Party Games by R.L. Stine

Author: R. L. Stine
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Date of publication: September 2014

Her friends warn her not to go to Brendan Fear's birthday party at his family's estate on mysterious Fear Island. But Rachel Martin has a crush on Brendan and is excited to be invited. Brendan has a lot of party games planned. But one game no one planned intrudes on his party—the game of murder. As the guests start dying one by one, Rachel realizes to her horror that she and the other teenagers are trapped on the tiny island with someone who may want to kill them all. How to escape this deadly game? Rachel doesn't know whom she can trust. She should have realized that nothing is as it seems… on Fear Island.

After not loving (OK hating) Red Rain, I was a bit leery about reading Mr. Stine's latest in the Fear Street series. I am glad to say that Party Games was the complete opposite of Red Rain.  With this latest book, the author is back to his old writing self that we have all come to know and love with his Goosebumps and Fear Street Series.

I actually enjoyed Party Games.  For a YA horror, it had just the right amount of suspense and surprise moments to keep the reader on their toes.  I thought the characters were interesting and relevant.  I loved the creepy island and house setting.  The story did remind me a lot of the plot from "April Fool's Day" (The 80s version), at least in the beginning.  But, there are a few twists that took the story in a whole different direction.  I think this is a perfect Halloween read for the YA crowd!

Throwback Thursday: Bad Dreams by R. L. Stine

Author: R. L. Stine
First published by Simon Pulse 1994

Every night Maggie Travers has the same horrible dream. Every night she is forced to watch the same murder. And every night the girl in her dream cries out for help. Maggie is afraid to go to sleep again. But when the terrifying dream starts to come true and the gruesome accidents begin, staying awake is the real nightmare!

I was looking for a quick read for Throwback Thursday and this audiobook caught my eye on the shelf at the library.  I was just out of college when this series came out, so I missed out the first time around.  Bad Dreams is part of the Fear Street series by R. L . Stine.

Maggie and her family move into a home  on Fear Street after her fahter dies.  It's run down and needs some major TLC.  The bonus is that the last family left a canopy bed behind.  Maggie decides to keep it in her room and use it as her own. That is when the nightmares start.  All I could think as I was listening to this book was "ewww".  She slept on someone's old mattress.  Can you say bed bugs, mold and who knows what else?  Also, she finds to later that someone was murdered in the bed.  Double gross.  I could see saving the frame, but the mattress? 

It's an OK mystery for a YA book.  The characters were a bit underwhelming.  I detested Maggie's sister Andrea.  She was so whiny. Justin, the boyfriend, was not necessary to the book and probably could have been left out.  The ending was just plain dumb.  I was expecting a bit more reaction from the main characters.  They act like it's just business as usual.  Like they didn't just get attacked by a killer.  Also there was no resolution to a few things in the book.  I say stick with the Goosebumps books.  They are much better than this.

Joint Review: Red Rain by RL Stine

by:  R.L. Stine
published by:  Touchstone
publish date:  October 9, 2012

Travel writer Lea Sutter finds herself on a small island off the coast of South Carolina, the wrong place at the wrong time. A merciless, unanticipated hurricane cuts a path of destruction and Lea barely escapes with her life. In the storm’s aftermath, she discovers orphaned twin boys and impulsively decides to adopt them. The boys, Samuel and Daniel, seem amiable and immensely grateful; Lea’s family back on Long Island—husband Mark and their two children, Ira and Elena—aren’t quite so pleased. But even they can’t anticipate the twins’ true nature—or predict that, within a few weeks’ time, Mark will wind up implicated in two brutal murders, with the police narrowing in.

First up, what's up with all these writers who do perfectly well in their little corner of the writing world moving from YA to Adult or vice-versa?  It confuses people.  I can just see a kid at the library with an unsuspecting parent getting all excited for Red Rain because it's by R.L. Stine or The Casual Vacancy because it's by J.K. Rowling, only to bring it home and it's a grown up book.

In the case of this book, I stand by my thoughts on The Casual Vacancy.  You're a successful YA/MG writer for a reason.  Stick with what you're good at!  Red Rain had a few adult themes going on in the book, but primarily it read like a YA book. 

The story itself was ok.  It was interesting enough that I was able to finish it, so it had that going for it.  It was a little bit gory here and there, but it was never totally creepy.  There was one good twist at the end.  I have to give RL credit for that because I wasn't expecting it. 

I really didn't care for this book.  I found myself skimming it and then, finally, I skipped to the end to see what happens.  I, too, thought it had a YA feel.  But, I also thought it was poorly written.  The idea that a travel writer would go to a secluded island when  hurricane is days away was just not believable   That would never happen.

I also felt like the book was all over that place   It didn't flow well for me.  The  boys' dialogue was uncomfortable.  I didn't really like any of the characters.  I'm disappointed because I love this author.  His Goosebumps series is really good.  Maybe he should just stick to that.