Freaksville

Freaksville #1

by Kitty Keswick

Every woman in the Maxwell family has the gift of sight. A talent sixteen year old Kasey would gladly give up -- until Kasey has a vision about Josh Johnstone, the foreign exchange student from England. The vision leads her into deep waters, a lead in a play, and into the arms of Josh. But Josh, too, has a secret. Something that could put them all in danger. To solve the mystery of a supernatural haunting, they must uncover the secrets of a haunted theater while trapped together on the night of the full moon.

Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance, Ghosts, Werewolves, Supernatural, Fantasy

328 pages, Paperback

First published January 8, 2010

Reviews

[April · Rating 2 out of 5]

Freaksville by Kitty Keswick follows the story of Kasey Maxwell, a teenage girl who can tell someone's future by touching them. Kasey meets a boy from England and falls in love, but he's got a paranormal secret too. Oh, and she's got a BFF named Gillie who is sort of cool.

Plot line aside, the book is told in 'blog' format, and by blog format, I mean graphics at the top and bottom of every page with comments at the end of each chapter. The chapter parts were definitely written in traditional book form. I think there was a lot of potential with having a book be written in the form of a blog, but in that case, go to livejournal and check out how teens write their journals. Also, I think the inclusion of some IM convos on her 'blog' would have made it a bit realistic.

What can I say? I didn't love this book, and well after seeing the trailer I really wanted to enjoy it, but there was just so much going on and so many elements. The phrase jack of all trades comes to mind here. Kasey was sympathetic, and yes,I did like her as a person, but so much happens to her which just magically works out perfectly. For starters, the boy she has a crush on sort of randomly makes out with her after she magically lands a starring role with no theater experience at all.

On the positive side, I think there were some interesting elements which could have been greatly expanded, such as the Maxwell family gift, the feud, what the deal with the English boyfriend was. I liked the scenes with Gillie. I think Gillie was an excellent character, and exactly the type of friend I would love to have in my corner. Also, I enjoyed reading about the ghosts and their personalities. I would have loved more on the ghosts, more back story.

This wasn't quite a terrible book, but just not the right one for me, please don't let my review discourage you from forming your own opinion about the book.

[Judith Graves · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Oh my, there’s a new freak in town and you’re so going to love her. Kitty Keswick’s Freaksville = spooky, wicked-hot fun." - Judith Graves, author of Under My Skin. ;)

[Dyan Lyons · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not a huge paranormal fan, but a friend suggested I read this book. Am I ever glad I did. If you want to get your toes wet with a paranormal that's light and funny and has a strong heroine with a kick-ass friend, check out Freaksville. I loved the cool pix and the little arty thingys on each page. They seemed to fit the main character, Kasey, who's a bit of a drama queen, but you can't help liking her. She feels so real, I almost expected her to pop off the page. Even better was her BFF. I liked Gillie's huge bag, her library addiction, and how she supported Kasey. And Josh--what can I say? I would have fallen for his accent if I was in Kasey's place.

So on to the action. Which there was plenty of. Ghosts attacking, werewolves attacking, and some embarrasing events in Kasey's life. And her visions that kept her offbalance a lot. And the teasing about her gloves. I liked that she turned them into fashion statements tho. And finding out about the skeletons in her parents past was interesting. So was the feud.(HOpe this didn't have too many spoilers.)

My favorite thing was the lists. When they were trapped in the theater and Kasey found out Josh's secret (which I'd kind of guessed), she was so cool about it. I loved that list. The list made me laugh, but I think she made the right the choice. I guess that's what I liked best about the book. Even in the dark moments, the author lightened things up with a bit of humor or some unexpected happenings so you didn't get all depressed or totally freaked out. (I admit I'm a scaredy cat, so I often have a hard time reading horror and paranormal stuff.) But this one was actually fun.

And the ending was a bit unexpected. A lot of things happened that I didn't know would happen. But it made my heart flutter too at the end.

I really liked the first chapter of the next book and can't wait to read it. I hope Ruby is in it all the way through cos I really, really like her. The only thing I didn't like was Josh's message. I hope he changes his mind. That would be sad if he doesn't. And I know what it's like to do something stupid in front of your whole class and have everyone laugh at you. So poor Kasey. It's not going to be fun for her to go back to school and face everyone after that.

