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hollie313's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
dtaylorbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Why would something be put in the back blurb when it wasn't in the book at all? There's an element in the blurb above that just doesn't exist in the story. That's like the non-sequential events on the back of Christopher Pike's Immortal. Very weird. And talk about misleading. It didn't detract from the story any but I can't help but wonder why.
Pike and Stine have very similar writing styles although I think Stine is a little more kiddish, even in his YA books. It doesn't hurt the story but I think it hinders the storytelling just a little bit. So much more could be put into it if the aim was a little higher.
But it was creepy enough. It had me on the edge of my seat at the end of a lot of the chapters. I didn't want to stop reading when something crazy was about to happen! Damn hour lunches! And it was creepy. It carried that sense of foreboding with it, that anything could happen to anyone. No one was safe.
When people start disappearing and strange events started happening, your comfort zone gets destroyed and the more the story gets into it, the more unsure you get of the characters' survival. Will they make it?
The supernatural elements are kept to a barely there minimum; yet even more proof that you don't need insanely spooky stuff to be not of this world. Sometimes other humans are all that you need to be totally creeped out.
Whether its the short, almost choppy sentences or the fact that nearly every chapter ends on a cliffhanger, Stine's writing is compelling. You'll want to figure out what's going on, and fast. The events are as grounded in reality as a cheesy teen horror book can be grounded in reality and I think that makes it all the more frightening. Who wouldn't want to go fart around a private island in a swanky hotel? The very premise is the start of how many good horror stories? But it's what's done with it that makes it truly horrifying and Stine does an awesome job. The horror is in the helplessness and it'll have you clawing at the pages until you know just how it all ends.
Pike and Stine have very similar writing styles although I think Stine is a little more kiddish, even in his YA books. It doesn't hurt the story but I think it hinders the storytelling just a little bit. So much more could be put into it if the aim was a little higher.
But it was creepy enough. It had me on the edge of my seat at the end of a lot of the chapters. I didn't want to stop reading when something crazy was about to happen! Damn hour lunches! And it was creepy. It carried that sense of foreboding with it, that anything could happen to anyone. No one was safe.
When people start disappearing and strange events started happening, your comfort zone gets destroyed and the more the story gets into it, the more unsure you get of the characters' survival. Will they make it?
The supernatural elements are kept to a barely there minimum; yet even more proof that you don't need insanely spooky stuff to be not of this world. Sometimes other humans are all that you need to be totally creeped out.
Whether its the short, almost choppy sentences or the fact that nearly every chapter ends on a cliffhanger, Stine's writing is compelling. You'll want to figure out what's going on, and fast. The events are as grounded in reality as a cheesy teen horror book can be grounded in reality and I think that makes it all the more frightening. Who wouldn't want to go fart around a private island in a swanky hotel? The very premise is the start of how many good horror stories? But it's what's done with it that makes it truly horrifying and Stine does an awesome job. The horror is in the helplessness and it'll have you clawing at the pages until you know just how it all ends.
hunkydory'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
2.75
manwithanagenda'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? No
1.25
Fear Street # 12
Cari Taylor and her friends Jan, Craig, and Eric Bishop are thrilled to be invited to help out at an exclusive island resort off of Cape Cod for the whole summer. Readers will want something bad to happen to these characters after the first six or so chants of "PARTY SUMMER!" The summer will not go as they planned. On the way to the island Jan's Aunt Rose (and reason they got jobs at the Inn) falls ill and sends them on alone. Next, they arrive to find the island almost deserted. There are raised voices behind locked doors. There are secrets in the walls. There are no cute boys. Can Cari and her friends survive their stay?
'Party Summer' is a milestone for the 'Fear Street' franchise. It's the first Super Chiller, which was a spin-off series that promises to be almost a full-length novel! Readers will be astounded that Stine's premise can extend to 200 pages. The Super Chillers were also the first of many (MANY) spin-off mini-series which will make my reread of the whole franchise in publication order such a treat.
If my snark up there wasn't enough of a hint, I was pretty disappointed in 'Party Summer'. The opening chapter finds us witnessing Jan summoning a dark spirit in her attic, the summer locale is the Howling Wolf Inn on Piney Island off of Cape Cod, and the owner of that inn is Simon Fear III. All we know so far about the Fear family are rumors of a curse surrounding them and the ruins of their ancestral home in Shadyside. Friggin' birds don't live in the Fear Street Woods because of them, something big has gotta happen if we meet a Fear in the pages of a Fear Street novel - especially for the first time.
Spoiler: It doesn't.
I won't give away too many details here, but we do not get what the Super Chiller promises us. Instead we get the Stine-patented villain with a mental illness. They're capable of anything. The extra pages amount to a lot of extra time running around screaming, packing their suitcases, screaming, making snacks, and screaming some more. I mean, the goofiness of the villain's reveal should count for more, but I'm too upset that there is no reason for the absurd name for the Inn and no reason at all that Simon Fear III (and other Fear relations) are present.
Fear Street in Publication Order
Next #13: 'Lights Out', Fear Street #12
Previous #11: 'The Fire Game', Fear Street #11
Cari Taylor and her friends Jan, Craig, and Eric Bishop are thrilled to be invited to help out at an exclusive island resort off of Cape Cod for the whole summer. Readers will want something bad to happen to these characters after the first six or so chants of "PARTY SUMMER!" The summer will not go as they planned. On the way to the island Jan's Aunt Rose (and reason they got jobs at the Inn) falls ill and sends them on alone. Next, they arrive to find the island almost deserted. There are raised voices behind locked doors. There are secrets in the walls. There are no cute boys. Can Cari and her friends survive their stay?
'Party Summer' is a milestone for the 'Fear Street' franchise. It's the first Super Chiller, which was a spin-off series that promises to be almost a full-length novel! Readers will be astounded that Stine's premise can extend to 200 pages. The Super Chillers were also the first of many (MANY) spin-off mini-series which will make my reread of the whole franchise in publication order such a treat.
If my snark up there wasn't enough of a hint, I was pretty disappointed in 'Party Summer'. The opening chapter finds us witnessing Jan summoning a dark spirit in her attic, the summer locale is the Howling Wolf Inn on Piney Island off of Cape Cod, and the owner of that inn is Simon Fear III. All we know so far about the Fear family are rumors of a curse surrounding them and the ruins of their ancestral home in Shadyside. Friggin' birds don't live in the Fear Street Woods because of them, something big has gotta happen if we meet a Fear in the pages of a Fear Street novel - especially for the first time.
Spoiler: It doesn't.
I won't give away too many details here, but we do not get what the Super Chiller promises us. Instead we get the Stine-patented villain with a mental illness. They're capable of anything. The extra pages amount to a lot of extra time running around screaming, packing their suitcases, screaming, making snacks, and screaming some more. I mean, the goofiness of the villain's reveal should count for more, but I'm too upset that there is no reason for the absurd name for the Inn and no reason at all that Simon Fear III (and other Fear relations) are present.
Fear Street in Publication Order
Next #13: 'Lights Out', Fear Street #12
Previous #11: 'The Fire Game', Fear Street #11
himatako's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
booksandbrews's review
adventurous
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
3.5
micachu's review against another edition
2.0
redus_reuse_recycle's review
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
elizabethebright's review
2.0
in a fit of nostalgia i bought a lot of about 30 of these books. great cheesy reading!
li3an1na4's review
2.0
Extra long but added all the wrong things. Nice addition to the mythos though.