I requested this several years ago and I don't think it's a book for me anymore. So I will not be reviewing at this time, but if I do read it, I will update this review. Thank you for the opportunity.

3.5 out of 5 stars

The Nightmare Affair is a fun read which had the potential to be so much more. The opening was so well written I found myself falling in love with Dusty.

Although the reader may fall in love with Dusty straight away, don't expect insta-love between her and Eli. Dusty and Eli get off to one of the worst starts I could have imagined.

The mixture of humour and tense murder mystery had me turning the pages, and worshipping Mindee Arnett's amazing ability to have me holding my breath one moment and chuckling the next.

Dusty's status as a Nightmare makes for an interesting heroine. From start to finish the history of the Nightmares, and the social hierarchy at Arkwell Academy interested me. The paranormal kind are into their cliques and Dusty is destined to be the biggest outsider. She's not just a Nightmare, she's also half-human and amongst the paranormal the latter is plain embarrassing.

The large cast of supporting characters that help and hinder Dusty, all come to life with their individual hang ups and agendas. Eli makes for a great romantic interest, or he would if he'd stop making goo goo eyes at the prettiest girl in Arkwell. Cue romantic triangle...well, actually Dusty makes eyes at another handsome guy, so perhaps cue romantic quadrangle!

Unfortunately, half way through I had pieced together a lot of the plot. Up until this point I would have described The Nightmare Affair as 'un-put-downable'. Throughout the rest of my reading I felt annoyed with Dusty for not figuring things out, and the grand finale didn't feel all that grand to me.

All in All : Although the ending fell a little flat for me, I will definitely be picking up the sequel. Dusty was a fabulous character, and the fascinating history of the Nightmares has me wanting to delve deeper into this world. I have a feeling this series will keep getting better and better.

I ended up not finishing this novel as the writing style didn't gel with me, and neither did the characters. I was mostly confused by the world-building. However I may come back to it one day to see if I feel differently.

Dusty Everhart is one spunky Nancy Drew in a paranormal world of werewolves, demons, fairies, and sirens. Of course, there even more different paranormal creatures in this book, I just didn't mention all of them. Dusty's power is really interesting, because she actually invades people's dreams. Its not a very normal power that you would see in a paranormal book, maybe that is why I liked it some much.
Eli proved to be an good guy, who is trying deal with idea of paranormals. Selene is an awesome best friend to Dusty. She always looking out for her, and I like her attitude about sirens. Dusty's mom was an interesting character, and I don't know if I would have wanted her as my mom... but she did try hard to get back on Dusty's good side. I wish we could have known Dusty's dad a little more.
The Will was different thing in the paranormal world, and it very important to Dusty's world. It is what keeps the bad powers of the paranormal in line., so no one gets hurt.
There were some things that I saw coming in the plot but I really enjoyed this book despite that. A good mystery with some good twists to it. I can't wait for the next book.
4 Stars!!!

Sadly I didn't get around to reading the book before it was archived and it was long before I managed to get myself a Kindle so I couldn't read it.

I am really behind in my ARC book reading and I'm working my way, somewhat randomly, through a backlist of books sent to me, this being one of those books.

The story takes place at Arkwell Academy - a school for 'magickind' and ... well, let's stop right there. Yes - the comparison to a famous boy wizard with a lightning scar on his forehead will be made. And should be made! The differences, however, are enough to not confuse anyone. One of the biggest differences being that the characters are not just young wizards and witches in training but all sorts of magically inclined kids. Here, we focus on Dusty Everhart - a Nightmare ... literally.

Dusty is sent to invade the dream of one of the hottest guys in school (Eli), which is pretty embarrassing for the sixteen year old. But at the same time, sitting on his chest and slipping in to his dream is sort of (embarrassingly) arousing. But it's much more embarrassing when he suddenly wakes up and sends her dream powers back onto her. That's not supposed to happen. Ever.

But that's only the beginning. When the dream that Dusty saw in Eli's head start coming true, there's a deadly mystery happening on Arkwell's campus and Dusty and Eli can't help but get caught up in it.

The opening sequence of this book, establishing Dusty, Eli, and Dusty's abilities was tremendous. I was hooked and really looked forward to the rest of the book. I could see where teen readers (especially teen girls) would be really drawn to this book based in large part on this opening chapter.

But given this opening, the rest of the book was just a tad of a let-down. The moments when Dusty's or Eli's magic abilities played a key role, were interesting and often gripping. But the rest of the mystery, around which this story is built, was boring. I liked Duty and Eli and I even liked Dusty's Nightmare of a mother (literally), but I never quite bought in to what they were tracking down and why it mattered. There was something missing to let this reader buy in to the mystery.

Overall, this was interesting enough that I'd like to read the other books in the series, but not so compelling that I'm rushing out to get any of the next books.

Looking for a good book? <em>The Nightmare Affair</em> by Mindee Arnett is a teen/YA mystery capitalizing on the magic school theme and offers some fun, interesting characters but lacks a bit in the mystery.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

As if being a Nightmare and entering people's dreams wasn't interesting enough, Dusty enters the dreams of a Hot Guy and ends up witnessing murder, a murder that comes true. With that as the start, it's so easy to get hooked into the story and the characters. I'm ready for more!

Will not be providing a review for this novel, sorry for the inconvenience, but thank you to the publisher for the opportunity.

Thank you so much for approving me. Unfortunately I ended up not being able to finish this book.