Review: The Nightmare Charade (The Arkwell Academy #3) by Mindee Arnett

Title: The Nightmare Charade

Series: The Arkwell Academy #3

Previous books in this series: The Nightmare Affair (#1) The Nightmare Dilemma (#2)

Author: Mindee Arnett

Genre: YA, urban fantasy

Publication date: August 2015

Published by: Tor Teen

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: 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!

My rating: ★★★★☆

I first started this series ELEVEN years ago, and I’m only completing it now...

Review: The Nightmare Dilemma (The Arkwell Academy #2) by Mindee Arnett

Title: The Nightmare Dilemma

Series: The Arkwell Academy #2

Previous book in this series: The Nightmare Affair

Author: by Mindee Arnett

Genre: YA, urban fantasy

Publication date: January 2014

Published by: Tor Teen

Source: Won paperback ARC in giveaway

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Synopsis: 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 rating: ★★★★☆

It had been a while since I read the first book in this series, I think almost 10 years, but despite that, I decided to not re-read it before going into this book. I love re-reading books but I have actually read The Nightmare Affair twice, so I thought I would be okay. And I was! I had a vague memory of what went on in the last book, but this book also did a pretty good job of touching on the important things that happened in The Nightmare Affair, so I was very happy about that.

Review: Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes

Title: Dead Silence

Author: S.A. Barnes (pen name of Stacey Kade)

Genre: Adult, sci-fi, horror

Publication date: February 8th 2022

Published by: Tor Nightfire

Source: eARC from publishers via Netgalley

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Synopsis:

A GHOST SHIP.
A SALVAGE CREW.
UNSPEAKABLE HORRORS.

Claire Kovalik is days away from being unemployed—made obsolete—when her beacon repair crew picks up a strange distress signal. With nothing to lose and no desire to return to Earth, Claire and her team decide to investigate.

What they find at the other end of the signal is a shock: the Aurora, a famous luxury space-liner that vanished on its maiden tour of the solar system more than twenty years ago. A salvage claim like this could set Claire and her crew up for life. But a quick trip through the Aurora reveals something isn’t right.

Whispers in the dark. Flickers of movement. Words scrawled in blood. Claire must fight to hold onto her sanity and find out what really happened on the Aurora, before she and her crew meet the same ghastly fate.

My rating: ★★★★☆

I was insanely excited when I first heard about this book! I read Stacey Kade’s The Ghost and the Goth series a couple of years ago, and I really loved it! (Well, I read the first two books... but we’re not talking about my terrible habit of not finishing series 😅) I was particularly excited to learn that she would be writing something a little different than she usually does with this adult sci-fi horror, and I gotta say, I really enjoyed it!

Review: Slayers by C.J. Hill

Title: Slayers

Series: Slayers #1

Author: C.J. Hill (pen name of Janette Rallison)

Genre: YA, urban fantasy

Publication date: September 2011

Published by: Square Fish

Source: Own paperback

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Synopsis:

Dragons exist. They’re ferocious. And, in this novel from C. J. Hill, they’re smart: before they were killed off by slayer-knights, they rendered a select group of eggs dormant so their offspring would survive. Only a handful of people know about this, let alone believe it—these “Slayers” are descended from the original knights and are now a diverse group of teens that includes Tori, a smart but spoiled senator’s daughter who didn’t sign up to save the world.

The dragon eggs have fallen into the wrong hands. The Slayers must work together to stop the eggs from hatching. They will fight; they will fall in love. But will they survive?

My rating: ★★★★★
Tori has always been fascinated with dragons, so she is ecstatic when her parents finally let her go to this dragon camp, but boy does she not know what she’s getting herself into! Turns out, amid the normal dragon-enthusiast campers, there are a handful of super special, elite campers that do more than the normal camp stuff... They’re Dragon Slayers!! And guess what, Tori just happens to be one of them! Tori must train hard to help the others protect the country from dragons that will inevitably attack. But Tori has many doubts: are the others crazy? Are dragons really, well, real? Does she even have powers? Should she just forget everything and go home? All these questions float around in her mind (and then some), but will she be able to pull herself together in time the help the others when the time comes?

