SweetFreak

📱💔🍬☠️

by Sophie McKenzie

★★★★★

At a glance

Things I loved:

✍🏼 Author: Sophie McKenzie

🎨 Cover artist: Jack Noel

📅 Release Date: 24th August 2017

📚 Book type: Chapter, 352 pages

🌟 Reader level: Confident, 10+

📱 Cyberbullying theme

🕵️‍♀️ Mystery with shifting suspects

👯 Friendship & betrayal

⚡ Tense and fast-paced

🧩 Clues to piece together

🏫 Modern, relatable setting

🔍 Twists that keep you guessing

Dive Deeper

My Thoughts...

I read SweetFreak after a pupil recommended it (we both love Sophie McKenzie), and I was immediately intrigued by the blurb. I’ve been enjoying lots of murder mysteries recently, but with its focus on cyberbullying, this felt like a really interesting way to mix things up.

The story follows Carey and Amelia, who have been best friends forever - until Amelia becomes the target of a cruel and anonymous online account called SweetFreak. When Carey is accused of being behind the messages, she finds herself completely isolated. Determined to prove her innocence, she begins her own investigation, but as the messages escalate and start affecting real life, the situation becomes increasingly dangerous.

I really enjoyed this book, particularly the way it builds layers of mystery, tension and betrayal. Sophie McKenzie explores serious themes such as cyberbullying, squatting, theft and threats, but does so in a way that remains appropriate and accessible for UKS2 readers. The language is clear and controlled, and while the stakes feel high, nothing is overly graphic or distressing.

One of my favourite aspects was how Carey continually reassesses the evidence and shifts her suspicions. This kept me on my toes as a reader too, constantly second-guessing who might be behind it all.

🌟I would definitely recommend this book to readers aged 9/10+ who enjoy modern dramas, stories that explore cyberbullying, or mysteries where you can piece together clues alongside the main character.🌟

Blurb

When everyone thinks you're a liar, how hard will you fight for the truth?

Carey and Amelia have been best friends forever. Then Amelia starts being trolled by SweetFreak, a mysterious and hateful online account, and Carey is accused of being behind the vicious comments and threats.

Shut out by her other friends and shunned by Amelia, Carey is determined to clear her name and find out who’s really sending the messages. But as the online attacks spill over into real life, events start spiralling out of control… Can Carey expose the real SweetFreak before it’s too late?