Tagline: N/A
Back tagline: The only good friend is a dead friend….
Summary: Becka is so relieved. She’s finally ready to forget all the horrible things her “best friend” Honey did to her real friends. She can even forget the way she was blamed for it all. She’s completely over it….
So why does she keep seeing Honey everywhere she goes? At first she thinks it’s her imagination. But then the threats begin. The phone calls late at night. The terrifying messages left in her locker. Honey is back. And this time she won’t stop—until Becka is dead.
First impressions: Well, it’s nice to see that Honey didn’t get away with her actions in the last book after all. I wonder how they’ll explain that. I’m glad that Becka’s recovered from the whole ordeal, but it seems like Honey’s going old-school stalker this time instead of out in the open. I know absolutely nothing about this book going in so I’m not really sure what to expect. I really loved the first book, which was early in the series where the books were pretty distinct from one another, but this one sounds like it’s gonna be a cliché-filled story with a similar stalking plot to lots of other Fear Streets.
This cover is pretty boring, too, but on the plus side, it looks like Becka and Honey have ditched their Blanche Devereaux haircuts.
According to the little bubble in the centre, this is the book readers demanded back in the ’90s, demanding justice for both Becka and Honey, and I can’t wait to see how this turns out.
As we know, Stine held a competition where people could send in their ideas for what should happen to Honey, which was advertised on the covers of The Confession and The Boy Next Door as well as on one of their back pages, so for anyone that’s interested, I’ve included a photo of the competition information. Also included here is Stine’s dedication page to the winner of the competition in this book:
Recap
Meet the crew:
Becka – Our heroine who’s traumatised by the events of the last book.
Honey – Becka’s best best friend who’s back to cause more trouble.
Trish and Lilah – Becka’s real best friends who grow increasingly concerned about her.
Eric – Becka’s ex-boyfriend from the first book.
Bill – Becka’s boyfriend who’d been stabbed at the end of the first book.
Larry – Becka’s new boyfriend who’s really not that relevant to the story.
Glynis and Frankie – Some Waynesbridge High students.
Part 1
We’re in first person this time and the book begins with protagonist Becka Norwood standing out front of Waynesbridge High School for her first day. It’s been about a year since the Honey ordeal and after moving to Waynesbridge in the fall, Becka’s determined to leave all the horrors of Shadyside and her time on Fear Street behind her – ‘A new school. A new beginning.’ [A new girl to stalk!] She’s as nervous as ever and we get some more depth to her perpetual anxiety when she informs us readers that her mother’s always told Becka she’d learnt to worry before she’d learned to walk. Becka also remembers being forced to see the guidance counsellor in freshman year after handing in an English paper where students had to write about themselves, and Becka had described her life as ‘like walking high above the ground on a tightrope,’ struggling to keep her balance and always worrying the rope might snap [How deep, Becka! Poor thing]. We Also get a description of Becka here that suspiciously doesn’t match the her appearance in the first book:
I shook out my long, auburn hair, trying to shake away those thoughts. Yes, I let my hair grow long again. And I’d lost a little weight. Just a few pounds. I was still what people called “full-figured.”
I’m not exactly pretty. Or cute. But I’m okay. And I’m starting to feel good about myself. I really am.
[Becka had light blonde hair in the first book and from memory was never described as full figured, while Honey had auburn hair and was full-figured… I think this is actually Honey, who’s convinced herself that she’s really Becka. Have I just figured out the plot twist, on page 4?!?!?! It would explain why this one is told in first-person. I guess unless you read the two books back-to-back you might not pick up on this difference, so maybe Stine thought he could get away with some obvious foreshadowing here. Unless Becka’s just changed her looks for some reason]
Becka has to see the school counsellor, Miss Englund, before she can report to homeroom, and prays that the woman isn’t totally uncool. Becka’s talked to so many counsellors and doctors in the past year, and ‘most of them didn’t have a clue.’ She mentally prepares herself to tell her story one more time and steps into the building, committed to a brand new start and ‘a whole new Becka…’ [A whole new Becka because it’s really Honey pretending to be Becka? Maybe the real Becka is back in Shadyside, living her best life now that Honey’s gone. Or maybe Honey convinced everyone Becka killed Bill and the real Becka’s in prison or something!]. Miss Englund is young and kinda pretty with a warm smile and immediately asks Becka to tell her about Honey Perkins. Becka obliges, which acts as a very brief recap of the first book [If only my recaps were that short, right?] that ends with Honey killing Bill and convincing Becka she was the one responsible [It’s not explained how Becka learned the truth, though, so maybe that’ll come later]. Miss Englund is sure Becka will be happy at Waynesbridge and encourages Becka to visit her whenever she needs, and then Becka heads off.
