Book Review: Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

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Mad Mabel  by Sally Hepworth  is a domestic thriller about the youngest person convicted of murder in Australia, Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick. Now 81 years old, Elsie is living on Kenny Lane and has been for the past sixty years. When a mother named Roxanne moves into Mabel's neighborhood with her seven year old daughter, an unlikely friendship forms between Elsie and the seven year old child named Persephone. As Elsie's secrets come to light, her world comes crashing down.  Having read quite a few novels by Sally Hepworth, I requested an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Mad Mabel  without reading the synopsis of the story. I was thrilled when NetGalley and St. Martin's Press approved my request. The expected publication date of the book is April 21, 2026. Not knowing anything about the storyline before I started reading Mad Mabel  made the story much more interesting to me as I had no preconceived ideas. The tale was told from Mabel's perspective in alternating timeli...
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Book Review: The Sleepwalker (Fear Street, #6) by R.L. Stine

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book review the sleepwalker rl stine
The sixth installment of the Fear Street book series by R.L. Stine is The Sleepwalker. When Mayra Barnes starts her summer job with old Mrs. Cotter, Mayra begins sleepwalking and waking up by a lake. Then, she starts suspecting that Mrs. Cotter is a witch, and on top of that, there is a strange man following Mayra. If she doesn't figure out why she's sleepwalking, it may end up killing Mayra.

In my quest of rereading my way through my childhood and the upcoming Fear Street movies coming to Netflix, I soon realized there were quite a few of books that I never purchased in the Fear Street book series written by R.L. Stine. The Sleepwalker (Fear Street, #6) was the next book in the series that I wanted to read, but it was one of the ones I never owned or read, so I searched for a used copy of it online. 

After a week of searching, I finally found a "reasonably" priced copy of The Sleepwalker (Fear Street, #6). When I received the book in the mail and opened up the package, the book had an overpowering smell of perfume mixed with cigarette smell. This definitely makes me never want to purchase a book from the seller again because it made no mention of the cigarette smell.

As far as how I liked The Sleepwalker, I was a little disappointed in the storyline as it seemed to drag a bit even with it being such a short book. I found myself rushing to finish the book because I was a bit bored. I didn't see the twist coming at the end of the book and never suspected the character who was the "bad guy", even with the few hints that were dropped. As for the main character, Mayra, I found her to be very annoying and immature. She felt like she should have been middle school aged instead of an upperclassman in high school. In fact, I didn't find very many of the characters very likable, which may have contributed to my struggle with the book.

Three out of five stars is what I rated The Sleepwalker (Fear Street, #6) by R.L. Stine. If you liked this book, you may enjoy reading Help Wanted by Richie Tankersley Cusick.

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