Review: The Snowman by R.L. Stine

Title: The Snowman

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, horror, mystery thriller

Publication date: February 1991

Published by: Scholastic

Source: Purchased paperback

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Synopsis:

Heather feels cold all the time. Alone. Her guardian hates her. He'd like to see her dead. He'd like all her money. But for now he settles for controlling it, and making Heather's life miserable.

Poor little rich girl, just like Cinderella...

Then the gorgeous, ice-blond guy shows up at the crummy restaurant where Heather works after school. He understands about Heather. He's her Prince Charming. No one can get to Heather now.

Heather feels so safe. So loved. So warm...

My rating: ★☆☆☆☆
This book, man, it was not great.

So the book starts off promising with Heather and her uncle fighting and then Heather does a very awful thing. I was very into it, and I turn the page, and it was just a daydream. Ugh! Look, I know R.L. Stine loves his fakeouts and I can usually anticipate them so they don’t bug me as much, but this one caught me off guard and I was so mad because it was so intense! UGH!

And Heather herself was pretty awful. Her parents died when she was young and she has been living with her uncle ever since. Except she absolutely hates her uncle. And this guy, he’s actually pretty awful, too. He is very mean and cruel toward Heather (he literally calls her a tramp once!) and his own wife, and he’s even rude to the boys she brings home. In this regard, I can see why she hates him. But she also hates him for another, more ridiculous reason.

And why did she have to have a job? Her parents had left her a ton of money in a trust fund—a trust fund Uncle James wouldn't let her touch.
Uncle James believed in hard work.
He was teaching her to be responsible.
He was teaching her to have self-discipline.
What a joke.

Oh my god, I hated her! How is responsibility and self-discipline a bad thing, you fucking brat?! Now I wasn’t sure if this was just me being an adult and this is how teenagers actually think, so I did my own research and asked my teenage brothers (they're 15)! I explained to them the situation and they actually scoffed because they understood where I was coming from! They asked whether they would be getting that money, and I said yes, once they turned 18. They then told me that they would be okay with getting a job and not touching that money in the trust fund so they wouldn’t spend it on stupid stuff. Thank you! My brothers are good kids, and maybe they’re just slightly more responsible than Heather, but this just goes to show how petty and ridiculous Heather was being! Ugh! I could not stand this!

Another thing about Heather, she cheats on her boyfriend! And I liked Ben, as far as a Point Horror/R.L. Stine character goes, he was pretty likable and funny. But Heather was bored with him or something and started to go out with a new mystery guy whose nickname was the Snowman.

First of all, that is the stupidest nickname EVER! Wtf! And also Heather is the fucking worst!

Why is [Ben] being so sweet? Heather thought. It’s almost as if he knows about Snowman, and he’s come to make me feel bad.

Or he’s actually sweet and you’re an absolutely awful person, Heather! Ugh! And Ben does confront her at one point and I was totally on his side! He deserves better!

So you can imagine how upset I was when by the end of the book, they actually end up back together. Heather is super happy about it, but I was totally not.

And then there’s “Snowman,” the shady as fuck new guy Heather meets. She’s instantly drawn to him, and I don’t really know why because he gave me the serious creeps.

And it was SO obvious to me he had ulterior motives and Heather was to dumb and/or blind to realize it! It was so frustrating! She was such an idiot, playing right into his hand! And it’s not until too late (when Snowman MURDERS her uncle) that she starts to realize that he may not be who she thought he was. He then blackmails her so he gives her her trust fund money and this gullible idiot does what he says even though he doesn't hold up his end of the deal. And this happens MULTIPLE times!! How did you not see this coming, you absolute idiot?!

So yeah, this book? Not for me. The main character was awful and I hated following her, and the mystery wasn’t all that mysterious because it was just so predictable. Literally the only part I thoroughly enjoyed was when Ben would show up with his quips. That was fun. Lol. And the end was pretty cool, if not a bit ridiculous.

During the climax, Snowman kidnaps Heather, knocks her out, and encases her inside a snowman!! It sounds really cool, but I’m not entirely sure how that would actually work? Lol. Wouldn’t she suffocate? Idk. 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! :)