I just thought this was a fun look at the hero genre, and how powers can manifest. I really enjoyed the writing and the world, it just didn't happen to be a new favourite.

The narration is fine.
The story is fine.
The characters are fine.
It's an entertaining read.
No more.

Books about other dimensions are always on my radar. So when I saw one about high school kids, bullies and alternate dimensions, I was intrigued. However, although I liked the premise, this was a very slow and predictable read. The characters weren't compelling and the plot fell flat. I did like the writing, and I would love to read more by this author.

Overall, a great concept but poorly executed. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an e-arc!

3.5
This story is okay. It starts our strong but I think it just falters some by the end. It’s a great idea and a great story, it just needed something a little more.
When four high school friends, all of which are tormented by three bullies, accidentally open a portal to another dimension, they accidentally allow other worldly creatures to invade their little town in Arkansas. They also learn that somehow while chanting the words that opened the portal they themselves have some new superhuman powers.
Now, they are calling themselves “Freaks” using the name their tormentors gave them. They must now fight to save the lives of all those they love, and even those they don’t, from mortal danger and they also have to stop the government task force that seems to be hunting them.
This book had so much promise and it delivered a little over half the time. It’s well written and the characters are memorable so I would say if you have the time go ahead and check it out. If you like audio books, the narrator is excellent and does add a little something to the story.

Four high-school friends suffer daily humiliation at the hands of three bullies. When the friends accidentally open a portal to another dimension, they unintentionally allow terrifying, other-worldly creatures to invade their small Arkansas town. Discovering that they are now endowed with strange superpowers, the four teens dub themselves “Freaks,” the very name their tormentors used to ridicule them. The Freaks must fight to save the lives of family and friends now in mortal peril and thwart a secret government task force that appears to be hunting them.

This book is what would happen if some scientists got bored one day in the lab and decided to mix up one part sci-fi, one part superhero, and a tiny little dash of horror.

Here's the thing: it's a YA novel. It has a cast of teenage characters who do stupid and overdramatic and angsty stuff. The main characters are "freaks", they're social outcasts, they get picked on all the time, they're holding a lot of anger and pain inside. Enter a chest of dusty old tomes full of horrifying illustrations and Latin chants. MCs, being young and stupid and angsty, decide it will be fun to pretend to be sorcerers and read out one of the chants. As you can imagine, bad things then happen.

My thought process while reading this book:
Oh, a teen revenge thriller.
Oh, OK, maybe it's horror, they're going to summon a demon to do their bidding or something.
Oh, wait, they summoned something that somehow gave them all superhero-esque powers.
Oh, and also apparently they opened a rift and sucked in some...well, not demons. Beings from alternate dimensions or something.
So...a thriller-horror-superhero-sci-fi/fantasy novel? OK....

The weird thing is, though this book kind of annoyed me with it's genre-hopping and it's YA characters (who, while being thoroughly steeped in teen hormones and drama, still manage to be fairly useless until the last quarter of the book or so), though it should have been one I didn't like...

The secret is, I did kind of like it.

It was fun and weird and completely unbelievable in an over-the-top way. It felt like the story that would happen if two or three teenage sci-fi nerds got together and just laid around for an afternoon making stuff up, one-upping each other with powers and enemies and love triangles.

I can't believe I'm saying this but...I liked this story and I want to read the next one (an excerpt of book two is included at the end).

Real Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars

I can’t decide if this book is a cautionary tale, a revenge story, or a superhero origin tale. I don’t really think the book itself knows either. Maybe we’re not meant to really know at this point, because it’s the first book in a series, but I don’t think that’s a good thing, considering the author had a whole book to lay down a path and just chose to muddy waters for almost 300 pages.

Don’t get me wrong: it’s an entertaining book. It just takes too long getting to the point and only two of the characters are in any way close to fully-developed, and those two characters are the ones in which the plot pivots around. Maybe that’s the problem: in the end we will either find this series was far too long and should’ve been condensed into fewer books, or we will feel like each book should’ve been longer so the characters could’ve been developed further and allowed their on time and space on the page and have more of the story devoted to them. As the book stands, some of the characters feel like they’re there only for their respective superpowers and demographic representation than anything else. Arguably, you could almost remove them from the story entirely and with a few story tweaks and the addition of more angst and maybe violence you would end up with the same outcome. It sucks to say, but there it is.

But if you look at the book from the viewpoint of the demographic group it’s marketed toward, it’s sure to be a book they’d like to read. It’s definitely a YA book for YA readers. This isn’t a YA book for adults who enjoy YA books, in my opinion. The narrative, plot, and prose are just a bit too immature and underdeveloped for that. But pre-adolescents and younger adolescents will eat up the main plot and the superpowers.

