Freeks

Never judge a book by its cover and that's how I felt about this book.Ut starts off good- the prologue was something catchy and spooky. But as it moved on it became just a bunch of description to me. I was so looking forward to it. Though the concept was good and new I didn't felt the book like i had expected.The descriptions were amazing but didn't had a grip.The disclosure of Gabe's secret was as simple as it can be. Mara didn't even started by it even she predicted it. And the thing with Blossom, she was just a guest appearance though I think she would've been given more importance.I won't say I didn't like this book. Sure, it was something beyond my scope but still had it's charm. 😊

I'm a big fan of Amanda Hocking and have read all her books. My absolute favourite Hocking work is the Trylle Trilogy, which I have read a couple of times a year, every year since it's publication. The Hollowland series is also really good.Freeks: I enjoyed the story but felt that it would have benefited from more character development: we didn't get to know all the major characters as well as we might. I would have liked to have learnt more about Gabe's and Mara's ancestry. I felt that the book was more like an introduction to a series than the standalone it apparently is.I was confused as to why Gabe's parents needed to work, when they lived in a "mansion-like" house, full of luxurious things. The book gave the impression that Gabe's family were rich but then muddled the story by making his Dad a hands-on restaurant/bar owner and his Mum a civil servant. I understand that his Mum may have had influence through her job but as that influence was only needed every few years it seemed unnecessary.I enjoyed the setting of a carnival and Mara's more unusual upbringing. I think that the book was designed to be dark but to be honest I didn't really find the "scary scenes" scary ... it lacked the tension of other books written by Hocking (like the Hollowland and Watersong books ). I was bemused by the choice to set the story in 1987 (a year I remember well, as I was a young person myself then) as here in the UK I'd never seen a side-show such as was described in the book. I always thought they'd died out after the Victorian era. I might be wrong though ... and they may have continued on longer in the USA than they did here.Did I enjoy the story? Yes. Will I read it again? I doubt it.Mini-rant to American authors ... please guys ... there is no such thing as The British accent! The British accent is mentioned in so many books written by American authors (this book included) but the English, Scottish and Welsh (the nationalities that make up Britain) all have extremely different accents ... it would be impossible to combine them to make a British accent.

I have enjoyed reading this book. Different from the other books by Amanda Hocking but a great start for what could be a new series. I know this is not a series but would like it to be. I want to follow Mara's and Gabes' stories with the carnival. They have gone through so much together in a short time how does it impact on their future? Will Gabe become a member of the troop or just help with setting things up and maintenance? I have so many questions that want answers. This book itself has lots going on in it from its teen romance to the demons stalking them and trying to kill them to the loss of various friends in their differing ends. The world is described brilliantly as are the characters and their roles within the story. From minor characters to major players they all have a role in how this story plays out. The twist is a good idea and is the reason Gabe ends up with the carnival. I wish Mara, Gabe and the rest of the carnival characters well and hope we meet them again in the future. I love Amanda's style of writing. her worlds are well developed and interesting to read about, her characters roles flow beautifully to give a good relaxing read that in my case hooked me in and had me wanting to read what happened next.

Being part of a traveling carnival can make relationships difficult. First, there’s the ugly possibility of rejection, and second, the fact that you’ll move on and likely never see each other again. So when Mara arrives in the small Louisiana town of Caudry with the rest of with Gideon Davorin’s Traveling Sideshow, she’s not expecting to find love, especially not in the form of the wickedly handsome Gabe. Mara’s torn between their growing attraction and not wanting Gabe to get hurt when she, inevitably, must leave. However, she may soon have bigger problems. You see, Gideon Davorin’s Traveling Sideshow isn’t your average traveling carnival. Sure, it has all the things other carnivals have – rides, games, attractionsand shows – but with one crucial difference: every member of the sideshow half of the carnival has real supernatural powers. Everyone, that is, except for Mara. But as something starts preying on carnival members, Mara may be the only one who can save them all.Freeks is a fast and fresh paranormal romance with liberal streaks of horror, reinforced by the supernatural carnival setting. (Main character Mara is a keen reader and one of titles mentioned is Malcolm Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes – a good comparison both in terms of setting, subject matter and atmosphere.) The story takes place over the course of a week in March 1987 – each section covering a day and prefaced with beautiful tarot card designs that give hints as what happens next – and so moves along swiftly, but does so without sacrificing nuance to pace, juggling the two interweaving plotlines of Mara and Gabe’s burgeoning romance and the supernatural mystery of what’s targeting the carnival workers. Characters are, likewise, painted with broad strokes but are not cardboard cut-outs, that is the main characters, the ones we come to care about, aren’t; a few of the side characters don’t really evolve much beyond their initial appearance but this doesn’t detract from the story. Some may feel that the romance between Mara and Gabe, developing as quickly as it does, might border on that marmite trope of ‘insta-love’; I would argue it’s more an instant but genuine attraction which, by the end, has developed into something with the potential to go deeper. (Plus, it’s a nice change for this genre to see the boy chasing the girl for once.)Another great thing about this book is the setting, Hocking paints it with glorious 1980s teen-movie neon technicolor with streaks of Gothic shade. There are enough references to establish the period but not so many that it becomes a tick box exercise. (I also recommend taking a look the playlist she has made for the book.) It’s true that the climax, dramatic and emotional though it is, when compared to the excellent tension-fueling build-up, is over rather quickly, but I feel that’s preferable to it being dragged out.Freeks is a standalone and so ends with all its threads tied up, but there is an avenue left open for more in the future. I’m content with Freeks as a brilliant self-contained one off, but if Hocking were ever to decide to revisit these characters I would be more than happy to read it!

