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Beautiful Freaks
**** A PARANORMAL GOTHIC DETECTIVE TALE ****
From the Amazon bestselling writer of 'The Knight Trilogy' comes the stand alone novel fans have been waiting for. 'Beautiful Freaks' is a decadent tapestry of all things fairytale, dark and murderous.
Between these pages you will find yourself transported back in time to the high Gothic. Victorian London.
The year is 1899 and both the century and the Queen are dying. As the London populace is gripped by a terrifying series of paranormal murders, eighteen year old Kaspian Blackthorne finds himself on a decadent journey of self discovery.
Victorian London is a place where appearance is everything, but sometimes
appearances can be deceiving. Behind the grand houses, carriages and silks, London is a dark labyrinth of sorrow and violence. Amongst the gambling dens, dancehalls, and brothels you'll find No 7, known to its members as Eve's; the most exclusive club in London, infamous for its 'Palace of Beautiful Freaks'. Each exhibit has a history, each their own unique story.
From the Amazon bestselling writer of 'The Knight Trilogy' comes the stand alone novel fans have been waiting for. 'Beautiful Freaks' is a decadent tapestry of all things fairytale, dark and murderous.
Between these pages you will find yourself transported back in time to the high Gothic. Victorian London.
The year is 1899 and both the century and the Queen are dying. As the London populace is gripped by a terrifying series of paranormal murders, eighteen year old Kaspian Blackthorne finds himself on a decadent journey of self discovery.
Victorian London is a place where appearance is everything, but sometimes
appearances can be deceiving. Behind the grand houses, carriages and silks, London is a dark labyrinth of sorrow and violence. Amongst the gambling dens, dancehalls, and brothels you'll find No 7, known to its members as Eve's; the most exclusive club in London, infamous for its 'Palace of Beautiful Freaks'. Each exhibit has a history, each their own unique story.
- GenresFantasy
681 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 31, 2011
2 people are currently reading
92 people want to read
About the author
Katie M. John
58 books375 followersMarried to a handsome giant and mummy to a two foot mud-fairy, Katie has been writing stories and poetry since childhood and has always been away with the woodland fairies.
She is author of the Amazon UK Best Selling YA Fairy Tale Romance series, 'The Knight Trilogy' www.katiemjohn.com and a dark, Gothic paranormal detective novel called 'Beautiful Freaks'
She has a love of writing weird and wonderful short stories and can be found 'visiting' writer friends' anthology collections.
Katie likes to keep it varied and pinning her down to a particular style or genre is hard; she mainly writes for YA and NA, and in the Dark Fairy Tale Genre. However she also dabbles in more adult works of horror and issue-focused work.
Katie often draws on her ten year experience of teaching in a London Comprehensive school in her work.
Katie
She is author of the Amazon UK Best Selling YA Fairy Tale Romance series, 'The Knight Trilogy' www.katiemjohn.com and a dark, Gothic paranormal detective novel called 'Beautiful Freaks'
She has a love of writing weird and wonderful short stories and can be found 'visiting' writer friends' anthology collections.
Katie likes to keep it varied and pinning her down to a particular style or genre is hard; she mainly writes for YA and NA, and in the Dark Fairy Tale Genre. However she also dabbles in more adult works of horror and issue-focused work.
Katie often draws on her ten year experience of teaching in a London Comprehensive school in her work.
Katie
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 18, 2013
*This book was part of a blog tour I received a copy for my honest review
It's 1899, Kaspian is an 18 year old boy turning into to a man he has discovered that he has new abilities, when he meets Eve his world changes. With the weird murders going on Kaspian finds himself questioning the club and Eve. This book was not what I was expecting, the characters each had their own story and each one fit together like a puzzle to form a beautiful picture. I really liked this book the world that Katie creates is dark and complex with an edge of suspense that keeps you glued to the pages till the very end. The plot line was interesting and the characters were all unique. Parts of this book broke my heart and had me wanting reach out and comfort the characters, it was a tragedy that Eve was so broken. At the end of the book Kaspian was a different man, he grew up and it was nice to see him coming into his own. Katie has written a great book, once you start Beautiful Freaks you won't be able to put it down.
