What do you think?
Rate this book
Loon Lake Magic #1
Feeding Frenzy: Curse of the Necromancer
Sink your teeth into Feeding Frenzy!
Get ready for a wild ride with Feeding Frenzy, the award-winning urban fantasy novel that will have you laughing, gasping, and hiding under the covers. Loon Lake may seem like a sleepy town, but the witches and necromancers who live there are anything but peaceful. When a deadly eating epidemic threatens the town, it's up to first-year student Tonya to develop dangerous powers and save Loon Lake.
But Tonya isn't alone in this battle. With the help of her new friends - the quirky artist Priya, and the tech-savvy Digital Ninjas Drake and Zain - she'll uncover the dark secrets of her family and develop magical abilities she never knew she had. Together, they'll take on occult conspirators and the deadly creatures lurking in the Loon Lake Cemetery.
Feeding Frenzy is a deliciously creepy blend of intrigue, comedy, romance, and horror that will leave you wanting more. And with a Watty Award under its belt, you know you're in for a treat. So grab a bowl of popcorn, turn off the lights, and join the frenzy. You won't be disappointed.
Readers
“an amazing ride. . . loved every minute of it!” —J. L. Weaver, Penderry's Bizarre series (England)
“A great ending! Loved it!” —Denise Murdoch (USA)
“Just when you think there won't be any more surprises, Maaja Wentz throws us for a loop. . . I NEED MORE.” —Helaine Duvenhage (South Africa)
“fun to read! The ending wrapped things up nicely, but it begs for a sequel.” —David J. Thirteen (Canada)
“Take a spooky town, a food obsession and wrap it all up in a wee bit of @MaajaWentz creepy, ghoul-tainted humor and you end up with the kaleidoscope that is Feeding Frenzy. —Jetta Frame (WattZombie Reviews)
Get ready for a wild ride with Feeding Frenzy, the award-winning urban fantasy novel that will have you laughing, gasping, and hiding under the covers. Loon Lake may seem like a sleepy town, but the witches and necromancers who live there are anything but peaceful. When a deadly eating epidemic threatens the town, it's up to first-year student Tonya to develop dangerous powers and save Loon Lake.
But Tonya isn't alone in this battle. With the help of her new friends - the quirky artist Priya, and the tech-savvy Digital Ninjas Drake and Zain - she'll uncover the dark secrets of her family and develop magical abilities she never knew she had. Together, they'll take on occult conspirators and the deadly creatures lurking in the Loon Lake Cemetery.
Feeding Frenzy is a deliciously creepy blend of intrigue, comedy, romance, and horror that will leave you wanting more. And with a Watty Award under its belt, you know you're in for a treat. So grab a bowl of popcorn, turn off the lights, and join the frenzy. You won't be disappointed.
Readers
“an amazing ride. . . loved every minute of it!” —J. L. Weaver, Penderry's Bizarre series (England)
“A great ending! Loved it!” —Denise Murdoch (USA)
“Just when you think there won't be any more surprises, Maaja Wentz throws us for a loop. . . I NEED MORE.” —Helaine Duvenhage (South Africa)
“fun to read! The ending wrapped things up nicely, but it begs for a sequel.” —David J. Thirteen (Canada)
“Take a spooky town, a food obsession and wrap it all up in a wee bit of @MaajaWentz creepy, ghoul-tainted humor and you end up with the kaleidoscope that is Feeding Frenzy. —Jetta Frame (WattZombie Reviews)
286 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 10, 2018
11 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
About the author
Maaja Wentz
21 books25 followersMaaja Wentz concocts magical worlds and mysteries in a variety of genres. Her first novel, Feeding Frenzy: Curse of the Necromancer, was serialized on Wattpad where it won a Watty award before being published.
For a challenge, Maaja wrote 52 short stories in 52 weeks, finishing April 26, 2020.
Her unique locked-door mystery, Inside of a Dog, appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.
You, won a short story prize in the national Norma Epstein Foundation competition for Creative Writing, University of Toronto.
For free stories and more, please visit maajawentz.com
For a challenge, Maaja wrote 52 short stories in 52 weeks, finishing April 26, 2020.
Her unique locked-door mystery, Inside of a Dog, appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.
You, won a short story prize in the national Norma Epstein Foundation competition for Creative Writing, University of Toronto.
