Customer Reviews

Black is for Beginnings (Blue Is for Nightmares, Book 5)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I read the previous four books in this series and was devasted to learn the fifth book was a graphic novel! I don't this Stolarz should have put her name on this beyond anything more than being the inspriation for this. The only reason I bought it was my wanting to know the continuation of the storylines. There was no depth to the story and the introduction of new characters (Kira---an ex-girlfriend??!!!) is just irresponsible and unfair to faithful followers of the Blue is For Nightmares series. I think this was a cop-out and fans were let down. Stolarz is a fabulous writer (I love the Touch Novels---and the first four books of the Nightmares series)but this was a bad decision by her and her editors and I would love to have Black is for Beginnings written in the platform of the other four----we deserve it for our loyalty.

I consider myself a huge fan of this series and I was so excited when I originally heard that a 5th book had been released. However, I was immediately skeptical when I heard that it was a graphic novel. While I really do enjoy some graphic novels, I wasn't looking forward to the idea of this book being a graphic novel while the other books were not. But because I am a huge fan of the series, I still bought it and read it while trying to keep an open mind. However, I was incredibly disappointed. This didn't really seem like it was apart of the same series as the rest of my beloved BIFN books. The characters seemed flat and didn't have the shine and spunk that they did in the first four books. The plot overall just didn't sit well with me. I'm so very sad for giving this a one star rating, but it just really disappointed me. I would love for Stolarz to write some more books for this series, but in the same format as the other books. If Black is for Beginnings was rewritten in the same style as the rest of the series, then I might like it better.

Our HS librarian got me hooked on the "Blue is for Nightmares" series. I read all four of the print copies our library had but did not have the "Black" book because it is a graphic novel. I bought it and was not disappointed in the book. However, I felt I was too old to be reading a graphic novel...it reminded me too much of someone reading a comic book. I like how the charachters and storyline in the series came together and concluded, but wish it was not a graphic novel.

Black is for Beginnings is an interesting graphic novel about a girl who can do magic named Stacey. With magic powers come arcane problems, you know dreadful stuff like malevolent premonitions. Stacey and her boyfriend Jacob, another magic-user, are able to see the future ... through their nightmares. Yup, they can only see bad things in the future, shocking portents like when a stalker will nearly kill one of Stacey's best friends or when the girl that she baby sits will be killed by a drunk driver.

In the prequel to this episode, Jacob got amnesia after falling off a cruise ship while trying to save Stacey's life. After that incident he moved back to his home town in Massachusetts to try to recover his memories. As the story unfolds he is recuperating while his ex-girlfriend Kira spends all of her free time helping him get his memories back. When Stacey comes to visit Kira sticks on them like a magnet slathered with superglue. Not only does Kira's behavior piss Stacey off, the fact that Jacob remembers Kira and not her makes her even angrier.

Stacey and Jacob try their best to cope with their problems and rekindle their romance. While they still love each other, Jacob's move to Massachusetts complicates the relationship. Kira's advances only make matters worse. By the time that Jacob finally remembers everything about Stacey it's too late, she no longer trusts him.

The magic in this book is probably not the type enchantments you'd expect in novels of this ilk. For example, the heroes make potions out of household objects. They light special candles to help people sleep, stop bad secrets, create positive energy, provide strength, insight affection, help friendship, or give clarity. Other powers include healing crystals, flowers that symbolize death, love, purity, affection, or luck, and many more. There is no battle magic like fireballs, lightening, or earth spikes.

Laurie Stolarz developed this bestselling series which began with Blue is for Nightmares. Script art director Barbara Kesel is a long-time writer for Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics, and other publications whose editorial credits include Hellboy, Star Wars, and Aliens. This is artist Janina Görrissen's first published project in the United States, but she has works published in Spain and France.

Together their collaboration is quick read. While the pacing is a touch uneven in spots, it is written and illustrated more than well enough to keep reader's attention. Altogether it is an intriguing work of lovers, magic, dreams, and new beginnings, interesting and creatively done.

