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

Apr 01, 2009 Rosalia rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, paranormal-fiction, 2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Apr 11, 2009 Lavanya rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: no one in particular

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I did not like this book very much and I am really surprised the book has avg rating of 4.21 (which is what drove me to read the book in the first place). The book isn't entirely bad though. It is action-packed and has an interesting, yet creepy plot. With that said, I felt like the author placed a greater emphasis on the plot, rather than the characters. I couldn't relate to any of them at all, and felt like many of them didn't have distinct personalities. That bothered me greatly. I won't reco...more I did not like this book very much and I am really surprised the book has avg rating of 4.21 (which is what drove me to read the book in the first place). The book isn't entirely bad though. It is action-packed and has an interesting, yet creepy plot. With that said, I felt like the author placed a greater emphasis on the plot, rather than the characters. I couldn't relate to any of them at all, and felt like many of them didn't have distinct personalities. That bothered me greatly. I won't recommend this book to anyone in particular, unless someone is looking for a quick-read to keep them entertained for an hour or two. The novel is fine, actually, but it's not like Harry Potter or Twilight. I can't get really "into" it.

Here come the **spoilers**: This book is about a girl/"witch" named Stacy Brown. She has weird nightmares about her best friend and current roommate, Drea. They seem to foreshadow Drea's death. In these dreams, lilies are all always present; lilies also happen to be the flower that represent death. Stacy becomes really worried because she has had dreams like this in the past, and the last time she didn't act upon them. The result was the death of a little girl named Maura. Stacy isn't sure if she is misinterpreting her nightmares, so she uses card-reading to verify her visions. They all seem to indicate the same thing: Chad, Drea's ex-boyfriend is going to schedule something like date, then cancel on her, Drea is going to get mysterious packages and Drea is going to die soon. To make things even worse, Drea is getting calls from a mysterious guy, and she refuses to tell Stacy who he is.

A few days later, Drea gets a package and Stacy becomes paranoid. Stacy doesn't want to tell Drea what her visions indicate, but after these odd phone calls, and the mysterious package, Stacy decides it's about time to tell her the truth. Stacy also tells Amber who is another friend of theirs. Drea doesn't take Stacy's warning seriously. The next day, Drea receives an odd message about Drea having only four more days. Along with the message is four lilies. Drea and Stacy are convinced that the number of lilies represent the number of days Drea has to live. However, despite this, Drea continues to talk to the mysterious guy on the phone, and she admits to Stacy and Amber that she has no idea who he is. Amber completely flips out, and advises her not to talk to him again.

Stacy takes it upon herself to solve this mystery, and begins to get threatening messages. A mean girl named Veronica starts telling everyone that she is being stalked too, and has been sentenced to die the same day Drea has; however, Stacy feels that there is more to that story and Veronica is not telling the truth. All of a sudden, Veronica is murdered, which forces the police to get involved. Meanwhile, Stacy has problems with her relationship with Chad. She likes him, and she's pretty sure he likes her, but he was Drea's ex-boyfriend. Drea also gets annoyed with Stacy when she spends time with Chad, and that results in a major fight between Stacy and Drea. On top of all this, Stacy is having nightmares about Chad being the threating person/stalker. The day Veronica dies, Drea hyperventilates and is taken to the hospital. She is released later that night, but she never makes it back to her room.

Stacy becomes worried and alerts the police but they aren't too concerned; in their eyes, Veronica's death is the main the problem. Stacy goes searching for Drea, and relies on her visions and her instinct to find her. She goes to a forest (after calling the police and letting them know), and finds Donnovan, a guy who has had a crush/obsession on Drea since third grade, there. Stacy cuts her foot, and Donnovan tells her to stay put while he goes and looks around for some help (apparently his cell phone had no connection). At first she trusts him, but the she questions why he is even here in the first place. That makes her suspicious so she continues her search for Drea. Donnovan gets mad and tells her that she wouldn't want to see what happened to her.

Stacy finds Drea in the fetal position all tied up in a shed-like place. The two of them try to escape from Donnovan while he threatens them with a knife. When it almost seems like Stacy is going to die, the police appear on the scene just in time. Donnovan is arrested and taken away, while Drea and Stacy are taken back to the various locations to be questioned by different people.

In the end, it turns out that Donnovan was the one who was threatening Drea from the beginning. Donnovan has been obsessed with Drea since third-grade, but she didn't like him back in that sense. Donnovan thought that if he could lure Drea away from Chad and her friends, and spend sometime with her, she would possibly love him. Veronica realized that Drea was getting a lot attention through this problem, and decided to fake the idea of being stalked too. She decided that she would leave town the day of the "murder," and when she came back Drea would be gone, as in dead. With Drea out of the way, she could have Chad to herself. However, Donnovan got upset with Veronica and decided that he had to do something about her. So, as he tells the court, he "accidentally" killed her. The court decides that Donnovan is not mentally straight, and he is sent to juvenile-jail for five years. They also require some counseling sessions for Donnovan.

