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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Hope, like assholery, springs eternal.
“Don’t you know I could never exist in a world without you in it?”
“Do you mind if I go through it?” “Mind? If you can find me the damn ibuprofen, I’ll have your babies.”
“It’s not your job to keep me safe.” “It’s your job to be my safe place—they’re not the same thing.”
———
I didn’t know that this was a spin off of her Crave series and I haven’t read it so maybe if I had I would have enjoyed this more and I wouldn’t be as confused as I am lol. Especially about the ending.
There were certain things/situations that were alluded to that I knew were probably meant to be found out as I kept reading but the way they were presented/written made it feel like I had missed things. I had to reread a few things because I thought I missed stuff just for it to be revealed later in the book.
I knew this book was YA but the humor was so aggressively YA at times that I started to get annoyed. There were also a bit too many real world/pop culture references for me. It kind of kept me from being fully immersed in the book. About halfway into the book it got insanely chaotic, and while the romance is definitely YA, the death and injury descriptions are 100% not.
Having the epilogue in Jude’s pov made me wish the whole book had been dual pov because I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more. Him and Clementine’s whole back and forth thing got really annoying really quick.
However, the flicker who was a toddler that was asking her to find his dad…omg I cried. And KEATS?? Yeah, that was cute.
Honestly not sure if I will continue this series. Especially since the author is currently in a plagiarism lawsuit involving her Crave series and this one lol.
“Don’t you know I could never exist in a world without you in it?”
“Do you mind if I go through it?” “Mind? If you can find me the damn ibuprofen, I’ll have your babies.”
“It’s not your job to keep me safe.” “It’s your job to be my safe place—they’re not the same thing.”
———
I didn’t know that this was a spin off of her Crave series and I haven’t read it so maybe if I had I would have enjoyed this more and I wouldn’t be as confused as I am lol. Especially about the ending.
There were certain things/situations that were alluded to that I knew were probably meant to be found out as I kept reading but the way they were presented/written made it feel like I had missed things. I had to reread a few things because I thought I missed stuff just for it to be revealed later in the book.
I knew this book was YA but the humor was so aggressively YA at times that I started to get annoyed. There were also a bit too many real world/pop culture references for me. It kind of kept me from being fully immersed in the book. About halfway into the book it got insanely chaotic, and while the romance is definitely YA, the death and injury descriptions are 100% not.
Having the epilogue in Jude’s pov made me wish the whole book had been dual pov because I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more. Him and Clementine’s whole back and forth thing got really annoying really quick.
However, the flicker who was a toddler that was asking her to find his dad…omg I cried. And KEATS?? Yeah, that was cute.
Honestly not sure if I will continue this series. Especially since the author is currently in a plagiarism lawsuit involving her Crave series and this one lol.
I didn't realize Sweet Nightmare would link between Tracy Wolff's other series Crave until after I read it. Having not read Crave before Sweet Nightmare I am confident that it works as a standalone series. I do plan to go backwards and read Crave at some point.
Clementine Calder is seventeen years old and yearns for freedom. Born on the island where Calder Academy sits, there is a blocking spell which limits her ability to shift or use her gifts. Most of her classmates are sent their in their teens, after having done something bad in the real world, so it acts as a juvie type school for the paranormal.
Jude Abernathy-Lee and Clementine were close friends until three years prior when a kiss ended their friendship without Clementine understanding why. Jude is a dark and broody kind of person, who's spent ten years on the island so far.
With a Category 5 hurricane barreling towards the small island off the coast of Galveston the decision is made to evacuate Calder Academy. Things couldn't go more wrong if they tried. With no one to help and on an island full of monsters, Clementine and Jude come face to face with facts and information they don't know how to process. The book does end on a cliffhanger and I am dying for the book 2.
I didn't think anything could hold me quite like Fourth Wing and then I read Sweet Nightmare. I was gifted an ARC from Entangled Teen but I also purchased a hardcover myself.
Clementine Calder is seventeen years old and yearns for freedom. Born on the island where Calder Academy sits, there is a blocking spell which limits her ability to shift or use her gifts. Most of her classmates are sent their in their teens, after having done something bad in the real world, so it acts as a juvie type school for the paranormal.