Review: The Nightmare Affair (The Arkwell Academy #1) by Mindee Arnett

Title: The Nightmare Affair

Series: The Arkwell Academy #1

Author: Mindee Arnett

Genre: YA, paranormal, urban fantasy

Publication date: March 5th, 2013

Published by: Tor Teen

Source: from the publishers via Netgalley

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Synopsis:

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.

My rating: ★★★★★
This book was UH-MAZE-ING! It was just great and a very fun read! And I love the title of the book...it's very fitting :)

Review - Poseidon: Earth Shaker (Olympians #5) by George O'Connor

Title: Poseidon: Earth Shaker

Series: Olympians #5

Previous books in this series: Previous books in this series: Zeus: King of the Gods (#1) | Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess (#2) | Hera: The Goddess and her Glory (#3) | Hades: Lord of the Dead (#4)

Author: George O'Connor

Genre: Middle Grade, graphic novel, Greek mythology

Publication date: March 19th 2013

Published by: First Second

Source: the publishers via Netgalley (thanks!)

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Synopsis:

In volume 5 of Olympians, author/artist George O'Connor turns the spotlight on that most mysterious and misunderstood of the Greek gods, Poseidon: Earth Shaker. Thrill to such famous stories as Theseus and the Minotaur, Odysseus and Polyphemos, and the founding of Athens—and learn how the tempestuous Poseidon became the King of the Seas.

My rating: ★★★★★
Heh, As I was reading this, I was also half-watching the Percy Jackson movie...can you say mythology junkie? LOL.

Review: Girl of Nightmares (Anna #2) by Kendare Blake

Title: Girl of Nightmares

Series: Anna Dressed in Blood #2

Previous book in this series: Anna Dressed in Blood

Author: Kendare Blake

Genre: YA, horror

Publication date: August 7th 2012

Published by: Tor Teen

Source: Owned hardcover

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Synopsis:

It's been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghost-hunter Cas Lowood can't move on.

His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could live—not walk around half dead. He knows they're right, but in Cas's eyes, no living girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with.

Now he's seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when he's asleep and sometimes in waking nightmares. But something is very wrong...these aren't just daydreams. Anna seems tortured, torn apart in new and ever more gruesome ways every time she appears.

Cas doesn't know what happened to Anna when she disappeared into Hell, but he knows she doesn't deserve whatever is happening to her now. Anna saved Cas more than once, and it's time for him to return the favor.

My rating: ★★★★★
I was soo anxious for this book...I couldn't wait to find out what happened to Anna! It was fantastic (though I have to admit, I liked the first book better)!

Review: Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna #1) by Kendare Blake

Title: Anna Dressed in Blood

Series: Anna Dressed in Blood #1

Author: Kendare Blake

Genre: YA, horror

Publication date: August 2011

Published by: Tor Teen

Source: Borrowed from library...then bought a hardcover copy ;)

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Synopsis:

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story...

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

My rating: ★★★★★
"Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story..." Heh, I love this quote...It totally describes Anna Dressed in Blood perfectly!

Review: Shattered Dreams (Midnight Dragonfly #1) by Ellie James

Title: Shattered Dreams

Series: Midnight Dragonfly #1

Author: Ellie James

Genre: YA, urban fantasy

Publication date: December 06, 2011

Published by: Macmillan--St. Martin's Griffin

Source: the publishers via Netgalley (Thanks!)

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Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old Trinity Monsour wants nothing more than to live a normal life. But that isn’t as easy as it seems. Trinity is different. She is special. She sees visions, and for those she’s seen, it’s already too late.

Trinity arrives on her aunt’s doorstep in New Orleans with virtually no knowledge of her mysterious heritage. She begins settling into life at a new school and even starts making friends. But all too quickly her dreams accelerate; twisted, terrifying visions of a girl locked in a dark room. And when the head cheerleader, Jessica, goes missing, Trinity knows she has no choice but to step forward with what she’s seen.