First period’s already begun so the halls are basically empty, except for three boys who come around the corner. And one of them looks very familiar… it’s Bill! Except, you guessed it, it’s not Bill, which Becka realises after throwing herself at him for a hug and saying his name over and over again. It turns out Becka has recognised random strangers as Bill plenty of times in the past year, which is extremely awkward. This guy, whose name is Steve, doesn’t even look like Bill at all, and Becka scolds herself for being so silly. She apologises and tries to leave, but Steve is super nice about it and even gives her directions to her class while his two friends just smirk [Note from future: This is not a potential love interest, like I thought, and he’s never mentioned again].
Becka arrives to History late and is introduced to the class by the teacher, who kindly suggests she borrows someone’s notes to catch up on the three weeks she’s missed so far. Becka takes an empty seat at the back as Mr. Wright continues his lecture about World War II. The ‘awesome-looking,’ modelesque, green-eyed redhead next to Becka [Stine loves red hair and green eyes almost as much as he lives white-blonde hair with icy blue eyes! Also, do I detect some queer subtext?] introduces herself as Glynis Quinn [Glynis? Really? Glynis? What a fkn awful name 🤢] and explains that it’s best to just write down everything Mr. Wright says, since he spends the whole class giving a lecture instead of asking the students anything or involving them in a discussion [Doesn’t sound like a great way to learn]. Becka focuses on taking notes for the rest of the period but once class is over, Becka glances down at her notebook and realises she wasn’t taking notes at all, but had been writing one word over and over again, page after page – ‘Bill’ [Were you not looking at what you were writing as you were writing it??? Weird. Maybe she’s hallucinating or something].
Glynis stops by Becka’s locker at the end of the day to ask how her first day was, and Becka notices that she’s got ‘a deep, throaty laugh. Very sexy,’ which, along with this next passage, strengthens my idea that Becka [Well, Honey, probably] is a member of the LGBTQIA+ community:
I couldn’t help staring at her. She was so pretty. She reminded me a lot of that actress, Claire Danes. She wore a yellow vest over a white T-shirt and had a short green skirt over brown tights. Very slim and trim. I felt like a cow standing next to her.
[See, she’s practically frothing at the mouth over Glynis! I can’t think of another time where a character has thought this highly of a same-sex person’s looks. There’s definitely some bicuriousity at the very least. And this makes even more sense with my theory that this is Honey; is this how Honey thought of Becka in the first book?Also, Glynis outfit sounds as gross as her name… yellow, green and brown and white? No thanks]
Glynis doesn’t know how she’d handle changing schools in senior year herself, and Becka explains she’s looking forward to it, since she hated Shadyside [Did you, though? Or is this attitude because of last year’s events?]. Becka doesn’t wanna talk about Shadyside, though, wary of triggering anyone’s memory of the Becka-Honey-Bill story that had been in the papers and on the news. A tall, lanky guy with a blonde ponytail, silvery-grey eyes and a killer smile comes up to them, and Glynis introduces Becka and Frankie to each other. He asks Becka a few questions about herself and despite the fact that he and Glynis are clearly dating, Becka immediately decides he likes her because he keeps smiling at her and giving her the eye, ‘as if he likes what he sees.’ [Honey is still delusional, it seems!] Upon learning Frankie’s plays guitar, Becka immediately asks if he could teach her to play, which isn’t subtle at all. After examining her hands, he tells her she’s got the nails for guitar, which need to be short, unlike Glynis’, long, beautiful chocolate-coloured nails. Frankie and Glynis are off to get a coke and pizza and Frankie invites Becka along:
He does like me, I decided. I glanced at Glynis to make sure it was okay with her. Then I replied, “Sure. Thanks.”
I tried to sound casual. But I really could feel something going on between Frankie and me. I wondered if Glynis noticed it too.
[I fkn can’t with this girl lol] They walk a few blocks to Pizzaz [Is that pronounced like pizzas or pizzazz?] and Becka’s knee bumps Frankie’s under the table as she slides into the booth across from him and Glynis. He doesn’t pull his knee away, which to her means she’s into him. Becka chows down on pizza and listens as Glynis and Frankie gossip about people from school until eventually a boy she recognises walks through the door – Eric Fraser, the boy Beecka broke up with for Bill at the beginning of The Best Friend.
Becka leaps up from the table and runs over him, so excited to see someone she knows. Eric looks confused, then forces a smile and says hello [Confused, huh? Confused because it’s Honey?!]. Becka had always liked Eric’s sense of humour and how he always made her laugh, which is not how he was described in the first book by Becka, and wraps him in a hug, which clearly makes him uncomfortable as he points out that she dumped him [True of both Becka and Honey]. She tells him she’s changed and is starting all over in Waynesbridge, inviting him to join her new friends for a coke. He wasn’t planning on staying, though, so Becka invites herself to go for a drive in his car to reminisce about old times, something you’ll remember Honey loved to do.
