Happy Valentine's day for those who celebrate it. Given that we're on the day of love itself, what better time than to cover a Fear Street book set on the holiday? Well, that and I needed to get back to the 90s after the Fear Street Saga trilogy. But it is a Super Chiller and those can be all over the place in the worst possible ways. Hopefully that's not the case as we talk about Broken Hearts.
Erica isn't too thrilled about being at the riding club and less interested in riding the horses. She feigns a stomach ache to not have to go through with riding, but when Josie calls her chicken, that's enough to get her on the horse. Josie poorly fastens Rachel's horse and Rachel decides not to wear a helmet. You can probably guess what's about to happen. As they ride, Josie lightens up on Erica since Erica's starting ninth grade and coming to Shadyside High. A lot's on her plate already. She then mentions that Melissa is dating her former fling Dave Kinley. Melissa notes that both Dave and Josie are alike. Both have a cruel streak to them. Suddenly, a dog runs by Rachel's horse which causes the horse to panic. The saddle breaks free and Rachel falls on her head. She's not dead though, but she cracked her skull pretty damn hard.
We move on to five months later. It's February and Melissa is still having nightmares about the incident. She still talks to Josie and Rachel, but mentions that Rachel hasn't been the same since the fall. Meanwhile, Josie gets hit in the face with a snowball by her current boyfriend Steve Barron. They then make out while Josie's dog Muggy (which is definitely in the middle for bad dog names and let me guess, this dog's going to die isn't it?) barks at Steve. The two begin to head out when Josie spots something in the mail. A valentine for her. One that isn't signed by anyone. Steve reads it as it says that Violets are blue, roses are red, on Valentine's Day, Josie will be dead.
Steve jokes about it while Josie is freaked out. Is it really a threat, or a sick joke? She thinks it must be from Jenkman who she recently broke up with. Then suddenly, someone grabs Josie by the neck. It's Rachel, who we learn really hasn't recovered from her fall all too well as in she has massive brain damage that's reduced her to a childlike state. She also needs to be watched over a lot. And Erica dropped the ball on that. As well as Luke Hoskins, Rachel's former boyfriend who, surprisingly for a Fear Street character, has stayed around and takes care of Rachel whenever he can. An altruistic character in Fear Street. That's super rare.
And we at least have a motive. Josie sucks. She barely watches after Rachel. Erica says she cares more for Muggy than her own sister. So yeah, that dog's going to be a corpse. Erica proves her own point as Jose screws Erica and Luke over ands heads to the mall with Steve. Oh god, we got a Reva on our hands. From the treatment of others alone it's Reva level, that's for sure. Josie shows Erica the valentine and Rachel suddenly laughs. Josie and Steve leave and Luke is pissed. How Josie doesn't do her share for Rachel and blaming Josie for being the one who poorly fastened the saddle. Like, true, but Rachel's the one that didn't wear a helmet. We can't fully shit on Josie here. But his statement is enough for Erica to think that Luke sent the valentine and is out to make Josie pay.
Cut to the following Wednesday and yet again Josie is shirking any obligations to watch over Rachel. She also thinks that Erica looks less pretty compared to her and Rachel, which oh shit we really do have a another Reva. She then ends up running into Jenkman, but just ignores him. Erica is about to blame Josie for the accident, but suddenly Josie collapses to the ground. She was hit with a snowball from Dave Kinley. Melissa's not happy about this, especially since she thinks that Dave is still into Josie, but he assures her that he dumped Josie, not the other way around and there's no love left, especially since he believes Josie cost him a job at his dad's hardware store. Oh god, she really is Reva. Melissa is also against Josie for everything that's happened to Rachel. Add Jenkman as well. So we have a lot of of possible candidates for making Josie pay.
