A review by theavidreaderandbibliophile
Can You Keep a Secret?: A Fear Street Novel by R.L. Stine

3.0

Can You Keep a Secret? Is the latest Fear Street novel by R.L. Stine. Emmy, Eddie, and their friends (Danny, Riley, Callie, and Roxie) decide to party out in Fear Street Woods. Emmy and Eddie sneak off from the group. Eddie is going to carve their initials in a tree. While over there they find money stashed in the tree (turns out to be hollow). Before they can decide what to do, the rest of the group finds them (and the money). They agree to take the money (several of their families are experiencing money problems) and hide it in a safe place (in the pet cemetery). But when one of them needs the money, they find it is gone. Who took it and why? Each teen turns on the other. Then they discover someone is following them. Could it be the owner of the money? Are any of them safe?

Emmy is having these strange dreams about wolves and they coincide with attacks in the area. Her Aunt Marta from Prague comes to visit and tries to help her. Aunt Marta remembers Emmy being bitten by a dog while visiting in Prague when she was a child. What happened to Emmy? Is she a wolf?

Can You Keep a Secret? by R.L. Stine was not the scary book I was looking forward to reading. I found it predictable especially the wolf subplot. I knew the twist before it was revealed. One thing that I did not enjoy was the drama between the sisters (Emmy and her younger sister, Sophie). I give Can You Keep a Secret? 2.75 out of 5 stars. The book would more suitable for young adults (tweens) except for the gore and violence (geared toward older readers). This book was not what I was expecting from a Fear Street novel and R.L. Stine. Can You Keep a Secret? has sibling jealously (and rivalry), romance between teenagers, jealousy, and greed. With the right writer, they make a compelling novel. Unfortunately, they just did not come together in this book. I found Can You Keep a Secret? to be a very contrived novel.

I received a complimentary copy of Can You Keep a Secret? From NetGalley in exchange for an honest evaluation of the novel.