Freaky Green Eyes

Gotta Love J.C.O.

Oates outdid herself this time. This books is fast and furious and does not stop until the very last page. The story starts with a party on the beach, and Francesca "Franky" Pierson almost getting raped by a college guy. Then it starts describing her homelife. It tells the point of view of someone being abused...something is off in her life and you can just tell. I was 100 pages into the book and it took me only an hour or two to get there. This book is unputdownable. Clear off a couple of hours to read this because you wont want to do anything else. This book is not for everyone, though. It is very dark, and sinister. It is about abuse...the worst possible kind.

Unexpected but good

I would say that this book took me by surprise. It was so realist to the point where you wish you were there to yell at the characters and scream, "what are you thinking" or "What are you doing!" Freaky Green Eyes depicts the life of Franky, the main character. This is a story about the hardest part of her life. I would like to say that she is "waking up to reality." I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. It is a little taste of how things could be much worse and what some people have to live threw every day.

Thrilling, Though Only Towards The End

There were many positive and negative aspects of this novel.The first positive aspect was that the plot was a very interesting one. This is because how many books are there when a girl testifies against her own father? The girl, Francesca is another positive aspect of the story. This is because her bravery makes her stand out from many other characters in many other books. A final positive aspect of this novel is that it is a very emotional tale, one that you can sympithize with. Sadly though, as many positive aspects as there are, there are also negative ones as well. The first negative thing about the novel is that the father has mental problems. This then makes the story have a rather grim tone. Second, the brother of the heroine is very devoted to the father, and his mother, who died when she was 26. When Francesca proves her, and his father to be guilty of killing his second wife, the brothers step-mother, Francesca's brother calls her a traitor and a lier. Finally, though the plot was interesting, it did not get to be until the late middle to the end of the novel. As one can see,the novel Freaky Green Eyes has both positive and negative qualities that distinguish this book from all others.
The writing style of the author is as unique as the author herself, Joyce Carol Oates. First, she often uses short sentences. These are sometimes hard to understand because they are almost sentence fragments. Also, in Freaky Green Eyes, she writes in first person. This allows her to fully communicate Francesca's feelings on matters. Finally, she occasionally uses what some may call "big" words such as "volative" and "indignation". This allows her to use the most specific reasons for her previous actions.
Although this book has an interesting plot and perspective on life, I would not recommend it to any person who dislikes violence or brutality. This is in part because Freaky Green Eyes is a very grim book, with people being murdered. Also, it is a very sad book, as a young girl makes her struggles through her family not only breaking apart, but dying and being jailed for crimes. Thirdly, in this book nothing interesting happens until the end of the middle, making for a boring read. Similar novels include Catalyst, If I Stay, and Rats Saw God. Several novels that I would wholeheartedly recommend are Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Scarlet, as it is a fascinating mystery which I have highly enjoyed, The Mysterious Benedict Society, an adventure about four exeptionally intelligent kids, and Star Trek: Ishmael, a curious, but moving space time travel adventure and one of my favorite books in the world. All in all, although I would not recommend Freaky Green Eyes, I would still recommend the aforesaid books.

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Must read for young readers and adults!

Joyce Carol Oates is an amazing writer. This is an eye opening story. I don't think most adults stop to think what the child is thinking or may be feeling when a diificult situation arises like divorce. Those we love may actually be doing more harm than good and not realize it. No child ever waits to see the bad in a parent no matter what the evidence tells tham. Sometimes it is a journey they must take on their own to see the truth. All you can to is stand aside and support them from the sidelines.