Becka waves bye to her new friends and basically drags Eric to his car, where all her feelings for him come flooding back. As he climbs in behind the wheel, she wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him in for ‘a long, lingering kiss filled with emotion.’ He remarks that she really is different [Yup. There is absolutely no way this is the real Becka] and they continue kiss, interrupted sporadically by her whispering his name [????]. After a while he asks her to the movies Saturday night and she eagerly agrees before they resume kissing, but this time she can’t stop thinking about Frankie and how she thinks he really likes her [Girl…….]. She tells Eric she’s gotta run and declines his offer to drive her home, thinking about how weird it was to bump into him on the first day of her new life as she starts walking home. Eric’s not as cool as Frankie, of course, but she thinks it’ll be nice to spend time with him again.
Arriving home, Becka heads to her room and studies herself in the mirror, realising her ‘blond hair was only a few shades darker than Glynis’s. And it was about the same length.’ [This must be a typo, because her auburn hair has been mentioned several times… Keep up, Stine]. Her fingernails are all chewed up, but Becka decides she can stop that habit to let them grow, and tomorrow she’ll buy the same chocolate shade that Glynis wears. With her hair straighter and pulled back, Becka looks a lot like Glynis – ‘I wonder if Frankie will like that.’ [There is no possible way Stine thinks we’re going the whole book without realising that this isn’t the real Becka when he’s made it this obvious. There’s gotta be some other twist later on, right?].
The next day after school, Becka rushes to the mall to get some chocolate nail polish. After coating her nails in it back in her room, she literally cheers out loud about how good she looks. Then she goes to call Glynis, but Frankie picks up and he quickly tells her how into her he is. Becka is positively giddy as she confesses her own feelings, but then she realises she was just fantasising the conversation and speaking into the silent phone [Becka, please].
She scolds herself for acting crazy like Honey, and that thought brings back memories of Trish’s party and Bill being murdered. She remembers them from Becka’s point of view (and also refers to herself as Becka), but she’s not fooling me! I am 100%, totally positive that this is Honey just remembering things from Becka’s POV because she’s convinced herself she really is Becka. She orders herself to stop thinking about it and crosses to the mirror to check herself out again, and realises in horror she’s written Bill’s name all over her face in the brown nail polish [What, she didn’t realise while she was doing it?? Or is this just another fantasy? Maybe it’s her guilty conscience].
On Thursday afternoon, Becka has a catch-up meeting with Miss Englund and explains how happy she’s feeling, not imagining Bill everywhere she goes and barely even thinking about Honey. Miss Englund is glad that Becka’s made some friends and compliments Becka’s new hair, so I guess Becka’s stolen Glynis’ full look now – ‘”It’s the new me!”‘ [New Becka, old Glynis!]
Later, Becka’s visits Glynis’ mansion of a home and tries on some of her friend’s clothes. Glynis is a little skinnier than Becka, but Becka knows if she loses a few points she’ll fit more easily into her skirts. Glynis’ mum walks in and says they look like twins, and Glynis agrees, then bursts out laughing. Becka’s really hurt by this and doesn’t know what’s so funny, but instead of explaining, Glynis goes downstairs to help her mum with something, which is not a good idea right now:
I quickly changed back into my clothes. Then I folded Glynis’ skirt and sweater carefully and tucked them into my backpack.
I knew Glynis wouldn’t mind if I borrowed them.
Why should she mind?
Best friends always borrow each other’s clothes.
That’s what best friends do.
[Or maybe this really is Becka, who’s had some kind of mental breakdown after everything that happened with Honey and is now just like her? That would be an interesting twist if done right, but also harder to believe than this being Honey].
The next night, Frankie and Glynis pick up Becka from the corner near her house to go shopping at the Division Street Mall, and during the car ride, Glynis reluctantly asks if Becka borrowed her skirt and sweater. Becka admits it and says she was planning to wear it on her date with Eric tomorrow night, and agrees to return them when she has the chance [Glynis seems very uneasy about all this].
At The Clothes Hangar, Becka bumps into Eric, who works there. She introduces him to Frankie and Glynis, who both quickly leave for the food court. Becka wants to keep looking around and will catch up with them later, and as soon as they’re gone, Eric asks her why they were calling her Becka – ‘”Honey—are you pretending to be Becka? What’s going on?”‘ [OK, thank god this isn’t the main twist of the book. I don’t even know if we can call it a twist because it was so obvious. Also, what does everyone from Shadyside think happened to Honey? Also also, what was with Honey-as-Becka’s memories of her mother and seeing the guidance counsellor at the start? They definitely sounded like Becka’s memories, but I guess they where they really Honey’s. Unless Honey really did her research and was very deep in character…]
Honey [I’ll call her that from now on, hopefully it’s not too confusing] angrily tells him she’s Becka now and there’s no way she’s gonna let him ruin her new life. Eric points out that she can’t be Becka, because Becka’s standing right over there! Honey whirls around and spots the real Becka gaping at her from the next aisle. Refusing to let them spoil everything, she grabs a rope of heavy glass bead from the sales counter and wraps it around Eric’s neck, right there in the middle of the store. She pulls it tighter until it cuts into his skin and he falls to the floor [Why is no-one helping him? Unless I read it wrong, they’re out in the open in the middle of the store? Maybe they’re hidden by an aisle or something], then suddenly Becka pulls Honey away.
Honey insists that Becka just killed Eric and tosses the blood-soaked beads to her with a groan of ‘”Unnnnh”‘ [Trixie and Katya are shaking in their boots] and promises to pay Becka back for murdering Bill and destroying her new life. Then some store clerks start approaching [Finally, where were they when someone was being murdered?], so Honey makes a quick escape, bumping into two cops on her way out of the store. She stops and points them towards Becka, who’s still standing over Eric’s lifeless body holding the murder weapon, claiming she’s the murderer.
Part 2
Now we’re with the real Becka, who’s currently at Eric’s funeral with her besties, Trish and Lilah, on a rainy Monday morning a few days later [I’m still shook no-one even tried to help Eric while Honey murdered him, including Becka, who was 100% watching]. Trish can’t believe ‘”someone we know was murdered,”‘ [Why, you knew Bill? Or what about the other Shadyside kids who’ve been killed over the last 49 books?] and Becka reveals to her friends what she’s learned from the police about Honey – she’d somehow ran away from the hospital she was being kept at last summer [Why wasn’t she in prison?] and hadn’t even been keeping in touch with her father. She’s been living somewhere in Waynesbridge under Becka’s name, even forging transcripts and a letter from Becka’s parents to enrol in school, but no-one seems to know exactly where she was staying [So I guess Honey escaped the mall after trying to pin the murder on Becka].
Becka thinks she spots Honey inside the church, but it’s just some random girl, which concerns Trish and Lilah. Becka apparently sees Honey everywhere, and she hasn’t been the same since Bill was stabbed [I mean, would you be the same after what Becka went through?]. As the girls walk Becka home, they spot Bill across the street, and he comes jogging over to them [Wait, wait, wait. Bill is alive?!?!?! I wasn’t expecting that!]. He’s out of breath when he reaches them because only one of his lungs work now [I didn’t know we could survive with one lung! How interesting].
Bill’s been a good sport about the nearly being killed, but poor Becka is unable to be around him without picturing him being stabbed and bleeding out on the floor, feeling guilty even though it wasn’t her fault. Bill asks to speak to Becka one-on-one but she tells him she just can’t see him anymore. He doesn’t mind that she’s dating Larry now [Who the fuck is Larry?], insisting he just wants to get a few things straight between them, but Becka can’t bring herself to give him the opportunity for closure [I feel for her, I really do, but she’s kind of being horrible to Bill here. A conversation is the least she can do] and he sadly walks away.
Lilah and Trish are eager to know what happened with Bill, since Becka never really explained it, so she tells them now that there’s just too many bad memories associated with him, and she can’t help how she feels. Trish mentions how after he’d recovered, Bill constantly visited her while in she was recovering in hospital from her broken neck. Becka never came to visit apparently, feeling too guilty about everything, but she apologises now for not being a good friend. The three girls hug and the distance between them finally starts to close a bit.
The next afternoon, Becka’s at her after-school job at The Hackers Cafe, a coffeehouse with computers at the counter so customers can surf the net. Becka’s doctor, Dr. Perlberg [What happened to Dr. Klein from the last book?], had advised her to get a job to keep her mind occupied and meet new people, and thanks to the popularity with Shadyside students and young adults in the area, she’s pretty busy when on shift. Her new boyfriend, Larry Myers, stops by, and she’s not that excited to see him because she doesn’t have time to stop and chat. He’s a redhead with a pudgy nose and buck teeth which earned him the nickname Bugs Bunny, but Becka thinks he’s cute [He doesn’t sound that way from your description, Becka].
She quickly dismisses his offer to hang out after work because she’s got homework and impatiently sends him off so she doesn’t get in trouble from her boss, but promises to call him when she’s home after realising she’s being a dick. After her shift, she changes into her normal clothes and throws her uniform into the laundry hamper before saying goodnight to her boss [Wait, does the boss wash their uniforms? Why don’t they do it themselves? Is this an American thing?].
As she’s heading to her car, Becka’s approached by Honey in the darkness! But it’s not Honey, it’s actually Bill, who still cares about her and begs her to give him a chance, super upset that she won’t even speak to him anymore. Things get a little heated when he grips her arm, but Larry comes swooping in to save Becka [Was he just out here waiting for her to finish work? Clingy 💀].