For free stories and more, please visit maajawentz.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 5, 2018
Here's a solid UF for ya.
That's ya, not YA, in case you're wondering, for while a lot of the action takes place on a Campus, the action is all witches, ravenous hoards, and horror nods. The first half of the novel promises to be a humorous romp as students and teachers succumb to a strange illness/curse that makes them gobble up everything in sight and then walk around like a zombie afterward. I'd say Bulimia, but this is a bit of tight necromancy instead. The second half is an all-out zombie-ish apocalypse that is part food riot and part magical conspiracy.
I thought it was pretty fun! Pure popcorn, of course, but sometimes we just HAVE to have our popcorn reads. :) Fun is fun is fun. :)
I'm looking forward to eating the next book. :) Nom Nom Nom.
That's ya, not YA, in case you're wondering, for while a lot of the action takes place on a Campus, the action is all witches, ravenous hoards, and horror nods. The first half of the novel promises to be a humorous romp as students and teachers succumb to a strange illness/curse that makes them gobble up everything in sight and then walk around like a zombie afterward. I'd say Bulimia, but this is a bit of tight necromancy instead. The second half is an all-out zombie-ish apocalypse that is part food riot and part magical conspiracy.
I thought it was pretty fun! Pure popcorn, of course, but sometimes we just HAVE to have our popcorn reads. :) Fun is fun is fun. :)
I'm looking forward to eating the next book. :) Nom Nom Nom.
August 8, 2018
Rating and Review to come after Aug 1 when SPFBO officially starts.
Merged review:
SPFBO4 REVIEW!
Tonya is a newly graduated high school student who is living at home with her parents. Her family is a part of the Purist faction of magic users, which means that although they have magical abilities they don’t approve of spell use and live as though they have no magic. Trads are those who openly use magic and are proud of it, predictably the two factions don’t get along well and the Old Families get into feuds all the time which fuels the resentment running deep on both sides. Mundanes are being kept ignorant on purpose, and they aren’t aware that magic even exists.
Tonya is supposed to be heading off to college soon, she wants to go to Toronto University but her parents keep telling her that’s not an option because it’s “unsafe”, they only offer vague and unconvincing reasons why they feel that way leaving Tonya frustrated. Tonya eventually loses the argument and is enrolled into the local Loon Lake college.
When she arrives at school she makes a friend named Priya who’s sort of a free spirit, she’s an artist and likes doing spooky art installations. She also has a rather hellish roommate, she’s the self-absorbed type that takes a lot of mental energy just to be around. Soon after she arrives at school though, her parents go missing. They aren’t answering her calls or her emails and she thinks something is wrong. She heads over to her parent’s house and finds them missing, and not only that, they had sold their family home without telling her. She calls her aunt Helen, her aunt is the black sheep in the family since she uses magic, but Tonya believes that she should at least know what’s going on. Except, her aunt Helen isn’t answering either, leaving Priya in the dark.
Trying not to panic, she continues to go to school and live as normally as possible. Her friend Priya wants to make an art installation in time for the Halloween parties and wants to do it in the cemetery. Tonya knows this is a horrible idea, she’s been warned about that cemetery so she has a vague but very strong sense to stay away from it. What she doesn’t know, but the audience knows, is that there’s an Entity trapped underneath the cemetery and is slowly working his way out. Gravedigger fungi grow in the neural pathways of the dead allowing the dead to whisper from the grave, people will hear voices if they stay for long enough. It’s not thought to be deadly, but the fungus found its way into a very evil person who begins to whisper subconscious thoughts into the surrounding area. People all over campus start to eat far too much, at first it’s almost unnoticeable, people start gaining a little weight and eating a bit more than usual. After a while though, people go into an almost zombie-like state where all they can think about is food. The shuffle around mumbling about food, they’re slow, they don’t think clearly, and start gorging themselves whenever they can. The city gets quarantined and it’s up to Tonya and her friends to stop what’s going down.
Tonya is insecure in herself for most of the book, she’s been teased about her weight for most of her childhood and it continues as she goes into college. She’s inspired by Priya since she puts such little thought into what others think about her. She can be loyal to her friends and her family and deals with stress pretty well. She gets kidnapped, tries to stop an evil Entity from rising again, and has to fight back against people who want her dead.