Josie returns home to an angry Luke, who is pissed that Josie's been dumping all of this responsibility on Erica when it was her fault. Josie claims it wasn't and that Luke has no reason to even be around anymore. He gets angry and grabs a letter opener, only to Jam it into the table and leave. She ignores Erica some more then finds another valentine for her. "This Valentines Day, no memories to save. The only flowers for you will be on your grave." With Valentine's coming up on Saturday, she begins to suspect that this isn't a joke. Someone's out to kill her. Oh, and she was such a warm, lovable person. Who would ever... That night Josie gets a call from the house intercom from Rachel. But when she heads to the room, Rachel's asleep, and there seems to be heavy breathing coming from the intercom. Well, it's different than a raspy phone call for once.
So, to no one's shock, Josie ditches Rachel and it's Erica who has to take care of her. As she brushes Rachel's hair (Rachel really likes her hair brushed), Rachel is confused as she doesn't even know that Josie is her sister anymore and she thinks Josie must hate her, so she hates Josie. Wow, when even your brain trauma-riddled sister turns on you, you might actually straight up suck ass. Jenkman then shows up and asks Erica if Josie got his valentines. Okay, then it's clearly not Jenkman then since we know where this is going.
At school the next day, the class takes a math test, when Josie rats on Dave for looking at her answers, getting Dave in trouble and adding to the pile of reasons to get back at Josie. Though, in this case Josie is in the right. He snaps at Josie for turning him in as Melissa tries to stop him from escalating this further. That night, Josie once again hears the voice in the intercom wanting her to see Rachel. She heads out to talk with Steve at the Shadyside Rink and she does something that makes her less of a Reva than I feared. The reason she's been avoiding watching over Rachel is because she feels guilty for what happened to Rachel and how Rachel's life is effectively over. It's why she snaps at Erica so much for making her feel more guilty than she already is. Add to that issue more threatening valentines and yeah, you can kind of feel for Josie here. She still sucks most of the time, but she's at least willing to see her flaws unlike, and I know I keep bringing her up because she remains the best example to bring up, Reva Dalby. If this were Reva, she'd probably just call Erica weak and more than likely use the R-slur on Rachel, while saying that none of this is her fault.
Josie is convinced the valentines are from Jenkman, who has been following her around everywhere. She then spots someone at the rink staring at them. She kisses Steve some more and heads home. When she does head home, she sees a puddle of blood on the ground. Hey, remember Muggy the dog? Well guess whose blood that is? And with that I literally threw the book across the room. Violets are blue. Roses are red. When Stine adds a dog, it's as good as dead. At this rate, I'm certain R.L. Stine considers Old Yeller a feel good romp. Can you lay off the dog killing for at least a book or two, dude? Rachel shows up and happily continues to point "there's the puppy" while Josie is even more freaked out.
Melissa talks to a still angry Dave who says that Josie cost him a wrestling scholarship even though he cheated on her test. The cops arrive at the McClain house and get the info on the dog murder. Erica tells Josie that she didn't hear anyone enter the house. Josie thinks it's Jenkman but Erica tells her that the valentines he sent were goofy "secret admirer" ones, not the ones saying she's going to die. Erica suspects Luke, but Josie thinks Luke's too much of a wimp to try to actually kill anyone. Despite, you know, the whole letter opener thing earlier. Josie then attends to Rachel who keeps saying that someone hates Josie. The next day, the sisters head to a greeting card store and pick out valentines, only to run into Jenkman. Again, Josie blames him and leaves, but Erica notices the angered look on Jenkman's face, meaning she's not so sure he's as innocent as he claims. Well, he's been stalking Josie, so even if he's not sending the threats, dude's a creep regardless.
We finally make it to Valentine's day. Or at least our first Valentine's day of this book. Steve and Josie are about to head out to the rink when they see Luke leaving. He brought Rachel a chocolate heart, but she doesn't really get Valentine's day anymore. Steve then brings up a good point. Is there an ulterior motive as to why Luke's still around? Is he being altruistic and still cares about Rachel, or is there something else going on? But Josie just wants this to be a Rachel-free Valentine's day between the two of them. She gets another valentine. Roses are black, violets are gray. On Valentine's Day you'll start to decay. I think we're taking liberties on flower colors at this point.