Reviewed by Mark Frye, author and reviewer for TeensReadToo.com

Prolific author Joyce Carol Oates delivers yet again with FREAKY GREEN EYES. With a plot that gradually unfolds to expose a family's destructive private life, this book covers a topic touched upon by many but seldom handled so artfully. <BR/><BR/>As in her previous novels, such as WE WERE THE MULVANEYS, Oates unveils a family that is picture-perfect to the world at large but dysfunctional and horrific behind closed doors. <BR/><BR/>The narrator -- Franky -- unveils the true nature of her father slowly, shocking the reader by the level of her own denial, but is blunt with her criticism towards her mother, whom she views as weak and unloving for moving away. The reader will want to love Reid, the broadcaster and former football star, as the world does, but something is not "right" about how ordered he keeps his family. When their mother leaves, Franky and her younger sister Samantha have no buffer in their lives and begin to see their dad's true nature. <BR/><BR/>The strength of FREAKY GREEN EYES is Oates' narrator and manner of narration. Descriptions are scant and to the point, dialogue is crisp and revealing, and her use of foreknowledge keeps the reader feeling "edgy" until the climax. The reader sees Franky's world through the flawed understanding of a co-dependent child in an abusive home. Children in this type of environment react to the truth as they see it, not as it necessarily really is, and often quite illogically. In this regard, Joyce's "voice" for Franky is quite realistic. A girl her age would not be able to handle things any better than she does in this novel. <BR/><BR/>But Franky's strengths are as realistic as her shortcomings. Her growth as a character begins in the first chapter and continues to the story's conclusion. "Freaky Green Eyes" is the willful, strong side of her personality, first unveiled while fending off a rapist, a side she relies heavily upon as she begins to doubt her father's version of events regarding her mother's eventual disappearance. The realism of Franky's flaws and strengths gives her story strong appeal. <BR/><BR/>This is a masterful young adult novel about the sensitive subject of domestic violence. Readers will empathize with children growing up in such an environment after reading it. Highly recommended.

Dissapointment.

The summary of the books plot looked very intruiging, but the book in fact turned out to be horrible for a number of reasons. The first reason being that the story didnt make sense. I would have to re-read pages numerous times to even get a slight idea of the point the author was trying to get across. Also, the characters were dull and unrealistic. Lastly, the book didnt connect, meaning that one minute shes at her house, the next shes at a friends with no descritpion of getting there, causing the reader get bored with it. I would NOT reccomend this book to anyone.

Addictive the first go, but then you realize it's not that great.

I really have mixed feeling with this book. I mean, once I started reading, I couldn¿t stop. But, I suffer from a strange disease that causes me to lose interest in a book after I¿ve read it. One of the reasons is that the main character really didn¿t stand out. Her way of talking was so boring, it was like having my mind rubbed again a cheese grater. Also, the books seemed to change genres too often. First, it seemed like a regular teenage girl book. Then, that quickly switched to slice-of-life. Then¿murder mystery? What? Yet, the book was a great look on how the human mind works. Franky starts off as a girl completely oblivious to her surroundings. But, after a chain of events, she has to make some tough decisions-some right and some wrong-and matures because of this. Her mind becomes influenced by her father, and she eventually starts to lose distrust in everyone around her. But, once she reads her mother¿s diary, she¿s brought to realization and becomes the ideal kind of young adult. That¿d be powerful, strong, and not afraid to admit the truth, for those of you who don¿t really understand that concept. So, although I strongly don¿t recommend it as a re-read, it¿s pretty addictive during the first time. So, go ahead, read it.

Taylor D's Review

Freaky Green Eyes was definitely an interesting book. It had a lot of great detail to make the reader really enjoy what they were reading. The novel is basically about a girl who has a lot of struggles in her life. One of the struggles she goes through is her parents become separated and her mother starts acting very strange. I think that a lot of teenage girls would really enjoy this novel just because they really can relate to the main character. In order for someone to really enjoy a book they should be able to really get into it and I think every teenager who read this would really be able to. Teenage boys might not like this book as much as teenage girls, but boys you can always try something new such as Freaky Green Eyes. I will be honest though some parts of the book really did feel like they were dragged on and if you get to a certain part of the book that you feel is that way just keep reading because it only gets better.

Freaky green eyes.

This book is really good, it had an unpredictable ending and i loved reading every page of it.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

