248. Black is for Beginnings

Black is for Beginnings by Laurie faria Stolarz & Barbara Rendall Kesel. illustrated by Janini Gorrissen.
Blue is for Nightmares (Book 5)

Pages: 160pgs.
Ages: 13+
Finished: Dec. 3, 2009
First Published: 2009
Genre: YA, graphic novel, paranormal
Rating: 3.5/5

First sentence:

They're starting up again... nooooo...

Reason for Reading: Cybils nominee.

Acquired: Received a review copy from the publisher.

Summary: This is actually the fifth book in a series. The previous four books were regular novels; this fifth graphic novel can also be considered a prequel as it tells the story of how the two main characters, Stacey and Jacob, met through the prophetic dreams they both share.

Comments: I enjoyed this book. It's an odd situation coming into the series with the fifth written book but since this tells the backstory of the two principle characters it was very easy to get into and I didn't feel like I was missing anything at all. Though there were times when I was certain that some scenes and events were already known to readers of the series and I'm sure fans will take a lot more away from this graphic novel than a first-timer like I did. But that said, I thought this was a great paranormal story, involving a mixture of prophetic dreams and witchcraft. I'll admit the realistic portrayal of pagan witchcraft did unnerve me a bit, due to my own beliefs, and I could have done with less of that, but the plot was much more about the dreams than the spells. Plus it is fiction, after all, that I couldn't help but be carried away with the story and found it very intriguing. However, plotwise there really wasn't much excitement, there is a thin story line with Stacey's dreams but mostly it all boils down to the relationship between Stacey and Jacob. A romance without any of the typical teen yearning, whining and moaning, thankfully, but instead a more mature one that happens to be connected through prophetic dreams. The black and white artwork, while nothing outstanding, is nicely done with realistic people and facial expressions. I certainly wouldn't mind reading the first book in this series if it should ever find its way into my hands.