Josie makes her leave, again ditching Rachel. As Steve and Josie drive, they spot Luke and think he's being suspicious. Josie also finally thinks that these valentines aren't a joke. Someone wants to kill her on Valentine's day, which means her hours may be numbered. And sure enough, we cut to two in the morning. No sign of Josie at home. Erica calls Steve to find out where she is, but he tells her that he and Josie had a fight at the rink and she left with some other kids. Just then, the doorbell rings. It's a police officer who tells the McClain family that Josie's been murdered. Stabbed in the throat with an ice skate. Mario is red, Mega Man is blue, whoever sent those treats made sure they came true.
The next day, Melissa gets a call from a panicked Dave saying he's in serious trouble. They meet and Dave confesses to being the one who sent the valentines. He sent them to scare Josie, but he wasn't the one who killed her. But given that these could be linked to the murder, he's now super screwed. But with Josie's funeral happening the next day, he'll sneak into the house and just take the valentines and escape. I mean, he's already looking like a murder suspect, what's a little breaking and entering while we're at it? Well, it almost seems to work, until he enters the house and finds Erica on the ground, badly stabbed. And just as Dave tries to process this, the cops arrive.
We cut to one year later. Erica didn't die, but she pressed charges on Dave because she never actually saw who stabbed her. Dave was arrested, but with no actual evidence connecting him to the murder or the attempted murder, he was eventually free to go. But now his life's pretty much over and he's now in a boarding school. Also, Luke has ended up with Melissa. He's no longer watching over Rachel as after what happened to Erica, things just got really strained. Melissa checks the mail and finds a valentine with the same threat as the first one sent to Josie. So, either Dave's back on his prank, or Melissa's about to be a corpse too.
Rachel has not taken Luke leaving very well. She hates Melissa for taking him away from her. Erica gets a call from Steve inviting her to go skating, but she declines due to her responsibility to Rachel. Rachel runs out of the house, then laughs because it really scared Erica. Meanwhile, Luke suspects it must be Dave sending the threatening valentines to her. They then learn that Dave's disappeared for a while since leaving boarding school. So now Melissa's convinced it must be Dave coming back to get revenge on her. She tells Erica about it, and she too thinks maybe it's Dave. That night, Erica is alone again with Rachel when she hears the sound of someone else in the house. It's Luke who is still hung up on Rachel.
Back to Melissa, she tries to sleep, but given she's now fearing for her life, counting sheep or dogs won't help. Though that makes me think of Stine counting sheep by stabbing one after another. Would not put it past him. Dave then breaks into the house which freaks Melissa out. But he tells her that he's not the one sending the valentines. He gives him some he made for her and sure enough, the handwriting doesn't match. But Dave says he knows who the real killer is. After talking with Erica some more and hearing Rachel mutter that someone hates Erica, they talk to Luke before Melissa heads home. That night, she spots someone outside her house. She can't tell who it is other than it being a female with red hair driving off in a car.
Well, now Melissa's more confused. Was it Rachel? That would make no sense. Given her brain damage, she couldn't drive a car, right? As her parents wake up due to the commotion, they then see Dave in the driveway. Stabbed to death. They head to the McClain house with the police offers to ask about Rachel. The family is confused since she can't get out. But Rachel says that's wrong. She gets out all the time. But since everyone just thinks she's being Rachel, they ignore it and try to find who could be the killer. The next day at school, we get the scene from the cover as Melissa opens up her locker, only to find "YOU'RE DEAD" written on the door in blood.
