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A review by liamunderwood
The Girlfriend by R.L. Stine
4.0
The Girlfriend marks the first Point Horror book so far to feature a male protagonist (not including a couple of the short stories in Thirteen Tales of Horror). It's a refreshing change. This is also a vast improvement over the majority of R.L. Stine's other Point Horror offerings.
R.L. Stine seems to relish writing unlikeable protagonists, with perhaps the most audacious example being Joanna Collier in The Boyfriend. See also a handful of his Goosebumps books, with You Can't Scare Me being the most recent example that I've read. Here in The Girlfriend, our protagonist Scotty Singleton is a typical high school jock quarterback (who sports a mullet because of course he does) who is dating cheerleader and Homecoming Queen Lora DeMarco. Whilst Lora is away on a week long vacation visiting Europe with her parents, Scotty happens across red-headed Shannon Smith and ends up taking her out on a date. Scotty attempts to justify his behaviour, but he knows what he's doing is wrong. Still, he does it anyway.
So R.L. Stine presents us with a protagonist who makes a few pretty dumb decisions and then has to deal with the consequences. Typically, I would be of the opinion that he made his bed and now must lie in it. In the case of The Girlfriend, those consequences are Shannon thinking Scotty is now her baby and woe betide anyone who stands in her way. What's remarkable about this book, for me, is that despite Scotty being a total jerk, I still couldn't help but feel for him as Shannon's infatuations escalate rapidly and dangerously.
R.L. Stine's Point Horror efforts are almost always well paced (providing we overlook Beach Party which was a drag) and this was no exception. I raced through this book, and much to my astonishment found myself enjoying it immensely. Until the ending.
The climax begins to head in a genuinely shocking and interesting direction before Stine wimps out and throws a very rushed and shockingly stupid ending on the page. It wasn't so bad that it tainted the rest of my experience reading this, not like, say, The Boyfriend, but it does leave a bitter taste as the book concludes. Despite this, I must admit The Girlfriend is actually my favourite Point Horror I've read so far.
4/5
Point Horror Ranked
1) The Girlfriend - 4/5
2) Trick or Treat - 3.5/5
3) Teacher's Pet - 3.5/5
4) The Baby-Sitter II - 3.5/5
5) The Cheerleader - 3.5/5
6) April Fools - 3.5/5
7) My Secret Admirer - 3.5/5
8) The Lifeguard - 3.5/5
9) Thirteen Tales of Horror - 3/5
10) The Accident - 3/5
11) Funhouse - 3/5
12) The Boyfriend - 2/5
13) Mother's Helper - 2/5
14) The Baby-Sitter - 1.5/5
15) Beach Party - 1/5
R.L. Stine seems to relish writing unlikeable protagonists, with perhaps the most audacious example being Joanna Collier in The Boyfriend. See also a handful of his Goosebumps books, with You Can't Scare Me being the most recent example that I've read. Here in The Girlfriend, our protagonist Scotty Singleton is a typical high school jock quarterback (who sports a mullet because of course he does) who is dating cheerleader and Homecoming Queen Lora DeMarco. Whilst Lora is away on a week long vacation visiting Europe with her parents, Scotty happens across red-headed Shannon Smith and ends up taking her out on a date. Scotty attempts to justify his behaviour, but he knows what he's doing is wrong. Still, he does it anyway.
So R.L. Stine presents us with a protagonist who makes a few pretty dumb decisions and then has to deal with the consequences. Typically, I would be of the opinion that he made his bed and now must lie in it. In the case of The Girlfriend, those consequences are Shannon thinking Scotty is now her baby and woe betide anyone who stands in her way. What's remarkable about this book, for me, is that despite Scotty being a total jerk, I still couldn't help but feel for him as Shannon's infatuations escalate rapidly and dangerously.
R.L. Stine's Point Horror efforts are almost always well paced (providing we overlook Beach Party which was a drag) and this was no exception. I raced through this book, and much to my astonishment found myself enjoying it immensely. Until the ending.
The climax begins to head in a genuinely shocking and interesting direction before Stine wimps out and throws a very rushed and shockingly stupid ending on the page. It wasn't so bad that it tainted the rest of my experience reading this, not like, say, The Boyfriend, but it does leave a bitter taste as the book concludes. Despite this, I must admit The Girlfriend is actually my favourite Point Horror I've read so far.
4/5
Point Horror Ranked
1) The Girlfriend - 4/5
2) Trick or Treat - 3.5/5
3) Teacher's Pet - 3.5/5
4) The Baby-Sitter II - 3.5/5
5) The Cheerleader - 3.5/5
6) April Fools - 3.5/5
7) My Secret Admirer - 3.5/5
8) The Lifeguard - 3.5/5
9) Thirteen Tales of Horror - 3/5
10) The Accident - 3/5
11) Funhouse - 3/5
12) The Boyfriend - 2/5
13) Mother's Helper - 2/5
14) The Baby-Sitter - 1.5/5
15) Beach Party - 1/5