A bizarre coming of age tale involving carnivals, weirdos, and a straight-laced Scottish town from the 90s that would rather burn out strangeness than embrace it.

This book was so different than anything I have ever read. A freak show carnival comes to a small Irish town and it was so much more than a horror book. It includes magic, surrealism, acceptance and so much more. The characters were amazing and I really think most (if not all) people would enjoy this book. Definitely worth the read!

This book was gloriously disturbing, dark, repulsive, and addicting. I loved the chaos and the writing was vibrant and gripping. I think the cast list at the beginning of the book was a brilliant idea and it definitely helped with the confusion of who is who. I will read anything from Zando publishing because everything I’ve read has been incredible.

As others have shared - definitely a touch of AHS or Carnivale. Small town, small minds, where anything different is bad, you know the place… In comes the traveling side show, ready to stir some $hit up, brought by the unrest of a place and ready to take revenge.

It falls under the horror category, but no big scares or blood. More bizarre fiction than horror but that isn’t a category.

If you side with the small minded locals this isn’t a story for you. Favorite characters were Louie and Zed. My only complaint is that I would have liked to read more around the “after”.

Okay so sadly this one was a major miss for me.

I tried really hard to get into it but ended up DNFing about 15% in because I couldn’t handle both, the writing style and the story.

It’s the summer of 1997 when the Freakslaw rolls into the small Scottish village of Pitslaw. As the travelling carnival sets up its tents just outside town, the community is divided. For some, it’s a thrilling glimpse of the unknown, a break from the monotony. For others, it’s a direct threat to their quiet lives, challenging their repressed moral values in a town already simmering with frustration, tension, and the anger of those who feel sidelined.

For the Freaks, a new town is simply another stage to showcase their talents. Contortionists, fortune-tellers, magicians, and rides that promise to turn the lives of Pitslaw’s residents upside down are all on offer. But beneath the surface, the Slaw harbours darker intentions. They’ve not come simply to entertain—they’ve come seeking revenge. The soil of Pitslaw is haunted by the ghosts of a violent past, and the Freaks, drawn to this dark history, are set on enacting their own form of justice. As the chaos mounts, one of their own goes rogue, pushing both the Freaks and the townsfolk down a path of inevitable conflict, sparking flames of rage and destruction.

Welcome to Freakslaw by Nancy Flett: it’s not evil, nor is it good—it’s something far more intoxicating. It’s fun, raw, and dangerous.

If you were entranced by Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus but thought, "I want something grittier, darker, and far queerer," then Freakslaw is the book for you. This novel pulses with queer desire and unfulfilled possibilities, offering a potent reminder that you can still be anything—and that the world doesn’t get to set your boundaries.

Flett, a poet by trade, crafts a narrative where the language is as captivating as the plot. The carnival springs to life through her vivid descriptions—the colours, the smells, and the magnetic allure of its attractions. Her prose sparkles with the anarchic energy of the fair, reflecting the wild magic at play.

Verdict: Freakslaw is a compelling and atmospheric addition to the canon of strange, immersive circus stories, sitting comfortably alongside the likes of Geek Love by Katherine Dunn, Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter, or, if you’re looking for something in a more tame YA vein, Caraval by Stephanie Garber. This is a book I’d recommend wholeheartedly to literary fiction readers who enjoy a dash of horror and fantasy, but who ultimately read for character development and language.

A wild ride! I had such a fun time reading this and I loved the author’s writing style. There are some beautiful and vivid descriptions in this book. It’s not one I’d recommend to everyone, especially given some of the darker subject matter and themes, but to the right reader, like myself, it’s magical.

Thank you to Zando Projects and NetGalley for an ARC of Freakslaw in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4/5

This book was equal parts silly, creepy, smart and fun. I look forward to reading more from this author.

This was a unique and at times unnerving book. It’s categorised as horror but it’s not necessarily scary so much as it is filled with a growing sense of divide and unease. There were a lot of characters to keep track of but they all still felt unique and the character guide in the front helped to keep them differentiated. The sense of atmosphere was really strong which amped up that sense of emotion to the story and the writing was descriptive and palatable.

Thanks for letting me review this book. I started reading this and did not finish. I could not get into the characters in the book, or the flow.
DNF.

2,5 stars

I was really excited about Freakslaw but I had a really hard time getting in to it and connecting with the characters. I’m into the weird, but this one just wasn’t the right flavor of it. The premise of the book was interesting, but it just never pulled together for me. The idea of a traveling carnival rolling into a small conservative town in the late 1990’s sounds so cool - I mean, I would have loved to be there.

There were too many characters to keep track of and I found that to take something away. There is a “character guide” at the start of the novel, but reading on an e-reader made it too cumbersome to keep flipping back in case I needed a little reminder.

Can power of chosen family help avenge wrongs done to our ancestors? The stories of several residents of the town of Pitlaw come colliding with the members of Freakslaw. These interactions lead us down some interesting, at times hilarious and at other times horrific pathways. For fans of magic, mysteries, and the feeling of otherness.

This was a really fun and quirky book. The characters were all interesting and had unique stories to tell. The plot was so interesting and made you think, highly recommend!

