Review of Forewarned by Tracey S. Phillips

Title: Forewarned

Publisher/ Publication date: 3 Elements Publishing (August 2025)

Language: English

Format: e-book, softcover, audiobook, 301 pages

Genre: Young adult paranormal thriller

ISBN: 979-8-9908191-1-5 (paperback). 979-8-9908191-2-2 (audiobook)

e-book: ASIN: B0F3LHFLZP

Reviewed by: Karl L. Stewart

Gripping story of the need for love and acceptance

In Forewarned Tracey Phillips concocts a brooding atmosphere by placing two well-to-do but dysfunctional families as neighbors in their summer “cottages” along the shores of an Indiana lake. Fifteen-year-old Daphne, plagued by her clairvoyant premonitions of disaster, is drawn to the sophisticated Vaughn family next door. But all is not as it seems. Just as beneath the placid lake’s surface lies a weed-choked graveyard, so beneath the smooth, shiny surface of the Vaughn family lies a world of drugs, alcohol abuse, sex, and the painful alienation of youth from their parents.

Daphne, torn by her desire to be accepted and included, versus her repulsion at the cruelty she witnesses, must ultimately decide whether to use or ignore her clairvoyant “curse” if it may save a life one stormy night on that turbulent and weed-choked lake.

Written with sympathy for young people caught up in situations beyond their understanding, much less their control, Phillips takes us back to 1976, the music and the culture, in order to show us that whatever the year or time-period, though much has changed, some things, such as the need for love and acceptance are eternal.

Review by Karl L Stewart, author of an eight-book historical adventure, The Legend of See Bird Saga.  Website: karlstewart.net