It's 1899, Kaspian is an 18 year old boy turning into to a man he has discovered that he has new abilities, when he meets Eve his world changes. With the weird murders going on Kaspian finds himself questioning the club and Eve. This book was not what I was expecting, the characters each had their own story and each one fit together like a puzzle to form a beautiful picture. I really liked this book the world that Katie creates is dark and complex with an edge of suspense that keeps you glued to the pages till the very end. The plot line was interesting and the characters were all unique. Parts of this book broke my heart and had me wanting reach out and comfort the characters, it was a tragedy that Eve was so broken. At the end of the book Kaspian was a different man, he grew up and it was nice to see him coming into his own. Katie has written a great book, once you start Beautiful Freaks you won't be able to put it down.
November 21, 2012
I absolutely loved The Knight Trilogy by Katie M John and when I heard she had a new book coming out I was extremely excited. Katie writes with such simplicity that you can read her books with amazing ease. Although the characters are such a complex group, all together they make one miraculous story.
Eighteen year old Kaspian has become a man and discovers he has some unusual abilities of his own. His parent’s died and left him in the care of a Professor in arts of the supernatural. Since Kaspian has come of age the Professor decided to have a soiree to introduce Kaspian amongst his acquaintances. During the party, Kaspian meets another young gentleman, Hugh. Hugh is a rich party boy and offered to take Kaspian out to a special club. Once inside No. 7, Kaspian was mesmerised by the owner Eve. It was like love at first sight for him and he had to keep returning. The specialness of this club was with the theatre acts that occur behind a secret doorway. Kaspian watched his first show and the women were so beautiful and enthralling. Each Lady has a special gift and it all appears to be smoke and mirrors, but was it?
A series of murders have taken place around London and their special circumstances lead the Detective’s to visit the Professor. With some help from an old volume detailing all of the supernatural creatures and their abilities, a lead is found.
Will Kaspian be able to love Eve and will Eve love him in return? Can Kaspian master his abilities? What about the murders, will the Detective find the mastermind? What will happen to the Palace of Beautiful Freaks?
Following Kaspian’s journey is a real adventure. This book is a fantasy like no other and is so far beyond amazing and unique. Like Katie’s Knight Trilogy, this has it all; adventure, romance, action, mystery, suspense and intrigue. I highly recommend this to all that enjoys fantasy novels.
Eighteen year old Kaspian has become a man and discovers he has some unusual abilities of his own. His parent’s died and left him in the care of a Professor in arts of the supernatural. Since Kaspian has come of age the Professor decided to have a soiree to introduce Kaspian amongst his acquaintances. During the party, Kaspian meets another young gentleman, Hugh. Hugh is a rich party boy and offered to take Kaspian out to a special club. Once inside No. 7, Kaspian was mesmerised by the owner Eve. It was like love at first sight for him and he had to keep returning. The specialness of this club was with the theatre acts that occur behind a secret doorway. Kaspian watched his first show and the women were so beautiful and enthralling. Each Lady has a special gift and it all appears to be smoke and mirrors, but was it?
A series of murders have taken place around London and their special circumstances lead the Detective’s to visit the Professor. With some help from an old volume detailing all of the supernatural creatures and their abilities, a lead is found.
Will Kaspian be able to love Eve and will Eve love him in return? Can Kaspian master his abilities? What about the murders, will the Detective find the mastermind? What will happen to the Palace of Beautiful Freaks?
Following Kaspian’s journey is a real adventure. This book is a fantasy like no other and is so far beyond amazing and unique. Like Katie’s Knight Trilogy, this has it all; adventure, romance, action, mystery, suspense and intrigue. I highly recommend this to all that enjoys fantasy novels.
February 19, 2013
Beautiful Freaks is such a phenomenal book! I was pleasantly surprised how emotionally involved I became with many of the characters. Their stories and backgrounds had my heart aching, while my curiosity was peaked wanting to know how each would fit into the grand scheme.
