_belle's review
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really enjoyed this one!
(Text version is far better than the audiobook)
*Fun!
*Superhero powers
*Monster fighting
*Freshmen year
*(mostly) Annoying characters(?)
*Weird junk food obsession from the author
*Monster POV
*Profanity
*Stranger Things feel
*Should've been set in the 80s/90s
(?) It's strange when you actually prefer the bully over the "heroes".
Favourite character: Kenneth - the beginnings of a good character arc, I hope.
Character to watch: Micah - will be interesting to see which direction his character goes.
Least favourite character: Christian - I'm sorry but she's the most annoying of the bunch.
Setting and time wise, it had a great feel about it. Felt like the 80s or 90s. But then every time something modern was mentioned, I was pulled out. So, I do agree with those saying this feels "dated" in many ways. I think it definitely would have benefited from being set in an earlier decade.
The characters are young and shallow, and the writing is simple. The dialogue is cringy but I guess that's how young teens would talk. It feels perfect for a young audience who like a bit of monster gore (I didn't think is was too much, personally). It was actually the profanity that I found the most troubling.
Overall it was enjoyable, simple fun. I plan to continue the series.
(Text version is far better than the audiobook)
*Fun!
*Superhero powers
*Monster fighting
*Freshmen year
*(mostly) Annoying characters(?)
*Weird junk food obsession from the author
*Monster POV
*Profanity
*Stranger Things feel
*Should've been set in the 80s/90s
(?) It's strange when you actually prefer the bully over the "heroes".
Favourite character: Kenneth - the beginnings of a good character arc, I hope.
Character to watch: Micah - will be interesting to see which direction his character goes.
Least favourite character: Christian - I'm sorry but she's the most annoying of the bunch.
Setting and time wise, it had a great feel about it. Felt like the 80s or 90s. But then every time something modern was mentioned, I was pulled out. So, I do agree with those saying this feels "dated" in many ways. I think it definitely would have benefited from being set in an earlier decade.
The characters are young and shallow, and the writing is simple. The dialogue is cringy but I guess that's how young teens would talk. It feels perfect for a young audience who like a bit of monster gore (I didn't think is was too much, personally). It was actually the profanity that I found the most troubling.
Overall it was enjoyable, simple fun. I plan to continue the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Bullying, and Gore
Moderate: Cursing
fireproofbunny's review against another edition
3.0
Four high schoolers suffer daily humiliation from bullies, the ignorance of adults and indifference of their peers. When the friends accidentally open a door letting ungodly creatures into this world their lives change forever. Gifted by the same magic that opened that door these freaks set out to punish their tormentors. With dead bodies piling up the freaks know that with great power comes great responsibly they set out to hunt the monster they freed. But it wont be easy with meddling adults, ignorant police officers and nosey "homeland security" agents. This story is very much Chronicle meets Stranger Things. I did enjoy that we got to experience everyone that is involved point of view. I did not care for the personally of a lot of the characters.
ljvalentine's review against another edition
4.0
The X-men meets Stranger Things via The Craft in this fun, action-packed horror.
With plenty of gore, emotional moments and fast-paced action, this book left me wanting more!
Perfect for comic book & horror fans
With plenty of gore, emotional moments and fast-paced action, this book left me wanting more!
Perfect for comic book & horror fans
eflack7's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this book. The characters were great and relatable. I cannot wait to continue this series!
jolarc's review against another edition
4.0
This was a story about the victims of a group of bullies, who through an accident become endowed with superpowers and decide to get a little payback on the bullies.
If only a human eating monster hadn’t come through a portal they accidentally opened when chanting from an old magic book
This was an easy read, at times reading young middle grade but then at times with death scenes reading older YA.
There is room for a sequel as each character could be developed further.
I’m interested to read the next book in this series to see what develops.
3.5⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley and Imbrifex Books for an advance copy to read and review.
If only a human eating monster hadn’t come through a portal they accidentally opened when chanting from an old magic book
This was an easy read, at times reading young middle grade but then at times with death scenes reading older YA.
There is room for a sequel as each character could be developed further.
