I received an arc of Forewarned by Tracey S. Phillips off the Read Now section of NetGalley. I’d consider the book to be classified as a thriller with a touch of paranormal or magical realism to it. What I liked was that the story took place during the year 1976. The year of the Bicentennial. It centers around two families, but mainly their teenage children. Both families are summering at the lake, one owning an old Victorian lakehouse and the wealthier more prominent family staying in a cottage next door. Daphne who comes from a broken family because her mother decided to divorce her father wants to become friends with Lana and Lewis who are somewhat snobby in my opinion. Throughout the story Daphne continues to get really bad vibes like something terrible is going to happen. It doesn’t come out until much later that she is psychic, a gift that she shares with her grandmother. This story centers around the 2 different classes of families, the effects that divorce has on their children along with drugs, alcohol use and unwanted pregnancy. Typical teenage issues. What I also liked was the mention of music that I remember being very popular at that time and other mentions that brought back so many great memories for me. I thought it was an entertaining read and I believe other readers will enjoy it too. I’d like to thank Three Elements Publishing and NetGalley for the arc to read and review. I’m giving this book a 4 star rating.

15-year-old Daphne Ann Post has a secret. She has premonitions of when horrible things are about to happen. It has happened before with a friend, and backfired spectacularly, but now, during her summer break, she knows someone is going to drown. Forewarned tells the story of her summer break, new friendship, readjusting to life after her parents’ divorce, and dealing with that eerie feeling.

This was a very difficult book to rate. Although described as a mystery or thriller novel, I'm not sure if it works as either. To me, Forewarned is a good snapshot into the life of troubled teenagers; the paranormal stuff and the mystery of who is going to drown is something that happens in the background.

Lara, Lewis, and Philip are complex characters rebelling against the high expectations of their parents. Mark is deeply troubled, indecisive on the desire to get revenge on the prosecutor who put him in jail. And finally, Daphne, who is lonely and will do anything to make friends, even changing her entire personality.

I almost wish this book didn't include the paranormal stuff and focused on the interpersonal relations between the characters. On all of the questionable decision teenagers don't stop to consider and their lasting consequences on their lives.

I would have rated Forewarned 2 stars as a paranormal mystery novel and 4 stars as a book about troubled teens, so I am averaging them out into a 3-star rating.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tracey Phillips, and BooksGoSocial for the advanced copy. This review is left voluntarily and honestly.

This was one of those books I kept hoping would get better. I went in with low expectations, — not in the “this is going to be bad” way, more like ”Let’s see where this takes us” way. Still, I held out hope for that moment where things click and it turns into a page-turner.

Unfortunately… that moment never came.

This is pitched as a paranormal suspense-thriller, but I didn’t feel the suspense or the thrill. From vert early on, we already know who dies, so any mystery is gone immediately. The only question left is how he’ll die, and even that felt underwhelming.

The emotional arcs also didn’t land for me. Daphne’s constant focus on her dad, while vilifying her mom, became tiring — especially when the actual explanation for their divorce came so late that it didn’t reframe anything, it just made me more frustrated with her. I wanted a deeper exploration of the family dynamics.

The story just fell flat overall. I didn’t hate it, I didn’t love it, didn’t move me, and didn’t leave an impression.

Thank you to NetGalley, and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭒ ⭒
2.75 stars, but only because I’m generous and I feel bad)

ꨄ︎ I feel like when I started this book, I was already disinterested but not in the kind of way that ruins the reading experience, more in the “I genuinely don’t care what’s happening” kind of way. Still, I kept hoping it was one of those books where the beginning drags, but then you hit a page-turner moment that makes you need to keep reading.

Yeah… that never came.

ꨄ︎ This book is supposed to be a paranormal suspense-thriller or something. But baby, I was not thrilled. There was zero suspense because right from one of her first visions we know [Redacted] is going to die. So then the only thing left was to see how he would die… and even that was underwhelming.

ꨄ︎ And honestly? I’m glad he died. Like, genuinely happy. Because that boy was going to grow up into a menace. He literally tried to assault Daphne and we’re just… supposed to forgive him? Because he supposedly saved her life? Oh absolutely not. Nope. That boy was already dangerous. The way the book tried to low-key redeem him was Bizarre. I’m so happy he’s gone. Good riddance.

ꨄ︎ Truthfully, the whole book just fell flat. It felt like “Did I really just read from beginning to end for this?” Yes, I got some minor satisfaction from his death, but nothing changed. Nothing happened.

ꨄ︎ Also I hated the way Daphne just kept going on and on about her mom, the divorce, her dad, blah blah blah.

And I think we’re supposed to get that her mom cheated? But the way it was done made me dislike Daphne more than anything. Because that reveal came so late in the book that I already disliked Daphne for hating her mom so aggressively with zero real explanation.

ꨄ︎ I wanted a deeper exploration of the mom-dad situation. Instead, I got “Dad this, Dad that, Dad this” and honestly? It made me roll my eyes. Your dad barely even shows up in the book, and yet he’s all you ever talk about. Like, be serious.

ꨄ︎ Anyway, the book wasn’t bad-bad. I feel like giving it 2 stars would be mean because the writing wasn’t awful. The plot just didn’t land. It didn’t excite me. It didn’t move me. It didn’t do anything. I finished it and just… moved on. Flatline.

Thank you to NetGalley, BooksGoSocial and the author for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are mine.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC. 

I really liked the illustrations in this book, they were very pretty. 

The beginning was a little slow, it took a while for the story to get going. 

The characters felt a little flat, but I did enjoy the story itself.

Thank you to Net Galley, the publishers, and the author for the arc for my honest review.
4/5 stars It's first person pov with three character(Daphne, Lara, and Mark povs)

Forewarned is a paranormal thriller that's set in the 70s. There is a mix of social classes as they all spend their summer at the lake. Daphne has a supernatural gift where she can see your future in flashes. How does Daphne figure our her life knowing that she can find out your deepest secrets with just one touch? Mark just got out of prison and trying to get his life back on track. Lara and Daphne are neighbors for the summer.

I found it a little harder to really start caring for the characters personally because of the mulitple povs and my brain just wanted to know how they would all connect. But once I got into the story, it was hard to put the book down. The ending was heartbreaking and very well written.

I love paranormal thrillers and this book hit the spot for me. It was fast paced and told from different POV’s. Definitely a page-turner!