ARC Review: The Nightmare Charade

Arkwell Academy: The Nightmare Charade | Mindee Arnett

Published by: Tor Teen, August 4th 2015

Genre: YA, Mystery, Fantasy

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback

Source: Tor Teen

It’s her junior year at Arkwell Academy, and Dusty Everhart just wants to be alone with her boyfriend, Eli Booker. But fate is literally keeping them apart. See, Dusty is a Nightmare, who can enter Eli’s dreams to find clues to the future, but an ancient curse predicts that any romance between them is doomed to end in tragedy. Dusty and Eli are willing to take that risk, but the authorities disagree—and have assigned a chaperone to make sure their relationship is strictly platonic.

As if that’s not bad enough, they’ve been recruited by the Department of Intelligence for Magickind Secrecy (D.I.M.S.) to use their dream-seer bond to help recover the most powerful object of black magic known to magickind. The Animus Mortem can raise the dead by stealing the souls of the living…which makes tracking it down a genuine matter of life and death.

To make matters worse, one of Dusty’s friends is accused of murder and is counting on her to clear his name.

Dusty has too many dreams, too many commitments, and too many people looking over her shoulder, but a Nightmare seldom plays by the rules. Curse or no curse, chaperone or not, she has to go deep into Eli’s dreams if she’s going to find the truth—and discover a way for them to truly be together at last!

A steep decline from book 2. 

I thought with Dilemma, the offensive shit was slowing down. Not so much. With this book is ramped back up again and had me furious. Honestly, this series could be AWESOME AND EPIC AND FUN but all I can think is IT'S HORRIBLE OFFENSIVE.

However, I enjoyed a bunch of things. The culmination of the Red Warlock, his spies, Belanax, and the prophecy surrounding Dusty and Eli all wrapped up nicely ... if a bit too nicely. The end was VERY convenient and weird (lets just say there's a supernatural revival/reincarnation thing with a phoenix and it's very odd.) Paul, too, in this book was odd in that he was unnecessary. He had literally no point except to die. Oop. The plot twists, secrets, and mystery stood out a mile, which didn't leave me guessing at all.

But otherwise? I enjoy the sweet romance between Eli and Dusty, the mythology that increased in amount with each book, and I surprisingly love Arkwell. It's actually quite good overall.

A fun fantasy mystery series that's quick to read and has a healthy amount of Arthurian legend. If you want an easy read, definitely try this series.

Characters ★★★☆☆
Setting/world ★★★★☆
Writing ★★☆☆☆

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A School For Unusual Girls (ARC Review)

Stranje House: A School For Unusual Girls | Kathleen Baldwin

Published by: Tor Teen, May 19th 2015

Genre: YA, Historical

Pages: 352

Format: Ebook

Source: Tor Teen

It’s 1814. Napoleon is exiled on Elba. Europe is in shambles. Britain is at war on four fronts. And Stranje House, a School for Unusual Girls, has become one of Regency England’s dark little secrets. The daughters of the beau monde who don't fit high society’s constrictive mold are banished to Stranje House to be reformed into marriageable young ladies. Or so their parents think. In truth, Headmistress Emma Stranje, the original unusual girl, has plans for the young ladies—plans that entangle the girls in the dangerous world of spies, diplomacy, and war.

After accidentally setting her father’s stables on fire while performing a scientific experiment, Miss Georgiana Fitzwilliam is sent to Stranje House. But Georgie has no intention of being turned into a simpering, pudding-headed, marriageable miss. She plans to escape as soon as possible—until she meets Lord Sebastian Wyatt. Thrust together in a desperate mission to invent a new invisible ink for the English war effort, Georgie and Sebastian must find a way to work together without losing their heads—or their hearts...

A School For Unusual Girls was one of my most anticipated reads this year, and I am thrilled to report it is SO GOOD. You don't want to miss this one.

I knew from the very beginning, with the tone and the depth of history (no light history for this series!), that this was going to be good, but I completely underestimated how attached I'd grow to the characters. I fell for Sebastian (Hot Lord #1) as soon as the main character went careening through a secret passage and flying into his open arms. I loved Georgie as soon as I learned she blew up a barn in a scientific experiment. And together, they were always bound to have me yearning and screaming and wanting to smush their frustrating faces together. So the romance was, of course, perfect. We even get a lovely set up for the relationship in the next book, with Tess (another unusual girl) and Lord Ravencross (Hot Lord #2) and their romance is entirely different, with a snarky dynamic that had me squealing.

However - this book would have been nothing without lavish attention to detail, faultless world-building, and one hell of a plot. This book has them all. Not only does our heroine have to make a super secret invisible ink, and have the fate of Europe resting on her shoulders, but there are even more urgent dangers to avoid (ones that almost killed me and I am trying very hard not to spoil) and wicked foes to run from. I'm really excited to see where this series goes. There's a lot of content packed in this book, romance and action and mystery and tension, but I get the feeling the next book will ramp it up a gear, and I cannot wait. Mostly I can't wait to see Daneska get what's coming to her!

If you like historical novels rife with intrigue, impeccable hot Lords, and agonising, tense action, A School For Unusual Girls is the book for you.

Characters ★★★★★

Setting/world building ★★★★★

Writing ★★★★★