It's Valentine's day and Luke and Melissa go to a skating party at the rink. We get references to Cory Brooks and David Metcalf before Luke takes Melissa to a secluded part of the area to teach her. Then, suddenly, she gets stabbed by Rachel. Actually, not Rachel, but Erica. Yeah, she was our killer the entire time. She killed Josie because she was finally sick and tired of having to take care of Rachel and how Josie treated her. To get everyone off her trail, she stabbed herself, knowing that Dave would have likely showed up to get the valentines. She then killed Dave a year later when he showed up, to keep him from revealing her as the killer. Also, she killed Muggy and yeah, not letting that one just go away either.
Why? Because thanks to Josie's actions on the day of Rachel's accident, two lives were ruined. Rachel's and Erica's. Erica had the burden of being Rachel's caretaker put upon her by Josie, while Melissa easily divorced herself from everything. So now the two of them have to die. Though, why she waited a year to finish off Melissa sounds like laziness. She already got one person killed and framed Dave for it. She could have managed the same with Melissa. Just saying. She attacks Melissa just as the ice beneath them breaks and Erica sinks into the icy water below. Luke manages to save Melissa in time before she also drowns. The book ends with Melissa and Luke still watching over Rachel whenever they can. But they're done with Valentine's day and done with valentines. Maybe they'll send Groundhog Day cards instead. *laugh track*
Hahahahahahahaaaaa lot of people are dead.
As for the mystery itself, it's at least better handled than how Stine usually handles them. The book fills itself with enough motivations for every character except for Melissa, who the book shifts as the main protagonist after Josie's death. The jealous Jenkman, life destroyed Dave, Luke who already hated Josie, and our killer Erica. Even Rachel, despite her mental state making it unlikely to be her. Unless she was faking the whole time, which would have been kind of an ugly twist there, Bob. And I will admit, I worried that's where Stine was going to take it. That Rachel was playing one hell of a long con. I have never been more thankful that Stine didn't do something in one of these books.
The killer being Erica feels pretty weak as she is sympathetic in the story. Josie did ruin her life and did lead to her personal life being over by shirking the responsibilities of taking care of Rachel when it was partly Josie's fault this all happened. Although, again, Rachel opted not to wear her helmet. It's not all Josie's fault. I do hate the twist because it turns a sympathetic character who was treated badly as our villain, then makes part of her motive being jealousy, which my god that's a worn down excuse at this point with Fear Street. Honestly, Luke would have made more sense, given how much he cares about Rachel and hated how Josie treated her. But maybe that would be more convoluted once Erica gets stabbed. That itself feels convoluted in its own right as how did Erica know that Dave would have showed up right as Josie's funeral was proceeding? If he didn't, then would she have stabbed herself for nothing? The whole Dave issue itself does feel like padding if I'm to be honest. Especially if his destiny was to still end up being killed regardless.
Josie was a frustrating character. Very much like Reva in many ways with how she treats others. But where Reva has no excuse by the time we reach Silent Night 2, we at least can understand why Josie did what she did. It's the guilt. She can't face Rachel because she knows how much of this is her fault. Does it absolve her for how she treated Erica and Rachel? God no, she still absolutely sucks for how he treats Erica and Rachel. But we do have enough of a reason, albeit a slight one, to sympathize with her and feel shocked when she does get killed off midway through the story. Reminds me of the first Cheerleaders book in how Bobbi dies midway and Corky takes over the series. I feel this one did it a bit better as the focus seemed to stay exclusive to Melissa once Erica stabs herself.
As for horror, this one is fine given its body count and Rachel's accident. All stabbings except for the final one, so not too much originality on that end. It's a long book, given it's a Super Chiller, but everything still flowed well enough without too much wheel spinning. You could have cut a few things and it could have fared far better as a regular book, but I'm not complaining too much when the package is still far from a mess and thankfully not as horrible as it could have given some of the subject matter. So, this one gets a light recommend. It's far from perfect, and feels like it needs more work under the hood, but everything we do get still works. I guess that's all you can ask for a Valentine's book. Broken Hearts gets a B.
It Was Acceptable in the 90s: Tape players in cars
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