Kaspian Blackthorne is an eighteen year old young man living in London during the year 1899. With his coming of age, he finds that he has new and strange abilities. He meets Eve, the owner of a very exclusive establishment and feels an instant attraction to her. In the private club No. 7, he witnesses the life altering display of the 'Palace of Freaks'. His life will never be the same, how can he live a mundane life knowing there is such bizarre and exotic creations in the world?
With a string of strange and disturbing murders taking place,he wonders if they are somehow related to the exhibits at the club and to the very sexy Eve. Trust is difficult to come by during these times of murder and violence. Can Kaspian trust Eve with his heart? Will Eve be at the center of these horrific murders?
Kaspian is a likable, but naive young man. I enjoyed his journey through the decadent world of excess. Eve, however was the focus of all my attention. I wanted to hate her, but I found I could feel the deep pain and anger she held beneath the surface. I wanted her to find peace and love, but felt in my heart this would never be the case with her. Some pain is cut too deeply into our souls that recovery isn't an option.
I highly recommend Beautiful Freaks. If you plan to read a few chapters at a time, you may want to wait until you can settle into a comfortable chair and have plenty of time to read. Once I started this book, I had to finish it. Katie M. John has created an extraordinary tale that will pull you in and have you begging for more.
Kaspian Blackthorne is an eighteen year old young man living in London during the year 1899. With his coming of age, he finds that he has new and strange abilities. He meets Eve, the owner of a very exclusive establishment and feels an instant attraction to her. In the private club No. 7, he witnesses the life altering display of the 'Palace of Freaks'. His life will never be the same, how can he live a mundane life knowing there is such bizarre and exotic creations in the world?
With a string of strange and disturbing murders taking place,he wonders if they are somehow related to the exhibits at the club and to the very sexy Eve. Trust is difficult to come by during these times of murder and violence. Can Kaspian trust Eve with his heart? Will Eve be at the center of these horrific murders?
Kaspian is a likable, but naive young man. I enjoyed his journey through the decadent world of excess. Eve, however was the focus of all my attention. I wanted to hate her, but I found I could feel the deep pain and anger she held beneath the surface. I wanted her to find peace and love, but felt in my heart this would never be the case with her. Some pain is cut too deeply into our souls that recovery isn't an option.
I highly recommend Beautiful Freaks. If you plan to read a few chapters at a time, you may want to wait until you can settle into a comfortable chair and have plenty of time to read. Once I started this book, I had to finish it. Katie M. John has created an extraordinary tale that will pull you in and have you begging for more.
February 2, 2013
I really enjoyed this book! It broke my heart in some places, but I enjoyed all the stories of the different characters and where they came from and how they came to Eve and her establishment, (or how Eve came to them.) Although it was Kaspian and his journey that I enjoyed the most. It was nice to see he had a sense of humor, I thought that he was a stiffler for awhile there:
"First cigarette, Kaspian? It gets better with practice, I find that the case with most things."
"God it's awful!" Kaspian said through laughter.
"So you are capable of laughing then? I was beginning to think maybe you couldn't, like you had an affliction or something."
Eve can be scary as shit sometimes, I mean I was just starting to like her after reading about her own story then I found out some deep secrets she had. "I have a heart Kaspian; it's a soul that I lack. And in my heart, I hold you. My heart is a fortress made of pride. No bullet can penetrate it, no blad kill it. It is here that I hold you. Safe." I can't wait to read more of this author's work I truly enjoyed it!
April 25, 2013
This book as the title says is FULL of Beautiful Freaks! We have Kaspian Blackthorne an 18 year old boy who just came of age. With his coming of age he develops certain "powers".
In this 1899 story there is a string of strange murders that happen in this book and you can't really tell who is behind them. But each one leads to a specific freak.
I have to say the world creation was interesting, and character creation was intense. I have to say that I seriously wanted to hate Eve, but I just couldn't find myself doing so. I felt such pity for her.
