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Book Review + Q&A: Freeks by Amanda Hocking | Blog Tour

Feb 4, 2017

Freeks by Amanda Hocking

Pages: 336
Publish date: February 9th, 2016
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 1509807659
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

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 realises 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.

Freeks:

I received an arc of Freeks by Amanda Hocking from Pan Macmillan Australia as part of the Freeks Blog Tour. This has no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book. Stay to the end for a quick Q&A with Amanda Hocking!

I hadn’t read an Amanda Hocking book before this one, they never really caught my attention enough. But, after reading Freeks I might give them a try.

Roll Up, Roll Up to Gideon Davorin’s Traveling Sideshow where everything is not what it seems. Freeks follows protagonist Mara, who has always longed for a normal life. But instead, travels with her mother as she performs in this marvellous show. It wouldn’t be too bad if she was actually in the show, but with no special talent. She is left to do the dirty work.

Mara was an interesting protagonist. She isn’t what I’m used to reading and I couldn’t put my figure on why, but I really enjoyed her. She knows what she wants, and even though she is in a world that isn’t exactly normal she doesn’t let things stop her. I felt for her, though. Mara just wants to live a normal life. Go to school, have friends and have a normal job where her mother and she aren’t living from town to town.

It was hard to strive through Mara’s free nature. How she just walks into a party that she was invited too, even though she knew no one. How she stays at a guy’s house, and she only met him. However, this is the life that Mara has lived most of her life, it’s what she is used to. She’s in a town for a couple of days, hangs around and then she is gone. But something is different this time.

The tension and suspense in Freeks is fantastic. Because this world is rich of necromancy, magical visions, and pyrokinesis, the reader has now idea what is going to happen next. And with people disappearing and weird attacks, no one in the traveling show is safe. It was strange the outcome of the attacks, but it seemed to work in a weird way. It’s like, okay, I get it, sorta.

The romance, hmm. I don’t know how I feel about it. If the book was set over a longer period of time, I would have loved it. It would have worked so well. However, Freeks timeframe is about a week and the romance just moved way to face. Gabe was so adorable and charming. I enjoyed reading about him. But, everything was on high alert. I wanted to step back and take everything in.

There is a real depth of friendship and family in Freeks. A lot of the show have been together for a couple of years and they care about each other. But, the reader is also able to see that sometimes families do break. Especially when they are faced with turmoil. Mara relationship with her mother was strange. Her mother’s abilities sometimes get the better of her and she can snap. That’s when Mara has to step back and away. And although I can understand how and why her mum is like this, I felt for Mara. There were times where she needed her, she needed her mother to hold her, and she wasn’t there.

There are also some strong friendships throughout the book that shined. It was great to see that friendships aren’t all about age and school. It’s not about girls being friends with girls and boys with boys.

Overall, I enjoyed Freeks. Is it my favourite book out there? No. But, while I was reading I was immersed into this world and captivated by the characters. Freeks explores the notion of family, friendships, new relationships and believing in yourself. It’s about standing up for what is right, and where you want to be in the world. Freeks is a fasted paced read, that you could read when you want a little magic.

Apart from reading this intense read I also had the amazing chance to have a quick Q&A with Amanda Hocking and this is how it turned out!

What did you love most about writing the characters in Freeks?

I loved their nomadic comradery. Mara and her fellow travelers are so accepting and understanding of each other. There’s a lot of love and compassion amongst the characters.

If there was one novel/series you wished you had written, what would it be?

Oh gosh, there are so many amazing books that I wish I’d been able to write. It’s hard to pick just one. But I do really wish I had been writing for the Netflix TV series Stranger Things. Does that count?

Who are your biggest influencers right now?

Jim Henson is my hero, so I think he influences both my approach to creativity and life in general.

But as far as contemporary authors go, I would say Courtney Summer, Claudia Gray, and Neil Gaiman are some of my authors, and I would say they different influence and inspire me.

***

Have you read Freeks by Amanda Hocking? Did you enjoy it? Are you planning to read it? Have you read other books by her, where do you think I should start?

Book Review: Long Way Home by Katie McGarry | Blog Tour

Jan 24, 2017

Long Way Home by Katie McGarry

Pages: 448
Publish date: January 31st 2017
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
ASIN: B01HB97I5C
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Kobo
Add to Goodreads

It’s the code her father, a member of the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, raised her to live by. Yet when her dad is killed carrying out Terror business, Violet knows it’s up to her to do the saving. To protect herself, and her vulnerable younger brother, she needs to cut all ties with the club—including Chevy, the boy she’s known and loved her whole life.

But when a rival club comes after Violet, exposing old secrets and making new threats, she’s forced to question what she thought she knew about her father, the Reign of Terror, and what she thinks she wants. Which means re-evaluating everything: love, family, friends . . . and forgiveness.

Caught in the crosshairs between loyalty and freedom, Violet must decide whether old friends can be trusted—and if she’s strong enough to be the one person to save them all.

Long Way Home:

I received a review copy of Long Way Home by Katie McGarry from Harlequin Teen via Inkslinger PR in exchange for an honest review. This has no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book. Don’t forget to check out my review for Nowhere by Here and Walk the Edge.

I don’t know how I feel about this book. Katie McGarry is one of my favourite contemporary writers, but Long Way Home didn’t hit that spot and left me disappointed. I was so excited when I was picked to be on the tour, but after reading I was hanging for more.