There were a bunch of different POV’s in this, Tonya is the main character but along with her there are villain POV’s and many of her friends get POV’s too and it leads to some characters being more developed than others. The writing was mostly upbeat, this wasn’t the gory kind of book I had been anticipating. The title is suggestive of zombies, in a way there were zombies, but the students were stumbling around mumbling about “pancakes” instead of “brains”.
There wasn’t much magic use until about 50-60% through the book, and when it did show up it was mysterious and unpredictable. Magic can be used to throw fireballs, or stop said fireballs, make lightning bolts, take life energy from other living things, etc. There are rough guidelines though, magic takes energy out of you and it requires time to recharge itself so there’s only so much magic one person can do at a time. “The Entity” is left vague and mysterious as well, all you really know is that it would benefit no one if he’s allowed to escape.
There were some problems I had with the book, some of it just personal taste. There was a lot of bullying and general immaturity going on at college that felt a little out of place, the dialogue and insults used made it feel kind of more like middle school. There were also passages where characters didn’t understand what I consider to be pretty basic science concepts. Ie: one character said “neural pathways” and the response from the other character was “The nurr-huh?” I don’t know why that kind of thing bothers me, but it does. I had some world building questions as well, like how it was possible the Mundanes don’t know about magic yet since Tonya has told some of her friends about her abilities, she certainly couldn’t be the only one sharing secrets. In the modern day, something like that would be hard to keep under wraps if there weren’t some kind of enforceable laws in place by the magical community. I would have liked to have seen the ‘why’ behind many of the world-building aspects, like why the Purists don’t like using magic.
There were parts of the book I liked and others that just didn’t work for me, but there’s definitely a target audience here for people who like upbeat writing, a bit of humor, low violence, and urban fantasy. There were a few twists at the end, and it was left open and ready for a sequel so this is not a stand-alone.
Ratings:
Plot: 9/15
Characters: 9/15
World Building: 9/15
Writing: 10/15
Pacing: 11/15
Originality: 11/15
Personal Enjoyment: 5.5/10
Final Score: 64.5/100 or 3.25/5 stars on Goodreads.
Merged review:
SPFBO4 REVIEW!
Tonya is a newly graduated high school student who is living at home with her parents. Her family is a part of the Purist faction of magic users, which means that although they have magical abilities they don’t approve of spell use and live as though they have no magic. Trads are those who openly use magic and are proud of it, predictably the two factions don’t get along well and the Old Families get into feuds all the time which fuels the resentment running deep on both sides. Mundanes are being kept ignorant on purpose, and they aren’t aware that magic even exists.
Tonya is supposed to be heading off to college soon, she wants to go to Toronto University but her parents keep telling her that’s not an option because it’s “unsafe”, they only offer vague and unconvincing reasons why they feel that way leaving Tonya frustrated. Tonya eventually loses the argument and is enrolled into the local Loon Lake college.
When she arrives at school she makes a friend named Priya who’s sort of a free spirit, she’s an artist and likes doing spooky art installations. She also has a rather hellish roommate, she’s the self-absorbed type that takes a lot of mental energy just to be around. Soon after she arrives at school though, her parents go missing. They aren’t answering her calls or her emails and she thinks something is wrong. She heads over to her parent’s house and finds them missing, and not only that, they had sold their family home without telling her. She calls her aunt Helen, her aunt is the black sheep in the family since she uses magic, but Tonya believes that she should at least know what’s going on. Except, her aunt Helen isn’t answering either, leaving Priya in the dark.
Trying not to panic, she continues to go to school and live as normally as possible. Her friend Priya wants to make an art installation in time for the Halloween parties and wants to do it in the cemetery. Tonya knows this is a horrible idea, she’s been warned about that cemetery so she has a vague but very strong sense to stay away from it. What she doesn’t know, but the audience knows, is that there’s an Entity trapped underneath the cemetery and is slowly working his way out. Gravedigger fungi grow in the neural pathways of the dead allowing the dead to whisper from the grave, people will hear voices if they stay for long enough. It’s not thought to be deadly, but the fungus found its way into a very evil person who begins to whisper subconscious thoughts into the surrounding area. People all over campus start to eat far too much, at first it’s almost unnoticeable, people start gaining a little weight and eating a bit more than usual. After a while though, people go into an almost zombie-like state where all they can think about is food. The shuffle around mumbling about food, they’re slow, they don’t think clearly, and start gorging themselves whenever they can. The city gets quarantined and it’s up to Tonya and her friends to stop what’s going down.
