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Drop Dead Gorgeous (Return to Fear Street #3)
Drop Dead Gorgeous (Return to Fear Street #3)
R.L. Stine | 2019 | Horror, Young Adult (YA)
6
7.2 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
Great pacing (1 more)
Interesting plot
Cheesy Characters (1 more)
Not enough backstory
Cheesy but an Alright Read
I grew up reading R.L. Stine books especially his Fear Street series. When I heard there was going to be a new Fear Street series, I knew I had to read it. I loved the first book in the series, You May Now Kill the Bride. I was not impressed with the second book in the series, The Wrong Girl. I thought the latest book in the series, Drop Dead Gorgeous, was just an alright read.

The plot for Drop Dead Gorgeous was fairly interesting. Morgan Marks is the new girl at Linden High. No one knows where she came from, and her answers to everything are vague. She has a magnetic pull over all of the males in and around Linden. When I found out that Morgan was a vampire (not a spoiler, don't worry), I rolled my eyes and thought I wouldn't like this book. I'm not a big fan of vampire books (or films) since they've over-saturated the market. However, Drop Dead Gorgeous turned out to be alright. Anyway, someone is killing off the residents of Linden and draining their blood. Is it Morgan or could be be someone else? The world building was written to be believable enough even if some of the characters weren't believable. There were a few plot twists. A couple of them I didn't see coming, but I did predict a major plot twist.

All of the males in Drop Dead Gorgeous were beyond annoying and immature. All they could talk about were hot girls it seemed. They were really one dimensional, and I found myself not caring about Liam, Winks, and Zane. They would all brag how great they were, especially Winks. I'm sure there are some people like this, but I felt like it was a bit over the top having all three males in the book being so vapid and conceited. The females in Drop Dead Gorgeous had a little more depth to them thankfully. I still didn't care much about Delia, Amber, or Julie because there was no back story, so it was hard to connect to them. Out of the three girls, Delia seemed to feel the most real. Morgan was a good character. I enjoyed her backstory even if it was short, but hey, at least she had some backstory. The dialogue between the characters was extremely corny in some places, and I know I haven't been a teenager in many years, but I've never heard any teenage conversations like the ones in Drop Dead Gorgeous.

I will say that the pacing was done fairly well for Drop Dead Gorgeous. The first few chapters are a bit slow, but the pacing definitely picks up not much longer after that. I found myself immersed in what was happening in Linden.

Trigger warnings for Drop Dead Gorgeous include violence, death, murder, some gore, older man and underage girl kissing, and underage drinking.

Overall, Drop Dead Gorgeous was just an alright read. It wasn't great, but it wasn't a bad read either. If you can look past the overly cheesy characters, this is a good read. I would definitely recommend Drop Dead Gorgeous by R.L. Stine to those aged 15+.
  
AP
A Perfect Manhattan Murder
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Nic and Nigel Martini are back in Manhattan for the Broadway premier of their friend Patty’s play. While Nic is happy to see Patty and their mutual friend Harper, she is less enthused about seeing Harper’s husband Dan, a Broadway critic who is as boorish in real life as his reviews are harsh. The morning after the play’s premier, Dan is found dead, and the police quickly zero in on Harper as their prime suspect. Nic is certain that her friend is innocent, but can she prove it?

Once again, we are treated to a fantastically fun story. We get to know Dan and meet the suspects before he dies, which means we don’t waste any time diving into questioning suspects. I didn’t see the ending coming at all. The characters are a little on the thin side, but I don’t mind. The quips and banter flies fast here, and I was constantly laughing. This series continues to be a wonderful homage to The Thin Man.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/11/book-review-perfect-manhattan-murder-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.