This was such a weird trip and the circus vibes absolutely added to the unhinged themes! I was hooked from the start, and will keep an eye out for this authors next work

Sadly this was a DNF for me at 34%. The premise was so promising and it felt like American Horror Freakshow but it just wasn't for me.

What do you get if you mix The Greatest Showman, American Horror Story and The Craft? You get Freakslaw.

Set in 1997, it follows Freakslaw, a weird and wonderful travelling funfair which arrives at the Scottish town of Pitlaw, a place full of repression and societal expectations. The people of Freakslaw are everything the people of Pitlaw aren’t - they’re vibrant, wild and free and they’re not afraid to deviate from society’s “norms”. Their arrival to this grey, repressed Scottish town isn’t just to ruffle a few feathers. For centuries ago the town of Pitlaw was also a place where some truly awful things happened to deviant women they labelled “witches”. There is an ancient debt that needs to be paid and a balance that needs to be restored. The ancestors want their revenge.

Omg this book!!! It was nostalgic, visceral, queer and raunchy and Jane Flett’s writing was an absolute feast for my brain. There are so many fabulous characters in this book and so many who are polar opposites to each other that it just makes you feel ALL the feels. The members of Freakslaw not only seduce the people of Pitlaw, they seduce you as a reader too. It is fantastically chaotic and terrifyingly unhinged and I wish I could read it for the first time again. I think it’s going to be a bit of a marmite book (you’ll either love it or you’ll hate it) but for me, I want more! I want a Freakslaw series. I want to become a member of the Freakslaw family. This book has become part of my identity and I’m completely obsessed! I really hope it gets the hype it deserves when it’s released next month. Absolutely FABULOUS 🤌🏻

A whirligig, Tilt-A-Whirl of a book, that starts off slow then drags you in for the ride of your life.

Freakslaw is a gorgeous, delicious feast, opening with a zoetrope of vignettes, seemingly disparate introductions to the Pitslaw townsfolk and the incomers of the Freakslaw, a travelling funfair; and like oil on water, when the two groups meet, everything ignites and no-one is left as before, not even the Freakslaw's mysterious found family.

Pitslaw is a post-industrial backwater of a town, where anger simmers beneath the surface of every family and every encounter. No-one is happy but no-one would ever admit it either. So when the funfair rolls into an empty field one early summer day, promising strangeness and novelty, the town wakens, ready to deal with the viper now in its midst.

But this is no ordinary funfair: Flett infuses the neon gothic of the sideshow and the carny with the blood and alchemy of witchcraft and voodoo, wrapped around with sexuality and transgression and bigotry. It's a visceral read, full of heat and threat and desire. To the very end it remains unexpected as the plot twists tighter and tighter, each choice by the townsfolk or the funfair folk contributing to a resounding and optimistic conclusion.

I didn't want to leave: five stars.

"There’s something utterly wonderful about ruin, because once you’ve fallen far enough, you stop trying to impress anyone. It’s only then that life’s true opportunities make themselves known."

Roll up roll up, are you prepared to be completely captivated by the characters of Freakslaw?

It's dark, it's stricking, it's absolutely brilliant! I FrEaKiNg loved this book within the first 20% of this I knew it was going to be a 5 star read. I could not get enough of the characters. The writing is out of this world it will pull you in, and it won't let you go!

The little mention of pogs had me reminiscing my childhood. I loved collecting them. I had loads!

If you could have one thing from the 90s brought back, what would it be?

"Because it’s one thing to be in possession of a body that draws stares, and quite another to flaunt it."

welcome to freakslaw. it's the circus that will shatter your grey, conversative, small-town life ... and the book that will make it oh so much better.

freakslaw by Jane Flett is a debut force to be reckoned with. for fans of kirsty logan and mona awad, flett's visceral writing and characters that truly come alive drag you into the world of freakslaw with them. you will follow the arrival of this chaotic, queer and magical found family (the freakslaws) and witness as they unfurl this quiet town into chaos.

nancy was my favourite character from the get-go. she is a scorpio (like me!), opinionated and her character was very edgy tumblr inspired. her lack of care for consequences made her come off a little annoying 3/5 deep into the novel; there are literally 3 pages of other extremely unique and well written characters that it didn't irk me that much. zed and ruth were the other stand out characters and I like the way ruth's story was rounded off.

this novel is not for the faint hearted. It is true chaos and folk horror and visceral and bloody and I love it.

this will not be everyone's cuppa tea, but if it's yours, then oh boy are you going to love this.

thank you to the publisher and the author for sending me this ARC. all opinions are my own, honest views.

(Content Warnings included at the bottom of my review for those who find them helpful - so fair warning that they may contain spoilers)

I can't remember the last book I read with such a *killer* first paragraph - it instantly made me laugh out loud, and captured so much of the irreverence and dark humour that was in store throughout the story. I fell in love with the book instantly! Even if you just read that first paragraph, that should tell you everything you need to know about whether this book is right for you.

