The Lost Girl (Fear Street Relaunch #3)

 
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The Lost Girl (Fear Street Relaunch #3)
Author(s)
Age Range
12+
Release Date
September 29, 2015
ISBN
9781250051639
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Generations of children and teens have grown up on R.L. Stine's bestselling and hugely popular horror series, Fear Street and Goosebumps. Now, the Fear Street series is back with a chilling new installment, packed with pure nightmare fodder that will scare Stine's avid fan base of teen readers and adults. New student Lizzy Palmer is the talk of Shadyside High. Michael and his girlfriend Pepper befriend her, but the closer they get to her, the stranger she seems… and the more attractive she is to Michael. He invites her to join him on a snowmobile race that ends in a tragic accident. Soon, Michael's friends start being murdered, and Pepper becomes convinced that Lizzy is behind the killings. But to her total shock, she and Michael are drawn into a tragic story of an unthinkable betrayal committed over 60 years ago. Frightening and tense in the way that only this master of horror can deliver, The Lost Girl is another terrifying Fear Street novel by the king of juvenile horror.

Generations of children and teens have grown up on R.L. Stine's bestselling and hugely popular horror series, Fear Street and Goosebumps. Now, the Fear Street series is back with a chilling new installment, packed with pure nightmare fodder that will scare Stine's avid fan base of teen readers and adults. New student Lizzy Palmer is the talk of Shadyside High. Michael and his girlfriend Pepper befriend her, but the closer they get to her, the stranger she seems… and the more attractive she is to Michael. He invites her to join him on a snowmobile race that ends in a tragic accident. Soon, Michael's friends start being murdered, and Pepper becomes convinced that Lizzy is behind the killings. But to her total shock, she and Michael are drawn into a tragic story of an unthinkable betrayal committed over 60 years ago. Frightening and tense in the way that only this master of horror can deliver, The Lost Girl is another terrifying Fear Street novel by the king of juvenile horror.

Editor reviews

4 reviews
Overall rating
 
4.3
Plot
 
4.5(2)
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4.0(2)
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4.5(2)
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You might want to leave the nightlight on for this one
Overall rating
 
4.3
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Michael is happy with his girlfriend, Pepper, but when mysterious Lizzy shows up, he feels a strong pull towards her…almost a frightening one. As events around them start becoming stranger and stranger, including the presence of a guy who is supposed to be dead, Michael becomes more suspicious, but he still can’t seem to stay away. Will he be able to solve a mystery that is over 60 years old?

What I Loved:

R.L. Stine once again shows his mastery over horror in this latest installment in the relaunched Fear Street books. The reader first gets the story of Beth, a girl who witnesses the horrific death of her father and barely escapes herself. Her introduction is nicely done and sets up a complex dynamic for Michael’s present time. Stine mixes in a strong creep factor with some light gore, creating a story that will definitely keep readers up long into the night, both trying to finish the story and because they are too scared to sleep.

What Left Me Wanting More:

While I love the plot as a whole, parts of the big twist at the end aren’t developed as well as they could be. They didn’t quite fit with the rest of the story. However, this is very minor and doesn’t detract from the heart pounding conclusion at all.

Michael’s characterization is nice, but Pepper’s falls a little. There are several times where she is presented as a stereotypical jealous girlfriend instead of being a more three-dimensional person. However, she still has several great moments as a character that make her an enjoyable addition.

Final Verdict:

R.L. Stine fans will devour this latest installment. The Lost Girl is creepy in all the best ways, a quick and highly entertaining read, and it will leave the reader with just enough spook to want to keep the nightlight on a little longer.
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Horror across the ages
Overall rating
 
4.3
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In this new, jacketed hardcover, R.L. Stine starts by telling us some of the history of Fear Street. In 1950, Beth Palmieri's family is celebrating. Her father, who started out as a stable hand at Dooley's, is starting his own stable. Beth has had run ins with Aaron, the son, and isn't fond of the family, but is still shocked at the revenge that Mr. Dooley takes on her father, and her mother is distraught when not only her husband is brutally murdered, but Beth goes missing and is presumed dead.

In the present day, Michael and his girl friend Pepper meet Lizzy Palmer, a strange new girl who always seems to be lost. Michael is oddly attracted to her. When Michael and a group of friends borrow snow mobiles from his father snowmobile showroom, Michael hits a boy when he is unable to move. The friends panic and leave the scene, especially when Lizzy claims it is a boy from her school, Angel, who is a psychopath. Michael goes back, and the boy is gone. Unsure of whether or not he actually killed the boy, Michael is plagued by visions. He sees Angel rising from a grave on a history class trip to a cemetery, and gets threatening phone calls, presumably from Angel. One by one, the teens who were snowmobiling are injured, or in one case, killed. Michael and Pepper go to the police and tell them the whole story, but the police can't really do anything because Lizzy doesn't seem to exist. How has she come to Fear Street, and why is she targeting Michael? The answer is as shocking as it is surprising.
Good Points
I found the 1950 portions of this to be really delightful. They turned gruesome all too quickly, but if Stine ever wanted to write a historical novel set in the 1950s, I would read it. The intertwining of the two time periods is clever, and I didn't see all of the twists coming. This will be a big hit with my students.

This book follows the two others in the Fear Street relaunch, Party Games and Don't Stay Up Late. Just like the original series, it's not crucial to read them in order. I can't remember another Stine book where there is time travel, but he certainly uses it to good effect in The Lost Girl.

For sensitive readers: There was a bit too much human-on-human violence for my taste, but it's not too over the top or gruesome even for middle school.
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