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2.72 AVERAGE
2.72 AVERAGE
The ending was kind of lackluster. Everything sorted itself out without any real problem arising, and it just seemed like the author wanted to tie everything off in a nice bow at the end without fully explaining some story lines.
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The short description that was given for this book hooked me right in ad I was excited to get it started, but it wasn't for me. Great Teen and YA read though. I would highly recommend this to my younger siblings and friends children.
We follow 14 year old Sabrina whose passion is journalism. She's preparing an application for an internship at the local online paper and is on the search for a compelling story. This leads her to the Scream Site, a website set up for aspiring directors to upload their horror films for a chance to go to Hollywood. Sabrina finds a correlation between uploaded videos and missing girls, so she decides to investigate leading her down a path of danger.
Thank you Netgalley and Capstone for allowing me to access this ARC for an honest review.
We follow 14 year old Sabrina whose passion is journalism. She's preparing an application for an internship at the local online paper and is on the search for a compelling story. This leads her to the Scream Site, a website set up for aspiring directors to upload their horror films for a chance to go to Hollywood. Sabrina finds a correlation between uploaded videos and missing girls, so she decides to investigate leading her down a path of danger.
Thank you Netgalley and Capstone for allowing me to access this ARC for an honest review.
dark
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s not the best YA horror I have read, but I definitely love the concept of Scream Site. It was also one of my favorite novels pre-pandemic that I used to read all the time in public. I wish there actual consequences with Scream Site (like someone unexpectedly dying), but then again this book was made in mind for younger readers.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Stalking
Firstly, I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC for this book.
I really liked the sound of this book when I saw it available for request on NetGalley and I was really glad I got given this book to read. Unfortunately, I found the book quite hard to read in the sense that I wasn't hooked at any point of the story, it was pretty predictable and very anti-climatic. I feel like the whole thing is very rushed, especially towards the end when Sabrina's sister goes missing.
However, I would like to say that even though I would not read this again and I only gave this 2 out of 5 stars, I didn't hate this book and there were a couple of things especially that I liked. I liked the plot itself of the book, I mean it's what made me request an ARC of it in the first place. I also liked how it teaches awareness of strangers on the internet, the girls in the book are pretty stupid when it comes to meeting up with people they've met online and they learn their lesson - I think that's a really good thing for younger readers of this book.
This book is classed as Teens & YA, but after reading this I think this would be better categorised as Middle Grade.
I really liked the sound of this book when I saw it available for request on NetGalley and I was really glad I got given this book to read. Unfortunately, I found the book quite hard to read in the sense that I wasn't hooked at any point of the story, it was pretty predictable and very anti-climatic. I feel like the whole thing is very rushed, especially towards the end when Sabrina's sister goes missing.
However, I would like to say that even though I would not read this again and I only gave this 2 out of 5 stars, I didn't hate this book and there were a couple of things especially that I liked. I liked the plot itself of the book, I mean it's what made me request an ARC of it in the first place. I also liked how it teaches awareness of strangers on the internet, the girls in the book are pretty stupid when it comes to meeting up with people they've met online and they learn their lesson - I think that's a really good thing for younger readers of this book.
This book is classed as Teens & YA, but after reading this I think this would be better categorised as Middle Grade.
I round up for the author and because I like the author's writing and the storyline is compelling, just not for me. I'm not a fan of the mystery genre, nor of abduction plot lines. This seems like it would be good for mature 7th grade readers on up to 10th, maybe 11th grade, due to subject matter.
I liked this book. It was simple and Sabrina did not seem as dumb as some amateur investigators.
I also enjoyed the realistic ending - I'm sick of everyone getting involved in a murder case.
Very confused about where Mrs. Wembley came from, though. How did she know what was going on with her brother and Funland? Seemed to come out of nowhere. It does make sense because the book is from Sabrina's POV but it's never explained how Mrs. W happened to be there at the right time.
You know who was REALLY dumb?? Those girls who fell for Dan's nonsense. Again, realistic. It happens; people get scammed every day. And even when they ARE smart about life.
Mariann frustrated me. Sabrina told her that her family was a mess and her sister was desperate to find her, and she's all, "Well that's nice but I had blocked her messages." No remorse, she doesn't realize the seriousness of the situation...nothing.
