These two sagas offer something for everyone: a return to the original Fear family in Shadyside in a throwback to the original trilogy, when Simon and Angelica Fear decide to bring their daughters back from the dead, no matter who has to die to get the job done, and then a story of strange and dark powers… who wouldn’t think talking to and controlling animals was cool? In these two books you travel back over 130 years to read about that and more. Can’t wait! 😉
The dark power of the Fear family consumes all those connected with it. The Fears. Those they love – and hate. The entire town of Shadyside. All are tainted forever by the evil of the family’s curse. No one can escape…
“Fear Street Sagas #6 – Daughters of Silence”
Fear Street Scale: 4.5 out of 5 Fears
Pick Of The Bunch Rating: First Place
When Angelica and Simon Fear’s two daughters died, it nearly destroyed them. Now the Fears have only one mission – to summon every ounce of dark power within them, and bring their daughters back from the dead. It will be their ultimate act of dark magic. And when it calls for the murders of two innocent girls, Simon and Angelica don’t hesitate. Their daughters are waiting…
Jenna Hanson’s best friend, Hallie Sheridan, moved to Shadyside recently and Jenna goes to visit her for the summer. They have been best friends forever, like sisters, and have missed each other terribly. The very first night that Jenna arrives, Hallie takes her to the town cemetery to show Jenna the graves of Hannah and Julia Fear, and tells Jenna the horrible story about their deaths. They think it is simply a ghost story, and while Jenna is all about being practical, she is seriously creeped out. That creep factor only spikes when they run into Angelica Fear at her daughters’ grave. Angelica insists they visit her and her husband, Simon Fear, sometime. Hallie sees this as an in to make friends because she thinks everyone will be impressed she visited the Fears and want to hear all about it. She begs Jenna to go with her and Jenna finally agrees.
The visit with the Fears the next day doesn’t make Jenna feel any better about the Fears. But she keeps trying to write everything off as two old lonely people who are still mourning their daughters. But then the two insist that Jenna and Hallie take gifts, jewelry belonging to each of their daughters. This seriously creeped me out, and I can’t see how Hallie can’t see how weird and wrong this is, but she doesn’t. Jenna does, and takes off her gift as soon as they leave.
Immediately after their visit, Hallie begins acting strange. She’s not herself, she’s someone else and then people start to die. Jenna is terrified and realizes that the stories about the Fears are true. Will she be able to break the hold of the Fears on her friend Hallie, or is she already lost to their evil? This book culminates in a showdown that isn’t just a fight for their lives, but a fight for their souls. I was a fan.
I really enjoyed this book, and had been looking forward to reading it because I loved the original Fear Street Saga trilogy, and in the third book, you see Hannah and Julia. They’re not only flesh, but relatable, likeable… characters you don’t want to see end up dead. Except they do. And you witness their tragic and gruesome deaths in the third book, if you‘re interested. 😉 This is a must for any Fear Street fan because it doesn’t revolve around some unknown distant Fear… rather it revolves around the people who brought the evil with them that Fear Street was built on. Don’t miss out!
“Fear Street Sagas #7 – Children of Fear”
Fear Street Scale: 3.5 out of 5 Fears
Pick Of The Bunch Rating: Second Place
Luke Fier hates hearing all of the townspeople talk about his younger sister, Leah. They call her evil and say that she has unnatural powers. Leah does have a strange talent – she has a way with animals and can communicate with them. But Luke is sure Leah would never use this gift for evil. At least he was sure before their parents’ horrible accident. But now Leah seems so different. She’s so angry; Luke is almost frightened of her. Could his sister’s gift destroy them?
I have to say that this book kind of let me down. It was set up to be a book I would love. Historical fiction/family saga – check. Secret and strange powers – check. Having those powers have to do with animals, communicating with them and having them do your bidding – double check. But really it all kind of fell flat, from the very first chapter to the very last page. Luke’s parents died in a tragic accident after their father lost control of his horses. This is so strange since Luke’s father had a gift with animals and could communicate with them. It was a gift that he did not pass on to Luke, but did pass on to Luke’s little sister, Leah.
Luke and Leah also have a younger brother named Corey and the three of them are on their own, and everyone is against them, or specifically against Leah. The first fifty pages felt like a poorly written witch trial that just didn’t do it for me – it didn’t make me care. As the book goes on people keep dying horrible deaths (black widow bite, being pecked to death by ravens, stampeded, bitten by a rattlesnake, I could go on) because of strange animal encounters/behavior and Luke realizes that his sister must be behind it. I mean, who else is there? Leah doesn’t do much to defend herself since she doesn’t seem all that sorry about what happens to some of these people. But then again, a lot of these people were in her way, and some were downright nasty, so why would she?
Whether it is Leah or someone else, and if it is Leah, you know it’s too easy so there has to be something “new” that the reader isn’t supposed to know until the end. But I figured it out in the first thirty pages, which didn’t help me enjoy the book anymore. I mean it’s nice enough, and any fan should certainly give this book a try, but I just wasn’t satisfied with it. The people I wanted to see get it (hey, it’s fiction and a thriller at that, it’s okay to want certain people killed off in these books) didn’t, and the people who did, usually weren’t that bad, or bad at all. Leah seemed like a convenient scapegoat more than anything and all of the characters were much flatter than usual. It took me awhile to get through such a short book… I mean even the high body count didn’t help this book out!
All right, now I’m just rambling. Again, fans give it a go, but any Fear Street dabblers out there, move on to another saga if those are what pique your interest. The original trilogy will hit the spot, trust me. 😉 (You can check out my post on the original trilogy here.)
Well that was kind of wild… A hit and a miss are still better than two misses. And I’m excited that I only have to read two more sagas until I get to the saga I’ve been dying to read. 😛 Almost there!
-DMW
