Review by Ginnamassa19 -- Demon Freaks

Ginnamassa19 · Post by **Ginnamassa19** » 15 May 2018, 05:47

[Following is a volunteer review of "Demon Freaks" by J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison.]

2 out of 4 stars

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There really is no better way to explain the plot of Demon Freaks by J.R.R.R (Jim) Hardison than this: on the night before their SATs, four high-school kids find themselves locked in a battle with the supernatural, sneak into the lair of an evil cult, and end up trying to save the universe with all the power and wisdom of a MacDonald’s Big Breakfast—all before their exams the next morning.

Sounds like a romp, right? It most certainly is. Demon Freaks, if nothing else, is a rollercoaster ride from start to finish: it’s four hundred and sixty-eight pages chock-full of supernatural action, dialogue and a large enough cast of characters to make any reader’s head spin. For those of you who’ve read the Amazon description of this book, the story follows Bing and Ron Slaughter—along with their bandmates Meat and Kaitlyn—through a terrifying encounter with the occult as what begins as an innocent jamming session turns into a nightmare of epic proportions they will never forget.

As far as content goes, those of you who enjoyed the Mortal Instruments series might find this book entertaining: it’s action-packed, there are supernatural themes, and there’s even a mystery of sorts to be unveiled. This is one of those books that can never really be fully spoiled for anyone; there are so many unexpected twists and turns that you never know what’s going to happen next, so if excitement is what you’re looking for, then you can definitely consider picking this up. (Just take note that this book is a comedy—some of the elements might turn out a little over-the-top for comic effect.)

Having said that, I’ll admit that I didn’t completely enjoy this book, and here are my reasons:

In terms of plot, it felt like Hardison had tried to squeeze too much into too little time—all of the events happened in one night, and yet the story was 468 pages long. While I appreciate the twists and turns that do make the story more interesting, the reader ends up bombarded with far too many arcs and too much information to absorb properly. Because there is so much he wants the reader to know, Hardison ends up info-dumping: you get long chunks of narration within nerve-wracking action scenes, which completely loses the tension being built up and detracts from full immersion. At other times, the info-dumping manifests in long and unnecessary exchanges between characters—which means that the dialogue becomes unrealistic and borders on annoying.

Moving on to the writing itself: it often felt like the book was trying too hard to be funny. While there were some scenes that were genuinely comedic, most of what was intended to be humorous dialogue fell rather flat for me. I personally don’t think the characters were written very well either; they more often than not seemed mere receptacles for the author’s dialogue, and what I did see of their personalities was kind of one-dimensional. Perhaps this might be because there are so many characters; none of them quite got the screentime a smaller cast would have allowed.

Putting the writing and storyline aside, I was also rather put off by the countless times paragraphs were cut off or chapter titles were formatted wrongly (at least in the copy I was given). There were even instances where the HTML was visible within the text, inserted between content words. All of this took away from my reading experience as well, which was very unfortunate.

Overall, I give Demon Freaks 2 out of 4 stars. Although I genuinely liked that the plot was unpredictable and thought the premise was interesting, the awkward writing and the technical aspect did reduce my appreciation for the book. Once professionally edited for content and formatting, this book could potentially get 3 or 4 stars!

I’d still recommend Demon Freaks to those who enjoy urban fantasy or even anyone looking for something a little different from the mainstream. The concept of a comic urban fantasy is very refreshing, and for those reading just for the plot, you might like this book better than I did.

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Demon Freaks
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gen_g · Post by **gen_g** » 17 May 2018, 08:43

Thank you for your comprehensive review! This seems like an action-packed book, which would be right up my alley only if Harrison did not rush the plot. The premise seems interesting, but it is a pity that it was neither well-paced nor professionally edited - it would probably be better once an editor has ironed out the various errors and formatted it well.

Ginnamassa19 · Post by **Ginnamassa19** » 17 May 2018, 09:11

gen_g wrote: ↑17 May 2018, 08:43 Thank you for your comprehensive review! This seems like an action-packed book, which would be right up my alley only if Harrison did not rush the plot. The premise seems interesting, but it is a pity that it was neither well-paced nor professionally edited - it would probably be better once an editor has ironed out the various errors and formatted it well.

Thank you for your reply!

Yes, it was sad about the pacing and the editing--the pacing was a little better in the second half, but I found myself so frustrated because the words kept cutting off. *shrugs* Oh well!

