Review: The Boyfriend (Point Horror) by R.L. Stine

Title: The Boyfriend

Series: Point Horror

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, horror, mystery thriller

Publication date: October 1990

Published by: Scholastic

Source: Purchased paperback

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Synopsis: Sometimes, love is murder.

Too bad about Dex. He was in love with Joanna. She broke up with him. And then he died.

Joanna's sorry, of course. But it's not her fault he's dead, is it? Besides, she never loved him. Boys are just toys, to be used and thrown away.

But this time, Joanna's gone too far. Because Dex is back. From the dead. For one last date with her...

My rating: ★★☆☆☆

This book was... well, it was predictable, for one. It also had a very unlikable main character, which I think was the point. Unfortunately, she wasn’t as fun as Reva Dalby from Silent Night.

Joanna just really loved playing with Dex. Right from the start of the book, she stands him up, BUT she’s there watching him as he visibly gets upset when he realizes that she’s not gonna show up! Wow. Just break up with the guy, good grief! 🙄 And then at one point she’s stringing TWO guys along and I’m just like 😒 Oh and not only that, but the thoughts she has of her mother and how mousey she is and so on and so forth? Dude! And then the fat shaming? I know this is a 90s book, but still! She was a terrible human being.

The mystery itself was predictable, as I already said. So Dex, Joanna’s boyfriend, dies and then comes back and that entire situation I figured out. What happened after that was also predictable. But the ending with Joanna contemplating things was quite interesting. But I don’t know... I didn’t really enjoy it overall. That’s just how it is with these books sometimes 🤷‍♀️

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! 😊