Review: The Beginning (Fear Street Collector's Editions #1) by R.L. Stine

Title: The Beginning

Series: Fear Street | Fear Street Collector's Editions

Books in this omnibus: The New Girl | The Surprise Party | The Overnight

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, horror, mystery thriller

Publication date: February 1998

Published by: Archway Paperback

Source: Own paperback

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Buy it: Amazon | Thrift Books

Synopsis:

Are you afraid to walk down Fear Street? Maybe you should be.

They say that weird things always happen on that dark and twisting road. They say it's a place to be frightened of - that those who go there never return the same. And some never return at all...

Dare to read the very first three chilling FEAR STREET books, in this special Collector's Edition!

Contains "The New Girl" "The Surprise Party" and "The Overnight".

My rating: ★★★★☆

The first stories of Fear Street...

The New Girl
So, we have Cory who is f*cking insane because after seeing Anna in passing, he pretty much becomes obsessed with her. We’re talking about a 5 second glance, maybe less. Ugh. Anyway, he soon begins to wonder if Anna is even real because she is just so elusive and mysterious. But he just has to find out everything about her because, obsessed. I could smell the instalove from miles away... ugh! Cory’s obsession with Anna was insane and so, so annoying!

Anyway, even though I totally hated Cory’s fixation on Anna, I actually found the mystery of Anna and what her deal was quite intriguing. The reveal really caught me off guard! It was really good! Well, not when it was actually revealed ‘cause I had figured out that particular twist ahead of time when Anna finally told her life’s story before they moved to Shadyside—to Fear Street. I thought it was pretty obvious, but very interesting, nonetheless.

Overall though, I really liked The New Girl and the mystery about the oh-so enigmatic Anna. The book was very suspenseful but a fast read. And the climax was action-packed and so freaking insane! I am so glad to have finally read the very first Fear Street book! It was so fun seeing how it all started!

SEE FULL REVIEW HERE!

The Surprise Party
After the apparent suicide of their friend Evan, Meg’s friend (and Evan’s girlfriend) moves away. Now she’s back in Shadyside visiting and Meg decides to throw her a surprise party. Except someone doesn’t want this party to happen. Does it have to do with the death of Evan? Pretty much, yeah. Lol.

I really liked this book! It had a ton of plot twists—like, more plot twists than I could’ve imagined! It was insane! A good bit into the book is when we get a revelation, and I was very surprised because it was far too early for these sorts of reveals/confessions. Turns out there was more to the story. It was a pretty interesting mystery and it kept me wanting more.

In a lot of Fear Street books, I’m pretty indifferent about the characters, but in this one I absolutely loved our main character Meg! Girl gets things done and thinks on her feet! She is no damsel in distress! She is smart and tries her hardest to get herself and her friends out of trouble! She is a badass and I loved her! She’s also kind of a savage. Lol. And Meg and Tony I really liked! At times, they were pretty cute together... when Tony wasn’t being a total psycho! He had these weird mood swings that just— WTF, dude!

SEE FULL REVIEW HERE!

The Overnight
The Overnight mostly takes place on Fear Island, which is on a lake on Fear Street, somewhere behind the burned down Fear Mansion. And let me tell you, I loved this setting! It was a lot of fun! I mean, not for the characters, but it was for me! :D

Speaking of characters, I thought the characters in this book were all pretty interesting overall. I really liked our main character Della. Her friend Maia on the other hand... nope! Another character I wasn’t a fan of was Ricky, the non-class clown. This guy tries so hard to be funny and he... he just isn’t! All his jokes are awful and just... shut up Ricky! Gods! Pete, though, I liked him! I really liked the way his relationship with Della progressed. Very much enjoyed it :)

The Overnight was action-packed and very suspenseful! The mystery as to who saw what Della did and then proceeded to threaten to spill her secret... Well, I suspected everyone! But then when the reveal came around... I can’t say I was a fan of it. I honestly preferred all my theories I came up with, lol. But overall, I really enjoyed this book! It was a lot of fun and the main character was really great and very believable!

SEE FULL REVIEW HERE!

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! :)