The second book in this series, “Travelers”, comes out in August, and I already have the ARC. I’ll have that review for you this summer. Thanks to NetGalley and Imbrifex Books for early access to this title in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This was a good YA read, I liked the superhero element and the coming of age of the characters. It dealt with some dark subject matters like bullying and was fast paced

Very interesting and original take on superheroes. If you are a superhero fan; this should be at the top of your list of books to read.

Overall Rating: 3/5

Freaks by Brett Riley is story about four best friends who are the outcasts of their high school, always the target of bullies and all just a ‘little different’ – one night they decide to play about with a spell book resulting in them all gaining superpowers and unleashing an evil upon their hometown.

The whole book gave me super Stranger Things vibes, small town syndrome with kids into D&D/LARPing thrown into the mix who need to band together to fight off a big evil. The initial plot of the book was very interesting, and the monster concept was cool! however it kind of ended there for me.

I wasn’t all that convinced by the high school bully efforts – all seemed very dated ‘head flushed down the toilet’ kind of thing and for a group of seemingly four best friends – I got the vibe that they didn’t really like each other? I didn’t warm to any of them, and I’ll say it, Micah was just downright horrible - I get that he was bullied horrendously and maybe you were supposed to sympathise with him because of this, but I really couldn’t.

Overall, I think maybe this books demographic just isn’t me! I think for younger readers who are into supernatural books they would love this and find it enjoyable. And no doubt the author will continue to expand on these characters and world – after all we have 4 new superheroes now!

Thanks to NetGalley and the editors at Imbrifex books for providing this copy of Freaks in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC copy of Freaks from NetGalley to read and review- I am always grateful for these opportunities!

The premise is simple: a group of misfits are bullied at school and come across a trunk of dark magic items that one of the kids' parents keep in a shed. They all end up with magic of some sort. One of the bullies also gets powers since he was spying on the misfits when the first opened the trunk. When they got their powers they also released a monster. This is about the point where I lost interest. As other reviewers have stated the characters are very flat. They all talk the exact same and have no personality so I would often forget who was talking to who since none of them have defining traits. Same with the three bullies when they were together.

The scenes I feel like are set pretty well, I can visualize the places the the book well. If the characters had more defining qualities and different speaking styles and we really got to know them individually beyond what they're being bullied for I would enjoy this book.

Sorry to this man. Marked this DNF at 23%. The kids get horribly bullied and chant a spell from an old book and now they have super powers that no one seems to question. I just couldn't get into the characters or the plot at all.

Freaks, by author Brett Riley, is a novel in search of a suitable genre—and, in this case, genre matters.

The story opens with school bullies dunking Micah Sterne, a ninth grade boy, head-first into a school toilet. The very same bullies then proceed to target several other students, tossing water balloons, shooting spitballs and “depantsing” a girl who is a self-proclaimed lesbian. The targets of the bullying are the school “geeks”—outcasts who don’t engage in sports and are therefore made to suffer any number of indignities without reprisal. Adults seem oblivious, and other kids, perhapsin fear of their own reputations being sullied, feign ignorance.

Outside of school, these bullies outcasts are friends who come together to chat, eat pizza and play video games. When they come together one Friday evening and decide to engage in a little role-playing for stress relief and fun, they break into a trunk of paraphernalia owned by Micah’s uncle for costuming and props. Long black robes, books of spells and incantations, and any number of spices and herbs fill the musty space. When they randomly open a book and choose a chant with which to begin their roleplaying, they inadvertently release a force that gives them all superpowers. Unfortunately, the biggest bully of them all, Kenneth Del Ray, is also present, having planned to disrupt the evening, and also finds that he is now in possession of superpowers of his own.

So that’s the premise. Now let’s get back to that question of genre. On its face, the novel appears to be a YA story that uses the stereotypes of jocks and geeks to develop a high-interest plot that would appeal to teens. Freaks, however, is far afield of YA material. First, the language is problematic. These geek kids curse like sailors and, in spite of their professed intelligence, sound like redneck hayseeds as they toss around “ain’t” and “yonder” like they’ve just emerged from the aged pages of Mark Twain. The cursing alone is enough to give any teacher or parent pause before recommending this piece to anyone under the age of 18–far beyond what seems to be the intended audience.

The second issue with the novel is that of the author trying to be “woke” and instead sounding trite and cliche. There’s the lesbian student, the Wiccan mom, the Jewish girl who is told by the bully contingent that she “killed Jesus”, and a student with two moms. These details felt forced and dated. As a middle and high school teacher, I can tell you that most of today’s kids are far more tolerant and accepting than their parents ever were. Judging a classmate on their preferred gender, religion or family dynamic just doesn’t happen as often as it once did. That’s not to say that there aren’t still bullies—there are, and they are relentless (teen suicide rates support this ). These bullies, and their preferred methods and justifications, however, just didn’t feel authentic and fell short of the reality many of us see.

