pun intended) to know what happens next. It builds up in terms of development competently and excitedly - more so with its characters than the plot, but the book is well-written nonetheless.
Great characters, great emotion, great snarky dialogue reminiscent of Joss Whedon (there are also similarities to 'Buffy' in this series), and great horror and laughs. 'Scorch' even has gay characters. It has a bit of everything, including shocking twists shot out from the Void: the space between spaces.
Even keeping in mind that the books are fundamentally about death, will the 'Croak' series turn out to be one of YA's unexpected attempts at a teen tragedy? I'll find out with the last in the trilogy, 'Rogue'.
Final Score: 4.5/5
'Scorch' is clever, witty, funny - so funny I laughed out loud several times - and that's the dialogue and character interactions, which are even sharper than in its predecessor. It is also more gruesome, violent and terrifying with its subject matter of death, which goes hand in hand with the lives of our Grim Reaper teen heroes, known as the Juniors. There is also a light-heartedness in the form of the glitzy DeMyse (which I'll talk about later on), and the cotton-candy sweet Afterlife, a paradise where the dead can do whatever they want. But they can’t experience the more beautiful and tangible little things life offers, plus they have to put up with other dead people, so there is not much convenience or freedom even in death.
'Scorch' cares not at all for consistency in tone. And I like it.
Life sucks more than usual for Lex Bartleby, our protagonist, when the town of Croak - the only place that (to an extent) she and the other Junior Grims have to call home - turns against her and her friends for something they have no control over. In the last book, a fellow Junior, Zara, had turned traitor. She stole some of Lex’s soul-Damning powers after killing the heroine’s twin sister Cordy, adding to her grief and guilt. Now many people - like the Senior Grims Norwood and Heloise, who turn tyrant in the small, easily-led town - believe that all Juniors are not to be trusted. It is both frustrating and endearing to read the troubles the Juniors face everyday just for doing their jobs like everybody else. Adults can be such heartless bastards.
Zara is far from finished from her twisted goals, which include Damning innocent souls and seeking the keys to a lot of old mysteries Lex also wishes to discover.
Soon a mob mentality will blow up and win over the poor Juniors: promising blood despite the help and reassurances of Uncle Mort, Croak's mayor and Lex's mentor. But he himself is keeping dangerous secrets.
Former delinquent Lex will stop at nothing to find out just what the hell is going on - regarding the abnormalities within the Grimsphere, and the origin of her own special Damning ability, which is getting out of hand the more her temper gets the better of her, threatening the very lives of those around her...
Let's talk about Lex, shall we? She is astronomically different from a lot of the YA female leads out there on the market, so as to be from another milky way. She is brash, impulsive, a quick thinker, a smart and snappy talker, and is really just like any other sixteen-to-seventeen-year-old.
In 'Scorch', it would appear at first that Lex has learned to control her violent urges from her last ordeal in 'Croak' - at least to an extent - and this is especially important since her urges are linked to her power to Damn souls. Her self-control is literally a matter of life and death. But a twist towards the end of the story reveals just how different Lex Bartleby is from your average YA heroine. She is not perfect, she makes mistakes and pays the price for them like every human: a human teenager at that. But her mistakes can be fatal. The ultimate price? Her own soul; making her much the same as the villain, Zara, who let her powers and ambitions wither her humanity away.
The town of Croak could have every right to fear our tortured heroine after all. Lex could be one step closer to joining the dark side...
Her relationship with her boyfriend Driggs, fellow Junior Grim and roomie with her Uncle Mort, is beyond adorable. They make out every chance they get and go even further on occasion, just like a real teenage couple would. Lex and Driggs still like to exchange insults, and banter childishly, but it is affectionate and only makes their relationship all the more interesting to read. They are a team. They bond over past tragedies, and clearly see each other as equals, despite the life-threatening difficulties they face; they will risk life itself to keep one another safe.
I love the main romance in this series, and I care about Driggs deeply. He is much more than a designated male love interest, and to call him so is an insult bigger than anything Lex could ever come up with.
I also love the many hilariously convoluted ways that Uncle Mort tries to keep Lex and Driggs from making out at his house (the shower sex scene is one of the funniest things I've ever read). That man, who, like his niece, takes crap from no one and is as snarky as the rest of the cast, is really a big daddy at heart.
The rest of the characters range from: just okay - like Elysia and the newbie Juniors Pip and Bang; to abhorrent - like Ferbus, Norwood, Heloise and Snodgrass (seriously, that's his name); to awesome-sauce - like Broomie.
