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jkropik06's review against another edition
3.0
3 Stars. I don't even know why I enjoyed this weird ass book, but it was good.
neveenbadr's review against another edition
5.0
I adore this one so much. Cats seams to be scary :( but fun...
elmeco's review against another edition
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Here we are, the first Goosebumps 2000 book, and my second ever one reading, and I gotta say - pretty good! Definitely a lot more darker than the OG series with some genuinely haunting imagery that would've messed me up as a kid. Rip the Cat is such a great name and pretty cool monster overall. The real standout for me though is Alison and Ryan's friendship. Always a sucker whenever Stine gives us a wholesome and platonic m/f friendship :)
breese's review against another edition
Greta to read during the Halloween season!
peyton_'s review against another edition
3.0
I love Fear Street books. This was good, bonus that it has cats. The ending was predictable, but that’s part of the charm. I’ll always love these.
plagued_by_visions's review against another edition
4.0
I grew up gawking at the Goosebumps covers lining my school library in fear and morbid curiosity, but never mustered up enough courage to actually read one of them. Now, some 18 years later, I’ve finally read my first RL Stine, Cry of the Cat, and I’ve been more than pleasantly surprised.
One thing I got from Stine is that he is engaged in constant banter and strikes up rapport with readers of any age. There’s an intentional humor and gentleness to a lot of his prose, and an overall coziness and (for me) nostalgia to the way his books are written. This is undoubtedly the world of sandwich bags, school plays, and frivolity, and rather than attempt to make any broader claims or condemnations about childhood, Stine lets us simply revel in that adventurousness and vulnerability of it all. He’s an author you can laugh WITH (and AT, maybe, at some points, but all in good fun), and his use of false lead-ups and gross-out hijinks was quite endearing (though once or twice eye-rolling). And when it comes to the shocks—this was nonstop thrills! Stine is of the philosophy of throwing everything at a wall and seeing what sticks, and while, admittedly, quite a few things flop down lifelessly to the floor, there’s plenty in here to love, and some genuinely unsettling and daring horrors (I was surprised by some moments where he did not hold back when I thought he would). Yes, the characters are paper-thin and some action leading into the climax was more puzzling than scary, but overall, this is everything it promises to be, and although Stine is writing for a younger audience, some tastes of his style even ring with a sense of Gothic allure and tragedy, which was quite surprising. Still, I would describe RL Stine as unabashedly an author for kids, and it’s actually quite refreshing to see someone write this way, with zero hangups.
Overall, the experience was bittersweet, because now I find myself regretting never having opened one of these books when I was at the prime age to consume them. Thankfully, however, Stine’s writing really assured me that it’s never too late!
One thing I got from Stine is that he is engaged in constant banter and strikes up rapport with readers of any age. There’s an intentional humor and gentleness to a lot of his prose, and an overall coziness and (for me) nostalgia to the way his books are written. This is undoubtedly the world of sandwich bags, school plays, and frivolity, and rather than attempt to make any broader claims or condemnations about childhood, Stine lets us simply revel in that adventurousness and vulnerability of it all. He’s an author you can laugh WITH (and AT, maybe, at some points, but all in good fun), and his use of false lead-ups and gross-out hijinks was quite endearing (though once or twice eye-rolling). And when it comes to the shocks—this was nonstop thrills! Stine is of the philosophy of throwing everything at a wall and seeing what sticks, and while, admittedly, quite a few things flop down lifelessly to the floor, there’s plenty in here to love, and some genuinely unsettling and daring horrors (I was surprised by some moments where he did not hold back when I thought he would). Yes, the characters are paper-thin and some action leading into the climax was more puzzling than scary, but overall, this is everything it promises to be, and although Stine is writing for a younger audience, some tastes of his style even ring with a sense of Gothic allure and tragedy, which was quite surprising. Still, I would describe RL Stine as unabashedly an author for kids, and it’s actually quite refreshing to see someone write this way, with zero hangups.
Overall, the experience was bittersweet, because now I find myself regretting never having opened one of these books when I was at the prime age to consume them. Thankfully, however, Stine’s writing really assured me that it’s never too late!
coolkid97's review against another edition
1.0
only good thing about this book is that it took less than an hour to read, lol
manwithanagenda's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Fear Street # 96
'Cat' is one of the harder-to-find of the original 'Fear Street' books. I have to say though, that if you can find it at a decent price it is worth the read. It has all of the hallmark cheese of the series plus an excess of cats.
Marty Harper and his two friends Dwayne Clark and Barry Allen are the "Three Musketeers" of the Shadyside Tigers basketball team. They score all the points and are just all-around excellent. Dwayne wears colorful Hawaiian shirts and Barry is...Barry. The point is that they are very good at baskethoops.
Sidebar: Why is basketball the big sport at Shadyside? With the exception of the first book of the series that glorified the men's gymnastic team, basketball is the main focus of the jock characters from Alex Beale in 'Halloween Party', across all of the Cheerleaders books, 'What Holly Heard', and on and on. Why no love for other sports ball? I have no stake in the game, and it's a nice break from football, but it's a little strange.
