Book Review: Dear Pen Pal (The Mother-Daughter Book Club, #3) by Heather Vogel Frederick

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Dear Pen Pal (The Mother-Daughter Book Club, #3)  by Heather Vogel Frederick  is the third book in a middle grade book series that is being rereleased. Chaos erupts in this third installment as the daughters in the book club get themselves into trouble. Each of the girls have big changes in their lives:  Jess is going to boarding school; Megan's grandmother comes to live with her; Emma starts a campaign against school uniforms; Cassidy has a lot of unexpected change coming to her family. Will the mother daughter book club stay together? I'd like to thank NetGalley, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Dear Pen Pal  by Heather Vogel Frederick with it's upcoming rerelease to the public. I always love a good book that involves books, even if its target audience is children between the ages of eight and twelve. It wasn't until I reached the end of the book that I realized that it...
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Book Review: The Dare by Natasha Preston

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Book Cover of The Dare by Natasha Preston
The Dare by Natasha Preston is a young adult horror novel centered on Marley and her friends Atlas, Lucia, and Jesse, all seniors in high school. What begins as harmless, lighthearted senior pranks quickly takes a dark turn when Rhett starts assigning dares that are far more serious and dangerous. As the stakes rise, the question becomes whether Marley and her friends will survive the consequences of playing along.

A huge thank you to NetGalley for providing an advanced readers copy of The Dare by Natasha Preston. The last book I read by this author was well written and engaging, so I was excited to dive into her latest young adult horror story.

From the start, the novel feels reminiscent of R.L. Stine’s Fear Street series, which instantly brought back a wave of childhood nostalgia. Unfortunately, that initial excitement didn’t last. Before long, the plot shifts into territory that felt eerily similar to the movie I Know What You Did Last Summer. At that point, my interest started to wane, and I nearly stopped reading. There were also elements that reminded me of The Secret Diaries by Janice Harrell. Because of these similarities, The Dare ultimately didn’t feel very original as a YA horror novel.

The relationships between the characters also left me confused. The dynamic between Marley and Rhett, the student orchestrating the dares, felt strange and underdeveloped, and their connection didn’t make much sense. Marley's friendships with Atlas, Lucia, and Jesse were equally puzzling. Several interactions and events between them seemed to come out of nowhere, making it difficult to fully connect with the characters or understand their motivations.

Overall, I was disappointed in The Dare by Natasha Preston. While it had moments that hinted at the classic teen horror vibe I usually enjoy, the lack of originality and confusing character relationships held it back. I ultimately gave this young adult horror book three out of five stars.

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