Book Review: Blue is for Nightmares by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Blue is for Nightmares (Blue is for Nightmares #1)

Laurie Faria Stolarz

Publication Date: November 8th 2003

Publisher: Llewellyn Publications

Pages: 312

Genre: Paranormal, Horror, Young Adult

"I Know Your Secret . . ."

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 phonecalls. 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?

This book is the start of Stolarz earlier series, and I have to admit the first thing I thought while reading it was: Stolarz has a stalker fascination, because once again a stalker is at play here. The characters, however, are very different, and it isn't the heroine herself being stalked, so it does play out a bit differently.

The idea of Stacey and her Wiccan culture is truly inspired. Very few books out there deal with witches as the traditional folklorist way, using spells from herbs and no "Harry Potter magic" in sight. The matter of fact way that it is dealt with is also nice as it makes it seem more like a normal part of the world, than something paranormal and mysterious.

Like in Deadly Little Secret, I am impressed by the characters in this book. They are very distinct, and the way the three main best friends interact is so realistic to how girls act in a dorm situation. Possibly if they hadn't been all living together these three girls may not have been friends, but since they are they are connecting in ways that push past likes and dislikes, personal preferences and fights. Once again as well there is a strong Contemporary YA feel to Stolarz's book, despite the touches of supernatural and horror.

Donovan being the stalker is something I guessed, pretty much because there were few others that made sense (he had his obsession with Drea already well stated). On the other hand, I loved how Stacey was able to figure out where to find Drea at the end, the fact that she didn't pee her bed in her nightmares for no reason at all, but because it was a sign that Drea was going to be shoved into a portapotty and hidden there, it's a neat way to bring the story full circle with something that I'm sure most readers just dismissed because they didn't want to think of the bed accident awkwardness.

I am most looking forward to continuing this series because of the use of Wiccan mythos used in the book and how Stacey's powers work and how they will continue in the next books. I recommend this book to people who enjoy YA Thrillers with a Contemporary flair and who don't mind Wiccan Mythos, or are in fact looking for witches dealt in a different manner.

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