Really like this book got a very good story and best of all theirs no book 2

I love the cover of this book sooo much! ^_^

Good read

👍

I found Freeks to be very enjoyable for a number of reasons. The first (and most important to me) is Mara’s independent and overall strong nature. This book was narrated in first person style (a style which I am not usually fond of due to some of the whiny character-narrators which I have encountered in books using this style). Mara, however, is none of those things. She is very self-sufficient, knows how to make decisions for herself, and is confident in herself most of the time. Mara also, while falling for someone, does not spend paragraphs or pages talked about how love-sick and attached she is. Nor does she constantly analyse her love interest’s every action and every word.There is also a dark side to Mara’s strength as a character too, I have found, in that she reacts unrealistically to certain situations (particularly the dangerous ones). While she will run in fear in certain instances, she will not blink an eye at some very gruesome scenes, or step directly into danger’s path. Maybe the issue I have found with this aspect of her character is a lack of thorough descriptions, or Mara’s mental processes. But in either case, this is a very minor flaw.Returning to the subject of Mara’s love interest, I found the romantic scenes to be fairly accurate for characters their age, and also to be a bit more descriptive than what I am used to encountering in YA (save for one scene). This scene, which I will not identify for the sake of avoiding spoilers, left me somewhat unsatisfied and blinking in confusion.What did not leave me confused, however, was the array of characters in this book. Not once did I mix one character up with another, or had to flip back through the book to figure out who a particular character is. They were all described in sufficient detail (although I will never say “no” to more detail), and they were also very distinct. I could picture them all clearly, and when they interacted, I never had to wonder who said what, or who was standing where, or doing what.Another aspect of this book which I really enjoyed was the pervasive use Tarot, not only by Mara and her mother, a fortune teller, but the names of Tarot cards were also used for some of the chapter titles, while images of Tarot cards were also used to separate the book into the 10 days during which the plot takes place. It was all very well done, adding some nice aesthetics to the book’s layout for those looking at the surface, and a little more depth to the story for those who know and are willing to look deeper/closer.The setting could have used some more description (though this may be because I am in love with the Louisiana landscape, and can never get enough of hearing about it), but was sufficiently well-depicted for me to understand the physical attributes of the location. As for the time-frame, I particularly liked that this book was set in 1987, a time period which I had not encountered in YA until this book. Being a fan of that period, I really enjoyed the references to the fashion and music of the time, and would not have said “no” to there being more of both.Overall, this book was very entertaining, and the overall plot was very gripping. I finished reading this book in just a little over 24 hours, despite being very busy (although there was a road trip in there somewhere, which allowed for a few hours of reading). I would recommend this book to those who enjoy super powers, a hint of horror, some romance, and a dash of the bizarre.

Oh mon Dieu. Je ne sais même pas par où commencer.J'ai pioché ce livre pour la simple et bonne raison que j'adore tout ce qui touche à l'univers assez mystérieux et enchanteur (quand toutefois c'est bien réalisé) du cirque et des fêtes foraines. Certes, le seul livre que j'avais lu de l'auteur, "De mon sang" il y a de cela bien des années m'avait laissé un goût assez amer dans la bouche, je crois que je ne l'ai même pas fini d'ailleurs mais je me suis dit : laissons à Amanda Hocking une deuxième chance. Après tout, un cirque ambulant, du mystère et de la romance, ça ne peut pas être bien difficile de rendre ça attrayant...Et bien si.Chaque personnage de ce livre m'ont paru plus fade et insipide les uns que les autres. Ils n'ont AUCUNE profondeur, c'est désolant. Quant aux deux héros principaux, n'en parlons pas, leur histoire d'amour débute après quelques pages à peine et c'est complètement cliché et bateau. Je n'ai rien ressenti si ce n'était qu'un ennui profond.Le style d'écriture est passable, il n'y aucune parole que j'ai eu envie de noter dans mon petit cahier. Je n'ai ni ri, ni même souri une seule fois durant tout du long.Il y a des points de l'intrigue qui ne sont soit pas résolu du tout à la fin soit complètement pas plausible. Le nombre de fois où j'ai eu envie de baffer les personnages avec leur propre livre pour la bêtise et l'incohérence dont ils font preuve du début à la fin me laisse sans voix.Bref, je le déconseille fortement.Si vous recherchez un livre sur le thème du cirque/magie/etc... je vous suggère CARAVAL de Stephanie Garber qui lui pour sa part, est une vraie pépite d'or.

