David Estes Fans and YA Book Lovers Unite! discussion

Book:Croak by ginda damico.(first in the trilogy)
Date: 12 feb 2015.

Participants: Anyone who wants to.As off now, me and David.

And off course date is changable if you want to read but dont have time unntil april we change till april.

I loved this series, it's so funny. I hope you guys like it

That sounds perfect, Oda, can't wait to read with you :)

Thanks Joyce!!

I may do this buddy read with you. :)

Yay Karen!

Every book I vote for never wins. LOLOLOL

Also have always wondered what the Buddy Reads are and how it works.

I would like to join in but can someone explain. I think I have an idea but you know what they say about assuming.....

Nancy wrote: "Every book I vote for never wins. LOLOLOL

Also have always wondered what the Buddy Reads are and how it works.

I would like to join in but can someone explain. I think I have an idea but you know..."

I just started doing buddy reads myself, its not complicated or anything. Baically we start the book on the same date(or around if you start a day before or after doesent matter)and you post youre thoughts in the thread. For eks.
Chapter 1, wow great start,love the writing.
page 56, so funny scenes,right.
+++
and off course since People read at different speeds you put spoilers in spoilers markings, since someone could be at page 15,someone at page 50, and a Third at page 150. so to not spoil we are carefull when we post.

I'll most likely Crash the party xD I need to reread the first book anyway.

Thanks Oda! That is what I thought but I wanted to make sure. Isee the date posted in the first post. I can't wait!

Nancy wrote: "Thanks Oda! That is what I thought but I wanted to make sure. Isee the date posted in the first post. I can't wait!"

Happy to help. There are no stupid questions.:D

Nancy wrote: "Thanks Oda! That is what I thought but I wanted to make sure. Isee the date posted in the first post. I can't wait!"

Awesome! Hope you can join :) We'd love to have you read with us.

And thanks for explaining things, Oda! Exactly right, it's basically like a read-at-your-own-pace book club. We just chat about the books as we go :)

Ashley wrote: "I'll most likely Crash the party xD I need to reread the first book anyway."

Yay! Crash all you want, Ashley :)

Sounds like a party is brewing!! Yayyyy! I love lots of buddies in a buddy read!!

Whoot whoot! Tomorrow is the 12th! I hope I can start tomorrow, if not Friday for sure!

Tee hee, this is my first buddy read. Can you tell?

Yay! I'm excited too, and happy I'll be a part of your first buddy read :)

I`m starting it today. Cant wait :D

I started! I'm around 15% (page 50?). Pretty funny and creative read so far: (view spoiler)[I really love how it seems like our MC's tendency toward aggression and violence looks like it will be explained by something about her genetic make up and her being able to see the soul lights. She's also pretty funny at times. (hide spoiler)]

Oh, and did anyone else like the map of Croak at the beginning? So clever, I love all the names!

Havent really been in a Reading mood today, but will take my book to bed and "probably read all night long".
And yes I love the map in the beginning of the books, always love books With maps.

Hehe...So yepp, off course I ended up Reading the whole book last night. Really enjoyed it,I see why you love it so much Ashley.
Some keywords: jellyfish,poe,yorick.
I also loved how the mystery was something a lot of People were trying to solve ,not just one or two peeps.

LOL! Speed reader! I'm reading two books at the same time, so this one will probably take me 5-6 days :) Anyway, I'm at 38% now. (view spoiler)[Still plenty of laugh out loud moments, although a lot of the writing is a little too over the top and cheesy for me. It's like it can't decide whether it's YA or middle grade. I really enjoyed the scene from the Atrium with all the dead presidents and celebrities, that whole scene reminded of the humor and creativity in Percy Jackson. But then the whole black widow spider thing and causing amnesia to tourists and such was all a bit much and seemed forced. Overall, I'm enjoying the read, but ready for the plot to move forward...like how did the guy with the all-white eyes die at the baseball game?

Also, I really LOVED the scene with the murderer and how Lex wanted to confront the murderer but then Zara pulled her away and basically said there would be consequences if she got involved. I would love to see this idea explored more and find out what those consequences are :) (hide spoiler)]

I agree David I love all the ideas that the story expresses. how its not just an entetatining story but there is Depth to it as well, by making the Reader think.

I started yesterday and finished chapter 8. I am enjoying this book so far. Something funny, the cross street to the street I live on is Concord and the next street down is Lexington.

Ha! That's a funny coincidence! Glad you're enjoying it :) It's a really fast read, I'm trying to pace myself.

I just finished chapter 16 (62%): (view spoiler)[OK, I think I'm ready to take a guess at who the Crasher is. My guess is Zara. She's got the same strange electric shock thing going on as Lex, and my guess is she has the same anger toward criminal activity, so she wants to stop the criminals by killing them. Maybe there's something really terrible in her past? Also, after Lex did the whole setting-fire-to-the-pizza-box-thing, I'm thinking Zara may be even more powerful than anyone knows. Also, she was willing to keep Lex's secret about wanting to kill the murderers, so maybe she's of the same opinion. Hmmm, I sort of hope I'm wrong... (hide spoiler)]

I just finished! I really liked this book. I thought the writing was fun and I liked Lex and her inner voice. I like that it can be funny but has a serious moral dilemma going on.

The funny thing is, I can usually guess how it is going to end and who the "bad" guy is and I didn't even really think about it. I was totally not expecting (view spoiler)[ Cordy to be a victim of the Crasher. (hide spoiler)]

David wrote: "LOL! Speed reader! I'm reading two books at the same time, so this one will probably take me 5-6 days :) Anyway, I'm at 38% now. Still plenty of laugh out loud moments, although a lot of the writin..."