Bill immediately apologises, and it’s obvious he was just caught up in the moment because of how upset he was. He quickly hurries back to his own car as Larry guides Becka to hers, explaining he’s here because he thought she’d change her mind about hanging out. As they reach the Becka’s Civic, she can’t find her car key in her bag, but spots it stuck into the door. The door isn’t locked, which is strange because she always locks it, and she pulls open the door, only to be met with the ‘disgusting, frightening scene’ of her car seats slashed to bits.
Becka completely loses control, shrieking over and over that this isn’t her car. Like me, you might think this is a huge overreaction, but it turns out there’s also a dead rat on the passenger seat, ‘cut open like a piece of ripe fruit’ with its guts pouring out over the seat. Larry tries to calm her down as he leads her to his car, but she immediately starts screaming Honey’s name and doesn’t stop screaming until they’re nearly back at her house on Fear Street [I know she’s got a bit of PTSD, but I wouldn’t be able to tolerate all that screaming if I was Larry], where she notices that Larry looks super angry and not at all like Bugs Bunny right now.
At home, Becka takes two of the sedatives Dr. Perlberg had prescribed her, pills that she hadn’t needed since last spring because she believed Honey was gone for good this whole time. They calm her down a little bit and she turns on the TV to distract her, and as it the cliche in books and movies, there’s a news story about Honey murdering Eric. She’s still at large, as we’ve guessed, and there’s a statewide hunt going on looking for her.
Becka thinks that’s dumb because Honey’s obviously still here in Shadyside [Yeah, I’d say that’s a safe bet], and starts pacing the room, all worked up again. She’s absolutely certain Honey’s still in town and wonders if Honey’s hiding out at her father’s house next door. He still lives there, after all, so it’s definitely a possibility. Becka needs to know right this minute and decides to go snoop, but her bedroom phone rings before she can leave.
It’s Trish, who reveals Bill had come over to talk, all messed up over Becka. Trish feels really bad for him – he’d shown her the scar on his chest from the stab wound and said Becka had hurt him more than the knife [Oop]. Becka is pissed that Trish is taking Bill’s side when she knows Becka can’t see him because she wants to forget about all that trauma. Trish insists she’s not taking Bill’s side, but she does agree with him that Becka’s being unfair [I agree with Trish, but it does kind of seem like she’s into Bill], and Becka pulls the ‘”Don’t you have any idea what I’ve been through?” card [Bill, Trish and Lilah all almost died, you can’t one-up them here, Becka].
She angrily hangs up but the phone rings again a minute later. Thinking it’s Trish calling to apologise and realising she had only been trying to help, Becka answers and starts to apologise herself, but the voice on the other end isn’t her bestie. Instead, a harsh whisper rasps ‘”You killed Bill!”‘ several times [Is it actually Honey though, or is Bill trying to bully his way back into Becka’s heart? Or someone else for some other reason?].
A short time later, Becka finally sneaks next door and notices a light on toward the back of the house through the window. As she moves in for a closer look, her steps on something lying in the grass, solid but soft, and her first reaction is that it’s a body [!!!], but it’s just a bag of fertiliser [If it was anyone else I’d be more judgmental and call them an idiot, but Becka has always been a nervous wreck and once again Honey is making her anxiety a lot worse, so I can forgive her for this].
Peeping through the window, Becka finds herself looking into the den, where Mr. Perkins is asleep in an armchair with a beer in his hand. She realises she hasn’t seen him since Honey was taken away and wonders if he’s ever even left the house. Then she’s suddenly grabbed from behind, and, of course, immediately thinks it’s Honey [At this point, a pin could fkn drop and she’d assume it’s Honey], but it’s just good old Lilah, who’s wondering why she’s spying on Mr. Perkins.
Before Becka can reply, the window slides open and Mr. Perkins pokes his head out, woken up by Becka’s loud ass voice. He angrily orders Becka to get away from here, since she’s caused him enough trouble, but then asks her where Honey is, as if Becka would have any idea. He doesn’t like Becka’s answer, so threatens to call the cops if he ever catches her around his house again.
Lilah reckons they should nominate him for a Good Neighbour Award, which helps break the tension as they stalk back to Becka’s place. Up in Becka’s room, Lilah explains the reason she came over is because she’s got some shocking news – Mr. Perkins isn’t actually Honey’s father! She produces a wrinkled, yellowed newspaper clipping from her pocket and hands it to Becka, explaining that her mother had found it. The headline says ‘Murder-Suicide Baffles Shadyside Police’ and reads as followed:
Nine-year-old Hannah Paulsen and is the only eyewitness to the tragedy that destroyed her family. But so far, Shadyside police have had little luck getting the girl to help them put together the pieces of the story.
Hanna remains in shock at Shadyside General Hospital.
Neighbours of the Paulsens are also in shock. Those interviewed say they cannot believe that Mr. Kevin Paulsen and his wife Dierdre and Hannah’s twin brother, Harold, and then shot himself to death. Hannah, hidden in a closet, watched the entire scene through a crack in the door.