Meanwhile, Drea decides to leave campus and go back home to study for a year. She needs time to get over this ordeal. Also, she thanks Stacy for not bailing out on her, even though she was extremely rude to Stacy. Lastly, she gives permission to Stacy to date Chad.(less)

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Sep 06, 2008 Andee rated it 5 of 5 stars

The first book in the BIFN series! When Freshman Stacey Brown starts having nightmares about her roommate and bestfriend Drea, she goes on a journey that will change her perspective on her nightmares. It starts off with phone calls between drea and this "unknown guy" she won't mention, later there's notes and mysterious packages, and later death threats. Stacey needs to sleep so she can dream, and help save drea but will she be able to do it in time? Using her intuition and her Wicca, Stacey mig...more

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Aug 06, 2011 Justin added it

It was such an amazing novel that I really did not want to put it down because I wanted to keep on reading to the end to find out who the stalker was.

Stacey is a wicca who has been having a bed-wetting problem ever since she began to have nightmares about someone trying to kill her best friend and dorm roommate, Drea. When someone starts prank calling their room and leaving creepy notes to Drea, Stacey knows all too well that her dreams are a premonition for a murder...Drea's murder. She, Drea,...more

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Dec 04, 2008 Leah rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I really enjoyed this book. This book is really my kind of book though I like the books that are about witchcraft and mysteries and stuff. Stacey was my favorite character in this book because she was the main character and because she was just so interesting. Veronica because she is the mean snotty girl in the book. She really likes to push peoples buttons and make them mad. She also always wants to be the center of attention. The part of this book that really caught my attention was the spells...more

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Jan 22, 2013 Anna rated it 2 of 5 stars

From my blog, The Writer Diaries.

I didn't like this book. At all. I found myself skipping through paragraphs of description, mostly the spells, cause it felt like a big info dump. You use playing cards because...... insert lengthy reason why. You use oil because...... another lengthy reason why. I feel like I know more about calming oils and protection spells than I do the characters.

Stacy starts having nightmares about something terrible happening to her friend Drea. She knows that they mean so...more From my blog, The Writer Diaries.

I didn't like this book. At all. I found myself skipping through paragraphs of description, mostly the spells, cause it felt like a big info dump. You use playing cards because...... insert lengthy reason why. You use oil because...... another lengthy reason why. I feel like I know more about calming oils and protection spells than I do the characters.

Stacy starts having nightmares about something terrible happening to her friend Drea. She knows that they mean something because this has happened to her before with a child she babysat, Maura. This time Stacy plans on preventing Drea's death.

And here I was rooting for Drea to die. She is the worst kind of itch with a heavy case of B. She's a horrible, arrogant friend who believes 'whats mine is mine' including people. She even tells Stacy's crush that she wets her bed - we'll address this little problem later - all because she walked in their dorm and found them sleeping. Fully clothed. A parent would get angry. Your best friend should not, especially since she isn't dating that guy anymore. But alas, Drea thinks he and every other guy in school, belong to her. Honestly, I don't know why Stacy tried so hard to be her friend. I wouldn't want anything to do with her with how she treats people.

I kept getting the vibe this was set in the 90s, what with all the payphones, and a mention of a walkman. It seems unbelievable that only one student at this wealthy prep school has a cell phone, so I'm going to guess it was 90s.

Oh, and Stacy is a bedwetter. There's nothing wrong with it, but did the author really have to address it every. single. scene? I couldn't go two pages without Stacy peeing all over herself. Honey, get that checked out. It was explained in the book, but the author doing it over and over again for a total of 9 million times in the book is overdone. I read more about peeing than a plot.

And character development! Ha! I knew the first time they introduced Donovan he would be the one. His obsession made it obvious. There wasn't any doubt in my mind. No suspense. No characterization. Nada.

Did I mention that I was rooting for the killer to kill everyone? Because they are all horrible characters.

On Amazon, it DID say it was for ages 7-10. I'll leave this to the middle schoolers. Once upon a time I enjoyed books regardless of what they lacked.(less)

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Jul 22, 2012 Eccentrika rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, series, paranormal

