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familiar_diversions's review against another edition
1.0
For the first time since their last fateful slumber party when they were all about 9 or 10 years old, Nell, Lara, Rachael, Dana, and Mindy are getting together again. The difference is that this time Nicole, Nell's little sister, won't be there. When everything went horribly wrong all those years ago, Nicole ended up dead and Nell was badly burned. Celeste, a quiet and shy new girl, is with them instead.
Lara is looking forward to skiing, maybe kissing a cute boy, and catching up with her old friend Nell. However, something has her on edge. How did that snowman in the shade manage to melt and refreeze? When one member of their group disappears, leaving behind a single ski and a patch of dirty ice, Lara starts to wonder if there's something supernatural at play.
This was incredibly tedious. At least half of the book was Lara and Rachael snapping and growling at each other over something - either over the upcoming homecoming queen vote, or Percy, a cute guy they'd met. Dana was their fat friend (who actually said, out loud, "I wish anorexia was contagious and I knew someone who could infect me." (16)), and Mindy was their stupid friend. For some reason Mindy insisted on fighting with Dana about a second guy, Cal, even though Dana made it clear that she wasn't interested in him. The problem was that Cal was very much interested in Dana, or at least in groping her, whether she was willing or not. Cal was gross, despite Pike's weak efforts to reform him at the end of the book.
The book's big twist was both painfully obvious and more than a little far-fetched. Pike tried to complicate things with the melted snowman and Dana's disappearance, but it didn't work out very well and felt at least as weak as his attempt to make Cal look like a decent person at the end.
I can't remember if I ever read this when I was a teen. It wouldn't surprise me if I had and then immediately forgot about it. It's definitely not one of Pike's better works.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
Lara is looking forward to skiing, maybe kissing a cute boy, and catching up with her old friend Nell. However, something has her on edge. How did that snowman in the shade manage to melt and refreeze? When one member of their group disappears, leaving behind a single ski and a patch of dirty ice, Lara starts to wonder if there's something supernatural at play.
This was incredibly tedious. At least half of the book was Lara and Rachael snapping and growling at each other over something - either over the upcoming homecoming queen vote, or Percy, a cute guy they'd met. Dana was their fat friend (who actually said, out loud, "I wish anorexia was contagious and I knew someone who could infect me." (16)), and Mindy was their stupid friend. For some reason Mindy insisted on fighting with Dana about a second guy, Cal, even though Dana made it clear that she wasn't interested in him. The problem was that Cal was very much interested in Dana, or at least in groping her, whether she was willing or not. Cal was gross, despite Pike's weak efforts to reform him at the end of the book.
The book's big twist was both painfully obvious and more than a little far-fetched. Pike tried to complicate things with the melted snowman and Dana's disappearance, but it didn't work out very well and felt at least as weak as his attempt to make Cal look like a decent person at the end.
I can't remember if I ever read this when I was a teen. It wouldn't surprise me if I had and then immediately forgot about it. It's definitely not one of Pike's better works.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
alhaider's review against another edition
3.0
I recently heard about a podcast where they read books from my teen years and talk about them. I found this one on Amazon and I thought I would give it a go. I now realize why I liked these books so much as a teen. They are easy to read, all plot, and with a touch of romance (if that's even what you can call it). Overall, I enjoyed reading a book from my past and I cannot wait to listen to the podcast episode now.
dtaylorbooks's review
4.0
SLUMBER PARTY wasn’t the typical Pike I know. It was much more standard teen horror fare without any of his deeper insinuations. It still rang different than the Fear Street books, a bit more robust than those other ones and still vaguely Pike, but this book is where the trend started and even here I think it stands out against the rest.
Now I’m not sure what anyone else was doing in fourth grade but I certainly wasn’t drinking or all that into boys at that time. This groups of girls was and it just didn’t fit. Not sure what was going on in 1985, if some elementary school kids were going rogue or what. The boys thing I can let slide because I do remember a hint of that but it was nowhere near pervasive. But the drinking and getting drunk off of your parents’ liquor stash? Definitely a middle school thing, at minimum, unless you have some major crap going on in your life, which none of these girls seemed to have. They were pretty straight-laced, cookie cutter kids. Except weekend drinking parties in fourth grade.