[Oof, that’s dark. I wonder if Hannah/Honey was the actual murderer?] After being prompted by Lilah, Becka suddenly remembers that the Paulsen twins were big, weird, nerdy klutzes who were in their class in school up until fourth grade, when the murders happened and Hannah was sent to live with an uncle [Oh, so Hannah is Honey and Mr. Perkins is her uncle? How come they didn’t remember any of this information after they found Honey in the class photo of their fourth grade yearbook in the first book?]. The students were never told the truth about what happened to the twins; all the kids knew was that one day they were just gone.
More memories flood back to Becka about how weird Hannah was – no-one liked her because she was so big and clumsy and needy. She would always follow Becka around, eager and desperate to be her best friend [Seriously, how did she not remember any of this in the last book? Hannah/Honey seems pretty hard to forget, even if it was a long time ago, and the class photo definitely should prompted these memories. Like the name change makes some sense I guess, but still, as if you wouldn’t put two and two together?]. Unlike Hannah, Becka was always popular, and Trish and Lilah were her best friends, along with a girl named Julie and two guys, both named Brian [I wonder if this is Julie from The Confession or Final Grade, or another one? We haven’t come across any Fear Street Brians yet, so no idea who either of them are. We’ve also got some retconning here, because The Wrong Number‘s Deena Martinson had been Becka’s best friend in fourth grade, according to the first book].
Hannah would always try to hang out with them, but ‘she was so big and dumb and so shabbily dressed,’ as well as grabby and whiny and absolutely no fun [Wow, Becka was a lovely child…]. When ignoring Hannah didn’t work, Becka and the crew decided to be mean instead, inviting her over to Becka’s house one day and telling her they wanted her to be part of their Cool Club. After an initiation, of course, and she’s instructed to climb onstage at the next day’s assembly, get on all fours and bark like a dog.
Hannah went through with it, excited for the opportunity to hang out wth Becka and her friends, and was laughed offstage by everyone. When Hannah came over after school that day, Becka broke the news there was no Cool Club and it was all just a prank so she’d stop following them around. Hannah started bawling and ran off, and Becka never saw her again, but never knew why; ‘I guess her family was murdered soon after that.’ [Why is Becka so casual about it hahaha]
Realising that Hannah is Honey, Becka deduces that Hannah returned last year determined to be Becka’s friend while simultaneously trying to destroy her as well [I don’t know about that, it really seemed like she just wanted to be best best friends in the last book]. Becka’s even more scared now, and Lilah’s comforting words about Honey probably being miles away by now are no use; there’s no doubt Honey is nearby, waiting for revenge. And then the phone rings, and it’s our favourite raspy whisperer:
“It’s me,” the voice whispered. “Your best friend. I’m coming to see you, Becka. I have something for you. Something shiny and sharp.”
Part 3
We cut to Becka in Dr. Perlberg’s office, who I guess is her psychiatrist, so it makes sense why he’s replaced Dr. Klein from the first book. Becka tells him all about Eric’s murder, Honey’s disappearance, the newspaper clipping and the threatening calls, and he agrees to prescribe her more meds to help calm her nerves. He instructs her to tell her parents and the police about both the calls and the newspaper clipping, which is a very good advice, since she was apparently too scared to do anything in the moment of the call [That’s a fkn dumb reason, Becka], reminding her that Honey is truly dangerous [Yeah, actually, Becka’s really doing much to protect herself, is she?].
Later as Becka’s leaving Dr. Perlberg’s office, Honey suddenly springs out at her from behind Becka’s car [!!!]. Becka turns around and tries to flee, but Honey tackles her to the ground and pins her down with her knees. Becka can feel ‘drops of hot saliva on the back of my neck’ [Ew lol] and pleads with Honey to let her go, calling her Hannah and promising to really be her friend and help her. But Honey just screams that she’s not Hannah or Honey – ‘”I’m Becka now!”‘ and starts slamming Becka’s head into the asphalt over and over again in a brutal scene of anger [Seriously, poor Becka]. Becka slips into unconsciousness, sure she’s about to die as Honey continues to pummel her face into the ground [Can Dr. Perlberg not hear all this commotion?].
Becka wakes up some time later on the asphalt, injured and bleeding but alive, and realises Honey must have thought she’d killed her. Instead of going into Dr. Perlberg’s office for assistance, or trying to contact the authorities, or even seeking medical assistance, Becka just drives home to tell her mother what happened. Luckily mum’s got some sense and takes her straight to the emergency room and later that night, Becka phones Trish to tell her everything.
Becka’s got stitches above her eye and her face is pretty cut up and bruised, but it doesn’t look as bad as before she’d been cleaned up. The police were called to the hospital and promised to put a regular patrol on Becka’s block, confident it’ll be easier to catch Honey now that they know for sure she’s nearby [OK but like, she could just leave town again, right? Especially if she thinks Becka’s dead, she’s not going to stick around Waynesbridge or Shadyside to pretend to be her anymore, is she?].
