Hello lovely readers and welcome to today's blog tour stop of The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett, hosted by Itching For Books! The Nightmare Affair was a book so outside the usual genre I read, but I highly enjoyed it. Be sure to check out my review and the giveaway below!
Title: The Nightmare Affair
Author: Mindee Arnett
Publisher: TorTeen
Publication year: March 5, 2013
Genre(s): Young Adult (Mystery/Paranormal)
Source: Blog Tour
Format: Digital ARC
Pages: 367
Sixteen-year-old Dusty Everhart breaks into houses late at night, but not because she’s a criminal. No, she’s a Nightmare.
Literally.
Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for magickind, and living in the shadow of her mother’s infamy, is hard enough. But when Dusty sneaks into Eli Booker’s house, things get a whole lot more complicated. He’s hot, which means sitting on his chest and invading his dreams couldn’t get much more embarrassing. But it does. Eli is dreaming of a murder.
Then Eli’s dream comes true.
Now Dusty has to follow the clues—both within Eli’s dreams and out of them—to stop the killer before more people turn up dead. And before the killer learns what she’s up to and marks her as the next target.
Literally.
Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for magickind, and living in the shadow of her mother’s infamy, is hard enough. But when Dusty sneaks into Eli Booker’s house, things get a whole lot more complicated. He’s hot, which means sitting on his chest and invading his dreams couldn’t get much more embarrassing. But it does. Eli is dreaming of a murder.
Then Eli’s dream comes true.
Now Dusty has to follow the clues—both within Eli’s dreams and out of them—to stop the killer before more people turn up dead. And before the killer learns what she’s up to and marks her as the next target.
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Indigo
Mindee Arnett lives on a horse farm in Ohio with her husband, two kids, a couple of dogs, and an inappropriate number of cats. She’s addicted to jumping horses and telling tales of magic, the macabre, and outer space. She has far more dreams than nightmares.
It is refreshing to read about a female protagonist who is not perfect or a damsel in distress. Dusty is neither of those, but a girl who is just so normal, or as normal as a nightmare can be, that it was so much fun to read about her. She would embarrass herself at times, get in odd situations because her curiosity got the best of her, crush on a guy but deny it to herself because.. why would she even want to crush on the popular guy? and have very normal girl problems; it was all very amusing and entertaining.
On top of how awesome Dusty is, she is also a nightmare, in the literal sense. She can get into people's dreams.. a bi-weekly dosage of fectus from them to keep her energy levels. She stumbles upon a nightmare that actually came true and ends up in the middle of a murder mystery that she needs to figure out fast before more people, including herself, end up dead. With the help of the guy she saw the murder nightmare in, Eli: the popular guy, they try to uncover the evil schemes that could bring destruction to the whole world.
Personally, I found the mystery to be a bit obvious but also shocking at the same time. I knew immediately that one of the characters introduced was evil, but at the same time I was rather shocked to find out who was really behind everything. In all honesty I was a bit restless with the mystery and how Dusty, her only real flaw in my opinion, was too trustworthy towards the wrong people but very doubtful towards the people who are closest to her. The middle of the novel lulled a bit.. and I was waiting for when the plot would pick up its momentum, and it did towards the end, especially with the shocking ending. As for the romance, I found it to be very sweet and secondary to the real plot; just the way I like it sometimes in my novels. All in all, The Nightmare Affair is a great novel with a kickbutt heroine that all the girls can relate to. I would definitely recommend it to paranormal and mystery young adult fans.
Check out the trailer below!
Be sure to enter below for a chance to win a signed copy of The Nightmare Affair. Everyone is welcome to enter because it is open internationally! Click on the link to direct you to the Rafflecopter
I COMPLETELY agree about Dusty! She was one of the most realistic heroines I've read about, except for a few flaws (trusting the wrong people, as you pointed out). The mystery wasn't some big thing, but it was a good read to pass a few hours.
ReplyDeleteAnd I like the trailer <3 Especially the music.
I loved Dusty! She was fun! I also found part of the mystery predictable but then the big reveal was surprising. I could understand Dusty not trusting her mom since her mom hasn't been in her life much. That could be confusing especially with her moms reputation. All in all I found it fun especially that the academy and different paranormal creatures.
ReplyDeleteI'm almost done with this one right now and I'm enjoying it, but it's not super awesome to me. I do like Dusty. She is a very real character.
ReplyDeleteJuhina your review is spot on with how I felt about this book too, the person who afterwards is revealed as evil I had a feeling about them in the beginning too, also the pacing was a bit boring in the middle, but I was happy about the pick up towards the end. I'm not sure whether I'll pick up the next book in the series but I'm glad you enjoyed this! Great review! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat review. Thanks for participating.
ReplyDeleteI so agree-Dusty was great (plus, how often do we get to read about a Nightmare?!) The story did fall a bit flat for me, though. Great review :)
ReplyDeleteGreat review!! I just got started on this one myself & your review is consistent with others I've read. I'm glad that you enjoyed it overall :) Thanks for sharing & for stopping by my blog earlier - I'm a new follower via GFC ♥
ReplyDeleteI have been waiting on this one. Kinda sucks that it a little slow in the middle, but I'm glad it picks up. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it.
ReplyDeleteJenea @ Books Live Forever
I agree Juhina, there were some people I was easily able to identify as being no good, and then others who truly surprised me. Overall though, I just adored this book, Dusty made me laugh and I loved the whole concept of a Nightmare. I'm really glad you enjoyed it for the most part!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read this book. Great review! Sounds like Dusty is a character I will really enjoy reading about.
ReplyDeleteLove the purplish colors in her hair. Nice review. Sounds like an awesome book :)
ReplyDeleteThe mystery was obvious but the story was pretty entertaining and I liked Dusty. I can't help but agree with this about Dusty: "her only real flaw in my opinion, was too trustworthy towards the wrong people but very doubtful towards the people who are closest to her." Great review, Juhina.
ReplyDeleteNormal as a nightmare can be- love it! Sounds like a fun book, I'm excited to read it.
ReplyDeleteI am actually looking forward to this one. I have heard some pretty great things about it and the idea is very intriguing and unique. Plus, I love the sound of the main character! She sounds awesome and just my type of heroine! I can't wait to pick this up.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed this! Fabulous review, Juhina! :D And thanks for the giveaway!
~ Maida
Literary Love Affair
Great review sweetie :D Sigh. I loved this book. I'm sorry you didn't love it as much as me, but I am glad you enjoyed it, still :D I kind of really loved the plot. <3 And Dusty. And Eli. Swoon. I cannot wait for the sequel to this book :) Thank you for sharing. <3
ReplyDeleteAh well, I was hoping the mystery was a little more suspenseful. The main character sounds interesting, lovely review.
ReplyDeleteMy stop was over the weekend but I've yet to actually read the book. But I love that Dusty is "normal" and still kick-butt. :) Hoping to get to this one soon. Great review! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely going to read this one -- I've heard great things about it!
ReplyDeleteI thought this was such a fun book.
ReplyDelete