Libs_Books · Post by **Libs_Books** » 18 May 2018, 04:46

I've read several reviews of this book now, and yours is not the only one that's been thoroughly entertaining. I originally put this book on my 'Want to Read' book, but I've had my doubts since then, and your review confirms them. Great piece of analysis - thanks.

ayoomisope · Post by **ayoomisope** » 18 May 2018, 06:45

Great and comprehensive review. It still upsets me when a book has so many errors that distract from the story, especially a book with a fascinating plot/premise. I just wish authors would pay more attention to proper proofreading and editing.

Ginnamassa19 · Post by **Ginnamassa19** » 18 May 2018, 08:39

Libs_Books wrote: ↑18 May 2018, 04:46 I've read several reviews of this book now, and yours is not the only one that's been thoroughly entertaining. I originally put this book on my 'Want to Read' book, but I've had my doubts since then, and your review confirms them. Great piece of analysis - thanks.

Thank you! Yes, the plot was what made me want to read it as well, but the writing and technical errors disappointed me.

Ginnamassa19 · Post by **Ginnamassa19** » 18 May 2018, 08:41

ayoomisope wrote: ↑18 May 2018, 06:45 Great and comprehensive review. It still upsets me when a book has so many errors that distract from the story, especially a book with a fascinating plot/premise. I just wish authors would pay more attention to proper proofreading and editing.

Yeah, I totally agree with you--I was rather frustrated by the end because of all the errors! (And I've seen so many ebooks with similar problems.) Thank you for your kind comment

Post by **kandscreeley** » 18 May 2018, 12:40

I'm sorry you didn't like this one. I myself enjoyed it immensely. I thought it was fabulously written and laugh out loud funny. But it does seem to be polarizing. People either love it or hate it.

Jackie Holycross · Post by **Jackie Holycross** » 18 May 2018, 13:53

I am hesitant to read this one since the characters are shallow. I love good character development.

Ginnamassa19 · Post by **Ginnamassa19** » 19 May 2018, 01:24

kandscreeley wrote: ↑18 May 2018, 12:40 I'm sorry you didn't like this one. I myself enjoyed it immensely. I thought it was fabulously written and laugh out loud funny. But it does seem to be polarizing. People either love it or hate it.

Hahaha yeah I've seen a few other reviews of this book that gave it 4 stars! I did find the plot riveting, but I didn't really like the writing overall

I'm glad you did enjoy it though. Thank you for your comment!

Ginnamassa19 · Post by **Ginnamassa19** » 19 May 2018, 01:26

teacherjh wrote: ↑18 May 2018, 13:53 I am hesitant to read this one since the characters are shallow. I love good character development.

Yeah, the characters weren't really fleshed out all that well, although I will say the premise of the book was really interesting

Thank you for commenting!

Faithmwangi · Post by **Faithmwangi** » 22 May 2018, 02:52

Thank for the review.It is indeed sad when a book with so much potential ends up being a bust. I admit i got a little freaked out when i heard cult,but you caught my attention again with comedy.I will probably give this book a try after the necessary changes have been made.

MHScaccia · Post by **MHScaccia** » 22 May 2018, 03:24

Hi everyone!

Newbie here

... about to write my first review for this site!

I just finished the book and quite enjoyed it. While I did find a few errors throughout, there weren’t enough to halt the storyline for me. That may be from having read several books lately with too many errors to count, however. My judgment might be temporarily impaired!

Ginnamassa19 · Post by **Ginnamassa19** » 25 May 2018, 08:50

Faithmwangi wrote: ↑22 May 2018, 02:52 Thank for the review.It is indeed sad when a book with so much potential ends up being a bust. I admit i got a little freaked out when i heard cult,but you caught my attention again with comedy.I will probably give this book a try after the necessary changes have been made.

HAHAHA the book doesn't go very deep into the cult thing, don't worry! XD and yes, it was a refreshing idea to make the plot comic--it just fell a little short for me

Thank you for commenting!

Ginnamassa19 · Post by **Ginnamassa19** » 25 May 2018, 08:54

MHScaccia wrote: ↑22 May 2018, 03:24 Hi everyone!

Newbie here ... about to write my first review for this site!

I just finished the book and quite enjoyed it. While I did find a few errors throughout, there weren’t enough to halt the storyline for me. That may be from having read several books lately with too many errors to count, however. My judgment might be temporarily impaired!

Hey, welcome to the site!

I didn't enjoy the book as much as I could have due to some of the errors, but I'm glad they didn't affect your own immersion in the plot

Thanks for commenting, by the way! And good luck with your first review ^^