Over the next few days, Larry visits constantly, being so caring and checking up on her, ‘and he never said that my face looked like a lump of canned dog food, although I’m sure he thought it.’ [He’s really raising the bar for Shadyside boys!] On Sunday night, they head to the cinema for a date night, but Becka’s uneasy on the drive there, unable to stop picturing Honey hiding behind every house and parked car, waiting to attack again. Apparently she’s been calling every night, promising to finish her off with the same knife she used on Bill, which is ready for Becka now [She didn’t have it with her in the parking lot, which is weird because if she wants to Kill Becka that’d be the easiest way, so maybe it’s not Honey on the phone?].
Becka hopes seeing a movie will help take her mind off things [I would be even more nervous in a dark movie theatre where Honey could easily come and sit behind or next to you…], but it doesn’t work, and Becka spends the whole movie remembering the car park attack. Later as they’re walking down the aisle to exit the theatre, which is full of other people, someone bumps Becka from behind and she feels a sharp blade poke into her back! But it’s just a girl with an umbrella who’d tripped and accidentally bumped Becka with it [I’m sick of these fake-outs now, Stine].
Becka and Larry head on over the Old Mill Road to grab a coffee at the Star Diner, a building built to look like it’s from the 1930s-1940s that I’ve never heard of before. They sit in a booth and Larry starts making conversation, but Becka doesn’t hear him because here comes Honey approaching them fast down the aisle, a knife gleaming in front of her [!!!!]. Except it’s just a copper-haired waitress, who quickly hands the steak knife to a man in the next booth [Becka, plz].
Becka had jumped up in fear, and when the waitress asks if she’s OK, it causes her to completely lose it and shriek ‘”I’m not okay! She’s crazy! She’s crazy—and she’s going to kill me!”‘ She’s talking about Honey, of course, but everyone thinks she means the waitress, and Becka can’t control herself enough to clarify anything so Larry quickly escorts Becka back to his car and drives her home. He offers to stay with her until her parents return home, but she declines [Which is fkn stupid] because she just wants to go to sleep. She also can’t take much more of his concerned looks, but she doesn’t tell him that.
Inside, she leaves all the lights off because she doesn’t want to see anything [???? Girl, there’s someone trying to kill you, I’d have every fkn light on 24/7, especially if I was home alone] and creeps up to her dark bedroom. It’s cold in here thanks to the window being open, which obviously means someone was in here but Becka assumes she left it open herself and quickly shuts it before stripping in the dark and climbing into bed.
But her bed is wet and sticky, so she jumps back out and clicks on the light to stares at the horror before her – the sheets are slashed and soaked in dark, red-brown blood. There’s bloodstains on the wall along with a brown handprint behind her headboard [Whose blood is this?], and on her mirror, scrawled in blood, is a message; ‘THIS IS U’ Becka starts wailing as she realises Honey was here, and then her bedroom door starts to swing open [!!!!].
It’s just her parents, who comfort her over the next hour, and Becka ends up staying in the guest room that night. She can’t sleep though, worried that every creak she hears is Honey returning to finish her off. The police arrive the next morning to take statements, and Becka’s too tense and exhausted to go to school, so she sleeps all day instead. Trish and Lilah come by to check on her that evening, and her mum quickly ducks out while Becka has company, since her dad will be home soon anyway. Trish and Lilah both offer for Becka to stay at their houses for a few days, but she declines because her parents want to keep her close [But she’s clearly not safe in her own house? These people are dumb]. The girls don’t stay long, and although Lilah’s happy to stick around until Mr. Norwood returns, Becka sends her off, another stupid decision.
Becka tries to do some homework as she waits for her father, but he doesn’t show up so she contemplates calling him at work to see what’s keeping him. The phone then rings, and it’s good old Raspy Voice, gloating how easy it was to get inside the house. The voice instructs Becka to wait for her because tonight’s the night [By this point I really don’t think this is Honey, because Stine’s calling them a whispered voice rather than naming them], but an understandably terrified Becka decides to get out of the house. And then someone knocks on the door just as she’s opening it!
It’s Bill, who’s come to talk, and Becka hysterically tells him she needs to get out of here because Honey’s coming to kill her. Bill suggests they go to his uncle’s cabin in the Fear Street Woods for safety [Red flag, Becka, red flag!!] and can phone the police from there [Rather than going directly to the police? Or to Bill’s house? Or literally anywhere else that’s not isolated?]. The phone rings again as they’re about to leave and Becka answers it, thinking it might be one of her parents. Lilah’s only able to introduce herself before Becka frantically cuts her off to explain she’s going to Bill’s uncle’s cabin in the woods because Honey’s coming to get her [Lilah’s probably calling to warn her that Bill’s our bad guy. Or maybe that he’s even working with Honey, for some reason?].