Prolific author Joyce Carol Oates delivers yet again with FREAKY GREEN EYES. With a plot that gradually unfolds to expose a family's destructive private life, this book covers a topic touched upon by many but seldom handled so artfully. As in her previous novels, such as WE WERE THE MULVANEYS, Oates unveils a family that is picture-perfect to the world at large but dysfunctional and horrific behind closed doors. The narrator -- Franky -- unveils the true nature of her father slowly, shocking the reader by the level of her own denial, but is blunt with her criticism towards her mother, whom she views as weak and unloving for moving away. The reader will want to love Reid, the broadcaster and former football star, as the world does, but something is not ¿right¿ about how ordered he keeps his family. When their mother leaves, Franky and her younger sister Samantha have no buffer in their lives and begin to see their dad's true nature. The strength of FREAKY GREEN EYES is Oates' narrator and manner of narration. Descriptions are scant and to the point, dialogue is crisp and revealing, and her use of foreknowledge keeps the reader feeling ¿edgy¿ until the climax. The reader sees Franky's world through the flawed understanding of a co-dependent child in an abusive home. Children in this type of environment react to the truth as they see it, not as it necessarily really is, and often quite illogically. In this regard, Joyce's ¿voice¿ for Franky is quite realistic. A girl her age would not be able to handle things any better than she does in this novel. But Franky's strengths are as realistic as her shortcomings. Her growth as a character begins in the first chapter and continues to the story's conclusion. ¿Freaky Green Eyes¿ is the willful, strong side of her personality, first unveiled while fending off a rapist, a side she relies heavily upon as she begins to doubt her father's version of events regarding her mother's eventual disappearance. The realism of Franky's flaws and strengths gives her story strong appeal. This is a masterful young adult novel about the sensitive subject of domestic violence. Readers will empathize with children growing up in such an environment after reading it. Highly recommended. Five stars. **Reviewed by: Mark Frye, author and reviewer

Genius. Period.

This book was outstanding. The plot,style of writing, conflict, main characters, supporting characters, antagonist---all of it blended together like poetry. I connected so much to this book! It was so deep and captivating, I couldn't put it down! It brought literature to a whole new level for me. Read it---you'll love it.

Great book for young adults

This was a perfect book for my ninth grade students to read as a choice for a novel project. I selected this as my first book to read with them and couldn't put it down--it's a real page turner.

Awesome book!!

Freaky Green Eyes is a must read for teenagers. I don¿t think many could relate to the story, but it makes you realize how much your family means to you and what it would feel like if they were taken away. The setting of the story is in Washington. Franky is the main character and she has a wonderful personality that is fun to follow. She has a voice inside of her, Freaky, who helps her get through hard times. In the end, Freaky helps Franky do the right thing and escape the wrath of her father. Franky¿s father, Reid Pierson is a famous sports caster and a former football star. Franky and her younger sister Samantha adore the famous father and love to see him on television, but when he is at home, it¿s a whole other ballgame. Their mother, Krista begins to feel like she doesn¿t get enough respect from him. Freaky can sense the tension in the house and decides to investigate and see if she can do something about it. Her mother is an artist and begins to go to her cabin in the woods to paint, and draw, and escape from reality. Franky begins to investigate why her parents are acting different and why her mother goes away more and more. Franky is discovering that her mother beginning to wear long sleeved shirts and scarves in the warm summer weather. Almost like she is hiding something¿ Freaky Green Eyes is a five star book. It is a story that makes you wants to keep reading. You can learn a valuable lesson.

Good

This book was good but it was really long

AMAZING!! AMAZING!! AMAZING!!!

I loved this book. Some people think that it is scary, but I just find it shocking and really well written. It was very suspensful, and always interersting. I was never able to put the book down. I highly reccomend this book for young adults 12 and up.

Good book, but boring at times

The book was very good overall, but it had some boring parts. It seemed that the book went on forever, but towards the end it got very good and I didn't want to put it down. I had this love hate relationship with her dad at the end of the book because I hated what he said to her, but I thought that it was brilliant.

I didn't like it

This book was so boring. I bought it because it gave you the idea that she had something paranormal going on, but it didn't. I was very disappointed.

An intriguing book

This book is wonderful. It really showed us an everyday girl who was going through everyday family problems. Her life is torn apart by the haunting of her mother's dissappearance and her parent's seperation. It leads to a conclusion after she comes to find the cause of her mother's death and dissapearance and helps her understand better the reason for her parent's seperation. I recommended this for young adults ages 12 and up. ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AWESOMEEE

I had never read one of her books before but my English teacher recommended this book so I decided to try it. I absolutely loved it! The writer was so good at the little things and she related so well to some of the troubles that teens go through today. Highly recommend it!

Loved It!

I loved this book. It was written very well. Some people say it's scary, but I disagree. It is sad, though. I give this book 5 stars. (not recommended for children under 12 years of age)