Book Review: Freaksville

Freaksville by Kitty Keswick

Released: January 8, 2010

Publisher: Leap Books
Pages: 328
Rating: 3 stars

High school is hard enough when you’re normal. There’s peer pressure, book reports, the in crowd and the enormous zit that has a life of its own. Having a family whose skeletons in the closet lean toward the paranormal is not a topper on anyone’s list. Sophomore Kasey Maxwell is busy juggling the typical teen angst. Add visions, ghosts and hairy four-legged monsters into the mix and you get FREAKSVILLE. It’s a wonder Kasey has survived.

Every woman in the Maxwell family has the gift of sight. A talent sixteen-year-old Kasey would gladly give up. All she wants is a normal life. Shopping and talking about boys with her best friend and long-time sidekick Gillie Godshall consume her days. Until Kasey has a vision about Josh Johnstone, the foreign exchange student from England. The vision leads her into new waters, a lead in a play, a haunted theater…and into the arms of the Josh. Yet, both Kasey and Josh have secrets lurking in dark corners. Can Kasey’s new romance survive FREAKSVILLE?

I was a bit skeptical and unsure of what to expect when I began reading Freaksville, and now that I've finished reading it I'm having a hard time finding the right words to describe the story itself and how I feel about it, so just bare with me.

It was very slow moving at first and a bit difficult to get into, but as the story continued and the action finally picked up, Freaksville became more interesting. The story is written in blog style, complete with comments, screen names, and even little drawings here and there that helped me visualize the scene a little easier.

Kasey has the power of seeing the future by touching an object or person. She doesn't like her "gift" and to avoid using it, she always wears gloves. I do think Kasey has it rather easy compared to other characters with a "gift" because her parents each have a "supernatural ability" and even her best friend knows about it, so there's always someone to talk to. Now, Kasey's love interest Josh, a foreign exchange student from England, didn't impress me at all, despite Kasey's always swooning over him. He had a bit of a mysterious side to him, but unfortunately he just didn't quite hold my attention.

There were quite a few places where I became bored with the storyline and the dialogue got awkward where I was cringing inside from embarrassment for the characters. Aside from the few awkward and slow moving scenes, I thought Freaskville was an overall okay read. I must say that the ending was enough to make me interested in reading the sequel, Furry and Freaked, just to see what becomes of Kasey.