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: Halloween Party (Fear Street, #8) by R.L. Stine

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Book Review: Halloween Party (Fear Street, #8) by R.L. Stine

YA Horror Book Review of Halloween Party (Fear Street, #8) by R.L. Stine
Halloween Party (Fear Street, #8) by R.L. Stine is the eighth book in the Fear Street Book series. Justine Cameron is throwing a Halloween party for nine specially picked students. The kicker is that none of the nine people really know Justine, and they wonder why they were invited. When the lights go off and come back on, there's a body with a knife in it. Is there a murderer amongst them?

I'm in the process of rereading my way through my childhood, and I decided to read the Fear Street book series again . . . this time in order. I must not have read Halloween Party because I didn't have the book. I purchased the book through ThriftBooks.com, and I have to say that I didn't remember anything about the storyline, with the exception of the nickname for Niki sounding very familiar. 

The Fear Street books are a more mature horror book series than R.L. Stine's Goosebumps book series. I loved reading these books in middle school and high school. Halloween Party was filled with typical high school drama that took me back to my younger days. 

book review halloween party fear street 8 rl stineI loved the fact that the storyline was a "locked room" mystery, and it's the perfect book to read during the Halloween holiday or on a Friday the 13th. I didn't really see the ending coming, but I feel like there were a few plot holes that didn't allow for one to figure out what would happen. As a kid, I would have likely overlooked this and not cared. I also liked the fact that there were characters brought back from previous books in this series. I don't think I noticed this the first time around since I had read them out of order (and read a lot of other books in between).

The only real complaint I have is that I felt like Niki's nickname of "Funny Face" was a bit offensive seeing as the character had a hearing disability. With that being said, I loved the fact that there was a character with a disability represented. I don't remember there being too many characters with disabilities being in books from the 1980's or 1990's.

Halloween Party (Fear Street, #8) by R.L. Stine was a fun and enjoyable read. I don't really have any complaints, and I gave it four out of five stars.

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