"Blu come gli incubi" è il primo libro di una quadrilogia YA di genere thriller. Lo definirei un thriller adolescenziale, il target di lettura ottimale è 14-16 anni, anche se ovviamente lo può apprezzare anche chi ha qualche anno in più. La storia ha un'ambientazione che a me personalmente è piaciuta moltissimo: un collegio privato. Stacey, la protagonista sedicenne del libro, divide la sua stanza con Drea, la sua migliore amica, ed è preda di incubi notturni. Ma non incubi qualsiasi, i suoi son...more "Blu come gli incubi" è il primo libro di una quadrilogia YA di genere thriller. Lo definirei un thriller adolescenziale, il target di lettura ottimale è 14-16 anni, anche se ovviamente lo può apprezzare anche chi ha qualche anno in più. La storia ha un'ambientazione che a me personalmente è piaciuta moltissimo: un collegio privato. Stacey, la protagonista sedicenne del libro, divide la sua stanza con Drea, la sua migliore amica, ed è preda di incubi notturni. Ma non incubi qualsiasi, i suoi sono incubi premonitori. Stacey ha ereditato dalla nonna materna la capacità di esercitare la magia delle candele, sa predire il futuro con le carte e ha percezioni sensitive con le quali non ha ancora preso bene dimestichezza. Quando inizia a fare degli incubi nei quali Drea è in pericolo di morte, Stacey sa che le sue percezioni non sono da prendere alla leggera e temendo per la vita dell'amica decide di coinvolgerla nelle sue scoperte per metterla all'erta del pericolo. Insieme ad Amber, un'altra amica del collegio, cercheranno di scoprire chi è che vuole farle del male e cambiare il futuro prima che sia troppo tardi.
Devo dire che le premesse iniziali di questo libro sono ottime, molto intriganti e originali i capitoli introduttivi della storia, che, accompagnati dall'ambientazione del collegio, rendono ancora più interessante il contesto in cui si svolge. Ho inoltre apprezzato il fatto che l'autrice abbia inserito un'elemento piuttosto insolito e non molto abusato nella letteratura per ragazzi, la magia naturale. Cosa significa? Che in questo libro non ci saranno magie di tipo fantasy, come incantesimi di levitazione, di trasfigurazione o dell'invisibilità. Gli incantesimi che incontreremo, attraverso la mano della protagonista, sarannno incantesimi di origine naturale, avranno a che vedere con pratiche pagane e della wicca, e aiuteranno la protagonista senza però mai esagerare, dandole indizi senza darle certezze. Ora, io non sono un'esperta in queste materie, ne ho sentito parlare ma non ho mai approfondito, quindi ho preso per buono quello che è descritto nel libro senza farmi troppi problemi nel verificare l'autenticità della materia. Può essere che gli esperti di queste pratiche arricceranno il naso, ma c'è da tenere presente che il libro va letto nell'ottica di un romanzo e non di un saggio sulle pratiche esoteriche. Quindi, tenendo ben conto di queste premesse, ho trovato la lettura molto piacevole e anche affascinante. Il mistero si dipana piano per tutta la prima metà del libro e devo dire che ero molto incuriosita di scoprire quello che sarebbe successo, tanto da indurmi a leggere tutto nell'arco di una sola giornata. La scrittura scorre fluida, in prima persona, dal punto di vista della protagonista, e risulta facile identificarsi in lei. Tra l'altro, tra tutti i personaggi è riuscita a destarmi maggiore simpatia, a differenza della migliore amica Drea, che invece ho abbastanza disprezzato a causa dei suoi comportamenti assurdi e infantili, ma nonostante questo ho trovato la storia decisamente buona e meritevole, se non fosse per il finale. Il finale di un libro è sempre una caratteristica molto importante, capace di condizionare il giudizio del lettore, soprattutto se, come in questo caso, si tratta di un libro thriller. Mi è capitato di leggere thriller un po' noiosi e banali, che però con un finale totalmente inaspettato e originale hanno saputo conquistarmi. Con "Blu come gli incubi" accade il contrario. La storia affascina, conquista il lettore, ma poi spegne il suo entusiasmo con un finale debole, non particolarmente originale, che entra in scena senza destare la minima sorpresa. E' stato un peccato, ma sono comunque curiosa di leggere i sequel, nella speranza che i prossimi libri, oltre ad una trama accattivante come questa, siano accompagnati anche da un finale migliore.(less)

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Apr 30, 2012 Selene rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned

Just saying at the beginning, I only gave this 4 stars because Stacey kicks ass. Plus she's, you know, a witch. Moving on, the actual plotline of the book was really good. While you can figure who the bad guy is from very (VERY) early on, the book still managed to keep me hooked, mainly to find out what cool spell Stacey will try (and fail at) next. The romance was cute, if a little drawn out and super angtsy (which was, of course, caused by severe cases of miscommunication). Stacey's best frien...more

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Feb 24, 2012 Resti rated it 3 of 5 stars

ceritanya nih si Stacey dapet mimpi buruk tentang sahabatnya Drea. Mimpi buruk itu terus berulang dan bikin Stacey takut setengah mati gara gara sebelumnya dia pernah mimpi buruk tentang anak tetangganya yang dikurung dan meninggal 3 tahun sebelumnya. makanya dia yakin kalo mimpinya tentang Drea yg dalam bahaya bakal jadi kenyataan. Disisi lain dia punya perasaan khusus sama Chad, mantannya Drea, yang sebelumnya putus nyambung putus nyambung. yaaah intinya itulah siih, perjuangan Stacey jaga aga...more

