Review: The Evil Moon (Fear Street: The Cataluna Chronicles #1) by R.L. Stine

Title: The Evil Moon

Series: Fear Street: The Cataluna Chronicles #1

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, horror, mystery thriller, historical

Publication date: August 1995

Published by: Archway Paperback

Source: Own paperback

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Buy it: Amazon | Thrift Books

Synopsis:

Bryan Folger wants the Cataluna more than he's ever wanted anything. The sleek white car is all he can think about. And he'll do whatever it takes to get it. Steal. Even kill.

But Bryan is the one who could end up dead. For inside the Cataluna lives an ancient evil.

And it wants him.

My rating: ★★★★☆

Turn the key and die...

I was very excited to read this series cause it just sounded so interesting! I mean, Christine, anyone? It had been on my mind for about a year and I finally got to it! And I gotta say, it wasn’t too bad.

The book is told across two different time periods. In the 1600s we meet a teenage girl named Catherine. The people in her village call her Bad Luck Catherine and Catherine of the Moon (among other things) because they think she brings bad luck to them and their crops and whatever. But all this poor girl wants is to go to school and learn! Of course she can’t because she’s a girl.

She literally sneaks away to peek into the classroom window to eavesdrop on the lessons! But the kids are so mean to her, and even adults, too! Wtf! And then her own parents there at the end... Ooof!

One of these awful kids is Joseph. But suddenly there’s a change in him where he’s being nice to her telling her that he liked her this whole time... I definitely knew it was too good to be true. He was an absolute dick! But then she turned into a cat and clawed his eyes out, so that was awesome! Lol. He totally deserved it, okay? She also killed his dad... whom also deserve it. Lol. Joseph’s brother, William, at the end of the book vows revenge on her. Whatever dude, you were as much a dick to Catherine as your asshole brother.

In the present day (aka the 90s lol) we have Bryan who is obsessing over a car... the Cataluna. He is super broke but desperately wants it and goes to extreme lengths to get the money to buy it. He is an idiot boy who goes insane over a dumb car. But the car is supernatural soooo... it’s the car’s fault? Idk. Lol.

And when I say insane, I mean absolutely bonkers! He beats up his best friend viciously over the car because he bought it before Bryan could. Little did Bryan know that his best friend convinced his parents to buy the car for Bryan because he knew how much he wanted it! Just... wow. It’s insane. But then Bryan dies inside the car right after in the weirdest, craziest way possible. It’s quite fitting actually. I enjoyed it. Lol.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I liked the kills and all the crazy injuries—these books always have really good, gory descriptions. Another thing I love about these books is that they take place in the 90s, but I actually preferred the 1600s story in this one. I just felt really bad Catherine and how she was treated for absolutely no reason. There’s a connection between Catherine and the Cataluna, but we still don’t know exactly how. I’m really excited to find out cause this concept is just so interesting to me! One thought that came to me as I was reading this book was that it would’ve been cool if this story was about the Fears and the Goodes. I love a good Fear vs Goode feud. Lol.

The Fear Street connection: Bryan drove down Fear Street in the Cataluna at one point. That's it 🤷‍♀️

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! 😊