{"id":951,"date":"2023-05-07T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-07T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indycritic.com\/?p=951"},"modified":"2024-08-06T05:02:31","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T05:02:31","slug":"goosebumps-cry-of-the-cat-book-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indycritic.com\/?p=951","title":{"rendered":"Book Review – Goosebumps: Cry of the Cat by R.L. Stine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Premise<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Alison accidentally kills a cat, she\u2019s devastated about it. But the unfortunate incident soon turns into a nightmare when the seemingly dead cat keeps on making an appearance\u2026 again, and again\u2026 and again! Wanting to get to the bottom of the mystery, Alison ventures into something far more dangerous\u2026 more than what she could bargain for.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overview<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Name <\/strong>– Cry of the Cat [#1 of the \u2018Series 2000\u2019 series]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author <\/strong>– R.L. Stine<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Genre<\/strong> – Children\/Horror\/Mystery<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Published<\/strong> – January, 1998<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cover Rating<\/strong> (featured image) – 8\/10 (pretty good!) [Paperback]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Edition Published<\/strong> -January 1998 by Scholastic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapters <\/strong>– 29<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pages <\/strong>– 119<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Review<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NO Spoilers<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I absolutely love the Goosebumps series. R.L. Stine, the author, has really done a fantastic job of writing these horror tales that will give you the creeps, ultimately making him a household name, especially among children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cry of the Cat is the first book in a new, revamped series titled \u2018Series 2000\u2019. I have read the very first book in the original series, Welcome to Dead House<\/mark><\/em><\/strong><\/a>, and I loved it! And so, when I got my hands on the book in question here, I couldn\u2019t wait!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s the plot in brief –<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story follows siblings Tanner (5) and Alison Moore (12) as they go about their lives. The former is busy watching TV, while the latter is preparing for her role in a school play. But their world is turned upside down very quickly when Alison accidentally runs over a cat, killing it. Alison can\u2019t get the cat out of her head. And to make matters even worse, the cat is seemingly not dead! It keeps making surprise appearances, reminding Alison that she messed with the wrong cat. And it wants revenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alison needs to sort this mess\u2026 and fast. With help from her classmate Ryan (smart; great-looking guy with a cool sense of humor), and her younger brother Tanner (who looks like a little mouse), Alison sets out to find out the truth behind the strange cat and the mystery surrounding it. The path leads them to a strange looking house where the cat seemingly resides. Alison is greeted by Crystal, a girl similar age to her, and who reluctantly agrees to help. But she has a warning in store for Alison –<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not an ordinary cat,\u201d she said through gritted teeth. \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t have messed with Rip.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

OK. The cat\u2019s named \u2018Rip\u2019. That\u2019s quite the irony, no?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyways, as Alison and her companions are dragged deeper into the mystery surrounding Rip, the nightmares soon turn into reality when no one around Alison is out of danger from the \u201cdead\u201d cat. Crystal has yet another warning in store for Alison when they meet next –<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cI warned you,\u201d she whispered. \u201cRip is not an ordinary cat. Rip won\u2019t stop. Not until he gets what he wants.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Well, Rip is certainly not ordinary that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rip (bright yellow eyes; grey fur; white triangle behind his ear; curved teeth; purple tongue; pointed white teeth) is out for revenge for he was killed not once\u2026 not twice\u2026 but three times by the same girl. Yup, you heard that right. Here\u2019s an excerpt from the book depicting just that –<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThe grass felt icy and wet on the soles of my bare feet. The moonlight made the yard glow like silver.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My heart pounded as I leaned down to examine the cat.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes. The same cat. Rip. Rip once again.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not breathing. Not moving.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

His yellow eyes locked in a glassy, blank stare. His legs stiff and straight, pointing up to the moon.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Rip. Dead for the third time. Rip. The cat that refused to stay dead.\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

What soon follows is a game of cat and mouse (no pun intended) between Rip and Alison, which threatens to endanger the whole community. With the old house keeping more secrets than one, and Crystal seemingly not what she looks, Alison must find a way to stop Rip once and for all before it\u2019s too late\u2026 for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Alternate covers\/editions (both are pretty good!)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What was good?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • A quick, easy read.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The ending was pretty good.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    What was bad?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • The plot was a little bit basic; and although picked up towards the end, but could’ve been better throughout.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • There weren’t many “goosebumps” moments in this one.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      References present<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      • ‘Tom & Jerry’ (which Tanner spends too much time watching, along with Alison).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • ‘Godzilla’ (t-shirt worn by Tanner).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Final thoughts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Overall, a pretty decent start to a new sub-series, the ‘Series 2000’. And although there wasn’t too much to the story itself until the very end, it made for a good reading altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Rating: – 7\/10 (Pretty decent)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Premise When Alison accidentally kills a cat, she\u2019s devastated about it. But the unfortunate incident soon turns into a nightmare when the seemingly dead cat keeps on making an appearance\u2026 again, and again\u2026 and again! Wanting to get to the bottom of the mystery, Alison ventures into something far more dangerous\u2026 more than what she...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[169],"tags":[32,19],"class_list":["post-951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-childrens-ya","tag-horror","tag-mystery"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indycritic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indycritic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indycritic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indycritic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indycritic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=951"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"https:\/\/indycritic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3945,"href":"https:\/\/indycritic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951\/revisions\/3945"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indycritic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indycritic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indycritic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indycritic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}