I’m interested to read the next book in this series to see what develops.
3.5⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley and Imbrifex Books for an advance copy to read and review.
elle_ette's review against another edition
1.0
Thank you to Netgalley and Imbrifex Books for providing me with this advanced reader copy to review. All of my ARC reviews are spoiler-free! Freaks is expected to release March 1st 2022.
Freaks is the story of four young teenagers, Jamie, Michael, Christian and Gabby, who are bullied relentlessly at school and suffer physical and emotional abuse on a daily basis from their tormentors. Upset and seeking a way to vent their anger at what seems to be an impossible situation, the four of them decide to create characters for themselves and host a LARP session, pretending to summon the powers of darkness and beg them to curse their bullies. Only… they do summon the powers of darkness, and subsequently also give themselves superpowers, as all of a sudden an otherworldly creature is set free and its vicious rampage begins, leaving the four to battle a greater evil than high school bullies.
I thought I’d love this because I’m a big DnD person, and there was a great premise but unfortunately this fell flat because the writing just did not deliver. The plot is fairly predictable and simple, with next to no mystery and bland characters whose individual characteristics can be summed up in full with a few synonyms for the word 'nerd' and little else. I think part of the problem is that this read more to me like MG rather than YA; if you remove the swearing and the gore, I think it might have gotten a better response if it had been aimed at an even younger audience as a gateway into science fiction rather than the odd Stranger Things, Goosebumps-esque mash up it feels like currently, where these things matter less and simplicity might better benefit the reader.
I struggled a little to relate to the characters, even though I (as many have) have experienced high school bullying. The dialogue and the attitudes that the characters have felt very outdated, and with the assumption that this book is supposed to be set in the modern day it just didn’t click as remotely realistic for me. None of them are even particularly nice to each other and they’re supposed to be best friends. There were also many comments made by both the main and the supporting characters that were just outright offensive and in many cases, flippantly sexist. Given that this is not an adult book and is aimed at young audiences, including them and not challenging them or having the characters learn from their comments just made me uncomfortable.
All of that said, I loved the inclusion of the monster and I think that Na’ul was the most objectively interesting character. Had there been more depth behind that, I think it might have saved a star on this review. Even there though, there is just so much telling and so little showing that the wasted potential overwhelmed everything else.
I liked the concept presented here but overall it just wasn’t executed well. I wouldn’t recommend it, there are much better books out there that address the same themes and don’t use casual slurs that no longer belong in the modern day where they aren't challenged. There is potential in Riley’s work but this one did not hit the mark at all for me.
Freaks is the story of four young teenagers, Jamie, Michael, Christian and Gabby, who are bullied relentlessly at school and suffer physical and emotional abuse on a daily basis from their tormentors. Upset and seeking a way to vent their anger at what seems to be an impossible situation, the four of them decide to create characters for themselves and host a LARP session, pretending to summon the powers of darkness and beg them to curse their bullies. Only… they do summon the powers of darkness, and subsequently also give themselves superpowers, as all of a sudden an otherworldly creature is set free and its vicious rampage begins, leaving the four to battle a greater evil than high school bullies.
I thought I’d love this because I’m a big DnD person, and there was a great premise but unfortunately this fell flat because the writing just did not deliver. The plot is fairly predictable and simple, with next to no mystery and bland characters whose individual characteristics can be summed up in full with a few synonyms for the word 'nerd' and little else. I think part of the problem is that this read more to me like MG rather than YA; if you remove the swearing and the gore, I think it might have gotten a better response if it had been aimed at an even younger audience as a gateway into science fiction rather than the odd Stranger Things, Goosebumps-esque mash up it feels like currently, where these things matter less and simplicity might better benefit the reader.
I struggled a little to relate to the characters, even though I (as many have) have experienced high school bullying. The dialogue and the attitudes that the characters have felt very outdated, and with the assumption that this book is supposed to be set in the modern day it just didn’t click as remotely realistic for me. None of them are even particularly nice to each other and they’re supposed to be best friends. There were also many comments made by both the main and the supporting characters that were just outright offensive and in many cases, flippantly sexist. Given that this is not an adult book and is aimed at young audiences, including them and not challenging them or having the characters learn from their comments just made me uncomfortable.
