Novel Review: White is for Magic (Blue is for Nightmares, #2) by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Rating (Out of 5): ~2

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Llewellyn

Release Date: 2004

Spoilers?: No.

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

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

I'm watching you...

A year has passed since Stacey Brown saved her best friend from a horrible death. Now she's having nightmares again, haunted by ghosts of the brutally murdered . . . and by a crazed stalker.

As she desperately casts healing spells, a new student named Jacob enters her world. Beautiful and mysterious, he reveals that he is also having dreams. To stop a killer, they must join together.

But can Jacob be trusted? Or will this new love cause her darkest dreams to come true?

The Cover:

I still think the cover's pretty. It might be a little too white that it blends into each other, but I like that it's simple. That it's showing the witch idea, and that it kind of goes with the mystery. Could be more eye-catching, but otherwise I like it.

Review:

I had hopes that this book would be better than the first. It wasn’t.

The group of characters is still at the same school, a year later, and Stacey starts having nightmares again.

The drama between Stacey and Drea revolving around Chad is still there. Stacey and Chad are dating now, and they all act like everyone's good with it, when really Drea is still jealous and a bitch. It works out, though, because Stacey and Chad aren’t really working out anyway. And Stacey meets a new boy, Jacob, who’s better for her in the end.

I still hate all of the characters. Stacey’s group of friends are all terrible to each other, I don’t understand how they’re considered friends. Chad is a jerk. Jacob is okay, but he doesn’t really stand out for me either.

I just don’t care about this series at this point. The characters are terrible. The mystery isn’t exciting, and it isn’t given enough attention to be. I’m done.

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.

Teaser Tuesday[179]: White is for Magic (Blue is for Nightmares, #2) by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

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White is for Magic (Blue is for Nightmares, #2) by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Llewellyn

Release Date: 2004

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

Goodreads Synopsis:

I'm watching you...

A year has passed since Stacey Brown saved her best friend from a horrible death. Now she's having nightmares again, haunted by ghosts of the brutally murdered . . . and by a crazed stalker.

As she desperately casts healing spells, a new student named Jacob enters her world. Beautiful and mysterious, he reveals that he is also having dreams. To stop a killer, they must join together.

But can Jacob be trusted? Or will this new love cause her darkest dreams to come true?

Excerpt:

“‘I know,’ I say, taking a deep breath. ‘Can we just start over?’

‘From where?’ he asks.

‘The hug.’” (Paperback, pg. 128)

What are you reading right now?

Teaser Tuesday[175]: Blue is for Nightmares (Blue is for Nightmares, #1) by Laurie Faria Stolarz

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

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Llewellyn

Release Date: 2003

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

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?

Excerpt:

“‘You think Drea made this up?’

‘What else am I supposed to think? She hates me.’” (Paperback, pg. 187)

What are you reading right now?