This book would have been a 5 star for me but I couldn't seem to get into the style.
I love this series and I love to picture in my head what is happening, so I guess that's why I didn't find the art work helpful. They were done great and all but I hate reading in those little bubbles. Over all this style I feel is just to busy for my head, I want to read but at the same time I want to look at the pictures. It was like a battle of the brain up in my head,lol.

I did, however (and like the past 4 books) finished it in 1 day. It was nice too get this new book after so long and I hope there will be more. And even if they are still in this new form I plan to read them, I hope/think my brain could get use to it.

Bought this book for my daughter she likes it and read it about 2 times already

College student Stacey Brown has been having nightmares about Maura, the little girl she used to babysit, even though it's been about six years since the child was murdered. In Stacey's dreams, she can almost smell Maura's strawberry candy-scented breath and hear the giggle of her laughter. Although the dreams are more nostalgic than disturbing, they still leave Stacey feeling guilty and haunted. After all, years ago Stacey had had premonitions of something terrible happening to Maura but had kept her fears to herself. Had she shared her concerns with someone, perhaps Maura would have lived. But the anonymous note that Stacey wrote to the police was never mailed. Or was it?

Stacey turns to the nature-based religion known as Wicca to help her understand her disturbing dreams. She casts a pouch spell for sweet dreams and a moon-bathed bracelet spell for awareness in her attempt to learn what her dreams really mean and why they are occurring all these years after Maura's death. Stacey's friends also try to help --- Drea suggests journaling as a way to unravel the mystery of her troubling dreams, and Amber recommends talking the situation over with someone close.

Unfortunately, neither the spells nor the journaling have been helping, and, unlike Amber, it isn't as if Stacey has a doting boyfriend like PJ to listen to her. Jacob LeBlanc, the one guy Stacey had truly cared for, is now far away and has no memory of her. Jacob's own nightmares had drawn him across the long miles from Colorado to Stacey's side at Hillcrest Boarding School in Massachusetts. At Hillcrest, Jacob had struggled to understand his premonitions about Stacey while convincing her to trust him. Slowly, with the aid of a henna spell, Stacey and Jacob had started to surrender to their mutual attraction and to recognize a soul mate in each other. But destiny had intervened, causing Jacob to nearly lose his own life in the attempt to save Stacey's. While he had survived, Jacob was left with large holes in his memory...especially his memories of Stacey.

Now Jacob is back home in Colorado with his ex-girlfriend and childhood playmate, Kira. She helps him remember stories from a simpler time in his life, such as the gummy worm sandwiches they ate together or the time he split his pants doing the electric slide. Slowly but surely, Kira weaves her way back into Jacob's life during a time when he is especially vulnerable. But now that Stacey has decided to come to Colorado to pay Jacob a surprise visit, will she find herself being the one (un)pleasantly surprised, or will the two young lovers finally heal the rift between them?

This black-and-white graphic novel was conceived as a companion piece to the Blue is for Nightmares series of paranormal young adult mysteries. Thus, it reiterates the plot from the other books in the series in a condensed format. It is not designed to move the story line forward, so fans of the series will have to wait for the next book to learn about future developments. The one major advancement in BLACK IS FOR BEGINNINGS is that the fate of Jacob and Stacey after the end of RED IS FOR REMEMBRANCE is finally revealed.

This scary and romantic story, with its larger-than-life emotions and darkly twisting plot, lends itself surprisingly well to the graphic novel format. And while the overall story is fairly morbid, Laurie Faria Stolarz cleverly weaves in several light and silly moments that serve to lighten the overall ominous tone. The teenage characters, their dialogue, and their interactions with each other are also well imagined and ably captured. Additionally, the novel is beautifully illustrated in manga style with interesting vignettes from the other four Blue is for Nightmares titles. And when you are not enjoying the great dialogue or fantastic artwork, it is fun to pore over the little details in the book, such as the spells listed in some of the page margins.

BLACK IS FOR BEGINNINGS serves both to draw new teen readers to the series and to supply existing fans with interesting additional background and never-before-seen details. A winning formula!