All of that said, I loved the inclusion of the monster and I think that Na’ul was the most objectively interesting character. Had there been more depth behind that, I think it might have saved a star on this review. Even there though, there is just so much telling and so little showing that the wasted potential overwhelmed everything else.
I liked the concept presented here but overall it just wasn’t executed well. I wouldn’t recommend it, there are much better books out there that address the same themes and don’t use casual slurs that no longer belong in the modern day where they aren't challenged. There is potential in Riley’s work but this one did not hit the mark at all for me.
brittybookish's review against another edition
1.0
This one had such an interesting concept, and the monster and what we learned of its background was compelling. Everything else, unfortunately, fell flat.
For a story set in the modern day, it felt very out of touch. Each of the "freaks" are introduced via scenes of their being bullied, but the methods of bullying (immersing someone's head in toilet water, spitballs, pantsing, etc.) seemed simple and outdated. Bullying comes in so many forms, many of them subtle, and it would have been preferable to me to have seen more of that; more of what kids actually deal with in this day and age.
Most of the characters also weren't likeable, and didn't even seem to like or be nice to their supposed best friends.
Micah is a Nice Guy™ who is lacking in empathy, obsessed with revenge, never seems to learn from anything, and is upset with Gabby for "choosing" Jamie over him, although he never actually expressed interest in Gabby (something that she, thankfully, calls him out on). At one point, when Micah is yet again running his mouth, potentially making trouble for them all, Gabby hisses at him to shut up, and in response, he thinks that she is "such a girl." What?
I was excited to find that one of the main characters is a lesbian (LGBTQIA+ representation is important to me), but it was quickly made clear that she has little personality outside of being a stereotype, and Not Like Other Girls™.
There is a minor character, Marla, a popular girl at school who seems to only exist so that our main characters can think about what a "bitch" she is.
It all just left a very bad taste in my mouth, and was very disappointing to me. There were two characters I didn't mind (Gabby and Jamie), but even they seemed underutilized and overshadowed by everything else.
(Thank you to NetGalley and Imbrifex for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.)
For a story set in the modern day, it felt very out of touch. Each of the "freaks" are introduced via scenes of their being bullied, but the methods of bullying (immersing someone's head in toilet water, spitballs, pantsing, etc.) seemed simple and outdated. Bullying comes in so many forms, many of them subtle, and it would have been preferable to me to have seen more of that; more of what kids actually deal with in this day and age.
Most of the characters also weren't likeable, and didn't even seem to like or be nice to their supposed best friends.
Micah is a Nice Guy™ who is lacking in empathy, obsessed with revenge, never seems to learn from anything, and is upset with Gabby for "choosing" Jamie over him, although he never actually expressed interest in Gabby (something that she, thankfully, calls him out on). At one point, when Micah is yet again running his mouth, potentially making trouble for them all, Gabby hisses at him to shut up, and in response, he thinks that she is "such a girl." What?
I was excited to find that one of the main characters is a lesbian (LGBTQIA+ representation is important to me), but it was quickly made clear that she has little personality outside of being a stereotype, and Not Like Other Girls™.
There is a minor character, Marla, a popular girl at school who seems to only exist so that our main characters can think about what a "bitch" she is.
It all just left a very bad taste in my mouth, and was very disappointing to me. There were two characters I didn't mind (Gabby and Jamie), but even they seemed underutilized and overshadowed by everything else.
(Thank you to NetGalley and Imbrifex for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.)
lexiereadstoomuch's review against another edition
3.0
This was a really..... interesting read. Yes, I enjoyed it, but it wasn't definitively good either. It was fast-paced so it wasn't that hard to read. The writing wasn't anything special, just enough to tell the story.
(Arc from Netgalley)
(Arc from Netgalley)
annarella's review against another edition
4.0
I had fun in reading this story, I found it entertaining and well plotted.
I liked the world building and the characters.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
I liked the world building and the characters.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine