The Nightmare Dilemma -- Mindee Arnett

Book 2 of Arkwell Academy

 

 

Much like the first book in this series, The Nightmare Dilemma is very enjoyable and cute. But I can't help but note that, also like the first book, something seems to be missing--enough so that the book falls short of being memorably awesome. I just can't seem to put my finger on what it is that doesn't work quite right for me. The narrative tone of the first book felt strangely detached; the narrative tone of this second book, however, feels... off. I can't quite reconcile the tone of the story with the subject matter depicted in the story--they just don’t feel like they match up.

Nonetheless, the story was enjoyable and the characters were also likable. The world of Arkwell Academy has so much potential to extend into many story lines (and still gives me the same feel as the Harry Potter world, which I also loved immensely). I'm not sure how the trilogy will conclude, but I wouldn't mind reading more stories that could take place within the same fictional world as Arkwell Academy, as again, there is so much potential for lots of storytelling.


The Official Story Blurb:

Dusty Everhart might be able to predict the future through the dreams of her crush, Eli Booker, but that doesn’t make her life even remotely easy. When one of her mermaid friends is viciously assaulted and left for dead, and the school’s jokester, Lance Rathbone, is accused of the crime, Dusty’s as shocked as everybody else. Lance needs Dusty to prove his innocence by finding the real attacker, but that’s easier asked than done. Eli’s dreams are no help, more nightmares than prophecies.

To make matters worse, Dusty’s ex-boyfriend has just been acquitted of conspiracy and is now back at school, reminding Dusty of why she fell for him in the first place. The Magi Senate needs Dusty to get close to him, to discover his real motives. But this order infuriates Eli, who has started his own campaign for Dusty’s heart.

As Dusty takes on both cases, she begins to suspect they’re connected to something bigger. And there’s something very wrong with Eli’s dreams, signs that point to a darker plot than they could have ever imagined.

My Thoughts:
Some of the stuff mentioned in the blurb don't exactly present in the actual book, but none of it really too significant, honestly. As much as I enjoyed the book, I can't say that it's the most memorable experience. And, as I already stated, the narrative tone through Dusty doesn't seem to match the subject matter being presented in the book either; Dusty has a fairly juvenile tone of voice, but the things that are happening feel like they are more mature and serious. It actually made the narration slightly distracting, especially when Dusty spends more time than necessary drooling over Eli, repetitively admiring his "hot body" or something to that effect.

But the mystery was fun and interesting and the ultimate Big Baddie (though unsurprising) made for a good twist in the overall storyline. There was a lot of stuff going on, ranging from controversial matters as well as some social and human causes that parallel ongoing conflicts in the real world throughout history. It inspires some thought, but with the flippant tone of the narration, again, it makes it hard to focus on any of it.

Overall, the story was interesting, though a lot of the events were predictable, even the development of the romance between Dusty and Eli was slightly eye-roll-worthy predictable--not that it was handled badly or anything, but... well... I guess it works. Selene is still cool and awesome as the awesome best friend and even Lance makes a great potential side-kick type character for future purposes. I expect him to have more book time in the last book.

One thing is for sure: I am very much still interested in reading the last book to see how everything turns out in the end.

 

 

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This book is a pre-chosen participant in the following Reading Challenge(s):

• 2015 Reading Assignment Challenge hosted by Because Reading and Fantasy is More Fun

 

 

***This review has also been posted on The Social Potato

A finished copy of the book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion in any way.

This was definitely one of my most awaited sequels for the year and when I got a copy in the mail, you would not believe how loud I screamed. When I finally got around to reading the book,I was so glad to not have been let down. I wouldn’t say it got better or worse, it was just the same level as awesome as The Nightmare Affair.

The events of the previous book resulted in making The Will disappear so now all the kinds have unlimited access to their magic and can do whatever they wish to, this has resulted in a making the differences between the dark kinds and the light kinds more evident and there seems to be a lot more hostility between the two groups.

