Hellhole Paperback – January 12, 2016

This engaging story will keep you smiling and even laughing out loud as you follow the trials of an awkward teen as he tries to rid his life of the devil and as he struggles with his mother's serious illness. I tackled this as an audiobook, but also bought the print version which contains a clever puzzle not found in the audiobook.One of the advantages of the audiobook version is the stellar narration skills of MacLeod Andrews. Gina's writing, combined with MacLeod's superb voicing work together to create a rich story that pulls you right into the story so that you feel like you are standing there watching the story unfold.Hats off to Gina for this worthy follow-up to the really well done Croak trilogy! I can't wait to see what kind of journey takes us on next, but I know that it will be entertaining and fun to explore... even for lumpy geezers!

4 out of 5 gnomesThis book is well pretty super duper insane but in a good way. The only reason I rated it 4 instead of 5 gnomes was that I saw what the ending was going to be a little too easily and some questionable choices the characters made. Overall though this is one heck of an interesting read.There are a myriad of funny quotes/lines in this book as you can see from my previous post. The humor really makes it though especially in the beginning and when Max gets drunk even one of the deaths in the book was pretty darn hilarious.I do like Damico's Croak series better but I do continue to love her writing style and dark sense of humor. I'm always looking forward to whatever she writes next. This book also shows how great the author is at setting up the scenes emotion wise and getting your feelings all jumbled up (just like Max.)Burg, well he was quite the devil but I think I was expecting him to be less evil than he was (in that way I guess I underestimate him just like Max does.) Saying that though there are some really darn funny lines from him and of course plenty of bad behavior.There are some great characters in this book. Max's mom was a really cool, I loved her attitude and how she treated Max. Lore and her secrets made for some awesome twists and turns. I thought Audie was going to have a bigger part to play.The ending really worked well because it shows you why Faustian bargains aren't exactly the best ideas and then shows how Max and everyone will move on with their lives.

Gina Damico puts us in the shoes of an awkward good boy Max that takes care of his responsibilities at home, school and even his job. It is a sure wonder how such a good kid decides to start a string of thefts seemingly out of nowhere. Maybe it's a phase, maybe it's an impulse...or just perhaps it might have something to do with the devil that he dug up from hell that resides in his basement eating Cheetos and watching Project Runway all day; just maybe that is the case and if so, how does Max get rid of the devil he unearthed?Sarcasm, Wit and Laughs are just some of the words to describe this excellent read. Highly recommended.

HELLHOLE is another book that I really picked up solely because of the audiobook narrator. If I’m being perfectly honest, this book wasn’t even on my TBR until I heard MacLeod Andrews narrated it! It wasn’t intentionally off my list but the book really hadn’t grabbed my attention and I actually really love my favorite audiobook narrators have recently motivated me to try books that I might not have otherwise!HELLHOLE was really my kind of concept — a male narrator, a comedic circumstance, and an awkward romance usually hook me so I was interested right off the bat! Max was definitely the nerdy type and the amount of time that he spent taking care of his mother (who is very frail due to a heart condition) really kept him out of social circles even more. At times he was a bit too awkward and I had a hard time with it but overall, he was a fun character to connect with an an easy one to root for! Most of the characters were very easy to connect with and I really enjoyed seeing them interact!The main issue that I really had with the book was the execution of the concept. In HELLHOLE, Max ends up being forced to house and comply with a devil (yes, an actual devil from Hell itself) because he was responsible for summoning and unearthing it. Chaos as well as comedy ensues because how can you play this one off without some comedy? (Which I enjoy!) The execution and rules that followed were a bit shaky for me. Some rules seemed concrete while others seemed a bit messy and the whole concept seemed a bit far-fetched. I mean, sure, housing a devil is far-fetched to begin with but I love when authors are able to make me forget that something is supernatural and not commonplace (much like Lish McBride’s book, HOLD ME CLOSER, NECROMANCER).The devil character (Burg) also really didn’t appeal to me but I also know that’s a personal preference. I suppose I wanted a more appealing devil to make his offers, temptations, and commands harder to resist. I mean, it’s a book with a male POV so obviously it won’t be a temptation based on attraction (well, it could be. Or could be a female devil as well) but that was sort of what I was hoping for. Even one who acted a bit more normal or used a bit more intimidation to add a fear-factor. Burg was mostly rude, irritating, and frankly just disgusting. I have a low tolerance for “gross humor” so that was kind of hard for me and took away from how much I enjoyed the book.I loved the purely platonic friendship between Max and his best friend Audi as well as the slow and awkward romance between Max and Lore. The relationships were really well done and I felt like they leaned away from the norms or stereotypes in many ways! I also love a good parent relationship and really enjoyed Max’s bond with his mom. They don’t always have it easy but Max is a great kid and really will do anything to help his mom (hence, the current predicament).HELLHOLE was fun but there were a few minor things that ended up being kind of large turn-offs. It was a quick and easy read but not quite convincing. I didn’t quite love it as much as I had hoped considering there was a good mix of my favorite things in there! If I hadn’t been listening to one of my favorite narrators, I’m not even sure I would have enjoyed it as much as I did.

The dark comedy of the author's first trilogy is in no lesser form here. We also see lots of nerdy easter eggs throughout.However, the book isn't just a Buzzfeed list/Cracked article. While not the most complex of storylines (boy meets demon/trusts demon/gets screwed by demon) the author manages to fill it with enough of her personal style to really make it hers. What results is a fun romp through a misnamed town that had me thoroughly engaged.I'd recommend this book for any irreverent teenagers you may know.

Great mix of horror and humor makes for an enjoyable read!

Purchased as a gift for my son, he shrugged and said "meh it was alright"