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apopenhagen's review against another edition
1.0
I'm not going to go into summary too much in this review because I don't have the energy. Maybe later. So this will probably only make sense if you've already read the book.
Problem #1: Stupidity. Is there a new drug in Hollywood that makes people completely and utterly stupid? Because if so, almost every character in the book was definitely on it. I can see why a teenager who was desperate to be in a film would want to continue in a film, even if it was killing people off. However, one would hope that her parents would make her stop. But no. In fact, they continue making the film WITH THEIR DAUGHTER IN IT. Yeah.
Problem #2: Inconsistency. This one bothered me probably more than it should have. Let me just tell you the order of the scenes, partially for my own benefit. 1: The kids are in the car. 2: The kids come to the manor. 3: Cindy dies. 4: The boy gets electrocuted. 5: Darlene falls into the stairs. Okay. Now, Lana de Lorien is the "star" of the movie. Don't ask me how that works, since she plays the girl who dies first, as far as I can tell (I don't think they ever say that she plays Cindy, but she does die by getting her hand chopped off). Now, she dies in scene #3. Then, they get Delia to replace her. Only Delia plays her in scene #5. ... Okay. Something is not right here. And why are the only two real actors in the smallest parts? And who the heck do AnaLee and Delia even play, anyway? There are only 3 girl parts, and four girls who were originally cast. It just... doesn't work.
Problem #3: Relationships. Why, oh why does Claire like Jake? He's a jerk! She was scared by a prank call and wanted him to come over since she was home alone, and he pretty much says, "Nah, I'm good. I'm on a date with a hot chick, so, fend for yourself, buddy". Now, that does not sound like a good friend to me. He's one-dimensional and stupid.
Problem #4: Claire. I know she was involved in the other ones, too, but our dear Claire gets a problem all to herself. The girl is shallow and self-centered. I was okay with her for the first half of the book. And then, Analee died. And she says something like, "I don't know why I was sad. I told myself I didn't like Analee. I didn't." Umm, just because you don't like someone doesn't mean that you want them dead. It doesn't mean that you can't be sad for her family and friends. Or just be sad because she died too young. But no, Claire is so focused on her own part and that it "could have been her" that she can't focus on anything else.
And there's so much more, but that's all I can say right now.
*Spelling on the names might be wrong because I listened to the audiobook
Problem #1: Stupidity. Is there a new drug in Hollywood that makes people completely and utterly stupid? Because if so, almost every character in the book was definitely on it. I can see why a teenager who was desperate to be in a film would want to continue in a film, even if it was killing people off. However, one would hope that her parents would make her stop. But no. In fact, they continue making the film WITH THEIR DAUGHTER IN IT. Yeah.
Problem #2: Inconsistency. This one bothered me probably more than it should have. Let me just tell you the order of the scenes, partially for my own benefit. 1: The kids are in the car. 2: The kids come to the manor. 3: Cindy dies. 4: The boy gets electrocuted. 5: Darlene falls into the stairs. Okay. Now, Lana de Lorien is the "star" of the movie. Don't ask me how that works, since she plays the girl who dies first, as far as I can tell (I don't think they ever say that she plays Cindy, but she does die by getting her hand chopped off). Now, she dies in scene #3. Then, they get Delia to replace her. Only Delia plays her in scene #5. ... Okay. Something is not right here. And why are the only two real actors in the smallest parts? And who the heck do AnaLee and Delia even play, anyway? There are only 3 girl parts, and four girls who were originally cast. It just... doesn't work.
Problem #3: Relationships. Why, oh why does Claire like Jake? He's a jerk! She was scared by a prank call and wanted him to come over since she was home alone, and he pretty much says, "Nah, I'm good. I'm on a date with a hot chick, so, fend for yourself, buddy". Now, that does not sound like a good friend to me. He's one-dimensional and stupid.