Aside from that it was your basic teen horror novel. A bad thing happened to these girls and all these years later, when they’re all together again, a similar bad thing starts to happen. Everyone has their role to play. The main character is your typical teenage girl but level-headed. Her best friend is boy crazy, her nemesis is a mean girl with whom she’s in constant competition, mean girl’s friend is a yes man sidekick, and then there’s the shy, quiet friend that’s too serious for everyone and keeps to herself. Add in the quiet new girl that the MC brings into the fold and you’ve got all your characters covered. At least no one was being all that crappy to each other except for the mean girl. But she’s a mean girl; she’s not pretending to be anyone’s friend so at least it’s expected from her.
I do like how the plot develops. It hints at a potential supernatural element but could also allude to someone just finally having their sanity fall straight off a cliff. You’re kept guessing what’s happening and as the plot gets deeper and this snow storm that’s happening gets worse, weirder and weirder things keep happening and you’re not sure which direction the story’s going to go in.
Pike’s also not shy with details and realistic reactions of one character for another. There’s a burn victim in the story and in a fit of anger she reveals her scaring to everyone and Pike goes into detail about what she looks like and allows the other characters to react in rather human ways. Some of those reactions weren’t sensitive to her condition and while you’d like to think you wouldn’t react in an adverse way you wouldn’t know until you’re faced with that kind of maiming. It made everything that was happening all the more real and believable.
I think that’s what makes even this older Pike book stand out against something like Fear Street, the details. Pike just pays closer attention to them. His stories get a little under the surface to one extent or another. He develops the characters better, he sets the scene better, he makes the story more vivid. I like him more the more I read his books.
SLUMBER PARTY, even though I’d call it non-standard Pike it’s still very much him and he gives you a fuller, more lively story that as a reader you can invest in. The characters are more than cut-outs being handled from one plot point to another. You’re more involved with what’s going on and you can actually see it playing out. For the most part Pike’s books haven’t disappointed me yet and this one is no exception.
4
Now I’m not sure what anyone else was doing in fourth grade but I certainly wasn’t drinking or all that into boys at that time. This groups of girls was and it just didn’t fit. Not sure what was going on in 1985, if some elementary school kids were going rogue or what. The boys thing I can let slide because I do remember a hint of that but it was nowhere near pervasive. But the drinking and getting drunk off of your parents’ liquor stash? Definitely a middle school thing, at minimum, unless you have some major crap going on in your life, which none of these girls seemed to have. They were pretty straight-laced, cookie cutter kids. Except weekend drinking parties in fourth grade.
Aside from that it was your basic teen horror novel. A bad thing happened to these girls and all these years later, when they’re all together again, a similar bad thing starts to happen. Everyone has their role to play. The main character is your typical teenage girl but level-headed. Her best friend is boy crazy, her nemesis is a mean girl with whom she’s in constant competition, mean girl’s friend is a yes man sidekick, and then there’s the shy, quiet friend that’s too serious for everyone and keeps to herself. Add in the quiet new girl that the MC brings into the fold and you’ve got all your characters covered. At least no one was being all that crappy to each other except for the mean girl. But she’s a mean girl; she’s not pretending to be anyone’s friend so at least it’s expected from her.
I do like how the plot develops. It hints at a potential supernatural element but could also allude to someone just finally having their sanity fall straight off a cliff. You’re kept guessing what’s happening and as the plot gets deeper and this snow storm that’s happening gets worse, weirder and weirder things keep happening and you’re not sure which direction the story’s going to go in.
Pike’s also not shy with details and realistic reactions of one character for another. There’s a burn victim in the story and in a fit of anger she reveals her scaring to everyone and Pike goes into detail about what she looks like and allows the other characters to react in rather human ways. Some of those reactions weren’t sensitive to her condition and while you’d like to think you wouldn’t react in an adverse way you wouldn’t know until you’re faced with that kind of maiming. It made everything that was happening all the more real and believable.
I think that’s what makes even this older Pike book stand out against something like Fear Street, the details. Pike just pays closer attention to them. His stories get a little under the surface to one extent or another. He develops the characters better, he sets the scene better, he makes the story more vivid. I like him more the more I read his books.
