Stranger Things: Starcourt Mall Escape

By: Jennifer Brody

Narrated by: Valerie Rose Lohman

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Explore Hawkins with fan-favorite character Eleven in a novel based on the iconic Netflix series Stranger Things.

It’s summer vacation, and everyone in Hawkins has plans—everyone except Eleven. She feels trapped by her overprotective father and wants to break out and find a normal teen life like she sees in her magazines. Luckily, Eleven’s not alone. Her friend Max needs to flee a troubling home life and an increasingly dangerous older brother. They decide to escape together, and in Hawkins in the summer of 1985, there is only one place to go: the all-new Starcourt Mall. Will midnight movies and an overnight party in the food court be the solution to their problems? Or will Eleven and Max discover that a little freedom can lead to a lot of trouble, and that the ghosts of the past are never far away? Filled with details from Netflix’s series Stranger Things, this novel explores Hawkins—and Eleven’s place in it—like never before.

Doesn't align with the characters/show

I love Stranger Things! The other Stranger Things books still fit with the show's storyline. This story has discrepancies that don't align or make sense with where it falls within the show's timeline. Unlike the other books, the discrepancies distracted me from really getting into the book. The character's development and reactions in this book also don't seem to align with how the character's were developed in the show, at least in the point of the timeline when this book takes place. I generally can appreciate most stories, but this one was disappointing.

Need more

I like the story wish there were more with eleven instead of every one else

The narrative reader did a good job on Dustin's voice , especially with his list lisp

I liked that Eleven got to hang out with her friend's despite having heard having to sneak out. What didn't like? Everyone telling 11 to hold back and the bullies Kyle and Billy. Billy did make up for it at the end through.

Worst of the series

The voice acting was terrible and the plot was awful. Basically just more ad time for 80s brands snacks.

bad fanfic

This book reads as bad fanfiction. Either the person writing this didn't know the show as well as they thought they did, or it was laziness. There are so many words and phrases that are used today but would have never been used back then. It also just doesn't read the same way the other stranger things books do. The characters are all written differently than they are in the show and some of the details that are mentioned from the show are off and most of the time feel wedged in there as lazy fan service.