Review: The Stepbrother (New Fear Street #1) by R.L. Stine

Title: The Stepbrother

Series: New Fear Street #1

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, mystery thriller, horror

Publication date: January 1998

Published by: Parachute Press

Source: Purchased paperback

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Synopsis: He's come back from the dead to get her!

Sondra started having terrifying nightmares right after her new stepbrother moved in. Nightmares about her own death. Nightmares about being murdered.

A psychic tells Sondra that she is remembering events from a past life. And the person who murdered her may be after her in this life, too. He may be someone close to her. Someone living in her very own house.

He may be... her stepbrother.

My rating: ★★★★☆

I was a little apprehensive going into this book because these sorts of books tend to be hit or miss for me, but omg it was so much better than I was expecting! Which was really nice because it has been well over a year since I last read a Fear Street book.

I really liked the premise of this book with the whole past life thing. I always love when a Fear Street book has a little bit of a supernatural twist to it—they’re always fun! I had a good time trying to figure out who was who in their past life and who was wanting to kill Sondra and why.

And the plot twists with the who and the why? I loved it! There was one person I was suspecting from the start, but I honestly would’ve been disappointed if it did end up being them, so I’m glad I was surprised by the actual culprit because holy crap was it nuts! I loved it! Lol. And one thing I loved about this book was that instead of going to the library for research like a normal YA main character, Sondra went to some rando who works at the gas station and was alive in the 50s when the past life disaster went down 😂

But yeah, I really enjoyed this! I mean, it wasn’t a favorite, but it wasn't the worst either. The plot twist there at the end was SO good and I really liked the overall premise. I really enjoyed visiting Shadyside. Like I said, it had been a LONG time since I last read a Fear Street book—I finished the main series back in 2021 and haven’t read anything since then. But I do have a couple more Fear Street spinoff books to get through, including this series, and I’m excited!

The Fear Street connection: The hypnotist, Andrea, that Sondra goes to see lives on Fear Street.

In all the years Sondra lived in Shadyside, she'd never once walked down Fear Street. It wasn't a street people visited—unless they had to.

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! 😊