Book Review: The New Girl (Fear Street #1)
Happy almost Halloween Booksters!
What are your plans for the big day? Mine’s kinda simple, just dressing up at work and passing out candy to children in the evening with the boyfriend, probably while watching horror movies. While we count down the hours, it’s time for another book review!
This time I read The New Girl (Fear Street #1) by R.L. Stine.
Alright, I plead the fifth on this one. I never got into this series. When I was a kid Goosebumps was my jam, but then puberty hit and my likelihood to read books was rather spotty for some years. But here I am!
I’ve recently enjoyed Night of the Living Dummy, so my hope was that I’d love this slightly more grown up version of Goosebumps storytelling. Alright, on to the review!
Blurb
The new girl is as pale as a ghost, blond, and eerily beautiful — and she seems to need him as much as he wants her. Cory Brooks hungers for Anna Corwin’s kisses, drowns in her light blue eyes. He can’t get her out of his mind. He has been losing sleep, ditching his friends…and everyone has noticed.
Then as suddenly as she came to Shadyside High, Anna disappears. To find a cure for his obsession, Cory must go to Anna’s house on Fear Street — no matter what the consequences.
Anna may be the love of his life … but finding out her secret might mean his death.
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The Review
I’m a bit disappointed with how this read turned out, more so since I’ve always loved Goosebumps.
In this novel we follow a typical teen boy named Cory. He’s a natural goofball and enjoys entertaining his friends as the class clown. That is, until the new girl shows up. Mysterious and elusive, he can’t seem to figure her out and pretty soon she’s all he thinks about. Determined to know her, Cory gets more than he bargained for as he discovers dark secrets about her and Fear Street.
Despite my rating, I have to say that the ambience of this novel was really great. Foggy streets, dangerous late night adventures, general creepiness. These are all things that I look for in a scary novel. However, I felt these elements were more of a teaser than anything else.
See, this novel ended up being more of a thriller than something paranormal, and personally I always prefer paranormal to something normal that can be explained. Monsters, ghosts, and ghouls are something of a staple of R.L. Stine, and that wasn’t really what was delivered here. Sure, the signs seemed to point in that direction, but it was a big letdown that that wasn’t the case. Just trying to save others some time if they think this novel is paranormal. It’s not.
Cory is alright as the MC, but he’s a bit of an easily distracted fool, which seemed really convenient in certain situations. His hobby of being a gymnast also saved him in moments that seemed nearly impossible to triumph, and that felt a little too coincidental to me.
I think my rating would’ve been higher if this novel took us to get crazy places, but most scenes tended to stick to the high school, Fear Street, and Cory’s home, so much that the action elements felt lackluster after a while. It also would’ve been higher if there was some of that cheesy slapstick humor we’re used to, but it just wasn’t there.
If you like thrillers I say go for this one, but if you want something paranormal and terrifying look elsewhere.
That’s A Wrap!
Well that’s it for this book review. I hope you enjoyed it!
Have you read this book? Are there other similar books you’ve read that you simply have to gush about? Feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to start a conversation!
Have a great day!
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It’s time to read another Fear Street book, dont give up on it! Continue the journey and I guarantee you’ll find the good stuff. Sadly this was the first one ya read (like me) and it’s one of the more lackluster ones (from what my friends say). I have a lot of downtime at work and have been getting back into reading some of the stuff I absolutely loved growing up. I literally JUST finished this one earlier today and was curious what people thought of it. Fear Street, I always loved the covers to and meant to get into, but one thing lead to another and I just never did get any of them. Those covers always looked so dope though. Goosebumps on the other hand, i frigging loved and got monthly. We’re probably around the same age (I’m 40, if we’re not around the same age, I apologize and bypass the rest of what I’m going to write 😂 . Its nostalgia filled) and grew up addicted to goosebumps and super excited when the scholastic flyers came out in class. I don’t think some younger folks realize how popular goosebumps really really was with our generation. It was legit like a phenomenon lol. The excitement and hype for when the tv show was coming out was amazing. The legit hype for the premier of the Haunted Mask. EVERYBODY in my class was excited for it and what was even cooler, where I live in aired at nighttime! Anyways, I’m rambling lol. Please don’t give up on Fear Street and read another one soon!!I have a feeling we’ll really really like them. I think as he wrote more, he Started getting his feel and formula down on what Fear Street should be.
Thanks for stopping by! Yeah, I think I’ll give it another try at some point, but my TBR is just out of control at the moment. I still go to local thrift stores and pick up Goosebumps copies when I can.