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Feb 24, 2012 Roberta rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Stacey fa strani sogni che la terrorizzano e grazie ad essi capisce che la sua compagna di stanza è in pericolo... A confermare ciò saranno le strane telefonate ricevute da Drea. Chi vuole far del male a Drea? Chi le lascia i gigli come regalo? E perché Stacey continua ad avere questi terribili incubi?
Blu come gli incubi è il primo volume autoconclusivo di una quadrilogia, che ha come protagonista una sedicenne sensitiva.
Questo libro viene etichettato come fantasy, ma è in realtà un thriller ch...more Stacey fa strani sogni che la terrorizzano e grazie ad essi capisce che la sua compagna di stanza è in pericolo... A confermare ciò saranno le strane telefonate ricevute da Drea. Chi vuole far del male a Drea? Chi le lascia i gigli come regalo? E perché Stacey continua ad avere questi terribili incubi?
Blu come gli incubi è il primo volume autoconclusivo di una quadrilogia, che ha come protagonista una sedicenne sensitiva.
Questo libro viene etichettato come fantasy, ma è in realtà un thriller che tiene il lettore con il fiato sospeso durante tutta la lettura.
La trama si distacca molto dai soliti fantasy, si parla infatti di una giovane sensitiva e dei suoi incubi, che sono veri e propri sogni premonitori. La storia è sicuramente accattivante e i personaggi descritti non sono i classici bellocci con super poteri paranormali, ma semplici studenti sedicenni, alcuni un po' stravaganti, altri snob ed altri ancora semplicemente normali.
Fin dall'inizio la Stolarz riesce a coinvolgere il lettore, lo trascina letteralmente negli incubi di Stacey: si riesce a percepire chiaramente la paura dei protagonisti, sorgono molti dubbi su chi possa esser lo stalker e spesso ci si domanda se alla fine non sia solo uno scherzo.
Lo stile e il linguaggio usati catturano l'attenzione del lettore, la lettura scorre veloce e non ci si accorge dello scorrere del tempo.
Purtroppo l'autrice non si è soffermata troppo a descrivere i vari protagonisti, ne da un'immagine ridotta senza risaltarne troppo il carattere o le storie personali: ciò però non va a penalizzare assolutamente la lettura.
Il finale può risultare un po' scontato, perché in effetti i personaggi intorno ai quali ruota tutta la storia sono pochi, ma in realtà vengono dati molti indizi per sospettare di tutti e questo fa si che fino alla fine il lettore sospetti di tutti e di nessuno!
Blu come gli incubi è sicuramente un libro piacevole, che sa inchiodare il lettore e gli fa sentire i brividi correre lungo la schiena.
http://ilcoloredeilibri.blogspot.com/(less)

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Feb 06, 2012 Nenia Campbell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-baby-ya, x-2003s, x-series-bk-1

I read this for the first time when I was in high school. I couldn't remember what it was about, only that witches were involved and that I had liked it so much I'd stayed up until 3am on a school night to read it. When I saw this book for 50-cents at a local bookstore, I knew I had to buy it.

Stacey isn't anything special, which will make her easy for teen girls worldwide to relate to. All of her friends are much more... well, more than she is. Drea is the beautiful one who makes her feel like a...more

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Feb 06, 2012 Tessa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Pourquoi Bleu cauchemar? “Parce que le bleu, c’est pour les cauchemars. Pour les éloigner ou pour les rapprocher, selon l’usage qu’on en fait.”
Enfin un livre jeunesse que j’ai apprécié dès le début, dès le premier chapitre, dès les premières lignes. Et surtout, enfin un livre jeunesse qui a su garder le suspense jusqu’aux 30 dernières pages.
Tout au long de la lecture, on se surprend à soupçonner tout le monde. Et pourquoi pas même l’héroïne? Peut être que pendant ses cauchemars, en vérité, Lucy...more