This is a sometimes tongue-in-cheek but very insightful look at how society treats its "freaks", told through the lens of a travelling funfair full of some wonderful but deeply flawed characters, who set up shop in a close-minded small Scottish town. A powerful portrayal - sometimes direct, sometimes allegorical - of toxic masculinity, toxic conformity or puritanism, bigotry, and the dangers of self-righteousness. Jane Flett explains at the beginning of the book that she made a conscious effort to get sensitivity reads from people with lived experience of diverse identities relating to sexuality, gender, race, weight and disability, to ensure she was representing them in a fair and conscientious way - and I feel she did a fantastic job.

Even before I cover Content Warnings at the end, I will forewarn you that a lot of this book explores prejudice, anger, hatred and violence, with some graphic descriptions and hard-hitting macabre moments. It also contains a fair amount of sexual content. So not for the most faint-hearted, but well worth the journey.

I must also say, as someone who has lived in Scotland almost my entire adult life, the Scottish setting, language and cultural references were really satisfying.

I really appreciated the helpful character list at the beginning, providing a pithy description of each character's key personality traits. I found it really useful to go back to a few times, because there are a *lot* of characters to keep track of. Some are extremely well-developed, some less so but I still really enjoyed what I got to find out about each of them; there was a fairly clear divide in Good vs Bad for some of them (almost to the point of needing a pantomime hiss from the audience whenever they come onstage), though a few are much more complex anti-heroes.

I truly loved this book, it was a really enjoyable read from start to finish, even with some of its darker themes. I am very much looking forward to reading whatever Jane Flett writes next! My eternal thanks to NetGalley, Random House UK and Transworld Publishers for the ARC of this wonderful book (in exchange for an honest review), which I am so glad I got to read!

I will now cover some Content Warnings, as there are quite a few - so it should go without saying, here there be SPOILERS:

Content Warnings:

- animal cruelty & death
- bigotry & prejudice including physical violence - ableism, fatphobia, misogyny, and queerphohia incl multiple instances of homophobia & transphobia
- body horror, incl fear of piercing & trypanophobia
- burial alive
- cancer
- child abuse & domestic violence, including physical and emotional abuse
- death by burning (relatively graphic description of multiple ways that can kill you)
- gambling
- pregnancy and abortion
- sexual content
- violence and blood

This was not to my tastes I can't pinpoint what it was but I really didn't like it. Perhaps it was the magic and horror element that's not really my thing. I liked the point the author was making about the small town mentality and the wider examination of how we treat people different from ourselves but I think how it was delivered made the point a bit comical and it got lost. There was lot characters some of which were well written and you got a good insight to them but there was a lot bit characters that didn't really get a mention so I questioned the point of giving the reader wee snippets of them. It didn't work. 2.5 stars but not one for me

This was a gripping read, I thought the characters were intriguing and I'm going to keep an eye out for more from this author.

I loved everything about this book. A funfair/freakshow comes to quiet Scottish town and slowly infiltrates its alternative lifestyle into the lives of the locals. What happens? Well you need to read it! Not for the faint hearted or prudish of readers but if you persevere it will be worth it.

Reading the premise of the book really made me want to read this. It sounded so interesting and I’m so glad i got a chance to read this. The cover is really eye catching and I would definitely pick it up in a bookshop.

Starting off I’m not going to lie, I did struggle to get into this to begin with, I struggled with the writing and sometimes felt like things had gone off on a tangent and lost it’s train of thought.

I did enjoy reading about Derek and Ruth and was interested to see how much changes for them as the book goes on. I do wish we got some more backstory on the other characters that are part of Freakslaw or on the other hand just not mention them as much as it feels like we missed out on some good back stories such as Pin Gal, Gretchen and the owner Mr Partlett.

I like the setting of it being in a small conservative town in Scotland. It gave good contrast from the wild goings on at the fair.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book with no obligation to review.

I could not get into this book at all at first. I kept reading a couple of pages and then stopping, going reluctantly back to it, reading a few pages and stopping etc. I am glad that I persevered though because it is worth reading.

I think the problem for me was that early on we get a lot of icky stuff about blood magic and the earth and soil and worms and things and I didnt like that. Also, I felt that some of the descriptions, especially in relation to Nancy were a bit crude. I don't know if the writing gets less crude or if I just got used to it but after I got into the book, i didnt really notice it.

I think the book is quite realistic in its portrayal of a small, rural, north eastern Scottish town, maybe not these days but certainly in the not so distant past. I loved the liberal use of that great Scottish word "dunt".

there is an undercurrent of threat, violence and approaching chaos throughout and it all comes to a head at the end. There is a wide range of characters, some more mysterious than others - who exactly is the Funfair owner? Do he and Gloria and Nancy represent old gods or some sort of primaeval force? I don't know and it's not made clear but it's interesting to think about. Why are the strongmen described as if they are clones? I felt there might have been things going on that I didn't get.

I was a bit disappointed by the end in that we don't really know what happens to Ruth.

