Review: You May Now Kill the Bride (Return to Fear Street #1) by R.L. Stine

Title: You May Now Kill the Bride

Series: Return to Fear Street #1

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, horror

Publication date: July 2018

Published by: HarperTeen

Source: Paperback won in giveaway

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Synopsis: Two sisters, divided by time. Each with a terrible resentment she can barely contain.

Two Fear family weddings, decades apart... Each bride will find that the ancient curse that haunts the Fears LIVES ON. It feeds off the evil that courses through their blood. It takes its toll in unexpected ways, and allows dark history to repeat itself.

In this all-new Fear Street story, family ties bind sisters together—till DEATH do they part.

My rating: ★★★★★
So I actually really, really loved this! I say this because that last Fear Street series, the Fear Street Relaunch, was, overall underwhelming. I loved the original Fear Street series so I was looking forward to that relaunch, but it was just... okay. This book however, it was good! This is looking to be a very promising reboot!

So the book starts off in the 1920s with two sisters, Ruth-Ann and Rebecca, that don’t get along. One sisters betrays the other and things just don’t end well for anyone. They’re Fears, so what do you expect? Lol.

Basically, Rebecca, the older sister, steals Ruth-Ann’s boyfriend, Peter, and then she marries him! Honestly, I had a feelings we were gonna head in this direction with the story, so I wasn't even surprised when Ruth-Ann found Peter and Rebecca all snugly. But still... what the fuck Rebecca! And because she is a Fear, Ruth-Ann can do spooky evil magic and I was SO for it! Rebecca totally deserved it!

And then on the wedding day, Rebecca’s recently-turned husband throws her off a fucking cliff! Omg! It turns out Peter was a Goode this whole time and he was exacting his revenge on the Fears! I was glad when she went over the cliff, tbh. She was awful and entitled and she so deserved that for what she did to her sister. Oh and then Ruth-Ann falls over the cliff too. Yikes. That part surprised me.

After that, most of the book takes place in present day with sisters Harmony and Marissa. It’s Marissa’s wedding day when, yep, tragedy happens. Because, yep, they are Fears too. Tragedy just follows the Fear everywhere, okay? Lol.

So, Marissa goes missing and Harmony tries to figure out what happened to her/where she went. Oh! And Harmony can do magic too and it’s what saves the day in the end! Anyway, it turns out that the ex killed Marissa by throwing her over the same cliff Ruth-Ann and Marissa went over. All the Fears that die on this cliff end up being stuck in this sort of time warp thing—they’re sometimes in the 20s and sometimes in the present. They’re trapped in this limbo because of the Fear family curse. It was actually kind of cool. I don’t really understand it, but it’s fine because time warps and time travel is just super confusing. Lol.

So Harmony saving the day did reset time to the day of the wedding and that would usually bother me because basically everything the characters went through was for nothing. She even saved Ruth-Ann and Rebecca from dying as well! But I’m kind of okay with this? Because it doesn't really undo anything but awful deaths. And Harmony breaks the curse!

Remember the Fear family curse mentioned in the Fear Street Saga trilogy? Yup. That’s still a thing. This book actually gave me strong Fear Street Saga vibes, and I liked it! I also liked that there was some magic in this book! The Fear are known for their evil magic and I loved seeing it in action in this book!

Yes, a spell book. I’m a Fear. Dark sides and weirdness are our birthright.

Damn straight. Lol. I love that they embrace it, too. Harmony was a little bit evil and I kind of loved it! Lol. Although I guess she’s not so much evil as she is mischievous. I also liked that Ruth-Ann embraced her darker side as well.

Overall, I really liked the story and the mystery. I had an idea who the culprit was in the present day story, but I was still a little shocked at the reveal. It was just insane, and I loved it! I also love, like in all R.L. Stine books, the amazing, gory descriptions! They are just so good!

Anyway, I really loved this book and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the Return to Fear Street series. (Funnily enough, this book doesn’t actually take place on Fear Street. Lol.)

The Fear Street connection: We actually get the Fear family! It's so cool!

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! :)