But people believe that Trinity has information about Jessica’s disappearance not because of a dream, but because she is involved. She is kind-of dating Jessica’s ex-boyfriend, Chase, and Jessica did pull a nasty prank on Trinity. Revenge seems like the likeliest scenario.

Nothing prepares Trinity for the dark odyssey that ensues while searching for Jessica, including the surprising romance she finds with Chase, or the shocking truths she learns, not just about the girl who has gone missing, but the past that has been hidden from her.

My rating: ★★★★☆

I really like books like this...where the main character has some super cool supernatural ability. Supernatural abilities, and how they work, always fascinate me! In this case Trinity sees visions...of the future you could say. These visions were very descriptive and kinda creepy, but I loved them!

Review - Hades: Lord of the Dead (Olympians #4) by George O'Connor

Title: Hades: Lord of the Dead

Series: Olympians #4

Previous books in this series: Zeus: King of the Gods (#1) | Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess (#2) | Hera: The Goddess and her Glory (#3)

Author: George O'Connor

Genre: Middle Grade, graphic novel, Greek mythology

Publication date: January 31, 2012

Published by: First Second

Source: The publishers via Netgalley

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Synopsis:

"Hades: Lord of the Dead" tells the story of the great God of the Underworld and one of the most famous of all Greek myths: Hades’ abduction of Persephone and her mother’s revenge. Be prepared to see a new side of Persephone in this dynamic adaptation of the story of the creation of the seasons. In Olympians, O’Connor draws from primary documents to reconstruct and retell classic Greek myths. But these stories aren’t sedate, scholarly works. They’re action-packed, fast-paced, high-drama adventures with monsters, romance, and not a few huge explosions. O’Connor’s vibrant, kinetic art brings ancient tales to undeniable life in a perfect fusion of super-hero aesthetics and ancient Greek mythology.

My rating: ★★★★★
I loved, loved, LOVED this book!!

It was a very fun and quick read about the Greek Underworld and its geography, and its residents and deities (including Hades, of course). It also talked about the Abduction of Persephone. In this myth, he is always viewed as the villain…but truthfully, he isn’t! He is really a nice guy! And Persephone sees that, eventually. I even added him to my favorite-Greek-gods list just recently :)

Review: Radiance (Riley Bloom #1) by Alyson Noel

Title: Radiance

Series: Riley Bloom #1

Author: Alyson Noel

Genre: Middle Grade, paranormal

Publication date: August 2010

Published by: Square Fish

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis:

Riley has crossed the bridge into the afterlife—a place called Here, where time is always Now. She has picked up life where she left off when she was alive, living with her parents and dog in a nice house in a nice neighborhood. When she’s summoned before The Council, she learns that the afterlife isn’t just an eternity of leisure. She’s been assigned a job, Soul Catcher, and a teacher, Bodhi, a possibly cute, seemingly nerdy boy who’s definitely hiding something. They return to earth together for Riley’s first assignment, a Radiant Boy who’s been haunting a castle in England for centuries. Many Soul Catchers have tried to get him to cross the bridge and failed. But all of that was before he met Riley . . .

My rating: ★★★★☆
I have to say, this was a very quick read. Very simple, yet entertaining.

Review: Evermore (The Immortals #1) by Alyson Noel

Title: Evermore

Series: The Immortals #1

Author: Alyson Noel

Genre: YA, urban fantasy, paranormal

Publication date: February 2009

Published by: St. Martin's Griffin

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis:

After a horrible accident claims the lives of her family, sixteen-year-old Ever Bloom can see people's auras, hear their thoughts, and know someone's entire life story by touching them. Going out of her way to avoid human contact to suppress her abilities, she has been branded a freak at her new high school — but everything changes when she meets Damen Auguste.

Damen is gorgeous, exotic and wealthy. He's the only one who can silence the noise and random energy in her head - wielding a magic so intense, it's as though he can peer straight into her soul. As Ever is drawn deeper into his enticing world of secrets and mystery, she's left with more questions than answers. And she has no idea just who he really is - or what he is. The only thing she knows to be true is that she's falling deeply and helplessly in love with him.

My rating: ★☆☆☆☆

(Q & A format)

I kinda had high hopes for this one…