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Jan 28, 2012 Sonia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Blu come gli incubi rientra propriamente nel filone dello young thriller (esiste un filone del genere?).
E' propriamente un thriller che ha degli adolescenti sia come protagonisti che come destinatari della lettura.
Questa particolarità lo rende semplice e scorrevole (si legge in qualche ora), abbastanza appassionante ma non convincente fino alla fine. Sullo stesso genere avevo letto qualche mese fa The Gap di Michele Jaffe che mi aveva stupita e, lui sì, convinta. Mi aveva fatto capire che si pot...more Blu come gli incubi rientra propriamente nel filone dello young thriller (esiste un filone del genere?).
E' propriamente un thriller che ha degli adolescenti sia come protagonisti che come destinatari della lettura.
Questa particolarità lo rende semplice e scorrevole (si legge in qualche ora), abbastanza appassionante ma non convincente fino alla fine. Sullo stesso genere avevo letto qualche mese fa The Gap di Michele Jaffe che mi aveva stupita e, lui sì, convinta. Mi aveva fatto capire che si poteva scrivere un thriller pur mantenendo i - non necessariamente negativi -clichés degli young adults.
Con Blu come gli incubi non raggiungiamo gli stessi livelli, ma diciamo che l'autrice ci prova.
La storia mescola elementi di magia e predizione del futuro con un omicidio da prevenire. Il tutto ambientato in un college tra migliori amiche innamorate dello stesso ragazzo, nemiche che farebbero di tutto per far sfigurare quelle migliori amiche, chiacchiere, segreti, lezioni saltate.
Stacey, la protagonista, ha ereditato dalla nonna la capacità di prevedere il futuro attraverso dei terribili incubi. Quando sogna l'assassinio della migliore amica, compagna di stanza, decide di affrontare l'ineluttabile destino sperando che non si riveli poi così ineluttabile. Assieme alle amiche, Drea - destinata a morire - e Amber, cercheranno di venire a capo del mistero e di scoprire chi è l'uomo che vuole rapire e probabilmente uccidere una di loro.
Non nego che ci siano momenti di tensione e di un pizzico di paura, come ogni thriller che si rispetti, ma il tutto dura troppo poco. Personaggi e fatti sono pochi e troppo poco complessi: il lettore si fa due conti e non ci mette molto a scoprire chi possa essere il possibile assassino. E una volta che l'autrice ce lo rivela, la nostra reazione è l'indifferenza. Non è stata creata la giusta suspence intorno a quel momento, non il racconto non è stato disseminato di quei dettagli invisibili che acquistano significato solo alla fine. Non c'è stato nessun puzzle da ricostruire: la storia ci viene mostrata senza che il lettore ne faccia parte, senza che possa giocare il suo ruolo da - esterno - investigatore. Quando verso la fine speriamo in una svolta, in un rovesciamento della situazione, in un "Credevate che fosse così facile? In realtà nulla è mai come sembra..." - insomma in un degno finale di thriller - scoprire che invece tutto è bene quel che finisce bene e vissero tutti felici e contenti, bé, proprio non ci piace. Se vuoi essere un thriller, allora comportati da thriller e non ti trasformare in una favoletta a lieto fine!
Cosa sarà degli altri 3 volumi? Prevedibili e posati come questo, o la Stolarz riuscirà a regalarci qualche dose di adrenalina in più?
Noi ce lo auguriamo!

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Jan 18, 2012 Josh rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is one of those stories where the main character has a somewhat vague vision and spends most of the time trying to figure out what it means. She does all these spells which seem to have roughly no effect at all. I guess maybe you can look at it like a bit of an intro to Wicca the religion and just consider it like the prescient dreams/visions are her only "power". It does seem a lot like the little rituals Stacey does are more de-stressing methods than anything that's meant to have a seriou...more

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Nov 30, 2011 Kristin rated it 4 of 5 stars

GrowingUpYA

I was lucky enough to meet Laurie Faria Stolarz a couple of months ago at a YA author event at Books of Wonder. I brought along every single one of her published novels (yeah, I am that person) and she was awesome enough to sign them all!

So, if you couldn't already tell where this was going, I am a HUGE fan of Laurie Faria Stolarz!

Laurie was the first author to ever reply to a fan letter (I heart snail-mail!) and her books play a big role in my current love affair with YA lit.

Okay, e...more

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Jun 06, 2011 (´*•.¸ღBexღ¸.•*´) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: e-books

Blue is for Nightmares is an excellent read! While reading, I felt like I was the main character, Stacey Brown. Everything she felt I felt, from anger, sadness, fear and even embarrassment. I loved this book so much that I referred it to one of my best friends right after I finished. The characters' personalities work so well together its crazy!

Stacey Brown is just an average sixteen year old on the outside, but what some people don't know is that she practices Wicca. However, it isn't the adve...more

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May 28, 2011 Jahlia ((thing 10 Evil 1)) rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was okay but something about it bothered me severely. I couldn't put my finger on it for a while but eventually i figured it out.

Stacey brown reminds me of Ever freaking Bloom. The brainless protagonist of the Evermore series. Not to mention fucking annoying. Though, too be nice, she doesn't make nearly as many mistakes as ever. Thank god. However, i didn't subtract stars for that little pet peeve of mine. This is what got the stars subtracted.

Stacey's friends,. They're annoying and t...more This book was okay but something about it bothered me severely. I couldn't put my finger on it for a while but eventually i figured it out.

Stacey brown reminds me of Ever freaking Bloom. The brainless protagonist of the Evermore series. Not to mention fucking annoying. Though, too be nice, she doesn't make nearly as many mistakes as ever. Thank god. However, i didn't subtract stars for that little pet peeve of mine. This is what got the stars subtracted.

Stacey's friends,. They're annoying and the fakest friends i'd ever read about. And i mean seriously. Worse than celeste's friends in once in a blue moon. Worse than Zoey Redbird's friends in houseofnight series. I mean literarily THE WORST. Like when drea thinks that Stacey is chasing after her boyfriend(hemph, correction, EXBOYFRIEND) she tells chad that stacey wets the bed. (she started doing that because her body was trying to tell her that the guy that kidnapped drea was going to hide her in a portapoddy.) You don't do that to your friends, no matter what you they did. You just don't. Plain and simple. Drea was wrong and nobody called her on it. I was even more pissed off when stacey just sat back and took it. Especially when drea didn't apologize, even after stacey saved her life. Amber was no better, they were both awful. Complaining about how much SHE was freaking THEM out. Excuse me, but are you the one who's having nightmares about dead people? Or wetting the bed? Of course, watching your best friend go through all that stuff is soooooo creepy. I mean, who cares if she's terrified out of her wits. She's creeping YOU out.

