I received this book from the publisher/Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

One of the newest R.L. Stine books and of course I had to request it when it popped up on Netgalley! I just HAD to read this one. I was planning to read it in October, but in September I just couldn’t resist it any longer, I just had to read it!

Think you have an annoying sibling? Is he a real beast? Well, wait until you read about Amy’s brother. That boy! In the prologue we get a hint of what is about to come, but it is much worse than you may think. He does stupid pranks, ruins her newest clothes, even puts an expensive game in her bag so she almost gets in trouble with the police, and there is a lot more. And he is not just horrible towards her, but to everyone it seems. Soccer? Much more fun to just kick balls into people’s faces. Fighting? Sure. And there is more. You can see, he is a monster. A beast. At times a bit too much for me. It seemed so excessive. But it did make me 100% root for Amy (and her best friends) to get their revenge. To think of something BIG. Something so awesome that he would learn that his pranks go too far. I was just cheering at their plan!

But what happens next? Well, that was a ride. Totally 100% R.L. Stine. The ending made me laugh, I guess that is a solution. XD

I have to say that I already saw the twist coming, the big one. It is much more than what the blurb promises. I mean, there were plenty of hints and I have been reading Goosebumps and R.L. Stine books since I was a kid. By now I know certain tells and hints. Haha. I didn’t mind it though, I was just eagerly looking forward to it.

The parents, at the end you get a bit more understanding for them, but for quite a bit of the book I was a tad frustrated with them. Especially since they didn’t allow Amy to say anything bad or harsh about her brother but allowed him a lot more. Even laughed at things which I just found harmful and hurting. They do try at times, but sometimes I was like, yeah, what did you think your daughter was going to say or do? Just stand there and take it? You just cannot expect that.

I did find it weird that the parents were able to do a BIG BIG birthday party and invite all the kids in the class… but throughout the book we constantly hear that they are in danger of losing the house, losing everything because they both don’t have jobs and are searching high and low for it. It just seemed very out of place, and I know these parties are NOT cheap. Especially not with endless food + decorations and all that.

But did content get cut from the e-arc I received? Because my copy was just 110-ish pages, and according to other sources (Amazon/etc.) it should be 192 pages. I didn’t miss any story so I am guessing bonuses or illustrations? Such a shame that so much was removed, I am kind of curious what it was and why. Since I am not buying the book (it is not 4.5 stars or higher after all) I guess I will just hope that Amazon or another site has a sample of the book so I can see inside a finished copy.

But despite things missing, I had a lot of fun reading this one! It was a truly classic R.L. Stine story with slime, evil brothers, and spookiness! I would recommend it, perfect for this season of spookiness!