'Cat' is not just about basketball, however. It turns out that there has been a stray cat living in the gymnasium under the bleachers for some time. The basketball players like to chase it around while Coach Griffin fondly looks on. One day, Marty takes a hard fall and decides to blame it on the cat. He and his buddies chase it up to the top of the bleachers and the cat is thrown from the top of the bleachers to it's death. This is an accident, but Marty is rightly castigated for it. A club opposed to cruelty to animals is organized by Marty's former friend Gayle Edgerton who appears to have taken over Lisa Blume's spot as student reporter extraordinaire.
There are many other characters introduced here. A flood of them. Including the bitter ex-love of Marty's Riki Crawford and new hot girl Kit Morrissey. There's also members of Student Court, other basketball players, and faculty. Maybe they'll come back for future books? We'll see.
The focus of the book is the aftermath of the death of the stray cat. Marty is all torn up that people think he's mean to animals because he was mean to an animal. How can he be mean to animals, he keeps saying, I own a dog! His friends get off lightly even though one of them was swinging the dead cat around by the tail. Soon, however, Marty and his friends feel stalked by something. Marty keeps seeing the cat, keeps hearing it, and something is coming at him for revenge. This was all kinds of fun. My real issue with it was the, again, insistence that Marty had to keep cycling through girls like Kleenex. In addition to Riki and Kit there's Lisa Greene and Jessica Wells. I know, because hormones, but it's ridiculous. Still, we all love a good supernatural Fear Street.
Fear Street in Publication Order
Next #97: 'Spell of the Screaming Jokers', Ghosts of Fear Street #20
Previous #95: 'Daughters of Silence', Fear Street Sagas #6
'Cat' is one of the harder-to-find of the original 'Fear Street' books. I have to say though, that if you can find it at a decent price it is worth the read. It has all of the hallmark cheese of the series plus an excess of cats.
Marty Harper and his two friends Dwayne Clark and Barry Allen are the "Three Musketeers" of the Shadyside Tigers basketball team. They score all the points and are just all-around excellent. Dwayne wears colorful Hawaiian shirts and Barry is...Barry. The point is that they are very good at baskethoops.
Sidebar: Why is basketball the big sport at Shadyside? With the exception of the first book of the series that glorified the men's gymnastic team, basketball is the main focus of the jock characters from Alex Beale in 'Halloween Party', across all of the Cheerleaders books, 'What Holly Heard', and on and on. Why no love for other sports ball? I have no stake in the game, and it's a nice break from football, but it's a little strange.
'Cat' is not just about basketball, however. It turns out that there has been a stray cat living in the gymnasium under the bleachers for some time. The basketball players like to chase it around while Coach Griffin fondly looks on. One day, Marty takes a hard fall and decides to blame it on the cat. He and his buddies chase it up to the top of the bleachers and the cat is thrown from the top of the bleachers to it's death. This is an accident, but Marty is rightly castigated for it. A club opposed to cruelty to animals is organized by Marty's former friend Gayle Edgerton who appears to have taken over Lisa Blume's spot as student reporter extraordinaire.
There are many other characters introduced here. A flood of them. Including the bitter ex-love of Marty's Riki Crawford and new hot girl Kit Morrissey. There's also members of Student Court, other basketball players, and faculty. Maybe they'll come back for future books? We'll see.
The focus of the book is the aftermath of the death of the stray cat. Marty is all torn up that people think he's mean to animals because he was mean to an animal. How can he be mean to animals, he keeps saying, I own a dog! His friends get off lightly even though one of them was swinging the dead cat around by the tail. Soon, however, Marty and his friends feel stalked by something. Marty keeps seeing the cat, keeps hearing it, and something is coming at him for revenge. This was all kinds of fun. My real issue with it was the, again, insistence that Marty had to keep cycling through girls like Kleenex. In addition to Riki and Kit there's Lisa Greene and Jessica Wells. I know, because hormones, but it's ridiculous. Still, we all love a good supernatural Fear Street.
Fear Street in Publication Order
Next #97: 'Spell of the Screaming Jokers', Ghosts of Fear Street #20
Previous #95: 'Daughters of Silence', Fear Street Sagas #6
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death
manwithanagenda's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The 'Series 2000' reboot of Goosebumps gets off to a perfect, wackadoo start with 'Cry of the Cat'. Alison just wants to do well in the school play, but on the way to practice she kills a cat with her bike. This is upsetting, but the cat doesn't stay under her bike wheels. Alison is persecuted by this cat, forcing her to kill the cat in increasingly dramatic ways. I'm not sure she HAS to kill it like that, but she does. There's a curse involved and a whirling climax that has to be read to be believed.
Goosebumps Series 2000
Next: 'Bride of the Living Dummy'
Previous: 'Monster Blood IV' (Goosebumps #62)
Goosebumps Series 2000
Next: 'Bride of the Living Dummy'
Previous: 'Monster Blood IV' (Goosebumps #62)
More...