Max likes to dig for fossils at the hill near his house. One day, while digging, he releases a devil. Had he called the devil by his own actions? How far will he go to get rid of the thing, and can any good ever come of dealing with the devil? ( )

Loved the sarcasm !!
I liked the interaction between the characters and found them relatable . I really liked that the author had these teens talking and acting like real teens. Nothing turns me off a YA book quicker than when the characters don't act their age. The sarcastic humor is throughout the book and for me was the best part, as sarcasm runs thru my veins :) AND, of course since there is an animal "involved" in the story, that makes it all the better. ( )

ABR's full Hellhole audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

Here is what I know of what to expect from Gina Damico. Young adult hilarity and fun, I mean the type that will make you laugh out loud and give you stitches. I hope that this new novel will follow this trend she has created for herself.

Hellhole is a ridiculous tale of a young man, Max Kilgore, high school student, family breadwinner and primary caregiver to his sick mother. Somehow gets paired up with the Devil, or rather on of 666 of them. Now he must keep the beast satisfied in order to keep him from ruining his life and the lives of the ones he loves with the promise to heal is mother.

One the best parts and something I have never come across, especially in a young adult story, was Max’s best friend sense childhood is his female neighbor. Seriously, a strictly platonic relationship! As with pretty much all stories in this genre, there is the love story that evolves from an unlikely source, even though she is really the only other female character.

All in all, if you are looking for a fast and entertaining young adult listen, you have found what you crave.

I am not sure, and would love to know, how in the world Macleod Andrews gets the job to narrate a ton of fun and enjoyable audiobooks. Along with that I seem to continue to end up listening to them all. Seriously, if you are looking for an audiobook that will guarantee a stellar audio performance, look no further than Andrews. There are few others that I can think of that will be able to elevate a so-so story to outstanding.

Audiobook provided for review by the publisher. ( )

I have yet to read the Croak series and now I feel like I absolutely have to. Gina Damico is hilarious in this book - there were so many instances that I laughed out load or snorted to myself.

The story telling was very good, I liked the build up and info about Max's life, how the author brought in other important characters and how eventually good conquers evil (or is it evil conquers evil? - you will have to read it to determine that for yourself).

Satan inspired all the feelings from me, he was funny and weird, good and understanding, and a horrible demonic presence too - I loved to hate him and hated to love him - it was a great character.

I absolutely enjoyed how the author wrote about Lore, she is my kinda girl!

Everything about this book I found great - but again I have heard that Croak is better, so I have to go grab those now :)

Happy Reading! ( )

For more reviews, gifs, Cover Snark and more, visit A Reader of Fictions.

For those who are not aware, Gina Damico writes some of the funniest and darkest YA novels today. If you have not read the Croak trilogy, you need to consider your priorities, because those books are so fucking amazing. My expectations for Hellhole were sky high, because the Croak books are among my top favorites ever. A bit sadly, Hellhole won’t be joining them on my eternal favorites list, but it’s still hilarious and dark and very Gina Damico.

Damico’s humor is just so great. I think her style will appeal to those who enjoy Bryan Fuller shows (Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies, Dead Like Me, Hannibal) or similar off-kilter, darkly comedic programming. Though I didn’t like Hellhole as much as Croak, the humor is still most definitely on point. Damico’s creative swears are still present, as are the snide pop culture reference, blissful nerdiness, and friendly misanthropy. I’m sort of repeating myself here, but seriously if you love dark humor and you’re not reading Damico’s books, WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE?

The big difference with Hellhole is that I simply didn’t emotionally bond with Max and the rest of the cast the same way I did with the people in Croak. Max is my sort of kid, in that he’s a total nerd. He’s kind of a young Ross Geller, bad hair and all, given his obsession with paleontology and crosswords. Like teenage Ross, he’s the opposite of smooth, despite having popular Audie rooting for him to find a girlfriend. Max’s platonic friendship with Audie is fabulous, though her role in the book is too minimal for me to really have a handle on her as a character.

Max’s mother is going to die sometime soon if she doesn’t get a heart transplant. Max works really hard to hold the household together, since his mom can no longer do that. Their relationship is the most touching aspect for me. They truly love one another and that’s so obvious, even though she isn’t able to really take care of him at any point. The sheer amount he’s willing to do to try to help her shows what a wonderful mother she’s been to him all his life. They’re happy together, despite the mother’s illness and their poverty. Their movie nights to watch romantic comedies or musicals are just the best.

Though Max has always been a fearful kid, he risks his job to steal an ugly bobble head cat for his mother, who greatly appreciates weird junk like that. He couldn’t afford it and knew she’d love it. And she did. Only the bobble-head came with a free gift with theft: satan, who insists on residing in Max’s basement. Now, he’s just one of many but Burg is still an evil dude who could kill anyone around Max instantly. Perhaps unwisely, he makes a deal with the devil for his mother’s life and suddenly the cat was just the beginning to his criminal career.

One thing that I love about Damico’s books is how dark they get. Though not as dark as the Croak trilogy ultimately got, I was once again thrown by the humor into expecting something fairly light. It both is and it isn’t. Damico’s very good at doing things I really don’t expect her to do to the characters. Hellhole is one of those novels where even the protagonists aren’t going to come out looking too good.

Finally, if you’re a cat lover, there’s something special in here for you. Aside from the bobble-head, Max and his Mom have an ill-tempered cat. The great thing is that this house cat is the one thing that Burg fears. Even devils think that cats are too evil to be reckoned with. This is precisely why cats are so cute. I think I’m going to go snuggle mine now, as I wait for the time until Damico has another book coming out. ( )