Dusty remains her awesome self. She is such a likable female lead and her narration is definitely one of the plus points of the books. She has a tendency to make smart ass comments at inappropriate times because it’s her way of making things seem less serious, her coping mechanism. Dusty is so relateable though, she is afraid of things, she isn’t out to save the world but while she knows that she can use her powers to help, she will need time to think about things before jumping on board because wanting to help doesn’t automatically translate into your fear disappearing. One of the other things that makes her a great female lead is her ability to consider other possibilities and give people the benefit of doubt. Her vulnerabilities make her shine though, they show that she, in spite of the fact is a nightmare, is still human(????). She is still hurting over the events of the previous book and they have resulted in her having trust issues. She makes mistakes and is not perfect, in fact, even though her magic is powerful, she doesn’t have great control over it.

One of the major problems I initially had in this book was Selene and Eli’s behavior. Eli was running hot and cold. Which is not helpful. He wasn’t leading her on necessarily but he pulled the ‘we cannot be together’ stuff and that bothered me but you could really see how much he wanted to be with her, he didn’t try to hide that once they actually sat down and discussed their feelings but he remained cryptic about the reasons as to why they couldn’t be together until the end. Selene was keeping secrets for a large part of the book as well but as soon as I found out what they were, it was easy to forgive her because it was something personal to her, and while she and Dusty are best friends, Selene wasn’t ready to tell her what was going on and that is understandable.

With that said though, I love how the author chooses to portray Eli, he is gorgeous and gets a lot of attention from people but at the same time, there are plenty of people who don’t like him. Just because he is gorgeous doesn’t automatically translate to everyone liking him. People still give him a hard time over who he is and well, he isn’t perfect either. It really helps make Eli’s character down to Earth and makes him relateable as well because if you’ve navigated through the crowds of high school, you know what a mean bunch they can be sometimes.

Another notable character was, PAUL. I remember liking him in the first book and I liked him in this one too. I absolutely loved how Mindee tried to redeem him by not showing him as someone who was innocent but at someone who genuinely regretted what he had done. It didn’t change things, everyone was still vary of him but you could tell he regretted losing Dusty’s trust in him and would take it back if he could.

With that said though, there wasn’t a love triangle. It’s quite clear where Dusty’s affections lay. She might have felt something for Paul in the previous book but he killed what they could have had or perhaps they might have never gotten that far seeing that Dusty had always had feelings for Eli. I just hope that we get to see more of Eli and Dusty's relationship in the third (and if everything works out, not the last) book.

“Can we save the girl moment for later? Like after we save the world? We’re kind of in a hurry here.”

The plot is well paced and while the book does seem slow at points but like the previous book, it has a well written showdown that will keep you at the edge of your seat.It was exhilarating to the point where I was rocking back and forth trying to read at breakneck speed just to see how things would work out.

I was actually glad to see I hadn’t been able to guess who had been helping from the inside but hey, at least I knew who hadn’t been.

In the end though, this book was just as fun as its predecessor. I laughed, I flailed and I fangirled at the Star Wars references. With its fun narration, intriguing world and an interesting plot, this book was a winner and I cannot wait to get my hands on the third book in the series.

If you haven’t read the first book, stop, drop and (roll) read it!

 

I’ve missed Dusty, Eli and Selene so much. They are a group of great friends, and have each others’ backs no matter what.

Nightmare Dilemma picks up not long after the events in Nightmare Affair. I love that we get a small little recap. Dusty grows so much in this book. She deals with things that scare her but she knows she’s the only one that can go through with them. We also get a little more detail about her feelings toward Eli. He’s just an awesome person.

There is a ton of mystery, and I didn’t see the culprit coming at all. I can usually figure out who the bad guy is pretty early on. Arnett surprised me, and I loved it! There’s definitely some romance going on, and it of course messes with emotions.

This is one series that I want there to be more of!

I’ve missed Dusty, Eli and Selene so much. They are a group of great friends, and have each others’ backs no matter what.

Nightmare Dilemma picks up not long after the events in Nightmare Affair. I love that we get a small little recap. Dusty grows so much in this book. She deals with things that scare her but she knows she’s the only one that can go through with them. We also get a little more detail about her feelings toward Eli. He’s just an awesome person.

There is a ton of mystery, and I didn’t see the culprit coming at all. I can usually figure out who the bad guy is pretty early on. Arnett surprised me, and I loved it! There’s definitely some romance going on, and it of course messes with emotions.

This is one series that I want there to be more of!