I recommend Beautiful Freaks. I do suggest not trying to read this a few chapters at a time, because it will suck you in. I stayed up late into the night reading this and wound up extremely tired the next morning but it was worth it.
Katie M. John has created an extraordinary tale that will pull you in and have you literally begging for more!
Details/Disclaimer: Review copy was provided to me in exchange for a fair and honest review. The free book held no determination on my personal review
In this 1899 story there is a string of strange murders that happen in this book and you can't really tell who is behind them. But each one leads to a specific freak.
I have to say the world creation was interesting, and character creation was intense. I have to say that I seriously wanted to hate Eve, but I just couldn't find myself doing so. I felt such pity for her.
I recommend Beautiful Freaks. I do suggest not trying to read this a few chapters at a time, because it will suck you in. I stayed up late into the night reading this and wound up extremely tired the next morning but it was worth it.
Katie M. John has created an extraordinary tale that will pull you in and have you literally begging for more!
Details/Disclaimer: Review copy was provided to me in exchange for a fair and honest review. The free book held no determination on my personal review
March 28, 2013
The book Beautiful Freaks it’s wonderful and it kept me on the edge every single page. It was full of suspense, making me wondering how each character will fill the grand scheme, what it’s going to happen next.
Kaspian Blackthorne is an eighteen year old young man living in London during the year 1899. His parent's died and left him in the care of a Professor in arts of the supernatural. He finds out he has new and strange abilities. The Professor decides to have a soiree to introduce Kaspian to all his acquaintances. He meets Eve, the owner of the very exclusive establishment, club No. 7, and feels an instant attraction to her, nothing like he ever felt before. It was love at first sight.
I enjoyed Kaspian’s journey and all that came with it. Once I started this book, I had to finish it, I wanted to know everything! I highly recommend Beautiful Freaks!
Kaspian Blackthorne is an eighteen year old young man living in London during the year 1899. His parent's died and left him in the care of a Professor in arts of the supernatural. He finds out he has new and strange abilities. The Professor decides to have a soiree to introduce Kaspian to all his acquaintances. He meets Eve, the owner of the very exclusive establishment, club No. 7, and feels an instant attraction to her, nothing like he ever felt before. It was love at first sight.
I enjoyed Kaspian’s journey and all that came with it. Once I started this book, I had to finish it, I wanted to know everything! I highly recommend Beautiful Freaks!
Read
December 28, 2014WOW… I love this book!!!
Beautiful Freaks is such a phenomenal book that kept me on the edge every single page. It was full of suspense, making me wondering what it’s going to happen next and how each character will fill the grand scheme in the end.
The storyline in this book was really good and the characters awesome because of their stories and backgrounds.
I highly recommend this book.
Beautiful Freaks is such a phenomenal book that kept me on the edge every single page. It was full of suspense, making me wondering what it’s going to happen next and how each character will fill the grand scheme in the end.
The storyline in this book was really good and the characters awesome because of their stories and backgrounds.
I highly recommend this book.
Read
May 18, 2013I won't give this a rating since I only got 70% through. I think this book had the potential to be great, but it just fell short for me. It took me 2 weeks to get that far and I had to force myself to do that. Maybe I'll go back and finish it one day...give it a second chance.
November 20, 2012
My interview with Author Katie M John
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http://madmusingsofmastersmind.blogsp...
August 2, 2024
4.5/5 stars
This book is eerie and beautifully written. I have never read horror book before and never intend to pick one, but the premise is very tempting. It reminds me of The Night Circus yet darker, much darker.
At first I have little problem with the PoV's juggling from 3rd person to 1st person by the turning of chapter. However it is a clever structure of writing style for describing the world building, the magic system and the character's background.
This book is compound of many retelling story such as fairy tales, biblical and gothic horror. The vibe is so vivid that I still can feel haunted after finished it. The short-coming is the pacing is a little bit slow at the beginning. And the investigation and officer's part felt meandering.
Definitely underrated brilliant book!