Look, Brett Riley can write! Though this is my first foray into his work, it’s clear that he can wield a mean pen (or keyboard). His sentence structure is sound and dynamic; his word choice is always spot on; and the guy can develop tone like nobody’s business. The story is also well-structured with great, identifiable conflict and characters who move within the confines of the personalities which have been bestowed upon them.

The issue, for this reader, comes back to that all important question of genre, and by extension, intended audience. As I said at the start, it matters. It matters because librarians and teachers and parents are the ones who are going to fork over the cash to purchase these books. They are also the ones who will be persecuted by the parents who disapprove of the content that is, at times, far too mature for YA lit.

Thanks to Net Galley and Imbrifex Books for the opportunity to review this ARC. Publication is scheduled for March 1, 2022.

As an Arkansan, I wanted to LOVE this book. The characters sound like me when I speak and are very relatable. I can even relate to the imaginary community haven visited Drew County, Arkansas recently. It feels like any rural community in Arkansas. The bullying aspect is realistic but I do not see it as being dealt with in a healthy way. I think the primary bully and his counterpart should make amends and build a healthy relationship. It seems the tension between the rest of the "Freaks" and the bullies never resolves like we would want a real -life relationship to. I also wanted more depth to relationships among the "geeks." Extending the story to a sequel seems forced, but hopefully some of these issues will be developed and resolved. Again, I am partial to this novel because of the setting. I will definitely be reading the sequel!

For lovers of Chronicle and Stranger Things, this young adult fantasy novel will keep you riveted and turning pages well into the night. A supernatural threat is released when a group of misfit tees read from an arcane tome. Trigger warnings: themes of violence and gore as well as bullying and foul language

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

NetGalley AEC Educator 550974

This book will enthrall fans of DC, Marvel and Stranger Things. The content might trigger some who have been bullied. I had no issue following the storyline, some of the switches can be confusing to some, however once you get the voice of the character the book is an easy read. Can't wait for the next installment.

Freaks was a pleasant surprise! While I was reading the story, I made a reading update saying this book reminded me of superheroes and teen horror (still unsure if I invented this genre.) Later one of my friends compared this to Stranger Things and Marvel and I wholeheartedly agree. That is precisely the vibe I was getting. Fitting, since those are two things I love watching—especially Stranger things, which is perhaps why I loved the protagonists so much. The friend dynamic and small town setting were similar, although their roles and predicament were different.

The story’s written in six different POVs (the four friends, Kenneth, and the monster), but it’s easy to understand which character’s perspective we’re following. It’s difficult to choose a favorite, because I sympathized with the “freaks” in many ways, but I do admit that I particularly enjoyed Kenneth’s chapters and the monster’s a lot. Kenneth is a bully, so you understand why he wasn’t my favorite person at first, but out of the characters, he’s the one who had the biggest character development (and Gabby, the meek girl who becomes braver and more determined at the end.) The monster’s chapters were good simply because they were different, gruesome, scary. I cringed while I was reading, but it’s the kind of horror you look at with one eye open because despite it’s scary, you can’t bring yourself to look away.

The writing made me feel as if I were watching a movie, or a show. I later found out by reading the author’s bio that he’s a screenwriter, which is fitting. I truly believe this story could be a great concept for a show, since there’s going to be another two books in the series. The characters are interesting, and they have a lot to show.

Thank you to the author and the publisher for gifting me a copy. Opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley for the eArc. I read the premise of this book and was instantly all for it. After read 7nish chapters I couldn't do it. The thing that tipped me over the edge was the screwing around with a weapon and mentioning the act of getting back at their bullies with said weapon. There is no character development and the dialogue kept pulling me out of the story before it even began. I will not be picking up this book or recommending it.

Freaks was a very disappointing read for me because it has the bones of making a good story but none of the other elements actually come together. After casting a magical spell while LARPing, a group of outcasts get superpowers, along with their primary bully, but instead of this being the main conflict, instead there is the addition of some sort of vampire alien thing that the story spends way too much time in despite it not being a compelling villain at all.

Additionally, there is no nuance here at all. Micah, one of the bullied kids, displays all of the trademarks of a walking red flag and his character doesn't so much undergo a transformation as he just gets more worrisome. But with how volatile Micah is, you would expect that the bully character, Kenneth, would undergo some sort of change as he becomes one of the so called freaks and his friends abandon him (why? I have no idea). But instead, Kenneth remains terrible throughout the whole thing and Micah remains horrible too. It is not compelling to watch the two of them spit insults at each other when neither of them is showing any change or character arc.

While Micah and Kenneth seem to be the focal points, all of the other kids get lost in the shuffle. Gabby and Jamie are defined by having feelings for each other and Jamie being classified as the brain, though why that's true is unclear. Christian gets no story except that she has to eat after she uses her power, despite being the most interesting character of the group being a gendernonconforming lesbian who was previously friends with Kenneth and his gang (though she has a lot of animosity towards them rather than any nostalgia).

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.