This is a very unusual book. This story takes place in the late 1800s and really has everything...romance, adventure, mystery and of course fantastic characters. Abel is a teenager living with his parents - Dad doesn't have legs and Mother doesn't have arms. They live and work at Faeryland - a type of sideshow museum/freakshow. Abel decides he is not wanted/needed and runs away - only to end up working at another type of Freakshow. Great story how Abel is able to help the people and the children of this show and meet his one "true" love. This is a book for mature readers due to some sexual references.

It's a really good book, the start is a bit slower than the rest of the book, but it's just for the first chapter or two. it's more respectful of the "freak" characters; than I'm used to seeing in media. giving each of them their own personalities separate from their disabilities, and differences. it's obvious the author did their research.

Not my favorite of this authors work. The story was inturesting, felt like I was riding the train with the traveling circus myself. But also nothing I did not expect to happen happened.

To me, this book was very entertaining. This story follows Abel, a "normal" young man raised in a freak show. Because everyone else around him isn't normal(as we would put it), Abel feels as if he doesn't belong. Since he is normal, he feels as if he should be able to live a normal life like the rest of the "normal" people. Also since his first kiss was with Phoebe, the dog- faced girl, he feels a need to find a regular girl not just a face full of fur. Soon after he gifted an ancient ring, he has dreams of a beautiful dancing girl who is seemed to be connected to it. He then decides to leave his freak show home in Faeryland and explore the world out, leading him to a grand adventure ahead of him. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I'd recommend it to anyone who is interested in human oddities.

Hi, thanks, I hated it.

If I could, I would not even give this book a single star. ZERO STARS.

Review episode coming to Backlist & Chill Podcast in the coming months: https://www.patreon.com/backlistandchill

I could not get into this at all. I thought from the back cover that maybe it was going to interrupt the idea that people with disabilities are fuck-ups. But it actually served to re-centralize non-disabled normality/perspective because the non-disabled main character, a 14 year old boy named Abel, leaves the "freak show" community his parents are part of and that he grew up around, in order to stop being the "odd one out" and ignored because he *isn't* a freak. Couple that with an exoticized (seemingly Egyptian or Arab) ghost woman subplot, and the result is I only got to page 40 before throwing it down in disengaged disgust.

A boring book with a pointless plot and unlikeable characters. This one wasn't for me.

I picked this up recently (while looking for a DIFFERENT book based on sideshow life), based on both my interest in historic carnival sideshow and James Jean's gorgeous cover (having loved his work on DC/Vertigo's Fables). I found the idea of the "normal" boy growing up in the freak show and striking off on his own in the carny world compelling, but was left feeling oddly unfulfilled in the end.

Now, I DO have to commend Klause for rather gracefully representing several sides of the turn of the century sideshow.... historically, in many cases the freaks were the highest paid performers in a sideshow, and in some cases owned the show, and this is reflected in Faeryland. In some cases, of course, they were dehumanized objects of exploitation by others, as reflected in the "Monster Menagerie".... at that time there was also the Eugenics movement, which assigned a lower class and lower level of "moral fiber" or inherent intellect to minorities and those born "disfigured", which was reflected in the attitude of the Marvel Brothers Circus. So, my hat is off to Klause for depicting that trifecta of different attitudes toward the "human oddities" in lieu of oversimplifying. Her fascination with the topic is evident and the cast of human marvels we meet are interesting, varied and clearly informed by a study of the historic sideshow.

With that said, the Mysterious Dream Woman plot came across, to me, as an odd fit... for one, it was the main component of the book's somewhat overbearing level of sexuality. Yes, I realize teenagers are sexual beings but, to be frank, there's only so many times you can hear about your 14-year-old protagonist's raging erection (or "burning in his loins")before it becomes downright uncomfortable. Following the inclusion of the "Dream Woman" into reality, when she is revealed to be an Egyptian priestess whose mummy is on display in the Monster Menagerie, woken and revived by ancient magic, the relationship comes across as built purely on hormones and destiny. And of course this feeds into my constant frustration with the whole subcategory of "paranormal romance", which is that at no time does anyone, especially those involved, seem to give real consideration to the fact that Abel is in a relationship with a reanimated corpse.

In the end, though, the real frustration for me comes from the sneaking feeling that the star-crossed paranormal romance represents the idea that, somehow, the world of the early 20th century freak show isn't strange and interesting enough on its own.

There also comes a point in some stories when you see that the author has either run out of steam or is approaching a deadline, and is really just trying to be done. The final 2 chapters of Freaks felt a bit like that for me, and the clean wrap-up with the Good Guys converging for the rescue seemed just a little Deus Ex Machina for my taste.

Once again, the author's interest in the subject matter comes through clearly, and we're introduced to a cast of extremely interesting and varied characters, but in the end the book felt like a good meal that was over too soon, with one element that didn't fit. Still, it was fun read, based on some very interesting and well-researched slices of an extremely odd piece of american history.

It was back in highschool when I first discovered Annette Curtis Klaus, I read Blood & Chocolate so many times along with The Silver Kiss. I was addicted to those two books. So when I was at Halfprice books last year and came across Freaks: Alive on the Inside, I had no clue of its existence. (It came out the year I graduated which makes sense as to why I didn't know about it.) So naturally I bought it. Would I ahve been addicted to this book back then had I read it, to be honest probably not, but I still would have enjoyed it like I did now.

Freaks: Alive on the Inside (can I mention that I thought this was just called Freaks, I thought the Alive on the Inside was just a blurb on the cover haha) Is a story about Abel Dandy a regular kid growing up in a circus full of "freaks". First I want to say I love that this YA story followed a male character through the whole book, no split pov with girls it's strictly a story revolving around a young man. I make a big deal about this because I feel like this is extremely rare now a days, not many YA books have male main characters and usually if they do its split with female povs as well.

Now to put Abel's character in the plainest terms possible, it would be major horny. A few other reviewers say he is 14, that's not true, on the first page of the book he states that he is 17

but I was seventeen and yearned to kiss a mouth sometimes without getting hair up my nose.

So honestly his horniness made total sense, was it awkward at times while reading, sure, but that's probably because I am an adult and not into hearing about what a 17 year old kid wants haha, but had I been 17 when reading this, I doubt it would have bothered me. Outside of his horniness, Abel is actually a very dependable, and caring character. While he does leave his family circus to head out into the world to find his place and make his fortune (and maybe find love on the way) you see the many layers of his character. After the dog boy Apollo follows him, a whole string of events start to roll out that really help portray the type of person Abel really is. While he does feel the like he has zero chances of making it big because he is normal in a world full of different people, he actually genuinely loves and adores them, while also respecting them and wanting them to be treated like proper people in society.

Along his journey you get to see 3 different types of circuses, his home circus that employes differently abled people, such as siamese twins, little people, people with missing limbs and such, they are employees, who make an actual living working for the circus. They get to put on performances and are paid for doing so, and none of them are forced into doing it. The 2nd circus he comes into contact with is one that absolutely refuses to higher differently abled people as they find it to be dehumanizing but not in the way you would think. They are the kind who think they are doing what's good for them by turning them over to the asylums, where they are tortured or killed while thinking they have taken the high moral road, they actually see them as even less by thinking they shouldn't be seen in public period, and should be locked up. The 3rd circus is the one that exploites differently abled people, they are forced into slave contracts, they aren't paid, they do no performances. They are meant to sit on stage and just have people gawk at them. I really liked how Klause included all 3 different types and allowed us to see Abel's reaction to each one.

We spend a majority of the book with the 3rd circus, where Abel's character really got to shine, he immediately recognized the horrible atrocities that the people of the circus were facing, and wasted no time speaking up about it. He also instantly recognized how many of them had been tricked, coerced or even stolen to be apart of this circus. He is observant and spent a lot of time getting to know them while also working on a way to save them. Of course he did at times think of himself and internally complain about how this was all throwing off his original plans, but not once did he ever put himself before helping the others, his plans always consisted of getting them taken care of first then himself. I really loved his moments with the children, he was like that big brother who you could always count on.

Now I really loved and enjoyed all the parts with the circus, it was entertaining and captivating and I wanted to know how Abel was going to save everyone. The other portion of the story, the dream lady and the Egyptian past was.....weird. One of my favorite tropes is lovers being reborn to find each other, and while this isn't exactly that it has the idea behind it, but it was executed is a such a weird way. It felt out of place in this world of Abel's circus life. It was also when Abel's horniness really popped up, and it was made more weird when the mummy body was brought it, that was just uncomfortable. Also the dream lady is older than Abel which I have to say is very uncommon in stories, it's usually the male who is like centuries older. I just honestly didn't care for this portion, it just didn't fit the overall story in my mind.

Freaks: Alive on the Inside is a strange mix of story themes, but still weirdly captivating in its own right.

I agree with the other reviewers who found this book weirdly adult for a YA book and weirdly YA for an adult book. I am a sucker for this setting/topic, but don't even waste your time on this book in a world where Geek Love exists.

Honestly I couldn't get past the first two chapters in this book.

Oh boy, not only did I love reading vampires, still do, but there was that dark carnival/circus stories as well. Who doesn't love reading those? Nope, still haven't read Something Wicked This Way Comes, which I hear is that kind of story. Oh and of course Cirque du Freak. Can't forget that one. Then there's that creepy episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark...sorry getting off topic.

Anyway, this one, by the same writer as Blood and Chocolate and Silver Kiss, was I don't know, what I was expecting but it started off good I guess.

Then halfway it turned elsewhere with the story or again. I do love this cover and another cover with the MC and the girl.

Anyway you have our MC whose a knife thrower, sets out to find his fortune, along with his "lady adventure," he decides to set out to find her. Along the way he meets different people, some good and some not. A coming of age story if you will.

Faintly remember that it was good, up until he finds his lady adventure.

Another good, weird but good read.