Selfish bitches.................................................

Next, Stacey, god only knows why she let's her friends walk all over her. Oh wait, *Ever alert!* *Repeat, Ever alert!*
She doesn't even demand a well needed apology from her so called "best" friend. Hmm, yeah, because best friends are usually unreliable bitches that jump to conclusions before she hears her side of the srory. Did i mention how much i hate Drea? Or Amber? The point, they are the worst friends, EVER!

My next problem the plot. This book had a plot, believe me. It was very original and i have to aplaud Mz Laurie faria Stolarz for that. It's hard to find original plots, i don't unusally mind the unoriginal plots but it's still refreshing to read about plots that are a little creative. Plus, murder mystery- stalking-and magic make up one of my fav catagories. Don't assume that this was the best murder mystery because it by far wasn't. However, this subject is rare is YA and i appreciate that fact that the author had it in hers. Bravo! Mz. Laurie. Bravo! There was one key thing about it, however, that cost it one star.

This plot had agonizingly slow pacing.
It. Was. Awful. In the middle of the book, it got so boring i started to doze off. So many unneccessary boring events happened. I tried hard to stay interested, i FORCED myself to stay interested. But i was just brainlessly reading the pages, taking no recollection of them at all. Trust me, i am a very patient reader. I truly am, However, for about forty pages(maybe more, can't remember too well) nothing happened. Nothing interesting at all happened. I don't know why Mz. Stolarz dragged it out, you don't need pages to make wonderful books. Amelia Atwater Rhodes is key example of that. So because of awful bitchy friends and slow pacing, this book was degraded to three stars. However, it was still a minorly enjoyable read. I would reccomend it to people who don't mind bitchy friends and slow pacing.(less)

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Mar 01, 2011 Danielle Vaughan rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: A lot of people

Recommended to Danielle by: Nobody

I first heard of this book after reading Deadly Little Secrets, another book by Laurie faria Stolarz, and all I have to say is that I’m glad I flipped to the front to see other books by her. Blue is for Nightmares is an excellent read! While reading, I felt like I was the main character, Stacey Brown. Everything she felt I felt, from anger, sadness, fear and even embarrassment. I loved this book so much that I referred it to one of my best friends right after I finished. The characters’ personal...more I first heard of this book after reading Deadly Little Secrets, another book by Laurie faria Stolarz, and all I have to say is that I’m glad I flipped to the front to see other books by her. Blue is for Nightmares is an excellent read! While reading, I felt like I was the main character, Stacey Brown. Everything she felt I felt, from anger, sadness, fear and even embarrassment. I loved this book so much that I referred it to one of my best friends right after I finished. The characters’ personalities work so well together its crazy!
Stacey Brown is just an average sixteen year old on the outside, but what some people don’t know is that she practices Wicca. However, it isn’t the advertised kind of Wicca; Stolarz makes it seem natural with the uses of everyday things like candles, tea, incense, and plants. Well, during the book Stacey has Nightmares that not only repeat themselves, they never seem to finish. When she gets the feeling something might happen to a friend, if not herself, she goes right into serious mode. With her determination, strength and willpower she won’t let anything or anyone get into her way. The characterization just Works!!
Now the plot is probably my favorite part! This is because it’s different; however it seems vaguely similar to Stolarz other books, but like I said it’s VAGUELY similar. I can honestly say thought, that I have never read a book with a plot so Grasping. I would stay up past midnight trying to finish the book, which never happens because I’m not much of a reader. Or at least I wasn’t; now I am because of one book I read, which lead me into reading the other books in the series and so on and so on.
I absolutely adore the way Stolarz depicts her characters and their personalities. They’re unique, relatable, and modern. Which is another thing I like, the time takes place in the 21st century and in Laurie’s own hometown. So even though she didn’t have much research to do, she did some, and she did it amazingly!
Point is, if you haven’t read this book or any of Laurie faria Stolarz’ other books, you should do so because they are all excellent books with extremely addicting plots chapters and cliffhangers. Really, when her third book in the touch series came out, I finished it in less than 3 days, which kind of made me sad, but it was worth it! So seriously, this book is absolutely worth the buy and your time. It’s literally a dramatic mystery in a 283 page book!(less)

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Jan 07, 2011 Jacob rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: yong-adoolt

