I AM SO STEAMED.

THIS BOOK LITERALLY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CLASSIC FEAR STREET CHEERLEADERS STORYLINE.

NOTHING.

NOT ONE FRELLING IOTA.

EDITED TO ADD 6/26/17: I just saw the comment that Stine had previously stated that he wasn't going to connect these stories to the originals. Which is fine, that's his prerogative, but the marketing/publicity team DEFINITELY didn't get that memo. All their material implied a connection.

That being said, and it being over 6 months since I read this, my anger towards this book has not actually abated. Its one thing to completely not have anything to do with the original Cheerleader Saga or the original curse. Fine. Okay. Let's take this into a new direction! That's exciting! When reading the first Cheerleader book I had no idea there was going to be like 4 sequels/prequels to it. I still enjoyed it immensely though.

As the sixth book in Stine’s Fear Street Relaunch this was an uneven mess that I can’t even snarkily comment on because that may lead someone to believe this has entertaining merit to it. Let me put those thoughts to rest – it’s not entertaining in the least. It’s not amusing, it’s not terrifying, and it’s not cheesily thrilling. Gonna hide my anger behind a spoiler cut though.

Instead we have new girl Gretchen with a mysterious past who moves to Shadyside and was an A cheerleader in her old town. In Shadyside however, because of a girl with a powerful father and lots of money, she's forced to join as an alternate on the team. Her rival, Devra has really good reason to dislike Gretchen - let's start with Gretchen chasing after Devra's boyfriend every chance she can and continue with her insistence that Devra is out to get her. To the point that Gretchen accuses Devra of fatally harming another student JUST to hurt Gretchen.

Meanwhile Gretchen's mom is really kind of...WEIRD about Gretchen joining the cheerleading squad and Gretchen treats her like total crap. I'm not talking she's the normal teenage rude towards her single mother who is overworked and at her wit's end in various ways. No I'm talking Gretchen is VILE towards her. Is her mother kind of dictatorial? You betcha. Does she have a really good reason? Oh yeah she does.

Though don't mind that good reason it has NOTHING to do with the plot. Neither does the cheerleading by the way. None of it has anything at all to do with the actual motive of the actual killer. In fact those elements are so far removed from the ACTUAL motivation that I had to reread that freaking section several times to make sure I hadn't slipped into a coma and woken up a decade later to the Fear Street books being complete messes.

Oh wait.

I've mentioned it before but the old school Fear Street novels were cheesy, but largely entertaining. Sometimes they even verged on the creepy. I'm not sure what the point of these new ones are. Aside from rare moments of actual creepiness/suspense these books are largely watered down versions of the tales those of us with nostalgia glasses on enjoyed. Am I disappointed that this had nothing to do with teh original Cheerleader books? Yes I really am. Was I willing to give it a chance anyway? Yes I was because Stine's writing is, as ever, engaging and kinetic. He does atmosphere well and if he didn't invent the chapter end cliffhanger that resolves itself as the most mundane thing known to mankind trope, he surely elevated it to an art form.

These books however are not the best of his showing. ( )

Heather Wyatt moves to Fear Street with her mom and will be a new student at Shadyside High. At her old school she was the best cheerleader on the squad and is hoping to make the Shadyside High Cheerleading team. For some reason everything seems to be going wrong and she is certain one of the other cheerleaders is out to get her! Packed full of the nostalgic twists and turns you've grown to love from the Fear street novels this one will not disappoint! Loving these relaunch books. So much fun to read. Makes me want to read all the old ones! ( )

I can remember growing up reading R.L. Stine. I have read a couple books in this relaunch series. They were alright but they have not really brought back the warm fuzzes of my childhood. I thought I would try this book. It was pretty apparent right away that this book was written very childish. All of the cheerleaders annoyed me. I felt no connection with Gretchen. I tried to stick with this book in the hopes that it would get better. Yet, the more I read the more I did not like the book. After getting a third of the way into the book, I put it down and moved onto a different book. Not, sure I will be reading more books in this series. ( )