I enjoyed reading this. It is yet another good book from Amanda Hocking. I look forward to reading more books from her.

I won this book from goodreads but it does not affect my review. I love Amanda's book. This one was not different. It does start a little slow because it does pick up. This is a very interesting take on the carnival life. Mara is a teenage girl who feels useless to the others in the carnival. She does not have superpowers like the rest of her friends and coworkers. The carnival is offered a s pot with a big payday. They have to take it because they are on the edge of being broke. Once they get there, there is a presence that is wrong. They all feel it but do not know what it is. Mara goes out on her own to explore the city after she gets down with all her work. She sees a house with a party going on and gets invited to it. She meets Gabe there and they hit it off. They both have secrets they cannot tell each other. Mara, Gabe and here friends have to figure out what is going on and who or what is attacking the carnival and their friends. Just enjoy the ride to see what is really going on.

Mara, 19, travels the country with her mother as a part of Gideon Davorians Traveling Carnival. Filled with friends who have turned into family, most everyone involved in the carnival is special, or possess a unique ability. The show has been summoned to Caudry, Louisiana in what was promised to be a 10 day stint with a pretty hefty payout upon completion. Caudry proves to be a place harboring its own secrets. Everyone's abilities seem to go on the fritz since entering this small town and something is stalking the carnival at night. Something dangerous and deadly. Mara is also inexplicably drawn to a local, Gabe, who harbors his own secrets. Something about him screams at Maras insides that he's dangerous. Can Mara and her carnival family figure out who (or what) is picking them off one by one, and more importantly, can they stop it?I came into this book with high hopes being that I was already an Amanda Hocking fan, and surprise surprise, I was not disappointed. I know I have an unhealthy obsession with literary characters (I make no apologies), but dang it if I didn't just add another literary love to my life. Gabe is a dreamboat people! There I said it.....His and Mara's strong pull and chemistry with one another just left this chick weak in the knees. This mysterious love unfolding to the backdrop of an increasingly dangerous and dark plot and conflict made it extra heady. I couldn't get enough of all the carnival "freaks" and to be honest, I fantasized more than once about running away with the circus while reading this book. (Besides the whole supernatural entity stalking and attacking them, it seemed like such an exciting nomadic way of life.) And about that....there were quite a few surprises throughout this read, some I had figured out, others I had not. The ending was exactly what I had hoped for (thank you Amanda!). Even though it was written as a standalone novel, this is definitely a literary world I would love to read more of!

This book blew me away! I don't read many books about carnivals but after this, I definitely think I should start. I liked that it was set in the 80's because I don't read many books set in that time period. After Stranger Things, I think everyone is a little obsessed with the eighties right now so this will appeal to people for more than one reason.I really liked Mara and Gabe both as a couple and separately. I wished Mara wasn't embarrassed about the fact that she was a carnie but I get it. I wouldn't want to tell people either. I liked when Gabe stuck up for her with Selena's boyfriend that guy was a jerk. Why was she even with him? I did wish someone would have punched him though because he definitely had it coming.The carnival side of the book was cool. I liked that they were all more like a family than co-workers or roommates. They took care of each other and that was nice to see because some families aren't as close as these people were. The magical side of the book was awesome but I'm not sure whose ability I would want. Probably Blossom, the little we got to see of her.All in all, this was an awesome book and I think a lot of people will enjoy it.

Although this book has mostly meh ratings, I enjoyed it tremendously. And Im gonna tell you why. This book has diversity a plenty. And the fact that almost every character is "freek" in their own way only adds to it. This is a book about outcast and Im sure every single person at one point or another has felt like one,so its relatable. Another thing I like was it didnt shy away from sex, AND it was realistic about it. Mara is not some YA virgin and nervous about boys, she knows what she likes and keeps condoms in her nightstand. I love that! Theres nothing wrong with enjoying sex and being responsible about it. This book was also about discovering yourself and acceptance. Without the supernatural setting it could be a contemporary novel. So dont let all the 1 stars turn you off. It was a good book, not great but good.

I loved this book and its characters! I am a fan of Amanda Hocking's writing, because her stories are always good and her characters and scenery in her books are explained and defined so well that you dive right into the world you are reading about and get lost. I usually can't put her books down and lose sleep, because they are very interesting. This is a must read! I sure wish it had been a series, because I would have loved to find out what happens after the ending of this book! Fingers crossed she left it open to come back to at a later date!