Stranger Danger

March 15, 2023
When three friends head to a remote cabin to study for exams, they make the horrifying discovery that they're not alone in the woods in this thriller translated from Dutch. High school seniors Nova, Vin, and Lotus plan a "complete lockdown" without any cellphones or technology in order to focus on exam prep. After Nova's sister drops them at the secluded house in West Virginia where they're staying, creepy and unexplainable things start happening: slashed bike tires, disappearing items, and grave injuries. Based on the opening premise, Stoffels' story has the makings of a solid thriller. The point of view switches between Lotus and another character whose identity is slowly revealed to readers. However, the finesse ends there. There is little character development except for a casual mention of Vin's being an only child of divorced parents and Nova's disordered eating. The author works hard to give the villain a believable motive, but it's ultimately revealed to be flimsy. A surprise twist about one character is more of a head-scratcher than a satisfying shocker. But perhaps the most horrifying portion of the whole book is the way a teacher-student sexual relationship is not presented as the abhorrent act that it is. Characters seem to default to White. A disappointing miss that lacks sophistication. (Thriller. 12-17)

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March 20, 2023
A week studying for finals in a remote farmhouse turns terrifying for a group of high school seniors in this briskly paced mystery by Stoffels (Room Service). Renting a secluded house, Nova; her boyfriend, Vin; and their best friend Lotus go off the grid to focus on academics, forgoing smartphones, Wi-Fi, and other technology. Following unexplained happenings that include missing items and sudden injury, the teens soon realize that someone has been watching them. Armed with only an unreliable cell phone and the house’s dangerous landline, which delivers an electric shock when the trio try to use it, the group struggles to call for help as their adversary closes in. All three teens have secrets they’ve been keeping from one another, which sow distrust as they’re revealed. Via alternating perspectives that feature Lotus’s savvy first-person narration and an unknown party whose identity is gradually unraveled over the course of the story, Stoffels presents a bemusing mystery punctuated by deceptive twists and sometimes confusing, if effectively shocking, reveals. A plotline involving a student-teacher relationship, and its potential consequences, is minimally explored. All characters are assumed white. Ages 12–up.