Book Review: Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi

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Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi  was published on March 11, 2025 by Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine / Bantam. It opens with Claire finding out that her fiancé, Noah, isn't working where he said he was and is now ghosting her. Claire must find out why. Book Review: Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine / Bantam for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Claire Darling by Callie Kazumi for free in exchange for my honest review. I was absolutely thrilled when my request for a copy was approved because the synopsis was so good. From the beginning, I absolutely loved the main character of Claire and her work friend named Sukhi. Throughout the novel, we learn about Claire's past and how terrible her mother was towards her. I kept hoping that somehow we would learn who Claire's father was and would eventually connect with him. It's really no wonder Claire had no self confidence as an ad...
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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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