Also, Dan seemed on the verge of becoming very unstable...but he was already sending threatening messages and trying to run Sabrina over with his car?? That DOES seem more like the behavior of a murderer and not someone just scamming some girls because he has a mental problem. It built up dramatic effect but didn't seem in character. Besides, two girls left and he didn't chase them down or anything? It didn't seem like anyone was being held prisoner so...why so aggressive?
I overall did enjoy this book but I at first thought it was a debut novel...and it 100% isn't. Oops.
I also enjoyed the realistic ending - I'm sick of everyone getting involved in a murder case.
Very confused about where Mrs. Wembley came from, though. How did she know what was going on with her brother and Funland? Seemed to come out of nowhere. It does make sense because the book is from Sabrina's POV but it's never explained how Mrs. W happened to be there at the right time.
You know who was REALLY dumb?? Those girls who fell for Dan's nonsense. Again, realistic. It happens; people get scammed every day. And even when they ARE smart about life.
Mariann frustrated me. Sabrina told her that her family was a mess and her sister was desperate to find her, and she's all, "Well that's nice but I had blocked her messages." No remorse, she doesn't realize the seriousness of the situation...nothing.
Also, Dan seemed on the verge of becoming very unstable...but he was already sending threatening messages and trying to run Sabrina over with his car?? That DOES seem more like the behavior of a murderer and not someone just scamming some girls because he has a mental problem. It built up dramatic effect but didn't seem in character. Besides, two girls left and he didn't chase them down or anything? It didn't seem like anyone was being held prisoner so...why so aggressive?
I overall did enjoy this book but I at first thought it was a debut novel...and it 100% isn't. Oops.
This book wasn't bad, but I wouldn't consider it to be YA, more like Middle Grade.
The novel had good mystery. Sabrina who wants to be an investigative journalist, needs a good story for her college applications. When her friend first suggest that she investigates the popular website called Scream Site, Sabrina is a bit hesitant. She believes the site is nothing more than a gimmick to help people get quick fame. But Sabrina later discovers that to be untrue when she realizes one of the girls from the Scream Site is actually missing. No one else seems to believe that something sinister is going on with the Scream Site except Sabrina and she is determined to get down to the bottom of it. But as she digs deeper,someone is watching her and is determined to stop her for discovering the truth about everyone's favorite horror site.
Like I said,the plot was good and could have been a true YA if they would have made it more age appropriate for YA teens.
The novel had good mystery. Sabrina who wants to be an investigative journalist, needs a good story for her college applications. When her friend first suggest that she investigates the popular website called Scream Site, Sabrina is a bit hesitant. She believes the site is nothing more than a gimmick to help people get quick fame. But Sabrina later discovers that to be untrue when she realizes one of the girls from the Scream Site is actually missing. No one else seems to believe that something sinister is going on with the Scream Site except Sabrina and she is determined to get down to the bottom of it. But as she digs deeper,someone is watching her and is determined to stop her for discovering the truth about everyone's favorite horror site.
Like I said,the plot was good and could have been a true YA if they would have made it more age appropriate for YA teens.
I was granted an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This was a fun and easy read – I plowed through it in about a day. It was a fun concept, and the story definitely kept me interested, but it felt very young to me. The main character is supposed to be 14 years old, but I had a very difficult time picturing her as anything more than maybe 12.
I think if you are looking for a quick, lighter read, this is definitely the book. It did have me intrigued, and although I was a little disappointed with the conclusion of the book, I’m not unhappy that I read it.
This was a fun and easy read – I plowed through it in about a day. It was a fun concept, and the story definitely kept me interested, but it felt very young to me. The main character is supposed to be 14 years old, but I had a very difficult time picturing her as anything more than maybe 12.
I think if you are looking for a quick, lighter read, this is definitely the book. It did have me intrigued, and although I was a little disappointed with the conclusion of the book, I’m not unhappy that I read it.
Horrible no plot or anything, it had potential to be great but it feels like it was written by a kid who needed a short story for school with a limited word count. The story ended too soon and the "plot twist" was so fake and useless. It started good but in the end it was just a flat story with flat characters.