By Meghan E.
Author Gina Damico has a knack for taking dark and demonic and turning it into something both unbelievably funny and genuinely original. She takes both wit and sarcasm blends them together with an amazing take on third person to bring you a delightful read that cannot only be understood and appreciated by teenagers; but maybe even catch the interest of an older crowd. Gina may write for teens but her work is definitely not shallow, vain or cliché ridden in the attempt to catch the younger crowds attention.
In your wondering about the afterlife, heaven hell and all the like, did you ever imagine your soul's fate would be left in the very 'hot' hands of a young teenage girl who makes the Hulk's anger look like a dream? Armed with a black hoodie and a pencil sized scythe Lex Bartleby has come to chaperone your soul to the afterlife.
Lex is angry, but at what is the question? The answer, nothing absolutely nothing. A once model student who enjoyed sending students to detention, she now enjoys sending anyone who crosses her path to the emergency room both in school and out. Fed up and at their wits end her parents and twin sister send Lex to spend the summer with her good ol' uncle Mort in a town called Croak. Here we learn grim reapers aren't gods, there is no hell and everyone goes to 'heaven' with a clean slate. Sounds just peachy no? Except that everyone's a little too interested in Lex's ability to collect souls faster than should be possible. Hilarity and an amazing array of characters ensue as Lex's therapy/summer job keeps you turning from page to page and you get to see the real Lex Bartleby emerge.
Our main protagonist has definitely earned a spot on the list of biggest train wrecks in the long vast world of literary hot messes; but that's what makes her so god damn appealing. She knows she's a wreck, she knows there is most definitely something wrong with her, but she doesn't embrace it; she laughs at it! She plots making squirrels her minions, allows herself to be tied to kitchen tables with jump ropes and even tries to beat up the person giving her a ride while enroute. Through all this craziness is the nonstop inner dialogue riddled with unbelievable wit and sarcasm of a girl on the fast track to the FBI's most wanted list. You can't help but want to take her side even when its so clear she's in the wrong. Don't let the tough guy act fool you though, she may have reduced a varsity hockey team to a sobbing mess; but Lex is most definitely a teenage girl. You just have to wait for those rare side splitting moments of teenage awkwardness and hormones.
I have only read two of Gina Dimarco's books, but I have to say both its name and cover are misleading. The only thing dark about this book is the twisted mind of our characters, and an ending that leaves you crying not just for the sequel; but our poor helion as well. Any fan of fantasy, mystery, or just the good old fashioned question about the afterlife will fall in love with both Lex and the town of Croak. You just have to get over your prejudice about third person and learn the rhythms and rhymes of Dimarco's inventive narrative.
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