Rogue by Gina Damico

Summary (from Goodreads):

Lex is a teenage Grim Reaper with the power to Damn souls, and it’s getting out of control. She’s a fugitive, on the run from the maniacal new mayor of Croak and the townspeople who want to see her pay the price for her misdeeds. Uncle Mort rounds up the Junior Grims to flee Croak once again, but this time they’re joined by Grotton, the most powerful Grim of all time. Their new mission is clear: Fix his mistakes, or the Afterlife will cease to exist, along with all the souls in it.　

The gang heads for Necropolis, the labyrinth-like capital city of the Grimsphere. There, they discover that the Grimsphere needs a reboot. To do that, the portals to the Afterlife must be destroyed…but even that may not be enough to fix the damage. Things go from bad to worse, and when at last the fate of the Afterlife and all the souls of the Damned hang in the balance, it falls to Lex and her friends to make one final, impossible choice.

Review:

Overall, this series has been one crazy, hilarious, dark, and interesting ride. These books are never what I think they will be, and this is kind of what I love most about them. They never cease to surprise me. I wish I liked this last book more than I did, but overall, Damico scores serious uniqueness points for her series.

This book had all the dark humor, the crazy deaths, the weird characters, the strange supernatural twists, and the morbid society of the other books. Add the series’ already previous awesomeness to a book that finally sheds light on some much needed information and you get this conclusion. Finally, I get Driggs’ story! Also, I got so many answers about the whole grim world that I feel like questions were answered for questions I wasn’t smart enough to even ask.

Also, I was shocked and then shocked some more throughout the whole thing. And wow, that was an insane ending. Insane. I can’t really talk too much about this book with spoiling key things. Just know that Lex and her crew are still being hunted. Now, they are on a mission and countdown to save the afterlife. However, saving the afterlife will mean giving up certain amazing things and people! Seriously, Damico is not afraid to kill characters. Be warned. This last book was kind of like a season finale of the Walking Dead. No one is safe!

So, why did I not like it as much as the other books? For starters, it took me a week to read! Normally that is the kiss of death for a book. The first half of the book was just not maintaining my interest. I felt like there was a lot of stuff in the beginning that didn’t necessarily need to take so much time.  (The rest of this paragraph is a spoiler of book 2) And the whole boyfriend is a ghost thing was really not working for me. It just felt stale and cliché, which seriously did not fit with the rest of the awesome story. And Lex with a ghost boyfriend was kind of whiney. She seriously had the whole world on her shoulders and I was tired of the “I’ll fix it” tagline that seemed to define her character in this book.

The second half of the book was way more interesting with way more action. I found the Grim capital to be super fascinating. I found the side characters sort of holding the weight of my interest more than the main ones. Lex just seemed more interesting when she was damning things…I get why she changed. I really do. I just kind of found the redeemed, nicer Lex to also just not be as interesting. And I’m not sure that I believed one conversation could change her as drastically as it did. One conversation with Driggs changed everything, and I’m not so sure this fits with Lex’s character. I’m not saying she can’t be redeemed; I just don’t think it means all of her decisions she makes should reflect this always.

I also wasn’t totally buying the reaction all of the Grim leaders had at the end.  Some of it was a little far-fetched, though I guess this story is far-fetched in general, and in the past I’ve found it rather charming. Now, I just feel a little cheated out of a plausible ending. Also, does suicide have to be so glorified? How many characters have to willingly decide to go for the greater good (and I’m not saying they all do)?

There is so much I just typed, but then deleted because of spoilers and I hope I haven’t already said too much. I don’t want to sound like I hated this book. I did enjoy it’s humorous charm that Damico has maintained from the first two books. And I loved the action and the idea of this world. I just was kind of hoping for a more unique, plausible, ending that fit the characters as I knew them. Less self-sacrificing hero moments and less ghost drama in the beginning really could have made a world of difference for me. It’s always hard rating the last of a series because I feel like I need to rate all of the books. But, I can’t give this more than a 7/10, despite how much I love the other novels.