Novel Review: Blue is for Nightmares (Blue is for Nightmares, #1) by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Rating (Out of 5): ~2.5

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Llwellyn

Release Date: 2003

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. BookDepository. Powells.

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

 "I Know Your Secret . . ."

Nightmares. Dark Secrets. Premonitions of Death.

Welcome to Stacey’s World!

It begins with the dreams. White lilies, the death flower. Being chased through the woods, knowing she cannot outrun her pursuer forever. Visits from the spirit of a girl who was murdered. Threats and taunts from an unseen assailant.

But that’s only the start. When the dreams begin to spill over into Stacey’s waking life, that’s when the nightmare really begins.

Stacey's junior year at boarding school isn't easy. She's not the most popular girl at school, or the smartest, or the prettiest. She's got a crush on her best friend's boyfriend, and an even darker secret that threatens to ruin her friendships for good. And now she's having nightmares again. Not just any nightmares – these dreams are too real to ignore, like she did three years ago. The last time she ignored them, a little girl died.

This time they're about Drea, her best friend who's become the target of one seriously psycho stalker. It started with weird e-mails and freaky phone calls. Now someone's leaving Drea white lilies – the same death lilies that have been showing up in Stacey's dreams. Everybody thinks it's just a twisted game . . . until another girl at school is brutally murdered. There are no witnesses. Worst of all, no one has a perfect alibi.

With everyone as a potential suspect, Stacey turns to the one secret weapon she can trust – the folk magic taught to her by her grandmother. Will Stacey's magic be strong enough to expose the true killer, or will the killer make her darkest nightmares come true?

The Cover:

I really like this cover. I think it's subtle and pretty, hinting at the magic without being obvious or focusing on the romance. I wish it represented the book better.

Review:

I picked this up a long time ago, and had much higher hopes for it.

Stacey Brown, a junior at a boarding school, starts having nightmares about someone stalking her best friend. Using all the witch knowledge she has, she casts spells and tries clearing up the mystery of who is after Drea before it’s too late.

Stacey is not the worst main character, but she’s not really likeable, either. I didn’t care for her, but she also didn’t stand out. She’s in love with her best friends off-again on-again ex-boyfriend. She tries helping her friends out, finding who is after them, but they don’t take most of it seriously.

My biggest problem is the women in this book. Stacey’s two best friends are complete bitches, to everyone, even each other. Drea wants every boys’ attention to be on her, and gets jealous when any other girl gets any attention; so much so that she will make fun of her friends to get back at them. Amanda doesn’t really care about anything, doesn’t pay much attention to her friends, makes a joke of everything; I also think she’s a bit of a liar. I don’t see how they can act like they’re real friends when they’re terrible to each other at any turn.

Then there’re all the adult characters. They have two main female teachers, both of whom get mean nicknames. Stacey doesn’t get along well with her mother, and calls her names. One female police officer shows up, is immediately called a tart, and then treats Stacey like she’s a five-year-old making up stories. The teenagers are completely undermined by the adults, yes, but the adults are also portrayed like close-minded villains. I don’t see the point behind that.

The romance is given too much attention, given that it felt way too flat for me. Chad is given too little character and time with Stacey, for me to feel any emotional connection to him. Plus, when she knows her best friend will hate her for flirting with him, and when she wonders if he might be the stalker, I found it hard to find him attractive. He seemed like more of a jerk than anything. PJ seemed like a nice guy, on the other hand, mostly.

The writing was okay, if a little weird at times. Some of the similes of bodies and actions to food was odd. But mostly I was bored, and I wasn’t feeling it. The story was slow, and the writing didn’t develop enough feelings for me. Plus, I saw who the stalker was way before it was revealed, which is no fun.

I’m glad that it’s over, and I’m disappointed. I will be reading the next one only because I already have it.