Review by ALynnPowers -- Demon Freaks
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ALynnPowers
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Review by ALynnPowers -- Demon Freaks
[Following is a volunteer review of "Demon Freaks" by J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison.]
Demon Freaks by J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison is a young adult book like I've never read before. The story manages to combine horror and comedy with supernatural fantasy, with some action and adventure thrown in for good measure. I absolutely love it when genre lines are blurred, and this book seems to have a little bit of everything.
After another awful class with their evil history teacher, twins Ron and Bing plan to have a calm evening studying for the SATs and practicing with their bandmates, Meat and Kaitlyn. Fate has other plans for them. Their history teacher shows up, possessed by a spirit that has been trapped inside a dagger. A series of insane events leads the twins on a mission to rescue their two friends from a cult of golfers. Yes, golfers. The golfers plan on using their friends for a sacrifice in order to summon a demon. How will they manage to save their friends and take the SATs in the morning?
The idea of a cult of demon-summoning golfers still makes me chuckle. I can safely say that I have never before come across such an idea among the many books I have read before in my life. There are other ideas within this story that seem a bit silly on their own, but make complete sense within the context of the book. For example, it's occasionally mentioned in the book that Ron and Bing's parents work at McDonald's. This seems trivial until much later in the book, allowing for another round of chuckles on my end. That's what I loved most about the book. Seemingly random concepts and details are laced together throughout the book to create a funny adventure and a uniquely clever story.
The story is told in third person perspective and jumps around to follow different characters at different times. Usually I don't like when stories jump around like this, but in this case, it was wonderfully executed and contributed to my enjoyment of the book. Most of the story focuses on Ron and Bing, but Meat and Kaitlyn play a huge role in the story as well. Meat was my favorite character and arguably the driving force in the plot of the story. Without his perspective, there is no way the story could have been told as well as it was.
I give this book a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. The well-executed crossover between horror and humor was enough to make me love it, but it went even further than that with all of the other genres that were brought to the table. On top of that, it is well-written and appears professionally edited. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys young adult books of any genre, with caution that the book contains mild language and mature content.
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Demon Freaks
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Demon Freaks by J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison is a young adult book like I've never read before. The story manages to combine horror and comedy with supernatural fantasy, with some action and adventure thrown in for good measure. I absolutely love it when genre lines are blurred, and this book seems to have a little bit of everything.
After another awful class with their evil history teacher, twins Ron and Bing plan to have a calm evening studying for the SATs and practicing with their bandmates, Meat and Kaitlyn. Fate has other plans for them. Their history teacher shows up, possessed by a spirit that has been trapped inside a dagger. A series of insane events leads the twins on a mission to rescue their two friends from a cult of golfers. Yes, golfers. The golfers plan on using their friends for a sacrifice in order to summon a demon. How will they manage to save their friends and take the SATs in the morning?
The idea of a cult of demon-summoning golfers still makes me chuckle. I can safely say that I have never before come across such an idea among the many books I have read before in my life. There are other ideas within this story that seem a bit silly on their own, but make complete sense within the context of the book. For example, it's occasionally mentioned in the book that Ron and Bing's parents work at McDonald's. This seems trivial until much later in the book, allowing for another round of chuckles on my end. That's what I loved most about the book. Seemingly random concepts and details are laced together throughout the book to create a funny adventure and a uniquely clever story.
The story is told in third person perspective and jumps around to follow different characters at different times. Usually I don't like when stories jump around like this, but in this case, it was wonderfully executed and contributed to my enjoyment of the book. Most of the story focuses on Ron and Bing, but Meat and Kaitlyn play a huge role in the story as well. Meat was my favorite character and arguably the driving force in the plot of the story. Without his perspective, there is no way the story could have been told as well as it was.
I give this book a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. The well-executed crossover between horror and humor was enough to make me love it, but it went even further than that with all of the other genres that were brought to the table. On top of that, it is well-written and appears professionally edited. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys young adult books of any genre, with caution that the book contains mild language and mature content.
******
Demon Freaks
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Latest Review: Sarah's Dream by Eileen Bird