This book is eerie and beautifully written. I have never read horror book before and never intend to pick one, but the premise is very tempting. It reminds me of The Night Circus yet darker, much darker.
At first I have little problem with the PoV's juggling from 3rd person to 1st person by the turning of chapter. However it is a clever structure of writing style for describing the world building, the magic system and the character's background.
This book is compound of many retelling story such as fairy tales, biblical and gothic horror. The vibe is so vivid that I still can feel haunted after finished it. The short-coming is the pacing is a little bit slow at the beginning. And the investigation and officer's part felt meandering.
Definitely underrated brilliant book!
February 26, 2015
I wasn't sure about this book when I first saw that it took place in the 1800's, I'm just not into the older books like that. However, this didn't feel old to me and it was fun to imagine the outfits they must have been wearing. This was very fun to read because I ended up caring so deeply for all of the "freaks".
Kaspian turns eighteen and finds out a dark secret about his late parents and himself. While trying to understand what is happening to him, he meets the mysterious Eve. She starts to capture his heart while he digs through her dark secrets. What he finds could be the death of him and a lot of other people too.
Okay I know Eve was supposed to be the villain but I really liked her. She had a dark past and worked for what she had, even if that was breaking the law. I also like Alicia, and Sylvania, theirs stories were awesome. I felt so bad for Alicia because I can't imagine never being able to kiss someone that you loved. I guess that went for Kaspian too but he didn't have a heart wrenching story like Alicia did.
I liked how you got to see from so many peoples point of view, it wasn't confusing or boring. It really worked well with this book. I also liked how when a character was introduced you immediately got their backstory. There was no guess work in it and that was really refreshing.
The ending was kind of shocking and made me wish it had at least fifty more pages. I would have loved to know what happens with Alicia and Sylvania, do they get a happy ending? That's something I would have liked to know.
Katie, did a fantastic job with this book! I was hooked on it as soon as I started it and didn't want to put it down until I finished it. I am looking forward to reading more of her books. I think next I will tackle to Knight Trilogy.
For more of my reviews visit: http://www.hyperashley.com/
Kaspian turns eighteen and finds out a dark secret about his late parents and himself. While trying to understand what is happening to him, he meets the mysterious Eve. She starts to capture his heart while he digs through her dark secrets. What he finds could be the death of him and a lot of other people too.
Okay I know Eve was supposed to be the villain but I really liked her. She had a dark past and worked for what she had, even if that was breaking the law. I also like Alicia, and Sylvania, theirs stories were awesome. I felt so bad for Alicia because I can't imagine never being able to kiss someone that you loved. I guess that went for Kaspian too but he didn't have a heart wrenching story like Alicia did.
I liked how you got to see from so many peoples point of view, it wasn't confusing or boring. It really worked well with this book. I also liked how when a character was introduced you immediately got their backstory. There was no guess work in it and that was really refreshing.
The ending was kind of shocking and made me wish it had at least fifty more pages. I would have loved to know what happens with Alicia and Sylvania, do they get a happy ending? That's something I would have liked to know.
Katie, did a fantastic job with this book! I was hooked on it as soon as I started it and didn't want to put it down until I finished it. I am looking forward to reading more of her books. I think next I will tackle to Knight Trilogy.
For more of my reviews visit: http://www.hyperashley.com/
April 29, 2013
3.5 Stars
The building of the story is fantastic. We get the insight to a lot of people, and the stories begin to connect but until we meet the common link, it is hard to put it all together. But when it all comes together it is amazing! I enjoyed the building of the plot, the mystery behind all the characters involved and what they mean to each other.
Inspector Steptree is a good guy and is a family man, but he is also relentless. He is focused on his work and this case is beginning to rattle him. But having people with contacts helps. While trying to uncover the truth in regards to this case, he starts to ponder the fact that there are paranormal creatures out there. If he wasn't a believer at first, he certainly will be!
