Review: Party Games by R. L. Stine

Title: Party Games 

Author: R.L. Stine 

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Publishing Date:  September 30th 2014

Pages: 288
Genre:  YA Horror

Series: Stand Alone Fear Street Novel
Source: ARC 

  

R.L. Stine's hugely successful young adult horror series Fear Street is back with the first new book in almost 2 decades. With more than 80 million copies sold around the world, Fear Street is one of the bestselling young adult series of all time. Now, with Party Games, R.L. Stine revives this phenomenon for a new generation of teen readers, and the announcement of new Fear Street books caused a flurry of excitement both in the press and on social media, where fans rejoiced that the series was coming back.

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.

R.L. Stine makes his triumphant return to Shadyside, a town of nightmares, shadows, and genuine terror, and to the bestselling series that began his career writing horror for the juvenile market, in the new Fear Street book Party Games.

I was a little bit excited for this book. It sounded like it could be really good and I read a few of Stine's books when I was a teenager.... before Goosebumps. I wasn't a huge fan but I did read some and enjoyed them. I received this ARC and dove into it. I was a bit disappointed actually. I thought the story was good. It had the hold horror movie style feel to it, but the writing lacked for me. The characters were in high school but I felt as if I was reading a middle school book. The characters lacked for me too. I struggled at times but I did finish the book because I was curious for the ending, but I wasn't really impressed with the overall read. 

Rachel, the main character, is invited to a party on an island. The host of the party and the star of the party is Brendan Fear. Infamous for his family's deeds and pretty good looking, Rachel doesn't hesitate. Before the party and after the party strange things happen, rats in beds and such like that. Then there are the murders that start killing off her friends. Rachel and a few survivors are stuck on the island with a killer. It could be anyone, even the host of the party.




Liked the story, liked the ending, liked the murders, liked the creepiness. If the story wasn't as interesting as it was and if I wasn't curious on who done it... I wouldn't have finished the book, but because it was interesting and I was curious. I finished the book and didn't regret finishing it. I would have liked more character development and more mature writing. Those are the things I really disliked. 

The main character was an OK character. She wasn't absolutely boring but wasn't anything to get excited for either. Just kind of blah. She also seemed a little contradicting. She seemed like a smart girl, and at the beginning I thought she was bright, secure, and had her head on straight. The further in the book I went, the more dumb she seemed. That classic horror dumb girl vibe. She also seemed a bit too wishy washy for me. I never really got annoyed by her because I never connected to her, but she did have some annoying characteristics. The love interest wasn't any better. I never felt the wow factor, the oohhh feeling or even an understanding why all the girls supposedly wanted him. Again just a blah character. There were a few secondary characters that were better. I liked a couple for their humor or their sweetness but unfortunately their parts were minor and they didn't make too many appearances. 

The romance was definitely not my style. It was rushed, too convenient, and too cliche. It didn't make sense at all. Why would Brendon invite someone he never spoke too before to his exclusive party, and why did he care so much to be her hero and protect her. He barely knew her but it seemed like there should have been some long time relationship going on before the book even started and nope there really wasn't. The friendships did make sense and I did enjoy the relationship among the other peers in the book.

The writing was my biggest issue. It just seemed geared towards a much younger crowd even though the characters were all in high school. I was expecting something a bit more mature. I think actually this would be a great book for 6th-8th graders. There were a few funny moments and a few silent scream moments but for the most part there were eye rolling moments for me. 

I was able to finish the book and glad I did but definitely not my style.  

Robert Lawrence Stine known as R. L. Stine and Jovial Bob Stine, is an American novelist and writer, well known for targeting younger audiences. Stine, who is often called the Stephen King of children's literature, is the author of dozens of popular horror fiction novellas, including the books in the Goosebumps, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room and Fear Street series.

R. L. Stine began his writing career when he was nine years old, and today he has achieved the position of the bestselling children's author in history. In the early 1990s, Stine was catapulted to fame when he wrote the unprecedented, bestselling Goosebumps® series, which sold more than 250 million copies and became a worldwide multimedia phenomenon. His other major series, Fear Street, has over 80 million copies sold.

Stine has received numerous awards of recognition, including several Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, and he has been selected by kids as one of their favorite authors in the NEA's Read Across America program. He lives in New York, NY.