Vicious Little Darlings

What happens when a R.L. Stine Fearstreet book grows up? Vicious Little Darlings is what happens. What a creepy book. It has all the classic elements (sabotage, misunderstandings, murder) mixed with grown up situations.

The characters were only so-so. Sarah, the main character was really lackluster. I felt like she was flat, honestly. Now Agnes and Maddy... hmm... I would have liked to known more about Agnes. You kept getting hints at what she's like and what her home life is like, but there was never a complete picture. The book would have been much better if she had more explanation. Maddy was okay, as far as weirdo characters go. Of the three characters, she's probably the one that had the most depth. Weird huh?

The plot isn't very hard to figure out in this book. Actually, it's very predictable. I was really bothered by Sarah's wishy-washy character. She couldn't make up her mind. I felt like she was constantly going back and forth between liking Agnes and Maddy and hating them. On top of that, she was way too dependent on Agnes's money. It really bothered me that she refused to take herself out of a bad situation just because she was (essentially) greedy and didn't have money to support herself. I mean, heaven forbid that she actually stay in a dorm and get a job! And don't get me started about how easily she let the love of her life walk away just because Maddy said to. Friggin' ridiculous.

On top of that, there was a very intense almost lesbian-ish nature to Agnes and Maddy. You really couldn't tell what was up with them. Normally I could care less, but Maddy's actions were just a little too strange for me. Jumping into the bed of another girl totally naked while she's asleep? AND that girl isn't cool with it?! Um, yeah... I don't think so. Agnes spent the majority of the novel trying to prove that she loved Maddy unconditionally in a purely asexual kind of way. But yet, she was super possessive of her and hated any guy that showed an interest in Maddy. I'm telling you, it was intense.

The ending isn't all that shocking, especially if you read the synopsis. Obviously someone dies. Sorry about the spoiler. By the time the great climatic final 5 pages emerged, I was pretty put out. I had made up my mind that Sarah was a spineless piece of crap, Agnes was probably the best out of all the girls (even if she was a whack job), and Maddy was an outright lunatic. I had invested so much time in reading the book, that I had to find out the ending. But when I read the ending, I was a little peeved that I missed out on a full 8 hours of sleep for this book. I would probably give this a 2.5 if I did half rating, but since I don't it gets a solid 2.