Review: Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey

Title: Jekel Loves Hyde

Author: Beth Fantaskey

Genre: YA, paranormal romance

Publication date: May 2010

Published by: HMH Books for Young Readers

Source: Own hardcover

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Synopsis:

Jill Jekel has always obeyed her parents rules; especially the one about never opening the mysterious, old box in her father's office. But when her dad is murdered, and her college savings disappear, she's tempted to peek inside, as the contents might be the key to a lucrative chemistry scholarship.

To improve her odds, Jill enlists the help of gorgeous, brooding Tristen Hyde, who has his own dark secrets locked away. As the team of Jekel and Hyde, they recreate experiments based on the classic novel, hoping not only to win a prize, but to save Tristen's sanity. Maybe his life. But Jill's accidental taste of a formula unleashes her darkest nature and compels her to risk everything, even Tristen's love just for the thrill of being . . . bad.

My rating: ★★★★☆
For a girl who prefers reading a series, I thought this standalone was pretty darn good! I really liked the story...It sucked me in from the start and would not let go!

Review: Croak by Gina Damico

Title: Croak

Series: Croak #1

Author: Gina Damico

Genre: YA, paranormal

Publication date: March 20, 2012

Published by: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Source: the publishers via NetGalley (thanks to both!), then I bought my own paperback copy ;)

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Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old Lex Bartleby has sucker-punched her last classmate. Fed up with her punkish, wild behavior, her parents ship her off to upstate New York to live with her Uncle Mort for the summer, hoping that a few months of dirty farm work will whip her back into shape. But Uncle Mort’s true occupation is much dirtier than that of shoveling manure.

He’s a Grim Reaper. And he’s going to teach her the family business.

Lex quickly assimilates into the peculiar world of Croak, a town populated entirely by reapers who deliver souls from this life to the next. Along with her infuriating yet intriguing partner Driggs and a rockstar crew of fellow Grim apprentices, Lex is soon zapping her Targets like a natural born Killer.

Yet her innate ability morphs into an unchecked desire for justice—or is it vengeance?—whenever she’s forced to Kill a murder victim, craving to stop the attackers before they can strike again. So when people start to die—that is, people who aren’t supposed to be dying, people who have committed grievous crimes against the innocent—Lex’s curiosity is piqued. Her obsession grows as the bodies pile up, and a troubling question begins to swirl through her mind: if she succeeds in tracking down the murderer, will she stop the carnage—or will she ditch Croak and join in?

My rating: ★★★★★
Lex's parents are tired of her rebellious attitude, which is why they decided to send her to her Uncle Mort's farm during the summer. Lex, of course, doesn't want to go. She rarely hears from her uncle...and seriously, a farm?! Lex can do nothing except listen to her parents and go spend the summer with her uncle out in the country. Her parents for some reason think that feeding cows and cleaning stables will somehow improve her attitude. But once she arrives in the little town of Croak, Lex realizes that her uncle Mort, has other plans in mind for her.