I grabbed Louisa Klein‘s Supernatural Freak from the Amazon KDP list.
Description from Goodreads:
When paranormal expert Robyn Wise is offered an outrageous sum of money to cure a boy who is turning into a dead tree, she’s very sceptical. A politician ready to pay that much to make his son stop growing branches instead of hair? Come on! She’s more likely to be abducted by aliens. This is a trap. Or much worse. And, of course, it’s much worse.
The child is turning into a dark portal, created by a powerful entity determined to absorb Fairyland’s power. This means that not only queen Titania and her court are in danger, but the very balance of the magic fluxes.
Robyn’d rather stick a pencil in her own eye but. to learn how to destroy the portal, she has to sneak into the Wizardry Council, a place full of wizards who are hiding something—though it’s certainly not their dislike of her.
There, she discovers a terrible secret that could help to overthrow Fairyland’s enemies for good, but puts her in the midst of an ancient and deadly war, and not as a bystander, but as the main target.
Review:
I’m fairly torn about my feelings on Supernatural Freak. On one hand it was really funny and I honestly enjoyed the read. On the other I found some aspects of it mind numbingly annoying.
To start off, I do love that cover. It’s the reason I read the book in the first place. Second, Robyn is extremely sarcastic and often witty. It would be hard not to enjoy her or her friends, who she bounces insults off fairly regularly throughout the book. Said friends are also wonderful. I especially liked James and The Duke. I also rather guiltily enjoyed her constant jokes about ‘Britishness.’ I’m not sure if she was laughing at them or with them on that one, since the character lived in London and was at least part English, but it was funny.
On the flip side however, I found the repeated use of titles and pet names…well, repetitive. William tagged the pet reference, Child, onto the end of almost every sentence directed at Robyn. Her uncle did much the same with ‘Niece’ and she reciprocated with ‘Uncle’. (Which are odd uses of the titles to start with, before one even adds the complication of using them so often.) Then her roommates constantly call her ‘boss’. I eventually found myself cringing. It’s like being with someone who insists on saying your name in every sentence they speak to you, but worse. It’s not natural, nor does it flow well. By the end of the book they just felt like random extraneous words.
Speaking of words, I give Ms. Klein serious kudos for the appropriate use of the words hirsute, suppurating, gelid, Philology, perspicacious, arabesques, redingote, anarchic and interlocutor in sentences. I know some readers complain about the use of a $10 word when a $1 word will do, but I love coming across examples that force me to utilise the dictionary option on my Kindle. What is the use of such a wide and varied English language if we don’t break out the bad boys on occasion. This is a bonus in my reading world. On yet another, related hand, however is the small matter of editing. I think the book could probably do with another pass.
Not a bonus for me is the narrative style. The story is told in first person, present tense. This is my absolutely least favourite narrative style. I don’t think it ever sounds natural. I always wonder why the character is dictating their actions as they go along. It doesn’t work for me, but that is just a personal preference of course. I also thought that the eventual face off wrapped up far too easily. Every-time Robyn found herself in a difficult spot some magical accoutrement would suddenly glow or grow warm to tell her how to solve the problem. Despite these complaints the book is a fun read. I’m glad to have picked it up