Tonya is insecure in herself for most of the book, she’s been teased about her weight for most of her childhood and it continues as she goes into college. She’s inspired by Priya since she puts such little thought into what others think about her. She can be loyal to her friends and her family and deals with stress pretty well. She gets kidnapped, tries to stop an evil Entity from rising again, and has to fight back against people who want her dead.
There were a bunch of different POV’s in this, Tonya is the main character but along with her there are villain POV’s and many of her friends get POV’s too and it leads to some characters being more developed than others. The writing was mostly upbeat, this wasn’t the gory kind of book I had been anticipating. The title is suggestive of zombies, in a way there were zombies, but the students were stumbling around mumbling about “pancakes” instead of “brains”.
There wasn’t much magic use until about 50-60% through the book, and when it did show up it was mysterious and unpredictable. Magic can be used to throw fireballs, or stop said fireballs, make lightning bolts, take life energy from other living things, etc. There are rough guidelines though, magic takes energy out of you and it requires time to recharge itself so there’s only so much magic one person can do at a time. “The Entity” is left vague and mysterious as well, all you really know is that it would benefit no one if he’s allowed to escape.
There were some problems I had with the book, some of it just personal taste. There was a lot of bullying and general immaturity going on at college that felt a little out of place, the dialogue and insults used made it feel kind of more like middle school. There were also passages where characters didn’t understand what I consider to be pretty basic science concepts. Ie: one character said “neural pathways” and the response from the other character was “The nurr-huh?” I don’t know why that kind of thing bothers me, but it does. I had some world building questions as well, like how it was possible the Mundanes don’t know about magic yet since Tonya has told some of her friends about her abilities, she certainly couldn’t be the only one sharing secrets. In the modern day, something like that would be hard to keep under wraps if there weren’t some kind of enforceable laws in place by the magical community. I would have liked to have seen the ‘why’ behind many of the world-building aspects, like why the Purists don’t like using magic.
There were parts of the book I liked and others that just didn’t work for me, but there’s definitely a target audience here for people who like upbeat writing, a bit of humor, low violence, and urban fantasy. There were a few twists at the end, and it was left open and ready for a sequel so this is not a stand-alone.
Ratings:
Plot: 9/15
Characters: 9/15
World Building: 9/15
Writing: 10/15
Pacing: 11/15
Originality: 11/15
Personal Enjoyment: 5.5/10
Final Score: 64.5/100 or 3.25/5 stars on Goodreads.
Read
March 1, 2018I read this one a lot during the editing process! :-)
August 1, 2024
This is an unexpected zombie story! Zombies with a twist. And it has magic and witches. And supernatural. Loved it. Just loved it!
September 19, 2018
"We've got zombies to flee and bagels to go..."
Maaja Wentz's debut novel Feeding Frenzy is a tasty Scooby-Doo stew, a mash-up of witches and zombies seasoned with a generous helping of Harry Potter.
First year student Tonya is attending university in her small Canadian home town of Loon Lake, a few hours outside of Toronto, which just happens to have been settled centuries before by witches and wizards, from which Tonya is descended. But Tonya's immediate family doesn't have anything to do with magic, and neither does she... until forced to when a mysterious plague strikes her fellow students, turning them into ravenous zombies. But not your classic zombies. These zombies are hungry for food instead of brains.
It's an original take on the classic zombie tale, and insecure Tonya makes for a relatable hero as the fate of the campus falls squarely on her freshman shoulders.
Wentz's style is eminently readable and frequently witty. Feeding Frenzy is the first in a series of novels set in Loon Lake. I expect it's a series that will just get better as it goes along.
Maaja Wentz's debut novel Feeding Frenzy is a tasty Scooby-Doo stew, a mash-up of witches and zombies seasoned with a generous helping of Harry Potter.
First year student Tonya is attending university in her small Canadian home town of Loon Lake, a few hours outside of Toronto, which just happens to have been settled centuries before by witches and wizards, from which Tonya is descended. But Tonya's immediate family doesn't have anything to do with magic, and neither does she... until forced to when a mysterious plague strikes her fellow students, turning them into ravenous zombies. But not your classic zombies. These zombies are hungry for food instead of brains.
It's an original take on the classic zombie tale, and insecure Tonya makes for a relatable hero as the fate of the campus falls squarely on her freshman shoulders.