One thing I wasn't sure about was the blog. I liked the idea of it, but wondered if she would really put all that private stuff online. The more I thought about it tho, it seemed to fit her personality. So in the end I think it was a good idea. And it was different. I also liked the titles she chose for each blog and the art around it--very cool. But the best part after the story were the comments. Some were so funny. And after a while you could kind of guess who was making them so they added a lot to the story.

Thanks for a super fun read, Ms. Keswick!

[Amber ~ The Reading Addict · Rating 3 out of 5]

My overall reaction to this book wasn't great. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book, but it definitely could have been better. Keswick had an interesting story, but the way it was written kind of overshadowed the real plot.

The writing was mediocre. Not amazing, but not terrible either. It was often very funny, but sometimes it seemed a little fake. Like I said, there was a great story, but it was hidden beneath attempts at humor and teenage slang. Boys were often described as "yummy" and "delish." This is one of the many examples of the teen talk in the book, which some may find annoying. Not all teenagers use the word "like" every, like, five seconds. :)

I found it hard to relate to the main character, Kasey. She seemed like the stereotyped teenage girl that comes to mind for most adults. The thing is, she isn't exactly realistic. Maybe there are a few teens like Kasey out there, but her personality seemed like it was only skin deep. She had her good moments here and there, but she became annoying too.

The plot was good, and it kept me interested. I really did want to know what would happen next. There isn't much of a set up before the story takes off, which kind of bothered me. Within the first chapter, Kasey has been through more than others characters go through in half of the book. No setting the stage, character development, etc. Still, there was a mystery that will keep you guessing throughout the novel.

I have to admit, I laughed at this book a lot. Kitty Keswick knows how to tickle her reader's funny bone. Whether it was Kasey or her friends, there was always something to make me smile. The book is told through Kasey's blog, and the comments were hilarious. The whole blog idea also gave the book a more original feel.

Although I didn't love this book, I would recommend it to anyone in search of a lighthearted yet paranormal read. I will probably look into the sequels, just for the fun of it. The next book is called Furry and Freaked, in case you wanted to know. :)

[Kristen Harvey · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I started this book I was a bit skeptical. The first 50 or so pages take place on one day - in that day you discover Kasey has visions, so when she randomly touches the hot British guy in front of her, she has a vision of him in pain. So she follows him for the rest of the day, thinking she can prevent him from getting hurt. He confronts her a few times, but she insists she is not following him. Then, they end up at the theatre where she is forced to try out for Juliet and ends up with the role on the spot. And.. Josh, the hot exchange student from England.. snogs her. After this first part, you can maybe see why I was skeptical. It's a little too perfect and I really enjoy having realism, even in my paranormal reads.

That being said, it got better. Kasey proves to be her own person, ditching Josh on a date to save her friend Gillie. The added aspect of Josh being a werewolf (you get it with all the hints dropped right off, I'm not spoiling anything) also moved the plot right along. If you need all things werewolf right now, this is the book for you. I like Kasey and Gillie's personalities, they're teenagers who are fairly girly and driven by fashion, but their friendship is rooted deep and they're pretty strong in general as events unfold.

I like the format of it being a blog, although it didn't read like a real blog I thought, more like a story with the added comments. I liked how you could see the characters commenting on her blog at the end and could figure them out by their screennames. Probably not what you'd see on a regular blog, but a cool concept nonetheless.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Freaksville is a highly entertaining young adult paranormal. I enjoyed Kelsey and Gillie and their friendship, I think this is one of my favorite things about the book. These girls are the best of friends and no matter what they find out they seem to stay together, no matter how weird Kelsey's life can get. I also enjoyed Kelsey's relationship with her parents. I think it shows a normal relationship - she loves them but she looks down on them because she's a teenager and they are her parents. I wasn't a wild child as a teenager and even I did it. She doesn't go too far as to be too disrespectful - I think she is just a typical teenager and Kitty Keswick catches this in writing very well.

The storyline of Freaksville is strong. I got the hints of things that would happen as I read along, but nothing too big was revealed. The suspense of how things would actually turn out was kept up until the end. I loved getting to know little (and big) things about Kelsey's life as the story went along and she learned them herself. The additional characters of Josh and Gunther also added to the story. Josh sounds absolutely hot and Gunther sweet. I look forward to getting to know all of them better in the next installment in this series.