2 stars isn't a bad thing in my book. (no pun!) The beginning is rocky--the narrative is clunky and feels very immature due to moments of heavy-handed exposition and generic teen characterizations. The given circumstances also feel annoyingly familiar: we're at a co-ed boarding school, there are creepy goings-on, and our protagonist--Stacey Brown--is a witch. But Stacey is of the Wicca persuasion, and this is a new sort of character to my reading experience. I found myself both intrigued and vag...more 2 stars isn't a bad thing in my book. (no pun!) The beginning is rocky--the narrative is clunky and feels very immature due to moments of heavy-handed exposition and generic teen characterizations. The given circumstances also feel annoyingly familiar: we're at a co-ed boarding school, there are creepy goings-on, and our protagonist--Stacey Brown--is a witch. But Stacey is of the Wicca persuasion, and this is a new sort of character to my reading experience. I found myself both intrigued and vaguely bothered by the fact that Wicca has a solid footing in the real world, and is portrayed as such; while the magic of Harry Potter and other similar tales are very fanciful, Stacey's persona and practice is very normal. What I mean is that she's not waving a wand and making cheese explode or something outrageous; she's got bits of plants that she combines together and she's burning candles and she's asking the Earth to help her see and help her be patient and to help her connect with people. There's no cauldrons, there no big POOF moments, but there is evidence in Stacey's story of her having the strength that she seeks through her spells--the insight and the loyalty and the doggedness that helps her to develop as person. While I've never been interesting in becoming Wiccan, I have always been interested in what it's about; where it's coming from. To be honest, while the first half of the book was boring for me, I enjoyed this depiction quite a bit, because it made me rethink my definition of witchcraft. The great strength of this book is that confidently depicts a normal girl having an empowering kind of trust and interest in the natural powers of nature and humanity. The reason I say I was bothered by this is because of my personal belief in the supernatural. It's real, and there's duality to it--good and evil, real and counterfeit--and, to me, Wicca falls under the counterfeit counter. Still, my point is that I appreciated the different depiction of magic in this book, and that it was a means for personal action instead of a copout/quick fix.

About page 150, the narrative seemed suddenly better; it was wittier, the dialogue more quick and smart, the contemplative sections more natural and peaceful, the teenage characters more true and developed. Which is great. By the book's end, I was feeling enough for the characters to be emotionally moved by their efforts for one another, and that, really is all I ask of a book. It must be said, though, that the character of Amber, one of Stacey's school friends, was stealing the show in the first half: she's simultaneously the most generic and yet dynamic character in the book. Her ditzy boy-craziness gives her a clear intention that pumps life into every moment that she has on the page. Stacey's interest as a character in this first half is generated more by her unconventional methodology than in any actual characterization. If the author, Laurie Stolarz, would've/could've asserted the rest of her characters as strongly, the book would've been better (and maybe she DID do better later in this series). But as it is, I was satisfied enough for "Blue Is For Nightmares" to be worth my time.(less)

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Dec 30, 2010 Karissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the first book in the Blue is for Nightmares series; so far there are 4 books in this series. This book was kind of a cross between a mystery and a teen horror flick with a paranormal bent to it. It was a suspenseful and creepy novel that was hard to put down and had a number of surprising twists to it that left me unable to stop reading.

The book is written from the viewpoint of Stacey Brown. Stacey is a practicing Wiccan who has the ability to see the future. Exactly what Stacey's power...more This is the first book in the Blue is for Nightmares series; so far there are 4 books in this series. This book was kind of a cross between a mystery and a teen horror flick with a paranormal bent to it. It was a suspenseful and creepy novel that was hard to put down and had a number of surprising twists to it that left me unable to stop reading.

The book is written from the viewpoint of Stacey Brown. Stacey is a practicing Wiccan who has the ability to see the future. Exactly what Stacey's powers are and the consistency of her powers is kind of a mystery, even to her. She starts having nightmares about her best friend Drea being killed by someone. Last time Stacey had nightmares like this someone died. Stacey lives at a boarding school and as such there is a lot of teen angst going on; people are worried about homework and boyfriends more than anything. When Drea starts receiving strange messages from her supposed killer; Drea and Stacey don't know who to trust anymore.

This was kind of your typical teen read, it was well-written and easy to read. Stolarz does an exceptional job of building the mystery and suspense throughout the story. I found myself suspecting a number of different characters of being the stalker but couldn't figure out which one it was until the end. This story was nicely tied up at the end; you wouldn't need to read the rest of the books in the series to enjoy this one.

I had a couple small complaints. The first is that the Wiccan rituals (magic) that Stacey performs are detailed with excruciating detail. I imagine this took a lot of time to research on Stolarz's part. Initially these details are very interesting, but as the story continues I feel that the amount of page space that is lent to detailing these rituals starts to take away from the story. Many times I found myself skimming through these details because they just didn't pertain to the story that much. I also found Stacey's friends easy acceptance of all of the strange things Stacey does to be a little odd, but maybe not that out of place for a young teenage girl.

The second small complaint is a personal issue I have, the story was just a bit too creepy for me. I am not really all that into scary stories, I get nightmares from them. This definitely isn't the creepiest story I've read but it is up there in creepiness...so if you have problems with scary horror stories I would skip this one. This book is definitely more teen horror than it is a paranormal mystery. (less)

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Dec 07, 2010 Heather McWilliams rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a truely wonderful YA depiction of a young girls life... and wicca. Although this book has been out for many years now i just recently picked it up. It was a super fast and easy read which i really enjoyed. Didn't take a lot of thinking, not to mention wicca is not as widely used these days in YA fiction as vampires which is quite a breath of fresh air.

