Review: Broken Hearts (Fear Street Super Chiller #4) by R.L. Stine

Title: Broken Hearts

Series: Fear Street Super Chiller #4 (Can be read as a standalone)

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, horror, mystery thriller

Publication date: February 1993

Published by: Archway/Simon Pulse

Source: Own paperback

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Synopsis:

Roses are red, corpses are blue. On Valentine’s Day, you’ll die too!

There’s someone out there, someone who kills on Valentine’s Day. Josie and Melissa are scared—especially when they receive threatening valentines. Then the murders begin. Who is sending these horrible valentines to the girls of Shadyside High? And who will be the next to die?

My rating: ★★★★☆

Valentine's Day can be killer.

Melissa and the McClains (Josie, Rachel, and Erica) live right across the street from each other and that is how they became friends. But things change after Rachel’s accident. Josie basically becomes Reva from Silent Night. She seriously rivaled her at times. But in the end Josie, wasn’t as cruel as Reva, so I’ll give her that. But that definitely doesn’t excuse how she treated Erica and Melissa. She was so inconsiderate, especially toward her younger sister Erica.

And then at the end it’s revealed that Erica was the killer the whole time, and you know what? I totally get it. After Rachel’s accident she is forced to care for Rachel ALL the time, especially considering how Josie keeps refusing to help out. It makes sense that Erica is pissed off. She’s so young to be forced this situation on her! And this accident pretty much was Josie’s fault, to begin with. So yes, I can totally understand why Erica did the things she did. Were they a bit extreme? Absolutely yes.

And while we’re in spoiler territory, can I just say how surprised I was that R.L. Stine actually killed a main character? Like, what?! I mean, yeah he’s done it before, but he doesn't do it often. So I thought that was pretty cool.

So because Josie has basically turned into Reva, the same thing that happened to Reva is now happening to Josie: someone is after her, sending threatening messages. But in Josie’s case, they’re threatening Valentine cards! And let me tell you, these creepy poems were one of my favorite parts!

This Valentine’s Day

No memories to save.

The only flowers for you

Will be on your grave.

Roses are black,

Violets are gray.

On Valentine’s Day

You’ll start to decay.

I loved these cheesy poems! They were amazing! Lol. And I actually had a hard time figuring out who the culprit was, which is a good thing! I love being surprised!

I suspected a bunch of people, but my money was on, believe it or not, Rachel. I thought she was faking everything and getting back at Josie because she blamed her for the accident, but no! And the thought that the killer could be Erica crossed my mind briefly at the beginning, but I never really thought it would be her! I was super invested in it being Rachel and faking her head injury. I seriously thought Rachel killed Josie and stabbed Erica! Boy was I wrong...

Josie’s main suspect was Jenkman, her ex-boyfriend, but the way she always brought him up—he was literally her Dinkleberg and I could not stop laughing every time she did bring him up!

Speaking of the boys, I had a hard time keeping track of all the boys. I mean, there are four girls and most of them have boyfriends, but then by part two they all have different boyfriends, but like, not new boyfriends because they just exchange them between one another. Lol. It’s so weird! And confusing. Lol. But I actually did like Steve and Josie together, I thought they were really cute. I mean, it obviously wasn't the best romance as the main focus here is all the murder, but I didn’t mind it.

But overall, I really enjoyed the book! I adored the cheesy, creepy poems, the mystery was very interesting, and the plot twist really got me!

Some Easter Eggs from other Fear Street books: Dave Metcalf and Cory Brooks (from The New Girl) show up a couple times. At the ice skating party, Cory is showing off and skating backwards on one leg. Poor Lisa. Lol. Oh and also, having a skating party on Fear Lake for Valentine’s Day is such an awful idea. Idiots. Who does that? Lol.

The Fear Street connection: Melissa, Josie, Rachel, and Erica all live on Fear Street.

The kids at school told such frightening stories about Fear Street. About ghosts and evil spirits. About murders and disappearances.
Most of it probably wasn’t true. But some of it was.

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! :)