Problem #4: Claire. I know she was involved in the other ones, too, but our dear Claire gets a problem all to herself. The girl is shallow and self-centered. I was okay with her for the first half of the book. And then, Analee died. And she says something like, "I don't know why I was sad. I told myself I didn't like Analee. I didn't." Umm, just because you don't like someone doesn't mean that you want them dead. It doesn't mean that you can't be sad for her family and friends. Or just be sad because she died too young. But no, Claire is so focused on her own part and that it "could have been her" that she can't focus on anything else.
And there's so much more, but that's all I can say right now.
*Spelling on the names might be wrong because I listened to the audiobook
trisha_thomas's review against another edition
2.0
I was excited to read this one. I was hoping for a little bit older, mature scary, gory story. But instead it was kind of silly. There definitely gross parts (ugh, hearing about the melting skin and singled hair in the microwave....) but not much else. I found the main character to be silly to the point of annoying. I didn't buy her age or many of the things she said or did.
I also found the guy in the trailer with all the potions to be mildly ridiculous. How does this guy keep talking to Claire and she keeps going to his trailer to steal potions - and yet, she doesn't see anything wrong with this. When she brings it up, no one else has seen this guy...but no worries, she's just going to keep stealing potions.
I wonder if, with slightly less gore, this would be good for a younger crowd.
I also found the guy in the trailer with all the potions to be mildly ridiculous. How does this guy keep talking to Claire and she keeps going to his trailer to steal potions - and yet, she doesn't see anything wrong with this. When she brings it up, no one else has seen this guy...but no worries, she's just going to keep stealing potions.
I wonder if, with slightly less gore, this would be good for a younger crowd.
lololauren23's review against another edition
2.0
Popsugar 2020 Reading Challenge - A book with a pun in the title
jennifermreads's review against another edition
1.0
Any links to Shakespeare's sprite-filled play are minimal. In my mind, naming a character "Puckerman" does not make the book a "modern reimagining of Shakespeare's classic romantic comedy." And tossing in random potions does not make a story magical.
While the story started off corny and horror-movie cliched, it held promise. Unfortunately, when it moved from retelling of the original filming to modern-day, it also moved off a cliff. Maybe, just maybe if the potions had been put on the cutting room floor, the story would have held its own: cliched but a little scary. Instead, the potions pushed it into the realm of ridiculous - and I just never felt like I should be pulling for silly Claire to get blind Jake to notice her.
Skip this one. If it is fright you want, go for Ten by Gretchen McNeil.
While the story started off corny and horror-movie cliched, it held promise. Unfortunately, when it moved from retelling of the original filming to modern-day, it also moved off a cliff. Maybe, just maybe if the potions had been put on the cutting room floor, the story would have held its own: cliched but a little scary. Instead, the potions pushed it into the realm of ridiculous - and I just never felt like I should be pulling for silly Claire to get blind Jake to notice her.
Skip this one. If it is fright you want, go for Ten by Gretchen McNeil.
kaceylaine's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I enjoyed this horror take on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
kiaran03's review against another edition
3.0
I read this years ago as a kid and the only part I remembered was the toaster scene, so it was kind of like reading a brand new book. While a lot if what happened was incredibly corny, it was still good. I liked how more things kept happening even when they thought it was over. And I thought Claire’s insistence on making Jake like her was so silly. Like girl he doesn’t like you please stop. Still a fun read (minus all the slut shaming and it was a lot of it. Big rip to Annalee)
moyarb's review against another edition
1.0
It's really cool to see such an icon still writing even when they don't need to. R.L. Stine could easily just go on vacation while people are thoroughly nostalgic over his books. However, this book proves that Stine is still stuck in the 1990s and doesn't want to progress.
Okay, so I'm a 90s kid, but I didn't really touch the "Goosebumps" books (due to being in elementary school and too frightened by the covers alone), but I did read the "Fear Street" books in high school. Like "Goosebumps" and "Fear Street" I was drawn in from the cover of this one. Unfortunately, the cover is the only redeeming quality of this book.