Long Way Home follows protagonists Violet and Chevy as they both struggle with their lives that they have come to know. The Reign of Terror are both their families, but when Violets’ dad dies, she wants nothing to do with them. However, when everything is on the line including their lives, she might just have to let the terror back in.

What I love about Katie McGarry’s books, is as the series goes on we find out more about the world of the books. Everything isn’t throw at us at once. We also find out about protagonists, before they even star in a book. It’s done so effortlessly. I felt that we already had a sense of Violet and Chevy before the book began, and then as Long Way Home went on, the reader is able to find out more.

Violet and Chevy aren’t my favourite Katie McGarry characters. I didn’t click with both of them. Therefore making it really hard to connect and be invested in their lives. Violet has very strong options about the Reign and why she doesn’t want to be with them anymore. And while it’s totally understandable, it did get slightly frustrating at times. She didn’t want to listen to anyone, even while they were trying to explain and save her life.

While Violet has her troubles with the Reign, so does Chevy. Throughout the whole book, the reader is able to see him struggle. He is stuck between trusting the family that he knows, being by his mother’s side, and losing the girl that he has loved most of this life. It was hard to see Chevy compete with himself and think about what the best thing to do is.

I enjoy the intensity of Long Way Home. Every page there was the treat of something happening. That something is going to blow. The reader doesn’t know who to trust or what to believe, and it’s epic. I love these sorts of books, where you have no idea what is going to happen next.

The romance was one of my favourite aspects of Long Way Home. It’s rare in YA, that you delve into a novel where the romance has already been built. Although Chevy and Violet aren’t together at the start, the reader knows the history. There is already this connection and we don’t have to waste the novel building it up. The reader is able to see that both Violet and Chevy care so much about each other. And would do anything, even if they don’t realise it.

Overall, Long Way Home by Katie McGarry is a novel about family, friendship, love and finding out what happens. And although this isn’t one is her best, the plot keeps you on the edge of your seat. And has a romance that you cannot help but fall in love with.

Have you read Long Way Home? Are you planning on reading it? Have you read the first two books in this series? Have you read any other Katie McGarry books? Let’s Chat!

Book Review: Heartless by Marissa Meyer – Blog Tour

Nov 21, 2016

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Pages: 464
Publish date: 8th November 2016
Publisher: Pan Australia
ISBN: 1925479471
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

A girl who has a talent for cooking magical confections that can alter a person’s emotions catches the eye of the King of Hearts, who wants her for his bride. She will do anything to avoid this fate, particularly as she finds herself falling in love with the mysterious new court jester…

Heartless:

I received an arc of Heartless by Marissa Meyer from Pan Macmillan Australia in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

When I heard that Marissa Meyer was writing an Alice in Wonderland retelling, I was excited. I had high hopes for Heartless because The Lunar Chronicles are one of my favourite science fiction/retelling series. However, my expectations were not exceeded. At all.

Heartless follows protagonist Catherine, who loves baking and making confectionaries. But, when she catches the eye of the King of Hearts – she wants out. She will do anything, but marry him including falling in love with his court jester. When everything starts to fall on top on Catherine, she must choose between following her heart or doing what is ‘right’.

To say that I am disappointed with Heartless would be an understatement. It took me nearly a month to read through it and that’s very rare for me – I could never get into it. Most of the time I was bored and by the end of the book, I was rushing to finish the book. I didn’t want to DNF it hoping that it would get better, that something will spark in the book for me.

The whole book I didn’t connect with Catherine at all. I found her selfish and even childish at time. Half of the book was her complaining about her life and what she has to do. However, I understand that she wanted to be her own person and wanted to own her bakery. And I commend her on that but, she acted like a three-year-old when she didn’t get her way. Nevertheless, I did like when she stood up for herself.

I did really like the cooking parts of Heartless. I love cooking myself, so being able to see this in a book was fun and exciting. The food was described remarkably well and left me hungry.

After finishing Heartless I am still not sure why she doesn’t like the King of Hearts. Yes, he is a little strange and not very ‘manly,’ but there aren’t reasons why she despises him. From the get go, she has no intention of marrying him, and acts like him is a disease. If Heartless was contemporary, I might not have this problem. However, it’s set up like the 1800’s when people married up, so it was hard to get through.

I also wasn’t a massive fan of the romance in Heartless. It was unquestionably instalove. They see each other once and she already wants to be with him. In saying that I really enjoyed Jest as a character. He was charismatic, magical and knew the right things to say. I enjoyed getting to know him.

One of the things that I loved about the Lunar Chronicles was the friendships – they were exceptional. However, in Heartless that was not the case. Obliviously this a different story, but friendships are so important in books for me. And even though there was somewhat some, it was enough. There was no spark.

I did, however, love the world of Heartless. It was everything that you could imagine an Alice in Wonderland retelling would be. I loved all the hints to the original world. The characters, who they would become, sayings and everything in between. There were parts that put a smile on my face. I loved that it was effortlessly intertwined with one another.

Nevertheless, I felt that Heartless was too long. With over 450 pages, I was bored at times. There were some good scenes here and there, but I felt that everything else was filler. Yet, I really enjoying the last 100 pages or so.

The ending of Heartless was intense. I didn’t know what was going to happen next or who was going to die. Catherine went from being Lady Pinkerton to being the Queen of Hearts.

Overall, I liked Heartless. Although, my expectations were not achieved. Heartless is about love, betrayal and finding out who you are. Heartless is about believing in yourself and becoming who you are destined to be.

Have you read Heartless? What did you think of it? Are you going to read it? Have you read Marissa Meyer’s other books? Let’s Chat!