I deeply disliked Ferbus for most of the book. He finds every reason to blame Lex for every bad thing that happens, even though they are both Juniors and need at this crucial time to stick together and support one another. He is probably inspired by Ron Weasley, but he has none of Ron's boyish charm or his proven loyalty and care for his friends. I think Ferbus's animosity stems less from his distrust of Lex and her Damning powers and more from his secretly being in love with Driggs. He is jealous that Driggs spends a lot of time with her and gets mad when his best friend defends her. However, Ferbus and his Butt Monkey status did get a chuckle out of me a few times, especially when he's drunk. A romance between him and Elysia looks to be on the horizon, though it's only hinted at once near the end of the story and comes out of nowhere.
A new character that I love and hope to see in the next book is Broomie. A heavy-built Asian woman who was raised in Australia, likes to drink, has a raunchy attitude and brims with confidence? Win-win!
That just leaves Zara, the rogue Junior Grim and ongoing threat to Lex and the Grimsphere. If she were any crazier she would be licking her own scythe to taste the metallic blood of her victims. She is Lex's opposite, yet isn't. With this in mind, I was a little disappointed to learn later on that Zara is not her own master; she isn't the main villain, and is a pawn to someone who is supposed to have died decades ago. Gee, how original.
Still, at least we get a battle of wills and wits between Lex and Zara - two sides of the same grimy omen. The climax is horrific, intense and brought me close to tears, which is something almost no book has ever successfully made me do. Zara is wholly aware of Lex's weaknesses, and will exploit them within an inch of Lex's suffering, as well as her sanity. Tragedy strikes both characters in the end, due to their respective impulsive desires. Desires which have nothing to do with them being in love with the same guy (they're not), thank the Void.
Another thing that separates Lex from most YA protagonists is that she actually suffers terrible consequences for her actions. She learns the hard way what her recklessness does to those she loves, and from which, despite everything, she may refuse to learn from due to her hunger for revenge. This should make her unlikable and reprehensible, but in context it is understandable, even human, tragic as it is...
'Scorch', like 'Croak', has a strong 'Harry Potter' and anime feel to it. More shonen than shoujo, I love its cast of genuinely active, passionate and relatable female characters. Harry Potter, like Lex, had to deal with adults fearing and distrusting him in his time in his story's supernatural world, due to the actions of the villain who, in the minds of complete bastards, got away all because of the hero. Part of being a dynamic hero is suffering through the ignorance and self-righteousness of rivals and authority figures - on top of fearing when the bad guy will strike next and being unable to do anything about it.
Such responsibility, including the protection of loved ones, can be too much for one human teenager, and can bring him or her to madness and to a level of moral dissonance not so different from the villain's own way of life. A self-fulfilling prophecy on the authority figure's part if there ever was one.
The themes of death and grief are also written with finesse, with some wonderful yet chilling in-context observations. The author doesn't skip out on the more emotional scenes; Lex is made more sympathetic due to her self-awareness and reflections, not to mention her guilt over her actions and how they affect others (this includes her practically abandoning her parents in their own grief over her sister's death). Most of what transpires in 'Scorch' is as much her own fault as it is Zara's and Norwood's. And, true to her character, Lex's path towards redemption might become her path to self-Damning-destruction; her penultimate fall from grace...
Another thing to note about 'Scorch' is how the Las Vegas-like city of DeMyse works. When Lex and her friends flee there to escape the brainwashed masses of Croak, they find the city is also run by a mayor with ulterior motives, and the citizens are oblivious to the chaos of the outside world. In DeMyse, everything is a happy, colourful and artificial (not to mention outrageously expensive) facade, a lie created for the "good" of its people. This totalitarian context is another theme the book delivers in the same creepy - and even a little subtle - vibe as the other themes do.
Time to wrap this review up. 'Scorch' is slower than the first book in the 'Croak' series, but it reads extremely quickly and easily, not because it is too simple but because it is so enjoyable and gets the point across always. Each chapter ends with the reader dying (no pun intended) to know what happens next. It builds up in terms of development competently and excitedly - more so with its characters than the plot, but the book is well-written nonetheless.
Great characters, great emotion, great snarky dialogue reminiscent of Joss Whedon (there are also similarities to 'Buffy' in this series), and great horror and laughs. 'Scorch' even has gay characters. It has a bit of everything, including shocking twists shot out from the Void: the space between spaces.
Even keeping in mind that the books are fundamentally about death, will the 'Croak' series turn out to be one of YA's unexpected attempts at a teen tragedy? I'll find out with the last in the trilogy, 'Rogue'.
Final Score: 4.5/5