If you like slightly different young adult paranormal involving werewolves, humans with the gift of sight and other creatures and you like your books to have a humorous streak then this is the book for you. Ms. Keswick will draw you in and keep you reading until the end of the book and then you will be ready to read the next one (which I can't wait until it is published).

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was awesome it was a quick and easy read. I liked the relationship between the two girls. British guys are hot.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kasey Maxwell thoroughly believes she is a freak. She fears touching anything with her bare hands because it usually causes visions and the aftermath, pain. Not to mention her visions usually involve death or mayhem of some kind. Which is true when she gets a vision of Josh. Josh is an exchange student at Kasey's school and incredibly hot. Kasey's vision means she should follow him, right? Maybe not. He catches her and she gets caught too - auditioning for the school play. Kasey can also see ghosts and the theater is haunted. Josh also seems to have a few secrets he doesn't want to share. So do her parents. Before Kasey knows it, she's up to her neck in Freaksville. And it isn't as bad as she thought.

A cute romance/suspense/mystery story. There is a lot going on, including ghosts, werewolves, witches, psychics, and family drama. Written as a blog, Kasey tells everything that happens and leaves the door open for more.

[Ellz Readz · Rating 3 out of 5]

My thoughts...Freaksville is a very unique book. The majority of the story takes place in an old auditorium which hosted many play and theatrical events over many years. This was a brilliant setting for the story because it provided a perfect backdrop for romantic and very scary scenes. The characters find themselves in mortal danger in a number of situations. Beneath the main level of the stage is a prop storage area. The prop room is full of old costumes and stage props, definitely a great place to let your imagination run wild. The basement level also left much to the imagination. Dark, dusty, old corridors, just thinking about it gives me goosebumps. The plot of Freaksville was nicely developed. Interestingly, the story is told not in chapters, but in entries on the main characters blog. It even has comments left by readers. Initially I was not sure if I liked this, but as the story progressed, I found myself anticipating the comments. The books did not have the fairy tale ending that I expected. I will be curious where the next book, Furry and Freaked, takes the reader.

The characters in Freaksville were very likable. Kasey, our heroine, finds herself dealing with a special gift, that keeps revealing itself in new ways. As her powers increase, she learns to accept it and use it, a task which proves to be difficult. Gillie, her BFF, is by far my favorite character in the book; she keeps Kasey grounded. Kasey finds herself in the lead of a play with foreign exchange student Josh. The author did a great job of including British lingo which helped keep the story interesting. There was even a dictionary in the back so you could double check the meaning of some of the words. Overall, I think the characters were well written, funny, and interesting. In my opinion, Kitty Keswick did a great job of capturing the character's behaviors, speech, and actions for that of sixteen year olds. The character's relationships did not go beyond "snogging", which kept the story age appropriate.

Another aspect of the story I enjoyed were the illustrations. Now whoever made the rules that said chapters books for readers over the age of 10 shouldn't have illustrations is crazy. Randomly placed pictures gave the reader a nice visual image while reading. The whole layout of the book was very unique.

The cons...I read an arc version of the story so it has not been through the final edit. I found several discrepancies in the character personalities. Actually, I have already forgotten all but one, so it really didn't effect the story.

[Liviania · Rating 3 out of 5]

FREAKSVILLE is the story of Kassidea Maxwell, who can see the future. When the book opens, she sees a vision of the new guy (Josh Johnstone) in pain and decides to follow him so she can help. They end up running into a ghost, being cast as the leads in Romeo and Juliet, and there the book begins.

Kitty Keswick decided to write FREAKSVILLE in blog format, which I'm not sure works for me. Journals of any sort are tricky to pull of realistically. Kasey's blog entries are about ten pages each and often include long sections of dialogue. They are also dated like she's writing each entry shortly after events happen, but sometimes she's in a situation where that wouldn't be possible. Plus, she says sensitive information in her blog, which (judging by the comments) is completely open to the public and not concealed by psuedonyms. It might work better if her blog entries opened the chapters, which then went into standard first person.

Since Kasey learns the full extent of her heritage at the end of FREAKSVILLE, I hope that there's more world-building in FURRY & FREAKED. Kasey knows that there are paranormal/supernatural things in her world, but hasn't been educated about them. This makes it hard to tell what the "rules" of the world are, as well as what creatures even exist in the world. I was also sometimes confused about who knew about her powers and who didn't. (After all, in Kasey's day-to-day life she seems to keep them a secret, but then she tells all about it in her blog.)