Kaspian I really liked. He is an innocent boy who is just about to turn 18. He has had a bit of heartache early in his life and has learnt to adapt to his new surroundings. When he finally ventured into the real world after reaching the legal age of 18, his eyes are opened further to the paranormal world that his guardian has been a part of.
Eve is very mysterious and we don't discover who she really is until quite late in the book. She appears often throughout the story, but it was hard to form an opinion of her initially as she is never around for too long. She has a lot of secrets and I was unsure of her intentions.
This story was full of mystery and how the story unfolded was intriguing. We see a lot of POVs all of which piece together to tell the story. The story definitely builds and once we hit the top it unravels quickly and I really enjoyed it.
I received a copy of this book from the Author in exchange for an honest review.
The building of the story is fantastic. We get the insight to a lot of people, and the stories begin to connect but until we meet the common link, it is hard to put it all together. But when it all comes together it is amazing! I enjoyed the building of the plot, the mystery behind all the characters involved and what they mean to each other.
Inspector Steptree is a good guy and is a family man, but he is also relentless. He is focused on his work and this case is beginning to rattle him. But having people with contacts helps. While trying to uncover the truth in regards to this case, he starts to ponder the fact that there are paranormal creatures out there. If he wasn't a believer at first, he certainly will be!
Kaspian I really liked. He is an innocent boy who is just about to turn 18. He has had a bit of heartache early in his life and has learnt to adapt to his new surroundings. When he finally ventured into the real world after reaching the legal age of 18, his eyes are opened further to the paranormal world that his guardian has been a part of.
Eve is very mysterious and we don't discover who she really is until quite late in the book. She appears often throughout the story, but it was hard to form an opinion of her initially as she is never around for too long. She has a lot of secrets and I was unsure of her intentions.
This story was full of mystery and how the story unfolded was intriguing. We see a lot of POVs all of which piece together to tell the story. The story definitely builds and once we hit the top it unravels quickly and I really enjoyed it.
I received a copy of this book from the Author in exchange for an honest review.
July 11, 2013
I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review.i didn't really know what to make of this story. It reminded me of Sherlock Holmes with a paranormal twists. I also felt like it could have been a Steampunk novel, minus anything Steampunk haha. It just that feel to it. This was an interesting story but I felt it was very up and down entertainment wise. I would be bored, then the story would pick up, then I would be bored again. I did enjoy the mystery and suspense.also I really liked hearing all of the character's stories, where they came from and how they ended up where they are now. I really hope that there is a second book or little novellas of what happened to the characters after the book ended. The downside to all of the characters was that there were so many to keep track of and some had similar names which occasionally got me confused on who was who. But it did enjoy listening to the characters stories, most of which were quite sad.
Like I mentioned previously, I would read more stories about these characters, because they were very interesting and I want to know more. I would recommend this book to paranormal lovers.
Like I mentioned previously, I would read more stories about these characters, because they were very interesting and I want to know more. I would recommend this book to paranormal lovers.
June 26, 2014
Supernatural murders in London confound Inspector Steptree, a mysterious woman mesmerizes Kaspian Blackthorne, and No. 7, an exclusive club, displays its 'Palace of Beautiful Freaks.'
This book has lovely imagery, I like the separate stories of each freak. Steptree was my favorite character. The end gets really good.
This book has lovely imagery, I like the separate stories of each freak. Steptree was my favorite character. The end gets really good.
May 5, 2015
Holy - I really enjoyed reading this book - it has a whole lot of everything I love - paranormal, mystery, dark characters that you can completely fall in love with despite their flaws. I absolutely LOVE Eve. Katie John breaks my heart in places but man, it's worth it. Take this adventure. You won't regret it. Looking forward to more from this author!!
March 27, 2017
What a beautifully written book! I adored these tales, the characters, the paranormal freaks a plenty... such a lot of everyone's tales are left open for development. Thank the gods I have Volume 2 in my excited grasp.
Katie, you are an incredible story teller. Thank you so much for sharing your tales, I truly love them.
Katie, you are an incredible story teller. Thank you so much for sharing your tales, I truly love them.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews