REVIEW: Freaksville 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 a mystery of a supernatural haunting, they must uncover the secrets of the haunted theater when they are trapped on the night of the full moon. YA Paranormal

REVIEW:
Kasey has the gift (or curse) of sight – whenever she touches someone she sees bits and pieces of their future and it’s not always a good one. She has to wear long gloves to school so she doesn’t accidentally touch someone. As you can imagine this doesn’t make her Miss Popularity in school. One day she touches Josh, the hottie British exchange student and her world spirals out of control. In her quest to save Josh from the future she saw in her vision, she finds herself in a world of murderous ghosts, werewolves and other supernatural beings.
The story is told as if Kasey is writing her blog. This style didn’t work for me. I don’t think anyone writes in that much detail on their blog (I could be wrong). Kasey wants to be a normal girl and hides her powers from everyone except those closest to her, so it was hard for me to believe that she would use real names and events online and risk exposing her secret. Having said that, it didn’t deter from the story. The comments after each post were a nice touch and sometimes revealing. Another thing that makes this book unique are the drawings throughout the book and a helpful glossary to understand Josh’s British slang.
What I really did like about this story were the supporting characters. I loved Kasey’s best friend Gillie. Gillie isn’t afraid to tell Kasey when she’s acting self absorbed. Their relationship changes throughout the book as secrets are revealed. I also liked Kasey’s parents. They were more complex than in most stories of this nature and they are central to the plot. Josh is cute and sweet and of course has his own secrets, but it’s his best friend Gunther who I adored.
Josh and Kasey make a cute couple but I’m not sure I believed that they were in “love” that fast with all that was going on around them. They're relationship will be put to the test by their growing powers and with the revelation that their families have been in involved in a 700 year long fued.
I would have liked Freaksville to delve a little deeper and be a little darker than it was but so many potentially game changing things are hinted at that I’m looking forward to the next book.
Liked: The supporting characters and the set up for the next book, FURRY AND FREAKED
Nitpick: Wasn’t a big fan of the blog format or the drawings but neither were a distraction to the story.

Rating: 2.8 out of 4 There are a lot of similar books out right now and I enjoyed this one but what I’m really looking forward to is FURRY AND FREAKED Book 2 of this series! Looks like it will be more of what I wanted in this one.

• Authors website: Kitty Keswick
• Buy the book! Freaksville or HERE at Leap Books
• Free Read "MY PROM DATES A VAMPIRE" a free story by Kitty Keswick at Leap Books Exclusives
• Kitty is also part of the Class of 2k10 debut YA authors! Check out who's coming up next!