I’ve read a lot of R.L. Stine’s middle grade books and generally have a fun time, so of course when I saw there was a new release set for July 2024 I just had to get my hands on it! Stine’s audiobooks are always of good production quality and have talented narrators, this one is no exception. And even the stories that aren’t my favorite are typically a fun listen. The main characters in this book were enjoyable to hang with and I think kids with siblings will likely find their relationship relatable. There is also a TON of action in this one! The story itself though was not a favorite, unfortunately. It was pretty all over the place and doesn’t make much sense until the very end, which I didn’t care for much. The book was SO fast paced, which I typically enjoy, but in this instance I would have enjoyed the story better had it been slowed down a bit. The listener is never given a moment to take a breath and sit with the characters, it’s constantly one insane thing after the next. By the last quarter of the book it just felt like too much to me. I suppose that pace will work well for some people but it’s not my personal preference. Again, I still had a pretty fun time listening though. Stine books are always easy reads for me and great for when I want something quick and silly. This particular one is also great for summer, lots of beachy vacation vibes! I think many kids & adults will have a fun time with this one overall, it’s a wild time! Just don’t take it too seriously or expect good parenting.

Thanks SO much to Blackstone Publishing, Netgalley, and the author for access to an ALC. Much appreciated!!!

Classic RL Stine with modern characters!
Liam is tasked with helping his mother create a shark night film for the Danger Channel but is forced into deadly situation after situation!
Shark Night keeps you on edge and fearful for the characters!
The end is such an emotional "are you kidding me" moment with the CLASSIC goosebumps ending
If you loved RL Stine and still do, please read this book!

This book is definitely geared towards middle grade. So I'll keep that in mind when reviewing this.
It was packed full of adventure and close calls. There was a lot going on, and I can see that those in the MG ranges would really enjoy it. The character was easily able to be connected to and you wanted to care about how he was fighting through all the trials. I can see those with siblings finding it amusing or those that would connect with it because their siblings always cause them chaos. It was enjoyable and the narrator was really good at portraying Liam.

Now, as an adult. This was absolutely horrifying to read an as adult. There's so much trauma that this poor kid has to endure and it's at the very hands of those who are around him. He shows off a mother that has no sense of protection of his safety, instead caring more about getting views for a TV show. A sister who proceeds to humiliate him and volunteer him for dangerous things at every turn. I couldn't imagine the absolute terror this child would experience at the end of this jaunt for a TV show. It definitely made me really upset for this little dude.

Overall, this is a good book and the adventures were interesting!

I love R.L. Stine. Even his silliest stories have been a joy to read over the years, and I go into every book looking forward to the adventure to come. In all of my years of reading his work, this is the first time I have ever been disappointed.

(beyond here be spoilers)

The primary reason for my disappointment is that in a book entitled "Shark Night," one might reasonably expect there to be...sharks? Or at least frequent mention or discussion of sharks? Even Jaws, in which the shark did not work, managed to infuse the 95% of the movie that was physically shark-free with anticipation of the shark's appearance. On a sharks per word comparison, Katy Perry's Super Bowl show was a marine biology lesson compared to this book.

So what do we spend all this sharkless time doing? Why, hanging around a hotel, of course. And not even an interesting hotel with monsters, ghosts, mysterious creaking noises, paintings with moving eyes, etc. - just a bland oceanfront resort with oddly aggressive policies about electronics and unaccompanied minors. And children who are oddly preoccupied with finding a place to sleep. Pro tip: If you're a character in an adventure story and you spend exponentially more time thinking about sleeping arrangements than the thing that is supposed to be the adventurous part, it is not, in fact, an adventure.

The "twist" ending in the last few minutes doesn't help. In fact, it makes it worse. If this was all staged, then whoever did the staging probably does not have a long career in reality television ahead of them. Mr. Rogers' trip to the crayon factory was more engaging and suspenseful than the middle 80% of this story. Adding insult to injury, the narrator of the audiobook seems to think that shouting will somehow add drama, so his volume increases every time he thinks things are slowing down. Which is often. It makes him sound like the guy on the bus hollering about the end times, and this (unfortunately) isn't that kind of story.

So give this one a miss for your next road trip and mine the Goosebumps archives for something better - or wait for R.L. Stine's next book, which will hopefully be a return to form.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was a fun children's book. As an adult reader, I predicted where the story was going pretty early on, but I enjoyed the way everything panned out.

While I don't think this book is very noteworthy or memorable, I do think that many kids will enjoy this particularly lovers of the ocean and adventure!

My son loved this audiobook! It was fun, age appropriate and the narrator was amazing! The different voices he did were all great and I forgot it was a single narrator. My 5 year old also enjoyed this. We listened in the car and it was a quick read. We sped it up a tad and both my kids preferred that over 1.0x speed.

I loved RL Stine as a tween and I'm so excited to share that with my kids!

This was a great action-packed story for teens. Twists and turns and….sharks. I will be recommending this title to my younger patrons.

Child me loved R. L. Stine (it was the first author I binge read) so I am excited to see him start to write again. While this book was more of an adventure than a horror story I still found it to be a fun ride. While I didn’t find it to be particularly twisty and I saw the ending coming it was still a fun, quick read. Liam’s mother is a filmmaker determined to do a project for Shark Week. She’s ecstatic when she is approved and Liam and his little sister get to watch the filming. But nothing about this adventure goes Liam’s way and after an accident he finds himself in the tank ready to film and swim with sharks. This was a fun middle grade story that I think kids and adults who are kids at heart will truly enjoy.

This is cute and fun but not Stine’s best work. This and a lot of his recent stuff is more of a kids adventure novel than kids horror, and I wish he would get back to what he does best because he’s so uniquely good at it.

Still, it’s a fun and clever story and while I didn’t love the goofy reality tv part of the plot, it’s a solidly plotted adventure.

The end is really, really predictable (another thing Stine usually does a far better job at), but I loved the kids’ misadventures at the hotel, and my kids still enjoyed the story even if it wasn’t their favorite of his work either.

3.5 out 5 Stars

Great Nostalgia read for a goosebumps fan.

Thank you Netgalley for this E-Arc.

The reason I'm giving this five stars is because I had more fun listening to this audiobook than I had at the movie theater this week. It was so suspenseful! Liam is only 12 and is helping his mother make a video. After an injury to another participant, Liam is supposed to help. He's nervous but his mother is in charge.
One thing goes wrong after another and Liam has to use his courage and wits to survive. His sister becomes involved -- what is even happening? How can they get out of this?
The narrator was terrific, especially when it came to showing how afraid Liam was. Thanks so much to NetGalley for letting me listen to this audiobook

This was a fun, fast paced, twisty story. It brought me back to when I was a kid reading the original goosebumps books. The narrator did a fabulous job! He really brought Liam to life! I could really feel his fear, especially at the end!

There is so much going on in this story. A complex web of characters and events. I was impressed with how well everything came together at the end.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who has enjoyed R.L. Stine’s original Goosebumps books in the past! I think this book will be a hit with young readers.