In his "Fear Street" franchise, the main characters tend to be what adults thought teenagers in the 1990s were like. Even so, the main characters in the FS books were either easy-going or somewhat likeable or if they were awful people, they would face consequences and maybe even have a bit of development. Stine was able to get away with this because this was the 90s when he wrote them. What's infuriating is that this book was published in 2013! A new era, but Stine fails to develop his writing to catch up with the times.
The main characters are spoiled, vapid, bratty, and kinda mean to each other. While it may have been a thing in the 90s, it's really weird to see the main character constantly slut shame another girl just because this other girl has the attention of some dumb boy in the 2010s where society is trying to get teenage girls to stop seeing each other as competitors for a boy's attention. The main character is so mean to this other girl as if Stine wants us to hate this other girl too. This is hard to do when the protagonist resorts to love potions to forced feelings on the dude. I know this isn't meant to be taken seriously, but the target audience for this book are technically teens from probably 13-16 so this subplot is a big old Y I K E S. It also made it hard to empathize with this main character and it's not like the others are great either. I didn't care what happened to any of these people which is sad because you're supposed to root for these guys. I'm bummed because since this book is a bit longer than Stine's other books, I was hoping the size meant he had more room to flesh these kids out.
While I was struggling to endure these characters, I was hoping the mystery would at least be a redeeming quality. It's not. There's supposed to be a huge reveal (or to me it appeared that there was a set up for a twist) of who the main antagonist is, but it's completely obvious on who they are based upon the character's physical appearance, personality, and how the final girl views this character throughout the book.
I bought this book hoping to see Stine's modern progression only to find that he hasn't progressed. While this book might--and that's a big MIGHT--have been a success had it been released at his prime, it doesn't hold up well in this era.
Okay, so I'm a 90s kid, but I didn't really touch the "Goosebumps" books (due to being in elementary school and too frightened by the covers alone), but I did read the "Fear Street" books in high school. Like "Goosebumps" and "Fear Street" I was drawn in from the cover of this one. Unfortunately, the cover is the only redeeming quality of this book.
In his "Fear Street" franchise, the main characters tend to be what adults thought teenagers in the 1990s were like. Even so, the main characters in the FS books were either easy-going or somewhat likeable or if they were awful people, they would face consequences and maybe even have a bit of development. Stine was able to get away with this because this was the 90s when he wrote them. What's infuriating is that this book was published in 2013! A new era, but Stine fails to develop his writing to catch up with the times.
The main characters are spoiled, vapid, bratty, and kinda mean to each other. While it may have been a thing in the 90s, it's really weird to see the main character constantly slut shame another girl just because this other girl has the attention of some dumb boy in the 2010s where society is trying to get teenage girls to stop seeing each other as competitors for a boy's attention. The main character is so mean to this other girl as if Stine wants us to hate this other girl too. This is hard to do when the protagonist resorts to love potions to forced feelings on the dude. I know this isn't meant to be taken seriously, but the target audience for this book are technically teens from probably 13-16 so this subplot is a big old Y I K E S. It also made it hard to empathize with this main character and it's not like the others are great either. I didn't care what happened to any of these people which is sad because you're supposed to root for these guys. I'm bummed because since this book is a bit longer than Stine's other books, I was hoping the size meant he had more room to flesh these kids out.
While I was struggling to endure these characters, I was hoping the mystery would at least be a redeeming quality. It's not. There's supposed to be a huge reveal (or to me it appeared that there was a set up for a twist) of who the main antagonist is, but it's completely obvious on who they are based upon the character's physical appearance, personality, and how the final girl views this character throughout the book.
I bought this book hoping to see Stine's modern progression only to find that he hasn't progressed. While this book might--and that's a big MIGHT--have been a success had it been released at his prime, it doesn't hold up well in this era.
fizzy_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0