SLUMBER PARTY, even though I’d call it non-standard Pike it’s still very much him and he gives you a fuller, more lively story that as a reader you can invest in. The characters are more than cut-outs being handled from one plot point to another. You’re more involved with what’s going on and you can actually see it playing out. For the most part Pike’s books haven’t disappointed me yet and this one is no exception.
4
manwithanagenda's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Lara and her friends are excited for a weekend with their old friend Nell. There will be skiing during the day and games and parties at night. It will be the best weekend of their lives and it may help finally put to rest the bad memories of that last slumber party. Eight years before Lara, Dana, Misty, Rachael, Nell and Nell's little sister Nicole had a slumber party at Dana's. There was an accidental fire and Nicole died and Nell was left permanently disfigured. Nell's family moved away after the accident, but the girls have kept in touch and now they're in their last year of high school and this may be their last chance to get together like old times.
'Slumber Party' reminds me that I should dig up more Pike novels. The characters may not necessarily have more depth than Stine's Shadyside teens, but the atmosphere is more realistic and Pike's teenagers tend to do actual teenage things like drink, smoke and have sex. Nothing is dwelled upon, but it is a real part of their world and makes the hot, dry kisses of Fear Street old fashioned.
The book is set up nicely. The old friends, plus Lara's new friend Celeste and the two boys met at the Ski Lodge make for a good group of red herrings and melting snowmen that allows the novel to have some interest to it. I also love that at least one of Pike's characters always has a deep knowledge and understanding of paranormal phenomena, such as spontaneous human combustion (spoiler?). This always leads to a nice scene of teenagers taking a break from making out to have an Egon-esque discourse about psychic abilities and research.
'Slumber Party' reminds me that I should dig up more Pike novels. The characters may not necessarily have more depth than Stine's Shadyside teens, but the atmosphere is more realistic and Pike's teenagers tend to do actual teenage things like drink, smoke and have sex. Nothing is dwelled upon, but it is a real part of their world and makes the hot, dry kisses of Fear Street old fashioned.
The book is set up nicely. The old friends, plus Lara's new friend Celeste and the two boys met at the Ski Lodge make for a good group of red herrings and melting snowmen that allows the novel to have some interest to it. I also love that at least one of Pike's characters always has a deep knowledge and understanding of paranormal phenomena, such as spontaneous human combustion (spoiler?). This always leads to a nice scene of teenagers taking a break from making out to have an Egon-esque discourse about psychic abilities and research.
lailaa's review
1.0
A lot of this did not age well, but it is 80s teen horror fiction.
"With a great deal of fondness, Lana had to admit that Dana's face was one best loved by a mother. Yet Dana has no shortage of boyfriends, only a lack of ones that - as Dana put it - appreciated her from the neck up"
"I wish anorexia was contagious and I knew someone who would infect me"
"With a great deal of fondness, Lana had to admit that Dana's face was one best loved by a mother. Yet Dana has no shortage of boyfriends, only a lack of ones that - as Dana put it - appreciated her from the neck up"
"I wish anorexia was contagious and I knew someone who would infect me"
laura_vee's review
4.0
So I have to give this 4 stars because it brings back such fond memories. But now reading it as a parent, all I can think is WTF. What kind of parents let their teen daughters go to an overnight stay at a ski lodge -- especially when someone was killed at a previous slumber party?
And what kind of parents would prefer to pretend their daughter died instead of surviving with extensive burns across her body? And would they really go along with letting their daughter live with an aunt so she could go to a school with the other girls from the infamous slumber party?
And last but not least, Dana doesn't want to hang out with Cal because he tried to grab her boobs.
WTF was Lara thinking by telling Cal that Dana really liked him and she likes aggressive guys.
What a terrible friend!
All of that aside, it was a fun book to read. I enjoyed revisiting one of the tales of terror I adored in my teen years.
And last but not least, Dana doesn't want to hang out with Cal because he tried to grab her boobs.
WTF was Lara thinking by telling Cal that Dana really liked him and she likes aggressive guys.
What a terrible friend!
All of that aside, it was a fun book to read. I enjoyed revisiting one of the tales of terror I adored in my teen years.
loulla's review
2.0
It's corny, the characters are a bad caricature of teenagers and none of them are endearing, but some moments of this book are in the "so bad it's good" category.
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