Wentz's style is eminently readable and frequently witty. Feeding Frenzy is the first in a series of novels set in Loon Lake. I expect it's a series that will just get better as it goes along.
August 9, 2019
I just couldn't get into this book.
Tonya's parents won't support her going to university in Toronto, insisting she stay locally. It's not clear why. Her aunt's seriously ill. It's not clear what's wrong with her. There's a conflict between them over using magic - whether to use it or not. Then Tonya starts university and her parents and aunt go to Toronto, selling their house - all apparently without telling Tonya. It's not clear why. Despite all this drama, I didn't have any feeling of suspense or really care why to be honest, it just all seemed rather 2 dimensional. I couldn't work up much interest in what was going on. Nor did I much like Tonya. Not because there was anything particularly wrong with her, but because I just didn't/couldn't connect with her. Again, she seemed rather 2 dimensional.
I got half way through, then DNF.
Tonya's parents won't support her going to university in Toronto, insisting she stay locally. It's not clear why. Her aunt's seriously ill. It's not clear what's wrong with her. There's a conflict between them over using magic - whether to use it or not. Then Tonya starts university and her parents and aunt go to Toronto, selling their house - all apparently without telling Tonya. It's not clear why. Despite all this drama, I didn't have any feeling of suspense or really care why to be honest, it just all seemed rather 2 dimensional. I couldn't work up much interest in what was going on. Nor did I much like Tonya. Not because there was anything particularly wrong with her, but because I just didn't/couldn't connect with her. Again, she seemed rather 2 dimensional.
I got half way through, then DNF.
August 5, 2019
Tonya wanted a fresh start in a new town, but her parents refuse to allow her to go to the university of her choice. Their reasons are vague and senseless, but eventually, Tonya gives in and agrees to attend the local college Loon Lake. Tonya comes from a magical family, but her parents refuse to even acknowledge their powers, so Tonya is untrained and wants to learn more.
When her parents disappear soon after her arrival, it is only the beginning of odd occurrences. Oddities culminating in the college community developing massive appetites and becoming zombie-like in their obsession. It's up to Tonya and her friends to solve the mystery.
This book is full of humour and light on the gore. The "zombies" are obsessed with food, not brains. While there is some excellent character development, there are several POV's used and some characters suffer due to lack of progress. There are some issues with dialogue, while college is no picnic; the bullying is more suited to a younger age group. Overall this is a compelling read by a debut author. The series can only improve as the author develops her skills.
I received an arc of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
When her parents disappear soon after her arrival, it is only the beginning of odd occurrences. Oddities culminating in the college community developing massive appetites and becoming zombie-like in their obsession. It's up to Tonya and her friends to solve the mystery.
This book is full of humour and light on the gore. The "zombies" are obsessed with food, not brains. While there is some excellent character development, there are several POV's used and some characters suffer due to lack of progress. There are some issues with dialogue, while college is no picnic; the bullying is more suited to a younger age group. Overall this is a compelling read by a debut author. The series can only improve as the author develops her skills.
I received an arc of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
June 26, 2020
I particularly want to thank Loon Lake Publishing and the Netgalley website for allowing me to read this book which is the first in the series: "Curse of the Necromancer".
I was immediately attracted by the cover of this book, it shows the pretty Tonya surrounded by green smoke I would say.
The story takes place at Loon Lake where, as it seems, everything seems quiet, but under the surface, witches and wizards fight each other. Tonya is a freshman student there and she knows no dark secrets about her family. When suddenly the campus is overrun with eaters and she wants to resist this hidden entity and control the spirits.
Tonya is untrained and overwhelmed by all these events will have to learn to develop her magic abilities that she didn't know she possessed and will she figure out why this deadly outbreak is on campus and save the town of Loon Lake?
A book read in one go, so much so that I hooked into the story, so captivating, addictive, full of suspense and twists and turns with endearing characters. Can't wait to see what happens next.
I was immediately attracted by the cover of this book, it shows the pretty Tonya surrounded by green smoke I would say.
The story takes place at Loon Lake where, as it seems, everything seems quiet, but under the surface, witches and wizards fight each other. Tonya is a freshman student there and she knows no dark secrets about her family. When suddenly the campus is overrun with eaters and she wants to resist this hidden entity and control the spirits.
