Series Books- Fear Street Seniors: Last Chance by R.L. Stine

"Cheating on a test can be MURDER!!"


Fear Street Seniors: Last Chance (Book 5)

by R.L. Stine

available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble. (Not available from Half Price Books)

Coming off of "No Answer" (Book 4) I had a bit more hope, maybe not a lot but some, for the series overall. This didn't live up to that hope. Stine has done the student stealing tests in other books and here it just feels like him trying to fill in part of a twelve book series with something to make his money as a writer and meet his contract deadlines.It just isn't a very good book in my opinion and lacks any real character development, but as I have stated previously about the Fear Street books this seems to be the way Stine writes these characters. He wants to be able to interchange characters as he needs. Characters that didn't seem friendly in previous volumes suddenly are best friends even though someone else was saying they were that person's best friend in the previous volume. It gets a bit overwhelming trying to figure out who really is best friends in this series, but I guess that is sorta like high school where it could change every single day depending on what the person is doing for you. Popularity is a winding road and if you want to stay on it I guess you have to keep the right people around you and change your friends every book.

This book focuses on Mary O'Conner stealing a test from one of her favorite teachers. He starts blackmailing her. That is the entire premise of the book and what is sad is I am not really spoiling anything for the reader here because this happens pretty quickly within. For a 150 pages you wonder why all of this is occurring and if there is even a point to what is happening. When you reach the final conclusion you will probably have the same sour taste left in your mouth that I did. It seems a little silly and stupid. The ending could have been significantly stronger had he let it be a true horror story, but instead he settles for the normal "teenage" read. I wish he would have started to grasp that teens are okay reading horror novels that actually contain some violence and parents will not be upset with mild violence either. They will embrace it as long as it is not gratuitous. Parents allow their children to watch half the crap that is on TV. I recognize these were made several years ago, but even then we had shows like Buffy, The Vampire Slayer that actually showed a significant amount of violence. Children are capable of handing this. This book would have been better with a more impressive ending that adhered to the name of the series FEAR street. Alas it doesn't though and thus it falls rather flat on its face.

To date I would recommend only "No Answer" as the must read book in the Fear Street Seniors series. Considering this is nearing the halfway point of the series (only one more book) I do not hold a lot of hope for it improving. It is sad when a love dies when reading a series when you are an adult, but it does happen. Sometimes it is better to not revisit something and allow the nostalgic feelings that it brings to remain, so you always enjoy whatever the thing is. Be it a book, a tv show, or a toyline we enjoyed as a child. If I had done this I may have still had a deep love for the Fear Street series.

Until next time... Stay Optimistic!!!

Series Books- Fear Street Seniors Book 4: No Answer by R.L. Stine

"The phone line is DEAD!!"


Fear Street Seniors: No Answer (Book 4)

by R.L. Stine

Most of the plots and stories in the Fear Street Seniors series to date have felt contrived or just played out in other Fear Street books that I had read in the past. This one though felt fresh and interesting. This book focuses on one of the girls in the senior class that has recently been released from a mental health institution after the death of her sister. There is a part of the book where you understand that the main character, Clarisse, had a bond with her sister which doesn't happen frequently with Stine's books. Many of them simply are devoid of human emotion. You could literally change the name of any character and fit them into another role without taking something away from the book. This isn't true with "No Answer". The main characters are not interchangeable. Each has a personality and serves the purpose of the plot to discover who killed the person in the book. 

The book continues with the cliched surprising chapter endings with a not so shocking reveal of what really is happening at the beginning of the next chapter, but some of that has dwindled in this volume. There is actual payoff with some of the chapter endings. We see that horrible things are really happening to Clarisse, which makes this by far a better book than the three previous volumes of the Senior series. To date if you only wanted to read a single book in this series this would be the one to read. This story is quick to read, interesting, and leaves you gasping at the ending. I wish more of the series was like this one, but alas most to date have just been fun trips down a street that used to be entertaining for a young high schooler. It is ceasing to be as entertaining to a 31-year old adult who wants a little bit more thoughtful plot development. I still plan on finishing out this series, but Fear Street may be a road I don't find myself going down as often in the future.

Until next time... Stay Optimistic!!!

Blog content update...

I, the review of the site, have a busy life just like every other person. This is why I have decided to make new content available on the following days: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This is when new reviews will be posted of books that have been read. This keeps the site going with new content, since postings can be scheduled in advance and allows for me to still have a life when school starts next month. This is a win-win situation for everyone.

Also I have decided that each of the days will have a predominate theme. What this means is that each update will serve a particular purpose or fill a particular genre that I am interested in. These themes will be as followed:

Monday- Random read:  These will be an eclectic mix of books that do not fit into any one particular genre that I am reviewing on the other two days. As I am a reader that tends to be a little all over the map this permits me to review those books that may simply not fit anywhere else.

Wednesday- Mystery Reads: Within the last year I have discovered one of my favorite passions is reading a good mystery book and trying to discover just whodunit. This is why this feels like a natural extension of what I currently read and a nice addition to the site.

Friday- Series Book Reads: I tend to read a lot of series books. I will be reviewing a particular series until it is finished and then I will move onto another. This doesn't mean that the Monday or Wednesday reviews may not be part of a different series. I am sticking with the "Fear Street Seniors" series to begin with and will decide on the next series upon its completion.

At some point there will also be additional content added for Tuesday and Thursday as well but it will be focused on some other aspect of writing outside of book reviews. If a reader has a suggestion feel free to e-mail me at optimisticreader@gmail.com. You may also contact me via twitter @ Optimistic_Read or on facebook where I am also Optimistic Reader.