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arobis_the_bookworm's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
3.75
paulabrandon's review against another edition
3.0
Some of R.L. Stine's work for the Point Horror books were among his best. Although this wasn't one of his top ones, it's still memorable for the fact that Stine took a creative risk with having a deliberately unlikable lead character. Joanne is rich, snooty, mean to others and plays around with the feelings of her boyfriend. The rest of the plot, involving Dex dying and seemingly coming back from the dead, doesn't bear such close scrutiny. But it's great to witness a writer at their peak, taking narrative chances such as this. Most modern-day writers can't pull it off, but back in the early 90s, Stine could.
mehsi's review against another edition
2.0
A girl, a dead boyfriend, revenge... sounds good right? But sadly this was a disappointment.
I was looking forward to reading a new Point Horror, or well, newish because I can vaguely remembering reading this in my teens. Translated in Dutch though. But this was just a disappointed, for most of the book I was just hoping for good revenge and sadly the ending just sucked.
Meet Joanna, a very rich girl with a giant attitude. I wasn't a fan of her from the start but throughout the book she only became worse and worse. Her kind of humour? Making rotten comments about people and whatever else is nearby. And she is then offended when people don't share her kind of "humour". She doesn't treat people nicely, she has many mean comments about her mom. She has two boys she strings along, one is Dex our dead boy who she dated first but who she thought just wasn't good enough for her, two is Shep, a rich boy who rides a jaguar and is perfect for her. Yep. Love triangle, because Joanna thinks that breaking up is hard to do. Her plan at the start was to just ignore Dex and date Shep, but with a dead Dex she decided to go out with both. This girl ladies and gentlemen, this girl. Holy wow. She lies about many many things. Oh, yes, and if someone falls off a cliff? Don't count on her because she will run away because she is afraid mommy will cancel her cards and take away her beautiful 40k BMW. Yes, she pretends it is under the excuse of getting help, but we all know the real deal. *shakes her head*
Why do I keep reading? Hello, her boyfriend comes back while he should have been definitely dead. So I was eager to see the revenge. And with the story continuing things got more exciting and scary as Dex loses parts here and there and even pops up at random moments that are pretty creepy. So I was looking forward to him truly falling apart and taking his revenge. To confront her with the crap she did.
HOWEVER. And I will put this under spoiler tags as I don't want to spoil it to people.
So yeah, love triangles, cheating, horrible rich girls, and an ending that sucked the soul out of the book. Not happy. Not happy at all.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
I was looking forward to reading a new Point Horror, or well, newish because I can vaguely remembering reading this in my teens. Translated in Dutch though. But this was just a disappointed, for most of the book I was just hoping for good revenge and sadly the ending just sucked.
Meet Joanna, a very rich girl with a giant attitude. I wasn't a fan of her from the start but throughout the book she only became worse and worse. Her kind of humour? Making rotten comments about people and whatever else is nearby. And she is then offended when people don't share her kind of "humour". She doesn't treat people nicely, she has many mean comments about her mom. She has two boys she strings along, one is Dex our dead boy who she dated first but who she thought just wasn't good enough for her, two is Shep, a rich boy who rides a jaguar and is perfect for her. Yep. Love triangle, because Joanna thinks that breaking up is hard to do. Her plan at the start was to just ignore Dex and date Shep, but with a dead Dex she decided to go out with both. This girl ladies and gentlemen, this girl. Holy wow. She lies about many many things. Oh, yes, and if someone falls off a cliff? Don't count on her because she will run away because she is afraid mommy will cancel her cards and take away her beautiful 40k BMW. Yes, she pretends it is under the excuse of getting help, but we all know the real deal. *shakes her head*
Why do I keep reading? Hello, her boyfriend comes back while he should have been definitely dead. So I was eager to see the revenge. And with the story continuing things got more exciting and scary as Dex loses parts here and there and even pops up at random moments that are pretty creepy. So I was looking forward to him truly falling apart and taking his revenge. To confront her with the crap she did.
HOWEVER. And I will put this under spoiler tags as I don't want to spoil it to people.
Spoiler
The ending just sucked all the fun that the book still had and the revenge part just fell apart. Instead of Dex being dead... he just was pranking Joanna on multiple times (with the help of Joanna's friend Mary and Dex' friend Pete) to make sure she regrets all she did and maybe have her feel things. He made it seem he was dead, twice even. I was so hoping for something creepy, some OMG spooky, that this girl would be almost dragged to the netherworlds and then be saved as she finds out that her attitude was bad, instead this shit happens. The last pages with Joanna were just weird and sorry I cannot believe she had a chance of heart just like that.So yeah, love triangles, cheating, horrible rich girls, and an ending that sucked the soul out of the book. Not happy. Not happy at all.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
vcb182's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
beccabees's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Minor: Stalking and Murder
ohjohnnybobby's review against another edition
3.0
Hated the character of Johanna SO MUCH. And I get that it’s kind of the point but it still bothered me. Good read though. Saw the ending coming from a mile away. And speaking of the ending, it was rushed.
jamiellee's review against another edition
4.0
Went old school with some original R.L. Stine for a spooky October book. Don’t waste your time with goosebumps, go back to Fear Street.
Love the nostalgia of growing up in the 90s with no tech and having to call land lines to get ahold of your friends.
Love the nostalgia of growing up in the 90s with no tech and having to call land lines to get ahold of your friends.
emilayday's review against another edition
dark
tense
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? Yes
3.5
baileyrenalds's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes