Strange Girl by Christopher Pike

Pub. Date: Nov. 17, 2015; 432 pages

I escorted her to the windows and if I’d been forced to critique my stride I’d have to say I looked like an extra on The Walking Dead. I was definitely taking time finding my cool gear. But eventually I began to calm down and by the time we’d waited in line and it was our turn to order I was feeling pretty good about myself. Why not? I’d just met Aja and already I was taking her to lunch. Not bad for a few minutes’ work. I’d decided to pay for whatever she ordered to show what a gentleman I was. (excerpt from Chapter 1)

Some of my readers might recall me talking about my love for "Point Horror" books from the late '80s and early '90s. Besides from R.L. Stine, my other favorite author from that era was Christopher Pike, the bestselling author of the Thirst series (The Last Vampire 1-9).

Mr. Pike's newest novel, Strange Girl (ISBN: 978-1481450584), was released to paperback last November (published by Simon Pulse). I wasn't aware about the book until I heard about the book blog tour for it, and of course I eagerly signed up to review it.

Strange Girl centers on Fred Allen, a seventeen-year-old wannabe rock-star. Despite his good looks, he isn't exactly popular with the girls his age; though he did have one girlfriend, Nicole Greer, but she broke his heart. The only other girl in his life is best friend, Shelly Wilson, who plays the keyboard in their band (Half Life) as well as serving as their manager. While he's well aware that Shelly has had a crush on him for years, she is nothing but a friend to him.

Fred gets the shock of his life when gets a glimpse of the new girl from Brazil from afar, but all he does is stare at her. He never formally introduces to himself to her until he bumps into her at school and learns that her name is Aja. The new girl is very beautiful, shy and soften-spoken, but she is also very strange.

Final Thoughts: I received my review copy on Thursday afternoon (Dec. 31st), so I had to jump right into reading it. Honestly, it's been awhile since I had read a title by Mr. Pike and I almost forgotten how much I liked his style of writing. In this novel, the main character, Fred, is very likable, so it was very easy for me to connect with him, even though I am an adult. Actually, that's one of the reasons why like I Mr. Pike's writings as the narration in all his titles can appeal to both teenagers and adults.

While the basic "new girl in school" plot has been done to death in YA fiction, Mr. Pike uses his storytelling magic to gives us readers an exciting, emotional tale. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Strange Girl from beginning to end and I recommend it to other readers.

You can purchase Strange Girl at: Amazon, B&N, BAM, IndieBound, iBookstore, Google Play

*Disclaimer - I received a complimentary copy in exchange for unbiased review. All opinions are my own.

Blog Tour Giveaway:

25 paperback copies of STRANGE GIRL

5 paperback sets of RED QUEEN and BLACK KNIGHT

5 paperback sets of all 5 copies of THIRST series (1-5) in PB

5 paperback copies CHAIN LETTER

5 paperback copies UNTIL THE END

5 paperback copies BOUND TO YOU

5 paperback copies REMEMBER ME

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About the Author:

Christopher Pike is a bestselling author of young adult novels. The Thirst series, The Secret of Ka, and the Remember Me and Alosha trilogies are some of his favorite titles. He is also the author of several adult novels, including Sati and The Season of Passage.

Thirst and Alosha are slated to be released as feature films. Pike currently lives in Santa Barbara, where it is rumored he never leaves his house.

But he can be found online on Facebook and Wattpad. He also has a series of writing advice on Wattpad.