The Nightmare Dilemma

February 1, 2014
In a fast-moving and easily digestible magical school story, Destiny "Dusty" Everhart, a teen who can enter others' dreams, investigates an attack on a mermaid classmate. Nearly all the students at Arkwell Academy are magickind, from seductive sirens and hot-tempered rage demons to fairies and dryads. Since Dusty and her friends helped break The Will, a spell that restricted the use of magic, in The Nightmare Affair (2013), magical altercations among students of different species are beginning to break out. Paul, Dusty's former boyfriend and minion of the villainous Marrow in the previous volume, has been released from jail, and Dusty is worried about seeing him again. Meanwhile, Dusty and her close friend Eli search the latter's dreams for clues about magical attacks on classmates and stubbornly refuse to discuss the few smoldering kisses they've shared. There's plenty of action to keep readers engaged, and frequent exposition--in the form of narrative asides and dialogue--helps readers keep track of the many characters and rules of magic. The prose is more serviceable than artful, and some lines are downright clunky ("As if in contrast to my bleak mood, the weather outside had taken a pleasant turn toward nice"). Nothing too deep, but good fun for fans of romance, fantasy and magical boarding school escapades. (Fantasy. 12-18)

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April 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-In this follow-up to The Nightmare Affair (Tor Teen, 2013), Dusty Everhart returns for a new school year at Arkwell Academy for Magickind, and it feels like just about everything in her life is confusing and difficult. Her biggest problem is finding out who attacked her friend, the mermaid Britney Shell. Dusty is also falling for her classmate Eli, complicated by the return of her ex-boyfriend Paul. On top of all that, there is the mysterious secrecy of her roommate, Selene. Arnett's novel is well plotted and paced, carrying the reader forward into the ongoing mystery of the unknowable TerraTribe and the impending threat at the Beltane festival. The growing romance between the Nightmare Dusty and the Dreamseer Eli makes their friendship more difficult-and it doesn't help that every night when Eli falls asleep, Dusty has to climb on top of him to enter his dreams. The story and setting are original, and the magical boarding school is impressive for its differences from other famous wizarding academies. Teens looking for supernatural relationships will find much to like here, even if the characters are underdeveloped. This series will keep readers returning for more, with its punchy dialogue and steamy romances.-Pete Smith, Pioneer Valley Performing Arts CPS, South Hadley, MA

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