Review: The Nightmare Affair (The Arkwell Academy #1) by Mindee Arnett

Title: The Nightmare Affair
Author: Mindee Arnett
Series: The Arkwell Academy
Book #: 1
Pages: 367
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 3.81
Published: March 5th, 2013

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.

Taschima's POV:

I am sorry but this book was incredible! Everything from the plot to the world building to the characters is worth sinking your teeth into. I am just upset it took me so long to get my hands on it, and so this is why I urge you to take the above gif seriously.

Dusty is a Nightmare. She basically needs to feed off other people's dreams to survive. She does this under strict guidelines and rules enforced by The Will. The Will basically is a magical presence that prevents the Supernatural community from going shit bat crazy on each other. It keeps them from killing each other. Anyways, everything seems going fine with Dusty's latest feeding, but then Eli touches her. No one is supposed to even be aware that Dusty is in their dreams, much less touch her! Turns our Eli is somewhat of her dream soul mate. He is the only person who is able to dream of the future, and then Dusty gets into the dreams to study them. On the last dream Eli dreamt of a murder that came to pass. A murder that could not have happened because it was done by a magical folk.

The Nightmare Affair is one to remember. It was magical and fantastical. The characters are funny and interesting. The most important thing in a novel (I think) is that you connect with your main character and that you like her, and Dusty is definitely one of the best. She is funny and she is ratable. She is a main character that sticks with you long after you are done with the story. Eli is also... very YUM. He is confused at first and blames Dusty for changing his life but after everything he becomes a great ally. Not to mention a fantastic potential love interest ;) He does piss me off at the beginning of the novel but I still ended up loving him.

I also love the side characters. Like Dusty's best friend Selene, who is a Syren. Syren's are naturally beautiful and enthralling but Selene goes against her natural instincts. She protests the way the world looks at Syrens, like they are only good for their looks. Dusty on the other hand is usually thought of as a trouble maker because she is a Nightmare. Nightmares are few and in between, and the one with the worst reputation to date is Dusty's mother. So everybody naturally thinks the worst of Dusty. I love how all the different magical folk people are portrayed, it's like Harry Potter if more than just wizards were in attendance. There's mermaids, tricksters, demons, wizards, etc. A magical school that allows all inside it's gates.

The mystery! Oh it keeps you guessing until the very end. Mindee Arnett is a very good writer. She gets you so involved in the world and the characters it is a little hard to let go. Now quickly, to read The Nightmare Dilemma!