On the other hand, FREAKSVILLE was fun, and not just because of the cute illustrations. Kasey has a strong voice, and I liked her habit of making lists. I liked her relationship with Gillie. The two girls supported each other without getting jealous of the other's relationship. I liked the background feud between the Maxwell and Johnstone families - I can't wait to see that expanded as Kasey and Josh further their relationship. The central action scene was tense, although I felt like the secondary villain came from nowhere.

FREAKSVILLE felt like a debut novel. The story worked, but there were problems in the telling. I did like the characters, so I'm sure I'll be back for FURRY & FREAKED.

[BOOK BUTTERFLY · Rating 2 out of 5]

When Kasey Maxwell has a disturbing vision about Josh, she begins following the foreign exchange student around school in an effort to help him. This sets in motion a chain of events that will bring to light long buried secrets and set Kasey on a new path. There are dark, dusty theater corridors to navigate around and the town itself is shadowed by four-legged supernatural creatures. Kasey is just learning to adapt and control her new found abilities. Can she learn to wield them well enough to keep the dangers of Freaksville away?

FREAKSVILLE is a unique novel, both in the storyline, well defined characters, artful little illustrations and blog format. Initially I was a bit thrown by the blog format of the book- Kasey’s posts were so personal, I couldn’t help but wonder whether a teenager would expose her most private moments and important secrets for the whole world to see. Private journal entry snippets revealed at the beginning of each chapter might have been more plausible to me. However, the posts themselves were so well written and entertaining, I enjoyed reading them and quickly became engrossed in the plot line.

Kasey’s voice was witty and I thought she made a strong protagonist. Gillie, her best friend was my second favorite character. I loved that there was no jealousy or competitiveness between the two best friends. The romantic elements between Josh and Kasey would make FREAKSVILLE a great book for younger teens, as their relationship was always age appropriate but never boring. The tension between Kasey’s family and the Johnstone clan added some depth to the plot line and I look forward to this aspect being explored in FURRY & FREAKED, the fabulously named sequel to FREAKSVILLE.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Freaksville was a unique twist on Romeo and Juliet! I never would have thought to take the story where Kitty Keswick did, and it worked 100%! You had an awesome plot, well written characters, and great writing.

There were 2 issues I had with Freaksville. Freaksville is written through Kasey's blog that is just open to the public. She posts about her sight and everything that happens, down to the little details. I found it hard to believe that anyone would post that much on their personal blog, and then the fact that people from her school knew about her blog. They all commented! It just made no sense to me. The other thing I wasn't crazy about in Freaksville is Josh's obsessive use of "love", I think Kasey gets called love or some combo of Kasey love, more than her actual name! That is one of my biggest pet peeves in books. Girls are not dogs - please call them their names!

Those things aside, Freaksville was a really great book. I loved the characters. Gillie, Kasey's best friend, was my favorite character. She was so sweet and bubbly all the time. Kasey was such a quirky character, and had such a lovely voice to narrate a story. Josh was a sweetheart, and I adored him. I loved all the British lingo he brought to the story!

The plot was really intriguing. Parts were rather predictable, but that made it all the better! The dialogue was really fast-paced, which was enjoyable. Freaksville has these really cool drawings throughout the book. Most people would think drawings are for children's books, but I thouoght these really enhanced the plot.

I would abso-bloody-lutely recommend this one! It's got a great storyline, snazzy pictures, and awesome characters. Oh and did I mention an awesome cover?

[Peace Love and Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting book. It was written as a blog style, complete with comments and screen names that are easy to guess whom it belongs to and little drawings. It was very cute. Kasey has this power of seeing the future by touching an object or a person. She always wear gloves, her best friend knows about it and her parents are some type of a supernatural too. So it is safe to say that she does not carry a lot of burden since she can talk to people about her "gift". Kasey loves Jensen Ackles and got this amazing relationship with her best friend Gillie, so I liked her almost instantly. Her love interest's name is Josh, a foreign exchange student from England who apparently lives in her street with the snooty popular girl Petra. He is mysterious, yet he did not quite hold my interest very much, despite Kasey's obvious swooning for this boy, the only thing I find sexy about him was his accent and that he is "supernatural".

