My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Title: Stranger Danger
Author: Maren Stoffels
Format: eBook (NetGalley)
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 5/2/23
Publisher: Underlined
Categories: Young Adult, Thriller, Suspense, Mystery
Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
Thank you to Underlined for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!
From horror powerhouse author Maren Stoffels comes the next pulse-quickening read! There’s nowhere to hide when three teens find themselves in the middle of nowhere, with no internet and a killer hunting them down.
Don’t think you can get rid of me so fast. . . .
No phones. No internet. No social media at all. That’s what it’s going to take to finally get serious about school and focus on exams. Nova, Vin, and Lotus even rented a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere so they won’t get distracted. After that, everything can go back to normal.
But they aren’t alone. Someone is watching them from the forest. Someone who knows their secrets. Someone who wants revenge. And things will never be the same again.
Content Warning: bullying, threats, student/teacher relationship
Horror and thrillers are not what I usually read but I wanted to delve more into the genre this year and requested this one. Here’s what I thought:
+ I like how quickly the ball gets rolling in this story. I was thrown into, trying to get my bearings and figure out what is going on and things happen very quickly in this book. Plus it’s barely over 200 pages so it’s a VERY quick read.
+ There are three best friends Nova, Vin and Lotus who seem like good kids that are just going to do some major studying at some secluded farmhouse. They have big dreams after graduation so this big study weekend is important but then things start happening. Lotus gets mysterious texts. Nova and Vin get hurt…but who is doing all of this?
+ I thought the twist in the story was clever. I like how as the story moves along we dig deeper into everyones secrets and there are a lot! I felt like the story made me ask who is the real villain?
~ I think at times the story moved way too fast, for example in the beginning – but I think it was to throw the reader off because I assumed all kinds of things between the three friends before knowing the truth. So it did throw me off but it also felt like I missed something as I was reading, which was a little jarring.
~ Definitely for younger readers, minus the whole student/teacher relationship scandal situation going on! At times it reminded me of the movie Scream because they were alone in the house with someone out there messing with them.
~ I don’t think the title matched the story. Who is the stranger here? Because they figure out who was messing with them. I didn’t think the story was super scary, but definitely suspenseful.
Tropes: secluded house in the woods
Why you should read it:
- a quick read
- if you like movies like Scream, you will like this one – it’s more suspenseful than scary
Why you might not want to read it:
- it’s such a quick read you get thrown into the story and then it’s over
My Thoughts:
The story didn’t wow me or give me major thrills and chills, though I did like the plot twist, but I think if you go into it just to have a little suspenseful fun then you will enjoy it. This one is a super quick read and you may enjoy it if you are into Scream.
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