Tonya is untrained and overwhelmed by all these events will have to learn to develop her magic abilities that she didn't know she possessed and will she figure out why this deadly outbreak is on campus and save the town of Loon Lake?
A book read in one go, so much so that I hooked into the story, so captivating, addictive, full of suspense and twists and turns with endearing characters. Can't wait to see what happens next.
May 4, 2022
"Feeding Frenzy" is a story of magic, adventure, and a whole lot of binge eating.
The Canadian town of Loon Lake has a secret magical past. Different factions of magic users are in a long-standing cold war over how to use their powers, but they all agree on one thing: magic must be kept secret from the non-magical population.
This becomes a problem when a mysterious force starts infecting the townspeople, turning them into ravenous food zombies! But instead of brains, these poor souls are pounding pizza and porridge. If you can imagine a whole town with the appetite of Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, you've got an idea of what our heroes are up against.
As someone from a family that has shunned magic, Tonya is an unlikely hero. But when her magic-wielding aunt mysteriously goes missing, it's up to Tonya and her crew of non-magical artist friends to save the day.
"Feeding Frenzy" is an upbeat, lighthearted urban fantasy that's low on violence and high on heart. Check it out, but be prepared to gain five pounds from pure power of suggestion before you're done.
The Canadian town of Loon Lake has a secret magical past. Different factions of magic users are in a long-standing cold war over how to use their powers, but they all agree on one thing: magic must be kept secret from the non-magical population.
This becomes a problem when a mysterious force starts infecting the townspeople, turning them into ravenous food zombies! But instead of brains, these poor souls are pounding pizza and porridge. If you can imagine a whole town with the appetite of Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, you've got an idea of what our heroes are up against.
As someone from a family that has shunned magic, Tonya is an unlikely hero. But when her magic-wielding aunt mysteriously goes missing, it's up to Tonya and her crew of non-magical artist friends to save the day.
"Feeding Frenzy" is an upbeat, lighthearted urban fantasy that's low on violence and high on heart. Check it out, but be prepared to gain five pounds from pure power of suggestion before you're done.
October 4, 2023
Loon Lake Magic series:
Feeding Frenzy, #1 - I had a hard time getting into the story. I didn't feel the emotions that should accompany a story like this. There is too much redundancies, which added to my burden of reading this book. The story is well written, no editing problems. The characters are actually good, even the nasties, but I find the story average. The aunt's secret is a good one, and several good one liners and descriptions. Source: StoryOrigin. 3*
Double Dead Magic, #2 - No good deed goes unpunished. This story picks up about eight months after Feeding ends. Interesting story lines, with good characters, made this a better read than Feeding, especially with no redundancies. Dragons are better than zombies. Source: StoryOrigin. 4*
Loon Lake Magic series end.
Feeding Frenzy, #1 - I had a hard time getting into the story. I didn't feel the emotions that should accompany a story like this. There is too much redundancies, which added to my burden of reading this book. The story is well written, no editing problems. The characters are actually good, even the nasties, but I find the story average. The aunt's secret is a good one, and several good one liners and descriptions. Source: StoryOrigin. 3*
Double Dead Magic, #2 - No good deed goes unpunished. This story picks up about eight months after Feeding ends. Interesting story lines, with good characters, made this a better read than Feeding, especially with no redundancies. Dragons are better than zombies. Source: StoryOrigin. 4*
Loon Lake Magic series end.
July 2, 2018
Feeding Frenzy offers an interesting story and plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader's attention. The use of magic is well—but not over—done. Characters are well developed, and in the few instances that stereotypes are used Maaja Wentz adds nuances and further development to keep them from feeling stale. The plot has a clear arc, but occasionally suffers from logic flow and pacing issues that left me scratching my head. Overall the story delivers a satisfactory conclusion and doesn’t leave the reader hanging, so can be easily read as a standalone while the sequel works its way through editing. I am interested to see what develops at Loon Lake in book 2.
September 3, 2018
Feeding Frenzy's premise was enough to rope me in. Think Zombie outbreak meets a dash of campy 80's horror, wrapped in an enchilada. The comedy of Feeding Frenzy is balanced with a universe where dark magic lurks around every corner of a seemingly normal university town. Other books are in the works for this series and it will be interesting to see what direction Wentz takes the series as I see potential to play up the Evil Dead'esque angle or take the series in a more Harry Potter like direction. Given the target audience I imagine the latter, but either way Feeding Frenzy was a fun read and solid debut.
