Mundie Moms

Monday, January 9, 2017

FREEKS by Amanda Hocking / Blog Tour: Book Review / Giveaway #Freeks



Hello and welcome to today's FREEKS blog tour stop, hosted by Griffin/St.Martin's Press. I'm thrilled to be apart of the tour for Amanda Hocking's newest release. Today's stop features my review, an excerpt, and a giveaway. First, here's a little bit about the book.

ABOUT THE BOOK




By: Amanda Hocking
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin
Released on: January 3rd, 2017
Purchase from: Macmillan | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million
Add it to Goodreads
Source: e-arc from publisher 

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 bodies 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.


This was a fun, fast paced, entertaining read. With a cast of likable characters who have a wide range of supernatural abilities, set in the 80's, and are apart of a traveling sideshow, I was intrigued. Hocking hooked me with the mystery, magic, supernatural secrets, a little bit romance, plenty of danger, and an unknown evil force that keeps attacking those who are apart of the traveling sideshow with supernatural abilities, that make up this story. The setting, and the ode to the 80's were a perfect fit for this story. 


I enjoyed much of this book. There's a well paced plot line, the deadly supernatural-mystery surrounding what's happening around the camp, and solving the mystery surrounding the disappearance of one of Mara's friends, and who's attacking the others. In the process of trying to figure out what's going on, we find out more about the secrets and find out what each of the members of the traveling sideshow can do. I liked the members of the sideshow. They were like a band of misfits who all find acceptance, love, and friendship in each other. Even without knowing all the little things about each character, they were all likable. 


I was captivated with much of the story. Hocking does a great job at building up to what's really going on around Mara's camp. We see how her friends and family work together when danger strikes, we discover many of their secrets, and hidden supernatural abilities, and see how fearless they are in trying to fight against the deadly 'thing' that keeps attacking them in the dead of night. We learn more about Mara's ties to the dreams she's having, and why she's been feeling the way she does. Just as I think I have things figured out, Hocking throws in a loop surrounding the mysterious Gabe, and his family's ties to the area. 


Speaking of Gabe, I'm not much of a insta-love reader, but I did like the chemistry between Gabe and Mara. There were times I loved what was developing between them, and other times I felt like there wasn't enough. Over all their relationship fit with the story, and all that was happening. 


While I enjoyed most of the story, I was disappointed with how rushed and short the final fight scene was. Everything leading up to it had been well done, and really drove the storyline. However, this scene itself lacked what it should have had. I felt like too much was invested in the story, and that everything was leading up to this crucial, and important scene for it feel the way it did. It felt like a bit of a cop out, or maybe I was just hoping for more. 

Over all, I enjoyed this book. I liked all that Hocking had created. Her story telling, her characters, the setting, Mara's diverse heritage, the paranormal elements, the danger, and even the romance. With the way the story ended, I'm hoping that there will be a sequel. If not, this is a good stand alone. On a side note, I really like this book's cover. It's a perfect fit for this story.


READ AN EXCERPT


Chapter 1 Premonitions

My feet rested against the dashboard of the Winnebago as we lumbered down the road, the second vehicle in a small caravan of beat-up trailers and motorhomes. The sun hadn’t completely risen yet, but it was light enough that I could see outside. Not that there was much to see. The bridge stretched on for miles across Lake Tristeaux, and I could see nothing but the water around us, looking gray in the early morning light. The AC had gone out sometime in Texas, and we wouldn’t have the money to fix it until after this stint in Caudry, if we were lucky. I’d cracked the window, and despite the chill, the air felt thick with humidity. That’s why I never liked traveling to the southeastern part of the country—too humid and too many bugs. But we took the work that we got, and after a long dry spell waiting in Oklahoma for something to come up, I was grateful for this. We all were. If we hadn’t gotten the recommendation to Caudry, I’m not sure what we would’ve done, but we were spending our last dimes and nickels just to make it down here. I stared ahead at Gideon’s motorhome in front of us. The whole thing had been painted black with brightly colored designs swirling around it, meant to invoke images of mystery and magic. The name “Gideon Davorin’s Traveling Sideshow” was painted across the back and both the sides. Once sparkles had outlined it, but they’d long since worn off.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR




Amanda Hocking is a lifelong Minnesotan obsessed with Batman and Jim Henson. In between watching cooking shows, taking care of her menagerie of pets, and drinking too much Red Bull Zero, she writes young adult urban fantasy and paranormal romance.

Several of her books have made the New York Times Bestsellers list, including the Trylle trilogy and Kanin Chronicles. Her zombie series, The Hollows, has been adapted into a graphic novel by Dynamite. She has published over fifteen novels, including the Watersong quartet and My Blood Approves series. FrostfireIce Kissed, and Crystal Kingdom - all three books in her latest trilogy, The Kanin Chronicles - are out now.


Her next book will be Swear, the final book in the My Blood Approves series, and it will be out November 9, 2016. After that, her next book is Freeks - a standalone YA paranormal romance novel set in the 1980s that follows a travelling sideshow. It will be out sometime in early 2017, with the St. Martin’s Griffin.


Author Website | Twitter | Facebook | Author Blog | Pinterest | GoodReads



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Thank you to the publisher, I have one copy of FREEKS to giveaway. *US only


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