Freak By E.K. Henry Review

Published: 5th June 2012
Publishers: E.K. Henry
Number of pages: 176
Source: For review

     Being a lower-class human born into a world of vampires sucks. No matter how hard Juniper Rayne tries to fit in, she's labelled a freak. When her dad signs the family up to take part in a reality television show, Juniper hopes that it'll give her the edge she needs to shed her freak label.
     Unfortunately for Juniper, vampires aren't that accepting. She decides to take control of her life and become a vampire hunter, instead of continuing to live in her personal hell any longer.
     She will regain control or die trying.




     When I first received a copy of E.K. Henry's new novel, Freak, I didn't know what to expect. At first I was sceptical because the vampire idea has obviously been done a hundred times, but I was pleasantly surprised with how E.K. Henry mixed things up. In most of the vampire books I've read, the vamps are normally in hiding whilst the humans continue to be the ruling race. Why would such a superior, more powerful species let humans stay at the top when they can take them down? So thanks, E.K. Henry, for writing a book where vampire's have taken control. The way she has handled the topic seems to make a lot more sense to me.
     Juniper was a character I instantly warmed to. She was not ever going to lie down and take the crap that was thrown her way, but instead stood up and fought back just as hard. I'm all for independent, strong girl's in books. The snivelling, in-need-of-rescue type always annoy me, so I was grateful that Juniper was the former. I also loved her snippy, sarcastic side that came out whenever she faced off a vampire. Especially the cruel vampire's that bullied her. Sheila and her cronies are the nastiest fictitious bullies I've ever read. Hell, they drank her dry several times! So when Juniper got a few punches and kicks in, I was cheering her on.
     Which brings me onto the violence. It was amazing. I was worried that the author would try and sugar-coat any violence and make it more PG, but luckily it turned out to be full on bloody action! Juniper really did turn into a badass vampire slayer. I loved the transformation!
     This book did have it's faults, like the many, many spelling and grammar mistakes. Words like "to" and "too" were mixed up a lot, and comma's were all over the place. Also, I would have appreciated some more world-building, more description on Juniper's surroundings. One of the best things about reading is losing yourself to a new world, but you can't do that if it's not really described in detail. However, for me these were the only real let downs in the book.
     The ending was a big surprise, and even though I thought Freak was a stand-alone novel, going by the ending it's safe to say a sequel is probably on the way! Even though the final chapters felt a little rushed for me, I'll still be looking out for the next book from E.K. Henry.
     Overall, this is one of those novels that takes you on a journey. Where you follow the main character as she develops, meets new people, loses old friends and gets stuck in all sorts of situations. I, for one, love those types of books. So Freak is something I will remember for a long time after turning the last page.