All in all, something different, and worth a read.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read. Although it's set in small town Scotland, the setting and townsfolks' mentalities will resonate with many across the UK and beyond. It certainly took me back to my teenage years in the mid-to-late 90s, and perfectly captured the feeling of 'otherness' I experienced as a queer teen in a small English town.

I loved the diverse cast of characters and the work Flett put into exploring their motivations and experiences. A slight critcism however would be that the sheer number of characters makes the novel feel slightly overpopulated and results in some intriguing characters being skimmed over - Gretchen Etcetera, for example.

I'm keen to see what Jane Flett writes next.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

With thanks to Netgalley and the author for allowing me to review Frakslaw.

Sadly Freakslaw was a Could not finish book for me, I don't know if it was the writing style or the lay out of the book, but it didn't hold my attention at all.

Overall, this was a fun read.
Freakslaw is the story of those in the margins and those against them (and differences and freedom).

This is a carnivalesque novel of perfect length.
Personal favourites: the setting and the concept, which are quite difficult to write, because of its unfamiliar nature to many artists, the characters and the carnivalesque themes. The writer’s foreword and intentions.

What others might enjoy but I was not 100% on board with: the writing style and the tone were not for me. I found the style more engaging in some chapters. It is not a difficult read, though I expected a more frightening story (this may be my own misunderstanding).

The character list might be handy to many, though it could be placed at the end in the Appendices, for those who lose track of who is who (in general, this was not difficult; a few characters are more prominent, and for great reasons so).

Freaky, fun and fascinating. Great main character whose story will keep many hooked - it’s unusual and it’s different to many we read today. I liked that she was so out there, and I think I’d read more of this world if that happened!!

Pitlaw really is a Godforsaken place, really not where you want to be growing up.

So it's no surprise that the fair coming to town is a big thing, especially for the teenagers.

But they hadn't reckoned on the folk of the fair being so...different

I feel like this would be a fantastic read for people whose favourite season of American Horror Story was Freak Show!

I loved that this was set in a conservative small town within Scotland, and the great respect and care the author took to include people who this history would be important to - queer people and disabled people, alongside outcasts. The note from the author at the beginning of the book was thoughtful and sweet.

However, my main issue with this book is I feel like there were too many characters. There is a list of the main characters and the townsfolk at the start of the book, but this is difficult to refer to when reading an eBook. I feel like, in part three, we really got more of a focus on Nancy and Ruth and everything else was background, which is how I feel the whole book should have gone just because it would have given more time and focus to spend on these characters to expand their stories and their development. In my opinion, they were the most interesting. I love the devotion to the power of teenage girls in this story, and I would have loved to have seen that become a bigger part of the novel.

I did enjoy the other characters, though. I thought what was unravelling between Zed and Derek to be very honest and painful, especially, that was also one of the storylines I really enjoyed following.

The book had a rise to the conservative townsfolk getting slowly more and more enraged by the ‘freakslaw’ and I thought this was also very realistic and absolutely enraging to read.

My star rating does not mean I didn’t enjoy this book, I did! I thought it was a really good debut, I just had some minor issues with it as the characters are (for me) the most important part of the story and, as I said earlier, I think we should have followed less characters to expand on them more.

This will appeal to lots and lots of people, I think!

Massive thanks to PRH and NetGalley, who provided a copy for review!

I was excited by the premise of this book - the travelling Freakslaw funfair and how it may come to be the unravelling of a small, conservative Scottish village. It reminded me slightly of Geek Love by Katherine Dunn, which is one of my favourite books, so I was interested to see how Flett navigated this setting.

I felt that Ruth was the most fleshed-out character of the wide cast, and I think the novel could have benefitted from slimming down the character list just slightly to allow for more focus, particularly on the circus side. I didn't find the horror element too strong or the scenes overly graphic, which is probably suited to a YA audience.

2.5 stars rounded up.

2.5* rounded up.

Freakslaw is a travelling funfair that arrives at a conservative small Scottish town, to titillate, entertain, and offer an opportunity of freedom for both the townsfolk and the funfair's ancestors.

The book begins with a list of characters, which was quite off putting. There is a large cast of characters within the book which could be overwhelming. and whilst I read the list, I can't be bothered scrolling back in an ebook (or any book for that matter) to check the list as I go.

It goes on to set the scene of funfair mystique and predictable outcry from the conservative townsfolk - but not all of them. Some are drawn to the funfair and the escape it offers. There are a few evocative scenes, but mostly I was left wanting more. I didn't find this to be a horror, more just a bit odd. It had a good start, but the ending felt rushed. For the most part, it's a story I've heard before. I felt that I was promised more than I got - more horrors and magic and wonder and terror. It's not particularly graphic (at least by my standards), although there is a fair bit of sex. I particularly liked Ruth's story, especially in the first half. I felt it could have picked up the pace a little, featured more evocative horrors, and utilised the magic better. Overall, it was good in parts but left me wanting more. Thank you to netgalley for the arc.