The New Girl (Fear Street Book 1)

I had low expectations. I'm a twenty-something creative writing major and I just wanted a book I could get through quickly and get some mild enjoyment out of over my winter holiday. It took me approximatly 5 hours to read (and I'm kind of a slow reader) so it met my first expectation.As far as being mildly enjoyable it hit the mark there too. Was it genius? No way. Actually as a writing student it was fun to correct his writing mistakes in my head as I went. But I enjoyed it. The book is nearly 170 pages long. The mystery had me going until page 100 when I put it down for the day. That night I woke in the middle of the night and half asleep I figured out the mystery. I finished the book anxious to see if I was right and I was. I literally figured out the mystery in my sleep. But the story was entertaining and the characters mildly interesting. And though I had the mystery all sorted out I was still excited to finish the book and confirm that I was correct.There was one thing I was a little disappointed in, though its nit picking. I was really excited about this book because it was originally published in 1989. I was so ready for some all out 80's goodness! And it was there, the jock was wearing Converse sneakers like Emilio Estevez in Breakfast Club, a Honda Accord passed them on the street so I looked up a picture cause I just had to see what an '88 Accord looked like! I was having so much fun! Then all of a sudden the main characters IPod is blasting in his ears. WHAT??? I double checked, it was written in 89 and reprinted in 06. What the duce?? To make a long story short from what I can surmise it seems that what they did was they wanted to make the new edition of the book relevant to new generation so they swapped out what was probably a walkman in the original edition to be an IPod and changed some cult following film from the 80's to Lord of the Rings and the music at the school dance to Missy Elliot and Kanye West. They made quick name changes to easy things but the problem with this is that the big picture things couldn't be changed. It would require a whole rewrite of sections of the book. For instance, rather than jump on their home PC's and connect to the internet they go to the library computer lab to look through old newspapers. It doesn't make any sense and if you dont know that the book was originally published in 89 and they changed things it really makes it confusing and I can imagine readers feeling like the big picture things that happen don't make any sense and is using lack of technology as a bad plot device like in crappy horror movies.Anyway, overall I really liked the book. I am looking forward to reading the next one.

As a pre-teen, R.L. Stine was by far my favorite author. The New Girl was the first Fear Street book I read, many years ago. I finally had a chance to re-read it again as an adult.This book is a quick read, engaging from beginning to end. I absolutely love the suspense elements. The ending was a complete surprise to me, well hidden by the book’s supernatural chills.

A good quick read. Good story, but if you are expecting it to be on the same level of horror as the movie it is not.Like most Stine books the first 95% of the book is easy reading not making you think at all. All characters do as you would expect. Then the twist happens at the end to make it enjoyable. Also like other Stine books, characters are introduced in a mysterious way only to have Stine write them out of the book when he cannot find a good use for them or the story is about to wrap up. It only takes a few hours to read so it is worth your time if you are a Stine fan, but I don't think most other people would enjoy it much. The plot has been reused so many times that even though the twist is unexpected, once you read it you know you have seen it used multiple times before. Nothing fresh here.One very positive thing is that this story was written in 1989 and had references to things such as walkmans, Phil Collins, Prince, and the Twilight Zone. The 2006 edition changed these to Kanye West, Missy Elliot, and iPods. Glad to tell you that this latest edition brings back the references to the 1989 pop culture.

Daughter loved it

First and foremost I am a horror fan. Always have been always will be. This book caught my interest after watching the three movies. I read it and fell right back in love with R.L Steins writing all over again. It was nostalgic. I loved that it was a quick read and it kept me entertained the whole time. Would definitely recommend, and I will definitely be reading the other books in this series.Would absolutely recommend for anyone who loves the 90s style horror stories.

I found the Fear Street books on a whim just looking for new mystery/thrill books and I am in love with this series. I used to read the Goosebumps books when I was a kid, and these are a little more mature, written for teens. They are really good though, and I read it within a day and a half...probably could have read it in a day, but life calls too... so if you are going to buy Fear Street books make sure you stock up on more than one.