Review: The Dare (Fear Street #21) by R.L. Stine

Title: The Dare

Series: Fear Street #21 (Can be read as a standalone)

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, horror, mystery thriller

Publication date: February 1994

Published by: Archway Paperback

Source: Own paperback

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Synopsis: Nice girls don’t kill...

Johanna Wise has always longed to be part of Dennis Arthur’s rich, popular crowd, and she can’t believe it when he finally asks her out. Now she’ll do anything to continue to hang out with his cool friends and keep Dennis as her boyfriend.

So when Dennis dares her to kill their teacher, Mr. Northwood, she doesn’t say no. She can’t. Besides, it was only a joke, right? But now the joke has gone too far, and the whole school is taking bets on Johanna. The dare is serious…dead serious. Will she do it? Will she really kill for love?

My rating: ★★☆☆☆

If I had to use one word to describe this book it would be this: dumb. The premise was dumb, the characters were dumb, it was just... dumb. These pranks and dares the cool kids pulled are not funny at all. I really did not understand why Johanna was so adamant about hanging out with them. And then Dennis, one of the cool kids Johanna has a crush on, he was an entitled prick and I did not like him! She doesn’t tell her close friend Margaret about any of this because she isn’t part of the group and wouldn't understand about the dares and whatever 🙄 Well, I guess that's why I don't understand either 😆 And the lengths Johanna would go through to accomplish these dares to get in with these idiots, it was unbelievable. She was awful! The fact that she actually considers killing the teacher is insane! I’m sorry, but she was just not a sympathetic character AT ALL.

I just didn’t like this. I saw all the twists coming, and the fact that Johanna was shocked by any of them does not surprise me because of how dumb and blind she was. Lol. I literally saw everything coming. Basically the only thing about this that I did like was the vibe 😆 I just love Fear Street and how comforting it is. Even if some of the books aren’t that great 😅

A couple fun easter eggs: My favorite, Reva Dalby (from Silent Night), made an appearance omg. Carter Phillips from The Cheater was mentioned. Apparently Mr. Northwood took 5 points off her final cause she forgot to write her name at the top. Lol. She’s had some bad luck with all this school stuff. Lol. We also got some Deena Martinson from The Wrong Number and Suki Thomas from The Overnight.

The Fear Street connection: Johanna and Mr. Northwood live on Fear Street.

Dennis snickered. "You believe all those stories? About ghosts and scary creatures on Fear Street?"
"Mr. Northwood is the scariest creature I've seen there!" I joked.

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! 😊