It all started when Kasey saw a vision that Josh was all sprawled out in the ground. She can't exactly warn him a that time so she did the best that she could do. Stalk him just to make sure that if anything happen someone will be there for him. (or I think that's how she played it out) So he was stalking him right? the next thing she know she was trying out for a play. Reading lines for Romeo & Juliet. The shocking part, she actually got the part with Josh being the Romeo. Then her first kiss interrupted by a ghost. But the ghost is just a part of the story. The events that happened next was even more interesting than that. Major points in the story are the Maxwell-Johnston feud, Kasey's family gift, the best friend relationship of Kasey & Gillie and the other paranormal creatures that lurks at night.

[Casey W. (A Passion for Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[La Femme Readers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Freaksville is a cute yet quirky read. Kitty did a really great job introducing unique characters. I enjoyed Kasey, she was funny and sarcastic, my type of personality. Gillie, her best friend was also quite interesting, she definitely reminded me of my best friend. Um, Josh, Kasey's crush...well he didn't impress me much. I didn't find him sexy, oh well maybe he's not my cup of tea. My favorite thing in the book were the illustrations present throughout some chapters. I thought that was super cute and it helped me visualize the scene. I also enjoyed how Kitty wrote the whole book through blog posts, obviously I'm a blogger so brownie points for that one! Now on to the negative things, unfortunately I did get bored a lot with the storyline and thought it was awkward at times. In my opinion, it lacked substance which caused me to continuously put the book down. Also, the idea for the supernatural "secrets" (no spoilers over here) aren't new to the YA genre, it's been done before so many times. Anywho, it was a cute supernatural read, but I'm still undecided about reading the second book, Furry and Freaked, I'll see how freaky I'm feeling at the time :) But, I do urge you to pick it up if you like a cute story with pictures! Yay!

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I started reading Freaksville the only thing I knew about it was what I read from the back of the book. Which was pretty freaking awesome considering it ended with "bring it on."

Once I flipped open the book and began reading I saw one of the awesome little illustrations that are scattered throughout the book. Reading the little comments next to Josh's picture I thought this book was gonna be pretty funny.

Yeah...I was laughing every couple of pages. The main character, Kasey, reminded me kinda of Evie from Paranormalcy (and I thought Evie was bleeping hilarious).
The part where I officially thought Freaksville was awesome was when Kasey and her bestie were arguing over who is hotter - Sam or Dean (from Supernatural. And if you don't know who Sam and Dean are go watch Supernatural as soon as possible).

Each chapter of Freaksville is like a blog post from Kasey's blog and at the end of the chapter there are comments (sometimes - not always) to read. Which I thought it was pretty neat because it was like I was reading Kasey's blog and there are comments which I think are from some of the characters...except they use user names so I don't know for sure.

Overall a very good book. I'm gonna have to read book 2 - Furry and Freaked.

[Christina (Confessions of a Book Addict) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kasey Maxwell appears to be a normal high school girl; however, she has a secret gift.....she has visions. The book starts off with Kasey having a vision of the dreamy boy at school, Josh. Her vision isn't a positive one; she sees Josh suffering in pain. Kasey ends up stalking Josh, because she is concerning about him, which leads her to the Romeo and Juliet play tryouts. Kasey, who had no intention of trying out, gets casted and the rest is history. Insert the usual paranormal drama, fling in some teen-speak and you'll get Kitty Keswick's Freaksville. It was a mindless fun read, but it completely fell short for me.


For the rest of my review:
http://bookaddictchris.blogspot.com/2...

[Jennifer]

Not a huge fan...it seemed similar to Sucks to be Me. I never got to like the characters really and everything was very basic. It did not hold my attention, the things that were supposed to be funny instead of having me laughing had me rolling my eyes.

The writing is good though and I think for a middleschooler this would be a great book, it's got an easy to follow story which was ok for me, just did not hold the attention like I wished it had.

It was very different than what I thought it might be.

Review to come soon.

[Jojo · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I first heard about this book I was interested but as I begain to read it I was disappointed. The main character was childish and selfish and embodied the cliches sterotypes of teenage girls. Her love interest wasn't much better, a piece of paper has more depth and character . All in all a disappointment.

[Jessica B · Rating 1 out of 5]

Got 100 pages into it but couldn't finish. Characters were SO annoying and the plot was predictable.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

not a bad book but wasnt the best i ever read either

[Laurie Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

I laughed the whole way through. Can't wait for the sequel!!

[Heather McCorkle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really fun book! If you're looking for a fun, creepy novel to get you in the Halloween mood this is perfect.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

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