That is interesting that (view spoiler)[ that you couldn't decide if it was YA or middle grade. I didn't feel that at all I actually didn't think it was cheesy. (hide spoiler)]. It liked that these were teens still acting like teens in some way even though they we're doing a serious job.

Oda wrote: "Hehe...So yepp, off course I ended up Reading the whole book last night. Really enjoyed it,I see why you love it so much Ashley.
Some keywords: jellyfish,poe,yorick.
I also loved how the mystery wa..."

I can see why you read it all in one night! It was hard to put down. I thought it was a fun book. Now I want to read the next one!

Nancy wrote: "I just finished! I really liked this book. I thought the writing was fun and I liked Lex and her inner voice. I like that it can be funny but has a serious moral dilemma going on.

The funny thing..."

You dident expect that? I saw that from a mile away, still I had no idea who the bad guy was, that suprised me. And yes, defently going to read the rest of the trilogy.

Nancy wrote: "David wrote: "LOL! Speed reader! I'm reading two books at the same time, so this one will probably take me 5-6 days :) Anyway, I'm at 38% now. Still plenty of laugh out loud moments, although a lot..."

Hmm, yeah, I'm not sure what it was about the writing, something just seemed more juvenile than the YA I've been reading lately. But then again, the breadth of the YA genre is quite large, some books feeling much more sophisticated while others young at heart.

Nancy wrote: "I just finished! I really liked this book. I thought the writing was fun and I liked Lex and her inner voice. I like that it can be funny but has a serious moral dilemma going on.

The funny thing..."

Glad you liked it! I can't wait to find out the ending :) I'm at 71% and still taking my time, switching off between two different books. I'm so glad (view spoiler)[she told Cordy. Keeping secrets from her was so hard to read about. I just hope they can still find a way to stay close even though they're in completely different worlds. (hide spoiler)]

David wrote: "Nancy wrote: "David wrote: "LOL! Speed reader! I'm reading two books at the same time, so this one will probably take me 5-6 days :) Anyway, I'm at 38% now. Still plenty of laugh out loud moments, ..."

That is definitly true about the breadth of YA. But that is probably true of any genre. People like different things within each genre.

I have already downloaded the second book!

I didn't even know the second book was out already! Wow, that's convenient ;)

David, the whole trilogy is out. So Lucky us :D:D

Really? That is so cool! I'm at 86% now and HOLY SCHNIKES, I actually guessed correctly the "bad guy" back in comment 24! I normally never get it right LOL. Although, in this case, I'm sort of sad that I did (view spoiler)[Zara seems like a really conflicted person, and I was hoping Lex and her would become friends and help support each other. (hide spoiler)]

Nancy wrote: "I just finished! I really liked this book. I thought the writing was fun and I liked Lex and her inner voice. I like that it can be funny but has a serious moral dilemma going on.

The funny thing..."

Nancy, I was also extremely shocked (view spoiler)[about Cordy's death. I had wrongly assumed that the author didn't have the guts to kill off her characters when she let Ayjay survive (sidenote: I still think Ayjay should have died, it seems really unrealistic that he was the ONLY survivor and the explanation for his lucky survival was really iffy), which made it all the more shocking and sudden when Cordy was killed. Ugh. Although I hate that this happened, it's probably the single event in the whole book that makes me want to read on more than anything else. (hide spoiler)]

David, after I saw your post (#30) I thought oh crap, he is not going to be happy! At least I wasn't the only one that didn't see that coming.

I am glad (view spoiler)[ that Lex didn't damn Zara's soul for revenge etc etc. (hide spoiler)]

Nancy wrote: "David, after I saw your post (#30) I thought oh crap, he is not going to be happy! At least I wasn't the only one that didn't see that coming.

I am glad [spoilers removed]"

Aww I know! I completely forgot I wrote that comment. Makes me even sadder :(

I finished, I'll post the rest of my thoughts soon. It was a pretty good ending, no complaints here!

woohoo! I'm glad you guys liked it! and yes, the whole trilogy has been released (and is sitting on my shelf). Gina also has a standalone called Hellhole out, which I thought was very good.

Thanks Ashley! It really was a very good book, and just generally LOTS of fun :)

My final thoughts: (view spoiler)[I still can't believe I guessed it was Zara! I almost never guess these twists, so yes, I'm going to gloat just a little bit longer LOL Honestly, I thought the ending was near-perfect. The only thing that didn't feel that real was how she hardly reacted to the fact that Zara had killed her twin sister. If someone murdered my bro, I'd be out for vengeance. Just stealing her scythe and ducking out seemed pretty lame. I'd rather if she had tried to take Zara out and then Zara got away somehow. But, of course, it is a nice set up for the sequel! That's about it for me! (hide spoiler)]
Thanks for reading with me, everyone, that was a blast, and I'm so glad we all enjoyed it and will be moving on to book 2 SOON!

I finished book 2 today!

Nancy wrote: "I finished book 2 today!"

Lucky,lucky you :D

Nancy wrote: "I finished book 2 today!"

Awesome! How was it? As good as the first?

Yes! I think I read it faster than the first. So hard to put down. Something I completely didn't expect happens! I wanted to start reading the third book but a book I had on hold at the library on Overdrive was finally available and downloaded automatically. Plus I need to read it for another group read.

I will definitly be reading that last book.

That's really good to hear! Thank you, and I hope you get to read the third soon!