Cracked
The snarkiness of the main character reminded me a lot of Lex in Damico's "Croak" books, which is just not my cup of tea. However, I do love the idea of a Dexter-style serial killer who cracks people open and eats their souls. This whole concept is so fun and unique. I wish this had been targeted at an older age group, however. Sometimes the humor, jokes, and phrase choices seemed a little young given the situations and context of the story. If Meda had been in her early 20s and this had been a very old YA/New Adult book, I think the story overall would have been better executed.Another aspect of the story I really loved, aside from the soul eating, was the ghosts. Children and teens cut down before their time carrying around bags and backpacks filled with happy memories they have collected is unbelievably sad, but also crazy creative.
It has also been a while since a book threw me a curve ball like this one did. The secret behind Meda's mom and her murder are fantastically kept secret until they are revealed, which I really appreciated. This is a big gripe I have with YA--the authors have no idea how to keep from foreshadowing so heavily that all the mystery is completely gone from the story.
This book was fun and different. The world-building and little details--the ghosts, the twists, etc.--really made the story shine. While I found the character horribly annoying, the plot and the world were surprisingly enough to overcome all of that. Not sure if I will be chomping at the bit to get my hands on the next book in the series, but I am glad I gave this a try regardless.