**REVIEW** The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett

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.

Release Date:  March 5, 2013

Published By: Tor Teen

Review Copy:  Hardcover, 367 pages

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Review

  This one just blew me away!  When I look forward to something I seen six months ago I worry it wont live up to my expectations. That's a lot of time to build up anticipation and set myself up for disappointment but I didn't experience the let down at all.  Mindee Arnett's debut however with it's fresh Nightmare premise and remarkable world building lived up to my self created hype.  In a world that demons, fae, wizards and many other mythical creatures coexist, being a Nightmare is tough and the gig is only getting harder.

  The talent of weaving a clear and memorable tale is all over in this one.  As you read further into the book twists, turns and suspense wait for you on almost every page.  I really enjoyed Arkwell Academy and though the boarding school thing seems to be jumping up everywhere, this take was different enough to make it fun.  The world itself though complex, it is also fairly well organized and was easy to follow. By far my favorite part was getting to know more about the Nightmares in this though.  There is a basic knowledge from the start but the further into the story the more secrets you learn how things work with dream feeding and how their magic works.  Not to mention that Mindee very cleverly incorporates some older lore with a very interesting twist that had me very intrigued! 

 Dusty (Destiny) was an easy character to like.  She was so realistic I honestly couldn't help but smile and occasionally blush for her.  This is a girl that is trying to push out of her mothers dark and devious shadow and be her own person/nightmare.  With this said she had her flaws and was far from perfect but it was in those flaws that I found some serious love.  She was kind of clumsy and a little insecure but I can seriously relate to that!! Teen or not we all have some sort of insecurity and I lack a serious amount of grace.  I also appreciated that she didn't strive to be one of the "It" people at her school and just enjoyed the people she did have.  There were times I thought she was a little held back but then I would flip the page and her somewhat snarky attitude would be taking over and have me smiling again.  As we got closer to the end and Dusty found more out about herself she did become more confident and showed some serious character growth that you rarely see in just one book.  

  There was almost a triangle in this one.  Almost...  Thing is though that there was not a trace of insta love and what there was, was developed and understandable.  You had Eli that was an obvious shoe in for a romantic interest.  Why you may ask?  Well him and Dusty are linked in a way that you will have to read the book to get it but even before that I think something was there.  Not to mention once you get to know him a bit he has a great personality.  Though things with him and Dusty remain tame due to some...  Lets say tension.  You also have Paul who seemed sweet from the get go.  I did however have my own questions about him and where he was coming from.  Both these guys floated around but to be honest it was never really serious with either and it's not like she flipped back and forth, just had undecided attraction.

Overall I really enjoyed this read.  It's s supernatural mystery that had me constantly guessing and second guessing who I wanted to point blame at.  The many twists and turns will have you paying attention and determined to figure out the mystery with Dusty.   With humor, mystery and an original story this read will entrap you.  I can tell you that I am anxiously awaiting the next installment!! 

Quotes

I planted my feet on either side of Eli's arms and squatted down until the majority of my body weight rested on his muscular chest.  Trust me, it was as strange as it sounded and even stranger being the person doing it.

  Eli gazed at me, his eyes narrowing into something like a glare.  A spark of fear went through me, and my nerve endings tingled.  I wanted to look away, nut couldn't.  Silly as it sounded, we were connected now.  For better or worse.

  It was definitely going to be worse .

A chill went through me at her words.  It all sounded a bit too much like A Nightmare on Elm Street for my tastes.  I understood the danger of that much power, having experienced enough bad dreams in my lifetime to know how scary and real they could be.

"I"m sorry,"Eli said,his voice throaty with emotion.

I looked at hi.  "What for?"

  "Everything.  Especially for not making more of an effort to work as a team." He stood up and started pacing. "I was just so pissed, you know?  About leaving my old life.  Coming here to a strange place.  And I hate feeling like the only kid on the short bus."

I'd hoped now that I had a boyfriend-- one I certainly enjoyed kissing and hugging and looking at-- that my attraction to Eli would somehow vanish.  But apparently not.  Stupid teenage hormones.