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A review by findingmontauk1
Monster Blood by R.L. Stine
3.0
Monster Blood is the third installment in R.L. Stine’s coveted Goosebumps series. While it is the first one (chronologically) that I did not absolutely love, I still enjoyed it and do know that there will be sequels involving this dangerous monster blood. I wonder how all of the Monster Blood books hold up as one, over-arching story? I will find out soon enough!
This story follows a young boy named Evan who has to go live with his great aunt Kathryn because his mother is going to Atlanta for a trip (ATL haaaaay!) Who would be excited about something like that? So to make things more entertaining, he goes to the local toy shop and buys a can of monster blood – because ALL kids must purchase something that’s called “monster blood,” right? *rolls eyes*
So basically the monster blood just keeps growing and growing and growing. And while that seems like it should be important (and it might be more of a vital role in the sequels), it is not the underlying threat in this story to me. Strange things are happening with aunt Kathryn and her black cat. We have all the ingredients we need for a suspenseful twist-ending. Well, it didn’t totally surprise me… but I bet it would have had my 8-year-old self all shook up!
Things I did not like: the repetitive nature of Evan always chasing/looking for his dog, the actual monster blood itself (just growing and not really doing much of anything), and how blunt his cooky, great aunt Kathryn is! She straight up comes out of the woodworks asking him if he likes girls. Maam, MAAM! This is some distant family member you haven’t seen in how long? And you are asking him to just come out to you as a tween in the 90s?! You must be trippin’, aunty K!
Monster Blood gets 3.5 out of 5 for me. And I may be super lenient here… part of me wants to give it a 3 in fact. If the monster blood actually did frightening things I think I would give this one a higher rating. But the fact that this book spawned two sequels makes me think this must just be the introduction to the monster blood’s true and terrifying powers… and that we will all be in for a world of hurt as the next books unfold! At least… I HOPE!
This story follows a young boy named Evan who has to go live with his great aunt Kathryn because his mother is going to Atlanta for a trip (ATL haaaaay!) Who would be excited about something like that? So to make things more entertaining, he goes to the local toy shop and buys a can of monster blood – because ALL kids must purchase something that’s called “monster blood,” right? *rolls eyes*
So basically the monster blood just keeps growing and growing and growing. And while that seems like it should be important (and it might be more of a vital role in the sequels), it is not the underlying threat in this story to me. Strange things are happening with aunt Kathryn and her black cat. We have all the ingredients we need for a suspenseful twist-ending. Well, it didn’t totally surprise me… but I bet it would have had my 8-year-old self all shook up!
Things I did not like: the repetitive nature of Evan always chasing/looking for his dog, the actual monster blood itself (just growing and not really doing much of anything), and how blunt his cooky, great aunt Kathryn is! She straight up comes out of the woodworks asking him if he likes girls. Maam, MAAM! This is some distant family member you haven’t seen in how long? And you are asking him to just come out to you as a tween in the 90s?! You must be trippin’, aunty K!
Monster Blood gets 3.5 out of 5 for me. And I may be super lenient here… part of me wants to give it a 3 in fact. If the monster blood actually did frightening things I think I would give this one a higher rating. But the fact that this book spawned two sequels makes me think this must just be the introduction to the monster blood’s true and terrifying powers… and that we will all be in for a world of hurt as the next books unfold! At least… I HOPE!