Blog Tour: Freeks by Amanda Hocking

Book: Freeks
Author: Amanda Hocking
Published: January 3, 2017
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Number of Pages: 400
Source: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest, and unbiased review.
Format: ebook
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Tags: 2017, #COYER, Blog Tour, 3.5 Stars, Received for Review, YA, NetGalley

Amazon/Macmillan/Barnes & Noble/Books-A-Million

Synopsis: 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.

-MY REVIEW-

I have always loved circus/freak show themed ideas. There is so much potential, and different ways that the idea can be twisted, and told. So when I heard about Freeks, I got really excited. Now this may sound like I'm leading to the point that I didn't like the book, but it's actually the opposite. I really enjoyed this book! 

In this book we follow Mara, as her and the other members of Gideon's Traveling Sideshow set up at a new town. This isn't your normal town, or sideshow though. The workers at the slideshow have magical powers that they use in their acts, and the town is draining them of their power, or is it the town? Mara sets off on a journey to help her family, and along the way meets Gabe, and she instantly feels connected to him. But is he really who he says he is?

The first thing that I noticed, and loved, about this book was the atmosphere that Hocking was able to create through her writing. It was almost creepy at times. Hocking's writing kept me engaged throughout the book, and got me even more engrossed into the story.

I really liked Mara! I liked how strong and independent she was. She didn't want to sit in the background while everybody else fought, she wanted to be standing next to them. I liked her relationship with Gabe, but I didn't like Gabe all that much. He seemed unorigional, like I had read about him a couple times before in different books. But he was a nice guy, and he didn't do anything that made me really dislike him.

My only problem with this book was that it tended to be a bit predicable. I knew what was going to happen early on in the book, and I was right. So, while the mystery didn't stump me, I did enjoy the rest of the book a lot.

So overall, this was a very enjoyable book! While I loved the writing and characters, the story line was easy to predict, and lowered my enjoyment of the book. This is totally a book to read if you enjoy good writing, creepy atmospheres, and strong MCs.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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. Frostfire, Ice 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.

For more info about her and her books, here are some other places to check out and ways to contact her: Author Website, Twitter, Facebook, Author Blog, Pinterest, and GoodReads.
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