🟨 Stranger Danger (2023) Review - All the Worst Lessons Learned | Book Waffle
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Stranger Danger (2023) written by Maren Stoffels
A trio of teenagers head to a cabin in the woods and vaguely spooky things happen as they receive threatening texts from an unknown number. And, slowly, new dark revelations about their pasts come back to haunt them!Yawn.
Not really that original, but, as they say, the magic is in the execution.
This book is a absolute masterclass in having zero subtlety.
"Iceberg? What's that? A type of lettuce?"
Every emotion and every thought is spelled out in mind-numbing detail. All the while clunky melodrama and conflicts abound.
The voices in this book are bizarre. The characters talk in this weird, pseudo-American teen speak that I'm hoping is just the result of a poor translation. One of the main characters within the story is an adult recounting their experiences, and I did not ever register that it wasn't another teen until 3/4 of the way through the book. Far be it for me to realize that the angsty person angsting all the time about life being too hard is a grown ass human being.
Especially regarding the whole Predatezra thing. Of all the things to take from your PLLs and your Gossip Girls from the 2000s-2010s, you choose to keep that? Why?!
This book is a absolute masterclass in having zero subtlety.
"Iceberg? What's that? A type of lettuce?"
Every emotion and every thought is spelled out in mind-numbing detail. All the while clunky melodrama and conflicts abound.
The voices in this book are bizarre. The characters talk in this weird, pseudo-American teen speak that I'm hoping is just the result of a poor translation. One of the main characters within the story is an adult recounting their experiences, and I did not ever register that it wasn't another teen until 3/4 of the way through the book. Far be it for me to realize that the angsty person angsting all the time about life being too hard is a grown ass human being.
Actually, scratch that. Adults do that all the time nowadays, who am I joking?
Now that I think about it, maybe that was a twist I just revealed? I genuinely don't know!
Speaking of which, twists and conflict come out of nowhere. And not twists in the "Wow! I never saw that coming!"-way but in the "Huh? Seriously? Is that what we're doing?"-way. What I mean to say is that they just happen. It reads almost like a fanfiction piece in that respect: the author pulls ridiculous plot points out of nowhere, and I'm left scratching my head.
Speaking of which, twists and conflict come out of nowhere. And not twists in the "Wow! I never saw that coming!"-way but in the "Huh? Seriously? Is that what we're doing?"-way. What I mean to say is that they just happen. It reads almost like a fanfiction piece in that respect: the author pulls ridiculous plot points out of nowhere, and I'm left scratching my head.
Especially regarding the whole Predatezra thing. Of all the things to take from your PLLs and your Gossip Girls from the 2000s-2010s, you choose to keep that? Why?!
Can't we all just leave that shit in the past and forget it ever happened? Kick it into the same can as Buzzfeed and Silly Bandz and never talk about it ever again.
Despite all of the flak that I have given Stranger Danger, I admit that I did enjoy most of it. The writing itself was serviceable. Was it good? Absolutely not. It was hilariously stupid and not at all scary. But it is so bad and tropey that I had fun despite myself. Maybe you still want to pick up this book and try it for yourself, and that's cool. At least you're more informed.
Ending was trash though.
Despite all of the flak that I have given Stranger Danger, I admit that I did enjoy most of it. The writing itself was serviceable. Was it good? Absolutely not. It was hilariously stupid and not at all scary. But it is so bad and tropey that I had fun despite myself. Maybe you still want to pick up this book and try it for yourself, and that's cool. At least you're more informed.
Ending was trash though.
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