Summer of Fear

Short, economical and a good suspenseful read although, having just re-read this, I'm not sure if I guessed so early on, when I first read this many years ago, the major twist about the villain. This time the suspense element for me was when the protagonist was going to work it out. Duncan does drop the clues in fairly unobtrusively and a younger reader probably would not spot them too early on.

The characterisation of the villain might not go down too well with Wiccans as it's based on the stereotyped view of witchcraft/witches; I think the author could've just as easily had it that the villain was doing her ill deeds with mundane methods such as poison although the 'big reveal' scene does pivot on the villain's own belief about whether show more or not witches from the Ozarks appear in photographs. Anyway, it's quite a good read for a teen or pre-teen audience, although allowances need to be made for the 1970s setting, mainly the fact that photographs have to be developed chemically as this is long before digital technology. show less

"It's been four years now since that summer. It's still with me. Maybe it always will be."
Summer of Fear
by Lois Duncan

This is one creepy story and it is perfect to read in the summer, particularly if you want something that will make your skin crawl.

For a YA mystery, Summer of Fear is genuinely scary and a bit haunting. Of all Duncan's books this maybe the scariest.

It is also one that I rated fairly low. Why?

Because I simply could not STAND the villain. I mean I had such issues with her I really..I mean it was just so hard to read about her. I wanted to punch her and that isn't a good thing.

I will warn you there is ANIMAL CRUELTY in this book which is another reason it gets such a low rating from me. I love Duncan. I grew up with her show more books. This one is a no from me but it isn't because it's not a good read. It is to creepy, I hate animal deaths in books and the villainess made me want to smack her.

This is YA. Rachel and her parents are horrified when they hear that the parents of Rachel's cousin Julia have died in a car wreck. This leaves Julia with no family and so Rachel's family takes her in.

Rachel is excited. Julia is her age and Rachel figures they can be friends. That is..until she meets Julia..

Julia is like nobody Rachel has ever met. She is mysterious and very creepy. Rachel can easily see this. So why does everyone else think Julia is such an amazing person...

Do not underestimate the creepy factor in this one. It's there. But it is not my favorite by Duncan but that is because of the reasons I mentioned above. In fact I so disliked Julia, it prevented me from really enjoying this book. That has not happened with many of Duncan's books.

SPOILERS:

I can't help it. Through the book, everyone turns on Rachel and it does not help that there is a brutal animal death in this book so I would automatically take points off for that. I hate that writers so often use this plot devise.

I did do a reread to see if I liked it any better in adulthood and I do not.

The bottom line is Duncan is probably my favorite YA author but this one gets a hard pass from me. show less

Another fun read by Lois Duncan. This leans more towards psychological thriller with supernatural elements. I prefer books where there is some mystery element up until the end, that's why it took me 3 days to read around 219 pages.
The reader is fully aware pretty early on that things are not what they seem and the rest of the book is just following the main character trying to piece things together. I did find it frustrating at times because I realized certain things waaaay before the main character did, but this book is so short that I don't think it's detrimental.

This book was supremely creepy to me as a kid: the stranger / cousin who is somehow just not right, and turns out to be even wronger than imagined. Of course it also imprinted my brain with old-fashioned color advice: that redheads shouldn't wear pink.

Lois Duncan knows how to keep a reader in suspense! She provides enough clues to keep you a step ahead of Rachel, as she tries to prove to her family that cousin Julia is not the helpless victim of tragedy that she pretends to be. As her lone ally lies stricken and unable to help, Rachel must act alone, and quickly, to prove her instincts about Julia are true - that her cousin is not just different, but troubled and capable of real harm. I was surprised to be drawn into this book so quickly. The reader, as an outside observer, is sometimes able to see things that Rachel cannot, which adds to the suspense. This was also frustrating - knowing that Rachel was right, while her family would not believe her.

Another fun read by Lois Duncan. This leans more towards psychological thriller with supernatural elements. I prefer books where there is some mystery element up until the end, that's why it took me 3 days to read around 219 pages.
The reader is fully aware pretty early on that things are not what they seem and the rest of the book is just following the main character trying to piece things together. I did find it frustrating at times because I realized certain things waaaay before the main character did, but this book is so short that I don't think it's detrimental.

This was the only book I had to read for school that I loved! I read this book in tenth grade and loved it! I was so able to connect to the character. The same time I read this book, my rotten, spoiled, selfish cousin lived with me. I so understand how Rachel was feeling. My cousin stole all my sisters friends and everything. My cousin even made my parents take her side all the time. Whenever I use to tell my parents how annoy she is, my cousin would twist it around, and make it seem like I was the mean person. What's even worse was that, I had to share a room with her! When I read this book, I had to laugh because it was so much like my life at the time. This book was amazing! True Story, By the Way.