Reviews

4 stars. Claudia was always my favorite babysitter and re-reading this now, I remember why. She's shady as hell towards everyone which I love. She's just so great. This one was a lot of fun because of the mystery aspect and the girls are all becoming boy crazy and it's just funny to read about now. I look forward to passing these books on to my niece. I know she'll enjoy them just as much as I did at her age and still do to this day.

nawarafra's review against another edition

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funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I absolutely adore this book and it makes me so sad that newer editions of the BSC books skip over it just because it truly is a product of its time. (I did really like how they tried to include it in the show regardless.)

Moments that stood out to me:

I love how they set up the mood of the book from the very beginning because this is definitely pre-BSC Mysteries and works for Claudia who famously loves mystery novels. This book also lives rent-free in my head because I recognized the first Claudia outfit right away.
Claudia thinking that Sam is too old for Stacey had me like, YES CLAUDIA, SAM IS ABSOLUTELY TOO OLD FOR STACEY, SAY IT TO HER FACE!!!
I know it was a very serious situation, but the whole “red ribbon” bit was so funny! Also, Mary Anne rigging Kristy’s house with alarms was very much so giving Kevin in Home Alone but if Kevin was actually scared of the burglars. Mary Anne is obviously terrified and not having a good time, but I was very entertained, sorry not sorry.

There was this moment where Stacey was frustrated because the girls had this shared memory/inside joke and I kinda wish there were moments where she and also later on Dawn were consistently confused about their childhood stories, specifically in the first 10-ish books. Not only does it give readers more insight into their childhood, but it reminds you that Stacey and Dawn have only known these girls for less than a year, even though they’re all obviously very close. And it could’ve been a way for Stacey and Dawn to bond because I don’t remember them ever interacting.

There was also this bit with Claudia questioning her teacher’s methods which is not only very Claudia, but it kind of makes you go “Oh, so this is why you and Kristy are friends.” Also, I completely forgot just how many Claudia and Kristy scenes there were in this book and I really loved their dynamic because it’s rare for this series to let the girls separate from their designated best-friends. And specific moments I was to point out include:

“Kristy can be a blabbermouth and a baby, but she can also be a very good friend.” - this pretty much sums up their relationship
“I can’t even remember my last name.” // “It’s Thomas.” - this is a very ClaudiaxKristy interaction because while they’re both very snarky, when they’re snarky to each other it’s more playful than say when Claudia talks to Janine; also, they’re never like this with Mary Anne and Stacey, so I think it’s cute that Claudia and Kristy have their own thing going on
Everything about them babysitting Jamie and the Feldmans because that is a scary babysitting duo, there is no Mary Anne or Stacey gentleness to balance them out. And then them catching the phantom! Everything about this was so funny, like, Kristy was absolutely unhinged and as she should be. She really said “fuck Alan Gray” and had his entire life story on a silver platter for the police.

Speaking of Alan Gray… creep, stalker, criminal. First off, that whole “boys are only mean to girls they like” mentality is so toxic and as much as I love this book, I’m so glad more young girls won’t be subjected to this. What Alan did was so creepy and Kristy should not have gone to the dance with this boy. If I were Kristy, I would get a restraining order and I can not believe that he’s an actual recurring character in this series.

chloereadsforpleasure's review against another edition

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5.0

This book was great, although i didn’t like the ending and i don’t like the lesson either. the ending was that the two boys technically stalked the girls they liked and the girl still went to a dance with them. First of all, its extremely creepy of them to just watch the girls like that and second of all, why did the girls still go to the dance with them?? But otherwise than that, the book was good and i enjoyed it. I, personally, didn’t find it much of a drag most of the time which is pretty good. There were a lot of thrilling stuff happening in the book, it was mainly just the ending that i found a bit disappointing.

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