Review: The Sleepwalker (Fear Street #6) by R.L. Stine

Title: The Sleepwalker

Series: Fear Street #6

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, horror, mystery thriller

Publication date: August 1991

Published by: Archway Paperback

Source: Own paperback

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Synopsis:

One week after she starts her summer job on Fear Street with old Mrs Cottler, Mayra Barnes begins to sleepwalk, waking up in the dead of night not knowing where she is. Mayra becomes even more terrified when she discovers Mrs Cottler may be a witch...

Is the old woman casting spells on Mayra? To add to Mayra's horror, she is being followed by a menacing stranger who seems to recognize her - but she's never seen him in her life!

Mayra's sleepwalking is leading her into more and more peril. She soon realizes she must take action. She must find out what is happening to her - or she may never leave Fear Street alive!

My rating: ★★★★☆

She isn't safe—even in her dreams!

Mayra starts working for an old woman who lives on Fear Street. It’s an easy job and she gets paid well, but ever since she started working for there she’s been sleepwalking... to Fear Street no less! Is this woman casting a spell on Mayra?

This book had a pretty good mystery: who and what was the cause of Mayra’s sleepwalking. There were actually a couple plot twists I did not see coming! This book was full of surprises!

Mayra’s two guys... her ex-boyfriend Link, I initially felt bad for him that Mayra had broken up with him, but he had these stalker-ish tendencies that were just a big NO. He also grabbed Mayra without her consent which was totally NOT okay! WTF dude! I was no longer feeling sorry for him. I can see why she broke up with him. Good decision. As for the current boyfriend, Walker, I actually liked him, I thought he was very nice, but quite shy.

But I actually had my suspicions about him. However, I didn’t want to believe it because I thought he was nice. I just couldn’t think of a motive he could possibly have to do this to Mayra! Well, it turns out that Mayra’s shy little boyfriend has a completely other, darker side. Sweet little boy was in a hit and run and hypnotized Mayra’s so she could forget about it! And not only that, but this whole time he was cheating on Mayra with Suki Thomas! I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but it turns out he was just a goddamn prick.

Walker jumped to his feet and took a few steps away from her. “I’ve been going out with Suki,” he said. “Everybody in the world knows that. I just hung around you to make sure your memory didn’t come back.”

Fucking asshole.😒

One character I loved without a doubt was Donna, Mayra’s best friend! She was very sassy and funny even when she was going through some pretty bad stuff. She was probably my favorite character of this whole book.

Overall, I really liked this book. Sleep/dream-related books have always interested me, so I liked that about this. The mystery itself was good too—it totally surprised me! I was not expecting that reveal at all! I felt awful for Mayra and the sleepwalking, especially when no one would take it seriously at the beginning. Including her own mother, who is a nurse! Unbelievable. And her visit with the psych doctor had some really nice foreshadowing I really appreciated. But yeah, I really liked this book!

Easter Egg: Suki Thomas who is originally from The Overnight, makes an appearance.

The Fear Street connection: Mayra starts working for an old woman who lives on Fear Street...

“Mrs. Cottler lives on Fear Street, doesn’t she? You’re certainly brave this morning.”
“Yeah, she lives back near the lake. But I don’t mind Fear Street in the daylight,” Mayra said. “I mean, what could happen?”

Girl, you never say that. Especially when you’re in a horror novel. Lol.

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! :)