Book Review: Blue is for Nightmares

Title:  Blue is for Nightmares
Author:  Laurie Faria Stolarz
Pages:  283
Publication Date:  2003
Version:  Paperback
Genre:  Young Adult Fiction/Paranormal/Mystery

Summary Via Goodreads.com:
""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 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?

In this Deluxe Spellbook Edition you'll find:

Spells created by You and other keepers of secrets-poems, spells and meditations contributed by fans of this popular series. Extras also include an interview with the author."

My Review:
What do you do when your greatest fear is your dreams and what they mean?  This is what Stacey has to figure out when she starts having nightmares involving her best friend and roommate Drea.  Stacey knows they are not just nightmares, but they are warnings of things to come if she can't do something about them.  Revealing these nightmares, however, will put Stacey in a tight spot and a very uncomfortable one.  How can she possibly expect, even her best friend, to accept that her dreams are warnings of things to come?  To make her believe Stacey will have to reveal to Drea a very real and horrifying example of what can happen if she doesn't take the nightmares seriously.  This is a secret Stacey really doesn't want to share, but sometimes sharing a painful past will bring a brighter future.  Will Drea believe her?  If she does believe her, what will they or can they do to change the outcome of these nightmares?  Can they figure it all out before it's too late and there are deadly consequences?

This book was a super quick and easy read for me.  I found it not only easy to read because of the writing, but also because the plot just really sucked me in and I just could NOT put it down.  This was a book that I found myself reading into the wee hours of the morning and just unable to stop reading.  The plot was different than recent books I have read, which I think is why I delved into it even more.  It was magical in nature and the characters were amazing to follow and watch develop throughout the book.  I was guessing right up until the end about who was the mysterious "stalker" of Drea and who haunted Stacey's dreams.  It all made very much sense and left me saying, now why couldn't I figure that out?  It was great!  I also found that reading this book late at night with only a book light may not have been the best idea I have ever had, when it is a book about murder, mystery, and nightmares.  It was a book that you could get so into you lost yourself in it and could easily give yourself the creeps in the meantime.  I highly recommend this book and have plans to continue reading on in this series.  The characters of Drea, Stacey, Amber, Chad, and PJ are just too great to not want to read on and find out what happens next to all of them.

5/5 Stars!