--- Reviewed by Usha Reynolds

I had very high hopes for Black is for Beginnings but after reading it, I am very unhappy with the outcome of the book. I liked the pictures but did not liked how the whole book it seemed to talk about what happened in the books before it and not until the last little bit of the book was any new information. This would be a good book if you do not want to read the others in the series but want to know what happens... In my opinion, Black is for Beginnings cannot hold a candle up to the rest of the series.

I was so disapointed with this. She should have kept writing it as a novel like the rest of the series.

College student Stacey Brown has been having nightmares about Maura, the little girl she used to babysit, even though it's been about six years since the child was murdered. In Stacey's dreams, she can almost smell Maura's strawberry candy-scented breath and hear the giggle of her laughter. Although the dreams are more nostalgic than disturbing, they still leave Stacey feeling guilty and haunted. After all, years ago, Stacey had had premonitions of something terrible happening to Maura but had kept her fears to herself. Had she shared her concerns with someone, perhaps Maura would have lived. But the anonymous note that Stacey wrote to the police was never mailed. Or was it?

Stacey turns to the nature-based religion known as Wicca to help her understand her disturbing dreams. She casts a pouch spell for sweet dreams and a moon-bathed bracelet spell for awareness in her attempt to learn what her dreams really mean and why they are occurring all these years after Maura's death. Stacey's friends also try to help--Drea suggests journaling as a way to unravel the mystery of her troubling dreams, and Amber recommends talking the situation over with someone close.

Unfortunately, neither the spells nor the journaling have been helping, and, unlike Amber, it isn't as if Stacey has a doting boyfriend like PJ to listen to her. Jacob LeBlanc, the one guy Stacey had truly cared for, is now far away and has no memory of her. Jacob's own nightmares had drawn him across the long miles from Colorado to Stacey's side at Hillcrest Boarding School in Massachusetts. At Hillcrest, Jacob had struggled to understand his premonitions about Stacey while convincing her to trust him. Slowly, with the aid of a henna spell, Stacey and Jacob had started to surrender to their mutual attraction and to recognize a soulmate in each other. But destiny had intervened, causing Jacob to nearly lose his own life in the attempt to save Stacey's. While he had survived, Jacob was left with large holes in his memory...especially his memories of Stacey.

Now Jacob is back home in Colorado with his ex-girlfriend and childhood playmate, Kira. She helps him remember stories from a simpler time in his life, such as the gummy worm sandwiches they ate together or the time he split his pants doing the electric slide. Slowly but surely, Kira weaves her way back into Jacob's life during a time when he is especially vulnerable. But now that Stacey has decided to come to Colorado to pay Jacob a surprise visit, will she find herself being the one unpleasantly surprised, or will the two young lovers finally heal the rift between them?

This black-and-white graphic novel was conceived as a companion piece to the Blue Is for Nightmares series of paranormal young-adult mysteries. Thus, it reiterates the plot from the other books in the series in a condensed format. It is not designed to move the story line forward, so fans of the series will have to wait for the next book to learn about future developments. The one major advancement in Black Is for Beginnings is that the fate of Jacob and Stacey after the end of Red Is for Remembrance is finally revealed.

This scary and romantic story, with its larger-than-life emotions and darkly twisting plot, lends itself surprisingly well to the graphic-novel format. And while the overall story is fairly morbid, Laurie Faria Stolarz cleverly weaves in several light and silly moments that serve to lighten the overall ominous tone. The teenage characters, their dialogue, and their interactions with each other are also well imagined and ably captured. Additionally, the novel is beautifully illustrated in manga style with interesting vignettes from the other four Blue Is for Nightmares titles. And when you are not enjoying the great dialogue or fantastic artwork, it is fun to pore over the little details in the book, such as the spells listed in some of the page margins.

Black Is for Beginnings serves both to draw new teen readers to the series and to supply existing fans with interesting additional background and never-before-seen details. A winning formula!

-- Usha Reynolds