Broken Hearts (Fear Street Super Chiller #4) by R.L. Stine
Release: February 1st 1993
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: Amazon
Broken Hearts Synopsis:
Roses are red, corpses are blue. On Valentine’s Day, you’ll die too!
There’s someone out there, someone who kills on Valentine’s Day. Josie and Melissa are scared—especially when they receive threatening valentines. Then the murders begin. Who is sending these horrible valentines to the girls of Shadyside High? And who will be the next to die?
Review:
“Broken Hearts” was pretty good in terms of its twists and turns. Just when you have figured out who the suspect is, Stine shifts the focus on someone else. This becomes very entertaining as there are quite a few suspects and almost everybody seems guilty. Even the victim, Rachel, is extremely creepy. Her childlike mannerisms add a whole new level of eeriness to the book. You really don’t know what she might do because she is not in the right state of mind. There are some really suspenseful moments like when Dave enters the house to destroy the cards, and when Melissa sees a redhead running in the street. When the murderer is revealed in the end, the person’s motives seemed legitimate, in contrast to some of the others in this series.
The downside to this book is that there are just too many characters and at times they seem to be shifting their romance interests from one to the other. Erica likes Jenkman, but Jenkman likes Josie. Melissa likes Dave but Dave likes Josie. Josie used to date Dave, but now dates Steve, who shows an interest for Erica later. Then you have Luke who used to date Rachel but now has an interest on Melissa. As if the plot didn’t have enough twists and turns, we had to deal with who is dating whom! Secondly, I despised Josie and her attitude towards everyone. She has such an arrogance and haughty attitude that I didn’t feel any empathy towards her when she was threatened. There is no reason or motive given as to why she even behaves this way.
On a side note, it really irked me that the parents didn’t spend any time with their kids. The dad is supposed to own a chain of stores but cannot afford to take time to see his family during their time of need? And why does the mother have to work such long hours? Well, as this is a Fear Street novel, we really cannot expect doting parents be depicted in them, but it just seemed very unrealistic.
Overall, “Broken Hearts” is a decent Fear Street Super Chiller book. It is worth picking up if you are a fan of the series and haven’t read it yet. P.S. I also liked that this was one of the few Fear Street books where the cover accurately showcases an actual scene from the book!