August 27, 2021
I'm several decades older than the YA target audience for this book, but I enjoyed it.
The plot is nicely woven, with lots of twists and turns.
This is a light, urban fantasy adventure aimed at YA audiences. Adults are either clueless or off in their own little worlds. It's up to the YAs to save the world (and clean up the mistakes of the oldsters). Typical genre stuff, but nicely done.
And, yes, college can be a Lovecraftian horror whether there's magic involved or not (I still get the occasional nightmare about it, even decades later). Thanks, Maaja ... it's not like I needed any more triggers.
The plot is nicely woven, with lots of twists and turns.
This is a light, urban fantasy adventure aimed at YA audiences. Adults are either clueless or off in their own little worlds. It's up to the YAs to save the world (and clean up the mistakes of the oldsters). Typical genre stuff, but nicely done.
And, yes, college can be a Lovecraftian horror whether there's magic involved or not (I still get the occasional nightmare about it, even decades later). Thanks, Maaja ... it's not like I needed any more triggers.
June 28, 2018
Feeding Frenzy is an exciting first installment in the Loon Lake Magic series. Tonya is a young adult struggling to figure out the mysteries that her family is hiding when a curse creates a new mystery for her to deal with. Her and her new friends embark on a journey to solve the mystery and save the town before it is eaten.
The characters are well developed and interesting. They provide nice foils for each other and keep the reader hooked from beginning to end. Just don't read it on a full stomach. And you are guaranteed to be hungry when you finish.
The characters are well developed and interesting. They provide nice foils for each other and keep the reader hooked from beginning to end. Just don't read it on a full stomach. And you are guaranteed to be hungry when you finish.
October 8, 2023
I have tried to read this for two weeks, it’s an easy read except that it jumps around so much I am having a hard time investing in the story. Seems like an interesting take, but I am not empathizing with any characters and I have not been able to get through it all. Will continue to try as an have time between books.
April 17, 2019
Not one of my usual genres...but it was a fun ,interesting trip to a scary part of Canada .
March 28, 2018
Jeepers, creepers! There's something wonderful magical about Maaja Wentz's fantasy town of Loon Lake. Guaranteed to make you want to eat like never before as much of the town transforms into insatiable binge-eating zombies. "I want the food, all the food!" It's the superbowl of food fights, and university student Tonya is charged with learning to use her magical powers to take down the borg-like entity and super-villian Jack Waldock, even as she falls in love with the lovely Drake, or Duck as his friends like to call him. Creepiest of all is when hot Roberto, a foreign-exchange student from Peru is captured and sucked into the roots of a magic tree. Something's horribly wrong in Loon Lake. Will Tonya make it right? This is fabulous foodie fun for readers young and old. And it's funny too!
June 29, 2018
Review: FEEDING FRENZY by Maaja Wentz (Loon Lake Magic #1)
Delightful contemporary urban fantasy set in a small long-established Canadian community somewhere near Toronto, FEEDING FRENZY is the first in a series which promises to be quite worth reading. The centuries-old town of Loon Lake has a major-and marvelous-secret: it's a hotbed of magic, and a locus of power. Yes, magic! However, the inhabitants, and the town government, divide on whether to acknowledge this, or to conceal it from the Mundanes. Mostly the division is according to ancestry and family ties. Endearing characters make it easy to empathize, an edgy plot line maintains interest, and sufficient mystery provides both mundane and magical intrigue. I'm eagerly anticipating the next in series.
Delightful contemporary urban fantasy set in a small long-established Canadian community somewhere near Toronto, FEEDING FRENZY is the first in a series which promises to be quite worth reading. The centuries-old town of Loon Lake has a major-and marvelous-secret: it's a hotbed of magic, and a locus of power. Yes, magic! However, the inhabitants, and the town government, divide on whether to acknowledge this, or to conceal it from the Mundanes. Mostly the division is according to ancestry and family ties. Endearing characters make it easy to empathize, an edgy plot line maintains interest, and sufficient mystery provides both mundane and magical intrigue. I'm eagerly anticipating the next in series.
Read
October 18, 2018A fun, light-hearted, and frenzied rush through a town with some budding zombie (ish) problems. A little reliant on teenager dialogue for my tastes, but I'm an old grump.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews