I was excited about this book, based on the cover and the back blurb which seemed to promise a different take on the sideshow story we normally see. But... eh, what we got was an unchallenging and needlessly easy book which left me feeling like the actual story had never really started.

Abel Dandy (yes really) is the normal person working in a sideshow of people with unusual features or abilities. Feeling left out and having weird dreams of a beautiful woman who makes him feel horny and wants only him, Abel sets out. When another member of the group he grew up with tags along, he starts trying to figure out how to continue his journey while getting the tagalong home. But when they fall in with a freak show with a dark side, he finds that its less a journey and more a weird, mystical breadcrumb trail.

Abel is a really selfish main character, to the point I was really wishing for another viewpoint character at times. He wants his friend to return to his abusive dad because he's an inconvenience, and then gets jealous when people seem to like the kid. He has the commendable opinion that freaks are just as normal as anyone else. But being inside his head, these thoughts come off at times as a smug superiority instead of the more palateable (and conflict-useful) disbelief that people would see them as inhuman or deficient.

I will give the book the credit it deserves for that part - it presents the "freaks" as regular, well-rounded people who sometimes have specific concerns related to whatever makes them a freak. I did like a lot of these characters, especially in the final freak show they joined.

This book has its moments. There's some pathos, if not as deeply felt as it might have been. All in all, it was not a bad read. It was just sort of disappointingly easy. Deus ex freak show, I guess.

I should first start this out by saying I'm completely biased. I find old circus and sideshows fascinating and Curtis Klause is one of my favorite authors. Since nine times out of ten I really hate young adult fiction.

I don't even know where to begin with Freaks: Alive, on the Inside! I enjoyed it, I was planning to save the last chapter to go to bed, I ended up finishing it. I really liked how Curtis Klause taught the reader to be understanding of and accepting of other peoples differences. I think that is super important for young adults to learn and understand.

I think my favorite part of the book was the fact that Curtis Klause did her research. When she was mentioning the human oddities I know who she was basing it on. She and I had read a few of the same books and seen some of the same movies on human oddities. I think this is going to be one of those books that I have to add to my personal collection.

I've been a Klause fan since ninth grade when I stumbled across Blood and Chocolate on my English teacher's bookshelf.

Klause is good - no, great - at delivering interesting plots that should be ridiculous but are so rooted in relatable characters that they ground the whole thing. The settings are well-rendered without being overdrawn, and Klause treats the history of "freak shows" with the complex lens it deserves. Given that this is essentially a paranormal YA romance (from a male perspective I might add, which is incredibly rare) I didn't expect that kind of treatment for the source material. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised.

If you're in the mood for a historical paranormal YA, then this is the book for you. The characters are intriguing, the setting is well-rendered, and the writing itself is artfully crafted. Klause is a master storyteller and this novel is just one more piece of proof to that.

This was... not a very good book.
Work death caused me to read this and yes, at least it distracted me from bloodsucking things such as ✨socializing✨

I really wanted to like this book, but unfortunately it was not what I was hoping for. As I’m naturally drawn toward anything circus related, I had high hopes for Freaks. With its beautifully illustrated cover and interesting premise, I went into it assuming it was an adult book, but soon found out that it was young adult. And while I usually like young adult, its confusing themes made it seem like it didn't quite fit in with the genre.

The story follows a teenage boy named Abel who leaves his freak show family to find a new show to join, one that will appreciate his knife throwing talents. At the same time, he goes on a journey to find the mysterious girl who has been haunting his dreams. From the beginning, I dislike the main character. Although he is described as a responsible seventeen year old, he has the commonsense and sex drive of a thirteen year old who just hit puberty. Even as his character ever-so-slightly grows, I’m still not convinced that he is what the author tried to make him be. The side cast of characters however, though a bit cliche, were charming and likable. They made the story tolerable.

The language felt off to me, like the author was trying too hard to add in words fitting to the time period, while still writing in a modern way. In particular, the word “loins” was used way too often- one time is too many, but the word kept appearing every time Abel got horny (which was also too often). The journey Abel went on seemed bland to me, like he wasn’t making things happen, just letting things happen to him. The Egyptian aspect was the only interesting bit, but it wasn’t a major part of the book.

While Freaks was bearable, and did have a few fun parts, the language and main character made me really dislike this book. I couldn’t really get into it until the last quarter of it, and even then the narration took away from the excitement. This seemed to me like a pre-teen book, though it did have a lot of unnecessary sexual parts. Abel’s journey to find his place in the world and to find the girl of his dreams, was also quite simply the story of a boy trying to lose his virginity. This book had so much potential, but unfortunately failed to reach it.

4Q 3P JS

Meet Abel, a seemingly ordinary 17-year-old living in 1899. He and his family are performers and most of the people in their show have some sort of physical difference, such as Phoebe and her brother who are covered in fur. Though many might think that his life seems interesting enough already, Abel is feels like he just doesn’t fit in and longs to get away. He decides to seek adventure by running away with the circus. Along the way, he encounters a traveling freak show where he befriends a frog boy, a lady with crocodile skin, a two headed man, and an Egyptian mummy who seems to be calling to him in his dreams. Before he knows it, Abel finds himself wrapped up in more intrigue and adventure than he bargained for! Can he help all of his new friends escape from their vicious and evil boss, or will Dr. Mink, aka, “The Skeleton Man” and his henchman, kill Abel first?

I think that this novel would appeal to teens who have an interest in historical novels because it gives the reader a feel for how things were at the time, especially for “freaks.” It also makes one think about society treats people with physical differences. The characters in the books may have extreme differences, but they are still people with feelings.

Hmm... This book was interesting. I liked it more by the end than I did in the beginning/middle. At first, I was incredibly annoyed at the main character. Abel was ridiculously selfish and self-centered, and everything he had one of those- Why me?! What about me?! thoughts, I wanted to smack him. Life is not just about you and your convinience buster, so get over it! However, by the end, he did seem to have grown up some. I also liked that he tried to be courageous and strong as a person, but he was terrified much of the time, and generally didn't do so great in confrontations. He got taken down and hurt just like a normal person would. He wasn't some crazy good fighter or anything, just because he was the main character. I didn't like this one as much as I remember liking Blood and Chocolate, or The Silver Kiss, but it was an enjoyable read. A little strange, but still pretty good.

Back in the 1970s, I saw Tod Browning's infamous film "Freaks". When it was made this film was seen by many as an exploitation of those born with various physical (and sometimes mental) anomalies, but for me it seemed that the film did just the opposite. Through watching this movie, I was shown the humanity and tribulations of these individuals. I became interested in how they were more like everyone else rather than how they were different. Because of this, I wanted to read more about these actual individuals lives, so I could try & understand who they actually were. Having been born in the 1950s, the norm of the time was to either to hide these individuals away or to display them in circus side shows or in carnivals. The movie "Freaks" was the first time I had been allowed to see what life must have been like for them.
Klaus' book is set at the turn of the 20th century and is based on the lives of several of real sideshow personages alongside that of a fictional "normal" young man named Abel Dandy . Abel has grown up in an permanent attraction known as Faeryland. He is the child of a father born with no legs and a mother born with no arms. Everyone there is family in the broad sense of the word, but they are all special in one way or another, so ironically it is Able who sees himself as a "freak".
Abel sets off on his own hoping to find his fortune. Unbeknownst to him he is followed by one of Faeryland's other denizens, Apollo who is known as the "Dog-Faced Boy". Together they find themselves in the clutches of the unscupulous Dr. Mink who runs a shabby traveling "freak show". Mink kidnaps children who have been born with physical anomalies in order to exhibit them.
While the subject matter of this book is controversial, I feel that Klaus has managed to illuminate a darker moment in human history so that we may understand it more thoroughly. By being made aware of this moment in our past, we may become more open and sensitive to all differences.

This was an interesting book, not to-die-for, but about an unusual topic, the unusual people who worked in the old circus sideshows freak exhibits.

This book is written at a middle school or young ya level, but the sexual innuendos make it improper for that age group, so I am not sure who the correct audiences would be.

Likes:
* Abel Dandy's loyalty and resourcefulness
* Abel's companions: Apollo, the puppy boy; Minnie, the seer; Mr. Ginger and his twin; and Bop, the foul-mouthed, human catapillar or torso.
* the differences in the way the freaks were perceived and treated: oddities, money-makers, possessions, sub-human, or just different looking people.

Dislikes:
* written for middle school/ya with so many sexual innuendos and true love even though it was adultery was okay
* Abel's obsession with, Tauseret, reanimated mummy was odd and didn't really fit into the rest of the story and caused a lot of the inappropriate situatiions
* can't trust the law, must avoid
* the hero, Abel, does not confess to his self-defense killing of CeeCee and is happy that the sheriff suggests that one of the ruffians probably did it

With-reservations:
- temporary work in a brothel and got propositioned
- lots of obscure and clear references to arousal, desire and sex
- murder

This is my most favorite book ever. The setting of an old-timey circus/freak show was entirely enchanting and you'll really fall in love with the characters. The action is fast paced and you'll feel your heart tear apart several times too. This is such an amazing book.

The setting and characters in this story were very well done. Abel was amazing and the dog boy was too. She did a very good job of representing the sideshow people as people. The only thing I didn't like was the whole dream Egyptian princess. It didn't fit in with the story line for me and I love ancient Egypt. It was a good idea though it just did not work.

A lot to like in this mix of historical fiction and fantasy, but it was very ambitious-- to the point of being overly busy with the various plotlines. Recommend it to older fans of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.