Dark Before Dawn

Title: Dark Before Dawn
by Stacy Juba
Paperback, 212 pages
Published October 16th 2011

When teen psychic Dawn Christian gets involved with a fortuneteller mentor and two girls who share her mysterious talents, she finally belongs after years of being a misfit. When she learns her new friends may be tied to freak accidents in town, Dawn has an important choice to make - continue developing the talent that makes her special or challenge the only people who have ever accepted her. This novel is aimed at young adults, and at adults who enjoy paranormal YA such as the Twilight series, House of Night, and The Vampire Diaries series, Meg Cabot’s The Mediator series, or Lois Duncan books.

The protagonist, Dawn, have psychic abilities since she was a kid. She'd been bullied at school and was constantly called a “witch” by her tormentors. Add to that is her mom's refusal to acknowledge her uncanny powers, and she had unanswered questions about her father's death.

After moving on to another place, she felt even lonelier. On her first day at her new school, she saw how her classmate Scott would die. The next day, the premonition happened and soon, Dawn was called a witch. Next, she met Candace, a girl who seemed to have the same powers as her, and another girl, Jamie who dreamt of being one.  Apparently, these two girls were being mentored by the local fortuneteller, Serina who obviously had a troubled past but claimed to know about the future.

When things got out of hand, Dawn got suspicious. Would she be able to figure things out before another person dies? Would she discover that Serina had something to do with everything that had been happening?

Let me just say that I loved this book.
Every page gave me the chills and it just kept me guessing what would happen next.
I was channeling my inner psychic to see if Dawn would easily see the link between the freak accidents and will she put a stop to this madness?

As with the other characters, Candace was a little too frightening for my taste. Renee grew on me in the end. Serina was one troubled spirit and Jamie was a little sweet but deadly. Good thing, Dawn had a great sense of understanding the people around her and was able to help her friends.  My favorite part of the book was at the end when Jamie smirked and suddenly smelled like Serina. That was devilishly awesome!

Stacy Juba did an awesome job of keeping me interested with her story. I'd love to read more of her books. Luckily, my brother bought me her other book,  Sink or Swim, so i'll definitely check it out soon. Thanks Ms. Juba for this wonderful story.