Becka tenderly remembers how much she’d cared about Bill in the past as they drive over to the cabin, and once inside, Bill heads out back for firewood while pointing Becka towards the phone. It rings just as she’s reaching it, and it’s Lilah, who has good news – Honey was arrested two days ago upstate! She was caught robbing a store the night after beating Becka up, but refused to give her name so the police couldn’t release the news, and the Shadyside police didn’t even know she’d been caught [Cool, so Bill’s our raspy whisperer then?]:
“But—if Honey was caught, who slashed my bed?” I cried into the phone. “Who smeared the blood all over my room? And who called me tonight?”
I raised my eyes as Bill stepped back into the room. He had the strangest look on his face.
So hard. So cold…
“Put down the phone, Becka,” he ordered through clenched teeth. “Put it down—now.”
Realising she’s in danger, Becka tries to call 911 but Bill scampers over to her and rips the phone off the wall. Becka’s all ‘”You have been the one calling me? You sneaked into my house and—and—”‘ but Bill denies it, which confuses Becka. And then a girl steps into the light from the back of the cabin, looking all smug – Trish! [Ugh, I had an inkling she was gonna be our bad guy earlier in the book, but I dismissed it because it didn’t seem that likely. I should have trusted my gut!]
Trish reveals how much she hates Becka for never coming to see her in hospital while she recovered from her broken neck, accusing Becka of being selfish and insisting ‘”You are your only friend, Becka.”‘ Bill, as we already know, had visited Trish daily and was so wonderful and sweet, and had also been hurt by Becka; as Trish puts it, ‘”We cared about you—and you threw us away like trash.”‘ And Trish has also brought a shiny kitchen knife with her, the one she’d promised Becka over the phone. How nice of Trish to keep her promises!
Trish raises the knife and Bill angrily demands to know what she’s doing, since she’d promised him she only wanted to scare Becka [OK, so she doesn’t keep all her promises] and hadn’t mentioned the knife to him. Trish brings the knife down towards Becka, but Bill dives between them and once again ends up stabbed in the chest [Oop]. Trish blames Becka for the stabbing and lunges for her again, but Becka realises she needs to be her own best friend right now, which gives her renewed strength. She wrestles Trish for the knife and ends up nicking Trish’s neck with it, which sends her backing away.
There’s sirens in the distance and Becka realises thankfully that Lilah had called the police. With Trish cowering in the corner, Becka moves over to Bill, who’s bleeding all over the floor but still conscious, and the book ends similarly to the first one:
‘”Hold on, Bill,” I told him. “Hold on.”
I knelt down beside him. “I won’t forget you this time,” I told him. “I’ll be a good friend. I promise.”
The sirens grew louder.
I reached down and he grabbed my hand.
I held onto it, held it, held it tightly. “I’ll be your friend, Bill,” I promised. “I’ll be a good friend. I promise.”
[I mean, I don’t know if I’d wanna be friends with him after he’d assisted Trish to torment me, but whatever floats your boat, Becka]
Final thoughts
While not as good as the first one, The Best Friend 2 had it’s moments. Even though I guessed the twist within the first third of the book, I can appreciate the cleverness of it! It probably would have tricked people who didn’t read the first book right before this one or remember what Honey and Becka looked like. It was good to learn more about Honey, but I think it could have been done in a way that didn’t affect what was established in the first book, especially the Deena Martinson erasure.
I also became less sympathetic towards Becka and more sympathetic towards Hannah/Honey based on those childhood memories, and Becka constantly thinking every single sound or smallest incident was Honey-related got pretty repetitive and tiresome. Like, I get that she’s traumatised from last year, but I think it could have been explored in other ways to show that. It was nice to spend some time with Honey, though, which gave us more of an insight into how her mind works.
Larry was also completely pointless and I think the book would have benefitted more if it excluded him to focus more on the dynamic between Becka and Bill, which would have further highlighted how Becka’s struggling mentally with the past. We know he knew about Trish tormenting Becka, but it doesn’t seem like he played any actual part in it besides bringing Becka to the cabin… It’s not really clear, to me at least, what his end goal was. Was he just trying to scare her into coming back to him?
As for our bad guy, a stronger focus on Becka’s fractured friendships would have given Trish’s motive more strength and would have given Lilah a chance to be a red herring, too. If we’d seen Becka actively trying to mend her friendships with the girls, I think the big reveal would have been more impactful surprise. It was decent twist nonetheless; I always like when there’s multiple villains simultaneously going after our main characters because it means there’s more chance that I’ll be surprised.
I know The Best Friend 2 is a hard one to find and super expensive, so I hope this recap will suffice for those who aren’t willing to pay the price or can’t find it. If I were you, I’d put my money towards Trapped, which is my absolute favourite Fear Street so far, or Cat, which is fkn crazy.
Anyway, 51 one-lunged ex-boyfriends out of 77.
