Customer Reviews

The Best Friend (Fear Street, No. 17)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I was never much of reader until the late 80s and early 90s saw an amazing boom in teen thrillers. I quickly got hooked and devoured every single one I could buy off the shelf. I particularly liked the Fear Street series; even though R.L. Stine is, in my opinion, a pretty bad writer, the stories moved quickly and you could guiltily enjoy them for a couple of hours and forget about them immediately afterwards. He was basically a James Patterson for the under-15 set.

The Best Friend was one of the first books I read, but it was only when I re-read it recently that I realised it was one of the best in the series. Yes, the chapters are all short and end with one ridiculous cliffhanger after another, but the story is much more subtle - and manipulative - than your average teen thriller. The story is about Becka Norwood being stalked by the strange Honey Perkins, who claims to be her best friend. Honey is presented as being a few beers short of a six-pack, but we are never explicitly told Honey committed all the acts attributed to her - and Becka herself has a propensity for flying off the handle and acting quite melodramatic herself.

The ending, though I won't spoil it here, is much more ambiguous and creepy than the norm, and very much in keeping with the rest of the book's tone. Of course, most readers hated the ending, and a competition was even created where readers could submit their own ideas for the sequel. The sequel was much more routine and silly, with no ambiguity, and Honey was just a flat-out psycho.

But with many of years of hindsight aiding this review, I can easily say The Best Friend is one of R.L. Stine's more ambitious and clever tales, written just before his output reached ridiculous proportions, rendering most future stories rushed, predictable and dumb.

The Best Friend is a creepy book about a girl named Becka whose new neighbor claims she and Becka are and always have been best friends. Slowly, Honey starts to drive Becka mad. She steals Becka's things and claims Becka gave them to her, wears Becka's clothes, even cuts her hair exactly like Becka's, and more horrible things! Then, when Becka lashes out at Honey and tries to cut her out of her life, th gruesome accidents begin. One by one, th epeople closest to Becka are being murdered. Is it Honey being jealous? Someone else? In the book it's obvious but the real shocker is the last page. I personally didn't like the ending, but that's why there's a sequel! It's worth reading, to answer your question.

I am a R.L.stine addict, i have over 136 books of his :) All his books show excellent writing skills and i can't wait to read many more, i prefer the fear street books to the goosebumps because i am 15:) Anyone who will read a book by r.l.stine is in for a bone chilling read! :)

While not the best of Stine's work, this one has always stood out as the most interesting books in the Fear Street series. Why? Because of the controversy behind it.

First off, let me go into whether or not the book is good or not. If you're a teen girl, then yes- you'll love it. I remember being incredibly engrossed in this book, especially the ending since it was so different than the other books in the series. As an adult going down memory lane? I didn't really enjoy it as much as I thought I would. It was just pretty corny, but then that's to be expected.

What really makes it so interesting is that Stine was forced to write a sequel to this by his publishers. He originally didn't intend to write one, but the reactions from his FS fanbase were so negative that he wasn't able to leave it as is. They made him write a happy ending via the sequel. Interestingly enough, this reaction was what drove him to write the Goosebumps books as he acknowledged that the younger crowd was surprisingly more willing to embrace potentially or outright bad endings. This is what really made the re-reading of this book so interesting this time around. Eventually the series did embrace its darker side, but it took a long time to do so.

So if you're looking for a real turning point in the FS series, then this is an interesting book to check out.

Rating as a teen: 4 stars. I remember gushing over this, so I'd probably have rated it high.
Rating as an adult: 2.5 stars.

I give thise book four stars. I give it four stars because it is entertaining but it has a BAD ending. The ending sucks. The whole book is very entertaining. I had to make my self put it down. I read it in two days. That is how good it was. It's not scary at all. The ending is very stupid. I won't give it away. But if you hate books with a bad ending then this book is NOT for you. The Best Friend 2 is a wonderful book too, but it also has a BAD ending.

I really loved this book. Really Creative. Love the ending. I can't wait to read the second part.

I read this book when I was 12 or 13 years old. And it was a good read, for me. I wasn't much into R.L. Stine's books, but the title made me want to read this. At first, Honey seems like a normal person, but as you continue reading you discover she's a psycho. It's like Single White Female, but for younger readers.

The book is as good as new, no writings, no torn pages, even the colour of the pages are not faded.

i first heard of this book through another r.l stine book that was holding a contest for the sequal. both books were entertaining, i was suprised how good the sequal was, but the endings are so dissatisfying. for anyone who wants to give it a shot be my guest but be prepared to be dissapointed.

Book was great
Book was thrilling
Book was scary

This book is about Backa being stalked by her suppposedly best friend Honey Perkins.