Review: Hellhole by Gina Damico

February 11, 2015 3.5 stars, Book Review 13 ★★★½

Review: Hellhole by Gina DamicoHellhole by Gina Damico
Published by Audible Audio, HMH Books for Young Readers on January 6, 2015
Genres: Comedy, Young Adult
Pages: 368
Length: 9 hours
Narrator: MacLeod Andrews
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
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*This book was provided by the Publisher for review. No compensation was provided and all opinions are strictly my own.

A devil is a bad influence . . .

There was a time when geeky, squeaky-clean Max Kilgore would never lie or steal or even think about murder. Then he accidentally unearths a devil, and Max’s choices are no longer his own. The big red guy has a penchant for couch surfing and junk food—and you should never underestimate evil on a sugar high.

With the help of Lore, a former goth girl who knows a thing or two about the dark side, Max is racing against the clock to get rid of the houseguest from hell before time, and all the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos this side of the fiery abyss, run out.

three-half-stars

Hellhole was silly somewhat slapstick dark fun

Hell if someone ended up with a personal demon every time they told a lie or five finger discounted some silly kitsch crap just imagine how many junk food eating, belching farting lazy currs would be filling the basements of people everywhere! Max Kilgore stole one little bobble head cat from his convenience store job after an entire life of always doing the right thing and he ends up with a devil squatting in his basement, maybe not necessarily because of that but it definitely helped. Max is a bit of a dinosaur nerd, and all around awkward teenage guy who works full time, goes to highschool and takes care of his ailing mother all the time.

Two teenage misfits and a whole lot of mischief

Max ends up striking a deal with this demon Burg whom he can’t seem to get rid of. The deal being if Max can supply Burg with a house of his very own (with a big long list of demands in regards to the house’s specifics, such as being a mansion and having a hot tub) then Burg agreed to cure Max’s mother of her heart problems which have left her bedridden for a long time now. But Max is in way over his head and somehow gets help from a schoolmate named Lore who is a bit of an outcast / social misfit herself and who also just so happens to have some personal experience with these kinds of demon problems. Lore takes pity on him knowing from personal experience the kind of pickle that he is in and so the two of them go on the hunt to find Burg a house and quite a bit of trouble ensues.

Darker then I would have expected considering the humorous vibe

Even tho the entire story was quite silly and preposterous mostly because of how crazy ridiculous the demon Burg is, the book managed to have dark moments of seriousness that really tugged at my heart strings. Most of those dealing with Max’s mother and how hard things are for him having to shoulder the responsibility of taking care of her all on his own and somehow manage all of the finances as well. I didn’t find these moments out of place, in fact the overall comedy of the story served to punch those dark moments home to me while reading. I would most definitely recommend this to any reader that enjoys young adult comedy.

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Audio sample courtesy of Audible Inc

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Tabitha (Pabkins)

When I'm in the zone I can flip book pages faster than the eye can see - screaming "More Input!" I'm a book, yarn, & art supply hoarding goblin who loves to draw, make toys and craft all sorts of creepy cute things. My current habit is to listen to audio books while I'm arting it up!
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13 Responses to “Review: Hellhole by Gina Damico”

  2. Inge @ Bookshelf Reflections

    I am so looking forward to reading this book – I loved the Croak trilogy to bits. I loved Damico’s sense of humour, and this one seems to be just as funny. She always has these dark themes, but the humour works so well with it!
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  8. Cecilie

    I never expected this book to be a comedy. Maybe I should have been able to tell from the smiley on the cover… I don’t know. It reminds me of Dark Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, which is one of my boyfriends favorite books. So I think this is something he might like more than me 😉 (Which is the perfect excuse to buy another book, hehe)
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  12. Joy @ Thoughts By J

    HAHA this book sounds so ridiculous, but most dark humour are. I can’t really imagine summoning the devil and then having the devil demand a house from you. How silly. I can totally understand how the heartfelt moments would be a lot more emotive when interspersed with the humour though. Glad to hear you really enjoyed this one! xx
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