Finished reading Freakslaw by Jane Flett and, unfortunately, it didn't resonate with me as I'd hoped, leading to my 2 out of 5 stars rating. Despite being categorized as a horror novel, I found that it lacked the essential element of fear. The characters and scenarios felt so exaggerated that they failed to evoke any real sense of threat or suspense. The portrayal of the 'freaks' versus the 'norms' seemed overly simplistic. Instead of offering a nuanced exploration of these dynamics, the novel presented a straightforward inversion: 'freaks good, norms bad.' This black-and-white depiction made it challenging to connect with the characters on a deeper level, making them flat and caricatures. At times, the narrative appeared to prioritize shock over substance. Certain descriptions and events felt gratuitous, detracting from the story's potential depth. While the book attempted to blend dark comedy with horror, the execution felt uneven. The shifts between trying to evoke fear and inserting humor were jarring, making it difficult to fully immerse myself in the story. While Freakslaw had an intriguing premise, its execution left much to be desired.

This book just didn't do it for me. Too many characters to keep track of. The writing style isn't too impressive either. The plot of this novel sounded intriguing, but because of the story structure and an abundance of characters, I didn't connect with the material. It's a damn shame because I had high hopes for "Freakslaw".

Freakslaw by Jane Flett is a captivating and thought-provoking novel that blends elements of fantasy, mystery, and social commentary. Set in a world where people are classified based on their abilities, the story follows the protagonist, a young woman navigating the complexities of a legal system that enforces these classifications. As she uncovers hidden truths and challenges the rules that govern her society, Flett skillfully explores themes of identity, freedom, and the consequences of living in a rigidly structured world.

Flett’s writing is sharp and immersive, pulling readers into a dystopian world that feels both familiar and unsettling. The characters are well-developed, each struggling with their own sense of self and place within a society that labels them. Freakslaw is a timely and powerful exploration of social injustice, human rights, and the importance of questioning authority. It’s an enthralling read that will stay with readers long after the last page.

Lock up your daughters, tie a horse rope around your sons, the freak-show is coming to town.

This book evokes the feeling you get when you go to a fair or an amusement park, stay out all day without reapplying your sunscreen, eat too much sugar, forget to drink water, and dizzily throw up in the parking lot before you drive home. It’s fun at times, but there’s an intentional uncomfortability about the prose that is designed to make you squirm. It feels like a feverish series of vignettes rather than one cohesive story, and the character development was lacking for me here. It is an interesting writing style, and at its best moments evokes classic "everything should be idyllic but something is wrong" horror like Something Wicked This Way Comes.

This will really land for some readers, it didn’t for me. I didn’t love the way consent was dealt with, and how magic was used to further control fellow man. I think some of the concepts in here were too complex for a story that focused on simple black and white dichotomies (townsperson vs. carnival worker, chaos vs. order, etc). Revenge plots are best when it’s a misguided attempt at justice, not when it’s someone being cruel for cruelty’s sake, and while there was some twisted “justice” in this horror, there was a lot of casual cruelty, and I couldn’t root for the characters we were supposed to enjoy because of a lack of character development. I would recommend this for people who love American Horror Story, especially the Freak Show season.

The half-point deduction is purely because I wanted *more*. I needed a longer book—is that really a bad critique? I’d definitely read more from Jane Flett in a heartbeat.

I *loved* this. From the very first page, it grabbed me and didn’t let go—an absolute rollercoaster of a read in the best way possible.

The story revolves around a traveling funfair that rolls into the small Scottish town of Pitlaw. The Freakslaw isn’t just here to entertain; they’ve come to shake things up, cause a little chaos, and maybe even settle some old scores. But is Pitlaw ready for them? And when things spiral, will the town or the freaks be the ones to pay the price?

The characters in this book are *everything*. From the moment Maria the Fat Lady is sent to the local café to “keep her weight up,” you know you’re in for an epic clash of cultures. The residents of Pitlaw aren’t exactly welcoming to the outsiders—their size, their strangeness, their magic. But while some want to run them out of town, others are drawn in by the lights and the thrill, setting the stage for an unforgettable showdown.

This book is vibrant, gripping, and full of luminous characters. I couldn’t wait to pick it up and struggled to put it down. The ending? Not at all what I expected—but it came way too soon. Highly recommend!

totally bonkers and insane and just all out fun. I think this will do very well in the horror community this year.

Barely 3 stars (more like 2.75 if I'm being precise)

I wanted to love this book, but in the end it wasn't for me.

To get the positives out first - the writing is gorgeous. It's visceral and evocative and disturbing. There are individual chapters and descriptions I really enjoyed because they were beautiful and made me think or swept me up in the freakish magic of the fun fair. The message of bucking tradition, throwing off the chains of conformity and expectations, and living wild that I enjoyed.

There are too many characters to keep track of, and too many plotlines are happening. Nancy, a character we spend a lot of time with, was deeply unlikeable to me. The pacing was off, and I found most of the book a slog, so much so that it took me almost 2 weeks to finish. Some of the disturbing things described seem like they're just there for shock value and nothing else. In the end, it felt like nothing really happened. There was a bit of comeuppance, but overall the ending wasn't very satisfying.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.