Tired of being known as the artsy oddball, fifteen-year-old Cam Reynolds hopes to fly under the radar when he changes high schools as a sophomore. It shouldn’t be too hard, considering he’s a human going to school with kids who have super-cool paranormal powers, like his best friend and witch, Al, and longtime werewolf crush, Mateo.

Then Cam has a psychic glimpse of the future in front of most of the student body, seeing a gruesomely murdered teen girl from the point of view of the killer. When Cam comes to, he knows two things: someone he goes to school with is a future murderer and his life is about to change. No longer a mere human but a clairvoyant, one of the rarest of supernatural beings, Cam finds himself at the center of attention for the first time.

As the most powerful supernatural factions in the city court Cam and his gift, he’ll have to work with his friends, both old and new, to figure out who he can trust. Because the clock is ticking, and Cam and his friends must identify the girl in the vision, find her potential killer, and prevent the murder from happening. Or the next murder Cam sees might be his own.

This was such a fun novel, sort of Scooby Doo meets The Owl House. Cam and his new friends even call themselves the cartoon reference gang because they refuse to acknowledge that dog.

Anywho, Lukens creates a vibrant urban paranormal world where humans and paranormals live side by side, almost in harmony. Almost because there are some like Cam’s parents who prefer for everyone to stay with their own people and make disapproving remarks whenever Cam hangs out with his best witch friend, Al. Not to say their reaction when they find out Cam is clairvoyant.

Even though queer relationships are accepted in this world (it’s the human-paranormal or interspecies ones that draw eyebrows), the metaphor of Cam’s clairvoyance for being queer is quite obvious. From his parents wishing that his dress and his friends were more normal, the desire to keep his powers hidden from the public, threatening to throw him out of the house when he refuses, you can see the picture. But Cam stays true to himself because his abilities are an intrinsic part of him, and they brought him closer to his friends that truly accept and embrace him. Not some perfect image of a son that they’d prefer.

Which brings me to Cam’s friends. They were a delight. As perky, colorful Gemma says they are a paranormal bingo. Gemma, the paranormal know-it-all human, Al, the witch who can’t spell, Mateo, the werewolf who can’t shift, Kaci, a seer who can’t talk to ghosts, and Reese, the jerkish heart of gold swamp sprite. You can see they each don’t quite fit in with their respective species so they form a motely crew that find acceptance with one another, and need each other’s strengths to solve the big mystery. They were humorous, warm-hearted and though they got into tiffs over stereotypes they each represent, they end up understanding one another better.

Moreover, Cam’s complicated friendship with Al was a highlight, providing relatable grief in fear of drifting apart and the tear between responsibility toward family (or in this case, coven) and to friendship, especially when one’s parents are discriminatory towards the other.

Plus Cam being a human outsider turned clairvoyant at the center of everyone’s attention allows Lukens to naturally build lore without info-dumping. Cam has to visit every faction that is trying to bribe him for allyship, so we get more insight to the world’s dynamics and paranormal’s relationships with one another.

The mystery was also well-done as I kept almost guessing, but another red herring or twist would lead to a new twist. I enjoyed how Lukens plays with Cam’s clairvoyant abilities and how they manifest, widening and narrowing the scope of suspects. Alas, I have come to accept I will never be one of those readers who will be able to guess who the murderer is before it’s revealed.

The romance between Cam and Mateo was sweet, although not a big focus as the mystery was more important. But I could understand the duo’s attraction.

The only thing is that I wish there had been more expansion on Cam’s relationship and reunion with his brother, especially at the final battle. You know, to show that his brother is able to show up for him in his time of need instead of being absent, but I suppose that would have overcrowded the battle.

I have a feeling this is going to be a stand-alone book which is too bad because I would love to see the Cartoon dog reference gang come together for more mystery solving or paranormal species diplomacy.

4 stars.