The Warning

Twilight: Where Darkness Begins #23

by Amanda Byron

Lois Mallory is happy: she has her work for her high-school newspaper, her friends and her charming but unscrupulous boyfriend. Then her peaceful routine is interrupted by mysterious, threatening messages which appear on her typing assignments, messages which could only have been typed by her. Lois is forced to face the truth: either she is going insane or she has been possessed by a hostile spirit.

Genres: Young Adult, Horror

156 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 12, 1984

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a good chunk of this book, I was waffling between 1.5 and 2 stars. The main character was this insufferable teen-in-love character who was acting completely stupid about her boyfriend, and I just couldn't connect to it at all. Then, the story took an unexpected turn that genuinely surprised me, and I had to bump my rating up a bit. The writing didn't improve any, but the stuff that preceded that turn made a little more sense, thematically, and I honestly feel like the message here is better than those in the other books in this series, and even better than some YA books I've read from the last couple of decades. You just have to get through all of THAT to get there.

Don't misunderstand me, though; the writing here is sufficient, but not great, and the characterization is a bit thin. But I feel like I'm going to remember that turn much more than anything else from this series of books.

Speaking of which: Three more to go!

[Mell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh cheesy YA thrillers- how I loved you during my teen years.

[Dina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved these when I was in high school and over the years I have recollected the entire series and decided to pick this up the other day and read it. I don’t think that I ever read it before because it was not even vaguely familiar. It was a little cringey but kind of neat to read something from the 80s. For instance, in typing class they had manual typewriters. It’s kind of neat to read a book that was written before the Internet took over.

Overall worth the read for nostalgias sake.

[Vincent Baltzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's clearly aimed at teenagers, and yet I've just read this book from the top of my forties... not without a certain nostalgia, and a lot of emotion.
It's well put together. The genre should perhaps have been "thrills", because I had a few, but not of fear. More like emotions.
Nothing to criticise about the plot. The characters managed to be endearing despite the shortness of the novel: between 30 and 40 kwords.
I really enjoyed it.
I've read the French translation, so I can't comment on the form.
I'm giving it 5 stars, but note that my nostalgia plays a part in the rating.