Stacey is a fairly likeable character, although there wasn't a whole lot of depth to her. She wasn't a character that i felt very connec...more

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Aug 31, 2010 Danalky rated it 5 of 5 stars

The book "Blue is for Nightmares" by Laurie Faria Stolarz was a very entertaining book.This book was about this girl named Stacey.Stacey has a very big crush on her best friend Drea's boyfriend "Chad".Stacey does witchcraft.When Stacey starts getting these nightmares about her best friend being stalked by this guy she doesn't tell anyone.But when Drea starts getting strange packages and notes she has no choice but to tell her.Now Stacey try's top use her witch craft to help Drea but the only wa...more

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Jul 07, 2010 Realteenreviews rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Wiccan People

Shelves: dream-catchers-list, living-destinys-list, north-stars-list, shore-whisperers-list, favorites

The Gist

This book is about a girl named Stacey who has nightmares about people and they end up coming true. She performs spells to keep the dreams away or in some cases revel them. One day when she dreams about her best friend Drea and a psycho stalker she makes her first priority saving her but time is running out and she has to use every spell in the book to save her.

What We Think

Reviewed by The North Star

Blue is for Nightmares is the first book in the Blue is for Nightmares Series and is one...more

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Mar 25, 2010 Alex Maxwell added it

In this book one of the main themes that I noticed was an ability to look within yourself and being able to trust yourself. Listen to your instincts and they will guide you. I would rate this book a 3.5 or 4 because I liked the characters in the book and the way the author had them speaking when I was reading the book I felt like I was there with the characters and that I was involved so for me it made it easy for me to understand since I could get into the setting of the book and I could grasp...more

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Nov 13, 2009 Sarai rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-fiction

From School Library Journal
Grade 7-10-Stacey's nightmares have proven to tell the future in the past, and now they have returned. The person who is in danger in the teen's dreams is her roommate. Determined to discover who is out to kill Drea, the protagonist performs a series of spells taught to her by her grandmother to ferret out the murderer. Seemingly, all of the girls' friends and acquaintances are suspects. This mystery will initially attract readers who are into Wicca and spells, but may...more

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Sep 08, 2009 Jamie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: summer-reading-books-2009

Blue is for nightmares is a story about stacy Brown who is a 16year old at Hillcrest Boarding school. She is a hereditary wiccan from her grandmother. She really wants to have a normal life and experience at school, but she can't, as she starts having nightmares about her best friend and roommate Drea dying. Stacy knows that she can't ignore these nightmares. She learned this lesson three years earlier when she ignored nightmares about a girl she used to babysit named Maura, and she was murdere...more

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Sep 04, 2009 Bella rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: summer-reading

Stacey Brown is a seventeen-year-old witch who goes to a boarding school in Massachusetts. When she was around twelve years old, she started having dreams about her younger friend Maura’s body being found in a shed, and eventually she was, in fact, found dead in a shed after a guy molested and beat her. Stacey starts having dreams again, only this time they’re about her friend Drea. Her friends Amber, PJ, and Chad try to help her, but Stacey isn’t finding out enough information from her dreams....more

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Jul 03, 2010 Luann rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy, 2010

This is another one I didn't enjoy much. It came as an "extra" in a batch of books I got through eBay. Now I know why they wanted to give it away!

I think the author was trying to write a book similar to a teen horror movie. She kept having the characters say and think things like, "It's like some bad horror movie or something," and "This isn't a slasher movie, it's a prep school," and "Some senior boys are treating this like a cheesy horror movie..." Well, I'd say she succeeded, only not in a go...more

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Jan 03, 2009 Vicki rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009-reads, young-adult

This book is about Stacy Brown who has nightmares that reveal dangers in her everyday life. She ignored them once before and a young girl died, now her nightmares are about her best friend Drea and she is determined to do what she can to save her.I wasn't that impressed with the characterization and I felt the book was a bit surface. However, it was a quick read, and I was interested enough to see how it ends. I have her other books though and am not in any rush to pick them up.

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Sep 15, 2011 Victoria Lauretti rated it 3 of 5 stars

In the book “Blue is for Nightmares” by Laurie Stolarz, 16-year old Stacey has been having nightmares about her roommate, Drea. In these nightmares Stacey is desperately trying to find Drea. But that’s not the bad part, the last time she ignored her nightmares, they were about a little girl that ended up dead.
Stacey is a descendent from a long line of witches, so when Drea confesses to getting strange, phone calls she knows she won’t make the same mistake and let her friend end up dead. Stacey k...more

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I think that anyone would like this book...i read it and i liked it	4	26	Feb 06, 2013 10:40am
YA Reads for Teac...: Blue is for Nightmares (Blue is for Nightmares #1) - Laurie Faria Stolarz	19	32	Mar 15, 2012 07:56pm

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

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