Book Review: Freeks by Amanda Hocking

Title: Freeks

Author: Amanda Hocking

Publisher: Tor Books HQ, Pan

Date: February 9th, 2016

Pages: 336

Format: Paperback

Source: from Publisher for review

 

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Welcome to Gideon Davorin’s Traveling Sideshow, where necromancy, magical visions, and pyrokinesis are more than just part of the act…

Mara has always longed for a normal life in a normal town where no one has the ability to levitate or predict the future. Instead, she roams from place to place, cleaning the tiger cage while her friends perform supernatural feats every night.

When the struggling sideshow is miraculously offered the money they need if they set up camp in Caudry, Louisiana, Mara meets local-boy Gabe…and a normal life has never been more appealing.

But before long, performers begin disappearing and bodes are found mauled by an invisible beast. Mara realizes that there’s a sinister presence lurking in the town with its sights set on getting rid of the sideshow freeks. In order to unravel the truth before the attacker kills everyone Mara holds dear, she has seven days to take control of a power she didn’t know she was capable of—one that could change her future forever.

Bestselling author Amanda Hocking draws readers inside the dark and mysterious world of Freeks.

Review:

Amanda Hocking won my heart with her Trylle Trilogy.
I never binge read series (in fact, I only binge read two series in my whole life: Trylle by A. Hocking and MacKinnon Curse by J.A. Templeton), but that was my first time when I read like a maniac, devouring the world and it’s characters within.

Since then, I knew Hocking will be the one author I will have my eye on, eagerly waiting for new books to feed my appetite.

Amanda Hocking did it again. She wrote yet another unputdownable book.
It caught my attention, kept me on the edge of my sit, my eyes were flying through the pages and, before I even realized, I finished a book.
My usual reading speed is 30 pages per hour, but with this book, it doubled (and it is not large print!).
You can say it’s because of simplicity of language, but I say it’s because of interesting plot.

This book was AMAZING!

With unique characters, unforgetable plot placed in 1987, Freeks is the book that stands out from other pieces in paranormal genre.

The story follows Mara, who works and travels with carnival. Her coworkers and family are paranormal, unusual or in contact with higher powers.
When they come to state Louisiana, small town Caudry, one of their members dissapears.
Not long after that, they discover that something/someone is after them, as well as their abilities start to weak.

I love how smart Hocking was when outlining this story.
She did her math well!
By introducing us to new characters, making them unusual but still very relatable, she made us care for every single “Freek”, and then she sent that mysterious thing after them, making us, readers, afraid for them.

She also wrote a good story line.

There was an insta love, be aware, but I liked it.
I also liked how main character, Mara, was 18 and her guy, Gabe, 19 (that’s why I didn’t mind things between them developing fast).

I loved the setting.
The vibe that small town gives was so well described.
Also, I welcome the fact that the story was set in 1987. It made a lot sense to put it in that time, because technology was not developed back then (so there weren’t mobile phones, and land lines weren’t on every step).
I can imagine that carnivals had more meaning back then, and pop culture references from that period also gave their charm to the story.

One thing that also needs to be stressed out: there’s a great representation of diversity.

The only thing that confused me a bit (and I bet most people don’t even pay attention to this kind of things) is the lack of Acknowledgments.

Let me tell you, this book is hard to put down!
Once you start reading it, it is very likely you will want to finish it in one sitting (but with almost 350 pages long book, that is hardly possible).

I highly, highly recommend this one to paranormal lovers out there!