White Is for Magic
Laurie Faria Stolarz
FROM THE COVER:
“I’m watching you…”
One year later. It’s happening again. Seventeen-year-old Stacey Brown is having nightmares – creepy dreams haunted by the ghosts of people who have been brutally murdered.
It’s her senior year at boarding school, and what Stacey really should be focusing on are her classes and getting into college – not to mention the rocky path her love life has been taking lately.
But even if she could ignore the dreams, Stacey can’t ignore the strange letters that she’s been receiving. No return address, no signature – and the same cryptic messages she’s been hearing in her nightmares.
What’s worse is that she’s not the only one having weird dreams. Jacob, a transfer student, claims that he’s been having nightly premonitions of Stacey’s death for months, dreams so realistic that he transferred schools to find her and stop the killer. It doesn’t help that she’s starting to have feelings for him even though she already has a boyfriend. But can she trust Jacob? Or will both their darkest dreams come true?
My rating: 4 stars.
MY THOUGHTS:
A wholesome horror/thriller/romance novel. Stolarz incorporates the right amount of spook with the right amount of buildup.
At times her descriptions are eerily lovely, other times they’re lacking. The language itself isn’t what makes this story, it’s the plot. The characters are nice, but nothing about them necessarily “sticks out.” Stacey is pretty average – aside from having realistic nightmares. Jacob is sweet, cute and everything you’d want your boyfriend to be, but his characterization/personality pretty much stops there. Still, they’re not impersonal. I was able to connect to them both in different ways, but especially to Jacob.
At times her descriptions are eerily lovely, other times they’re lacking. The language itself isn’t what makes this story, it’s the plot. The characters are nice, but nothing about them necessarily “sticks out.” Stacey is pretty average – aside from having realistic nightmares. Jacob is sweet, cute and everything you’d want your boyfriend to be, but his characterization/personality pretty much stops there. Still, they’re not impersonal. I was able to connect to them both in different ways, but especially to Jacob.
The buildup and suspense are the best. Some things happen right away and your head’s left spinning and trying to catch up. Some things take a while to get to, but you’re not left hanging. It wasn’t an overload of horror; the novel simply has a nice, creepy feeling as a whole.
EXTRA: The series is as follows: Blue is for Nightmares, White is for Magic, Silver is for Secrets, and Red is for Remembrance.
I'm loving the balanced, honest review. This one sounds pretty good (despite my love of unique characters, the premise is fascinating enough that I'll forgive it :)) so I'll have to see if I can pick it up soon.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even know about this series! So glad I saw your review, because I really enjoyed her Touch series. I'll have to add them to my to-read list. The spook of this one seems perfect for this time of year.
ReplyDeleteI don't really do scary books or movies very well... but I have always loved the covers for this series.
ReplyDeleteI've been looking for something scary. I will have to see if any of my libraries has this.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Letting you know that I love reading your blog and HERE is an award :D