Jude Abernathy-Lee and Clementine were close friends until three years prior when a kiss ended their friendship without Clementine understanding why. Jude is a dark and broody kind of person, who's spent ten years on the island so far.
With a Category 5 hurricane barreling towards the small island off the coast of Galveston the decision is made to evacuate Calder Academy. Things couldn't go more wrong if they tried. With no one to help and on an island full of monsters, Clementine and Jude come face to face with facts and information they don't know how to process. The book does end on a cliffhanger and I am dying for the book 2.
I didn't think anything could hold me quite like Fourth Wing and then I read Sweet Nightmare. I was gifted an ARC from Entangled Teen but I also purchased a hardcover myself.
This scratched the itch that I needed! I absolutely loved this book so much! I feel like if you enjoy Harry Potter and Forth Wing then you will definitely like this one. There's enough mystery, love, suspense, and wo factor involved for everyone. I'm not the biggest fan of fantasy books and this year I have really tried to branch out and read more of the genre. I'm so glad I picked this one up!
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book... My goodness, this book. So, unlike most everything else I have read this year, I have no clue what to rate this book, so I've decided to give it a 3 rating, though perhaps I should round it up to 3.5 stars. Having said all that, I 100% agree with all of the 1-star and 2-star reviews but... I just don't care. It's hard to explain, but if I can give one line to sum it, it would be the following:
So far, out of all the books I've read this year, this book easily wins 2024's "Balls-to-the-Wall Most Bonkers" award from me.
So, let's start from the beginning. That book description you might have read on the back of the book, or posted here? Ignore it. It's not going to prepare you for this book's insanity. First off, the hurricane, or "storm" as they mention last-minute in the description, is a big factor in this book. Almost like a main character. The description, as it's written, made me think this was going to be more focused on the romance/tensions during class and maybe just the lights/power would go out and she'd have to survive this school in the dark (and avoid her feelings for this mysterious man, Jude), but uh... that was not really the case at all. There's way more going on in this book than that.
One could say there's TOO MUCH going on in this book, and I'd agree. HOWEVER... Now that I've reached the ending, I'm sort of cool with it? Honestly, the ending is what elevated this book for me (everything after the dialogue of "Who's your daddy?" is pure gold to me):. So yeah, the plot was, uh... something, but I was still (somehow!) satisfied . I don't understand it, but yeah, this book just did not annoy me like others that are plotted better did.
Non-Spoiler Section:
This book was non-stop action. If you've read the Maximum Ride series, then you'll have an idea as to the type of non-stop action I'm talking about. This book doesn't take breaks to have our MC and her friends just breathe. No. This is NON-STOP ACTION, all the way through. Sure, there's pockets of moments, but even those moments are clouded by some action-oriented or mysterious plot element, whether that is the aftermath of feeding monsters or if it's trying to make sense of multiple layers of time being layered onto one another.
I'm getting sidetracked and this review is clearly nonsensical/out of order, so let me try to organize my thoughts into categories:
Writing: I personally liked Ms. Wolff's writing style. It's easy-to-read, but does come off as being very much geared to a young-adult audience, which can at times be at odds with how much cursing and death there is... but at the same time, I read dark stuff when I was 11 and 12, so eh. Overall, I think she succeeded in the young-adult voice. Her characters and main character in particular came off a teenagers to me. Great job here! However, there were many instances of purposefully keeping readers in the dark just to create tension. From a technical standpoint I see WHY the author did that but it didn't work for me (I mention this because I think more adults will be frustrated with this writing choice, but it probably is good for the YA/teen audience).
Description: It would have been nice to get a little bit more description on the physical attributes of some of the monsters. I knew what a manticore was going into this, but not everyone would. The description of chricklers came in at the end (instead of at the first or second appearance) - interesting choice, but it was what it was.
Characters: There's a lot of characters in this story, but the main POV is told from Clementine. She's fine - I had no qualms with her as a main character. She doesn't stand out to me regarding her actions, so I'm not sure how memorable she'll be for me, but I loved that she was a manticore as her shifting ability, because I find that unique. Jude's power/mythical element was cool, too. He was fine as a character - lots of pushing Clem away and then not. It's a used trope in other supernatural romance related stories, so it wasn't anything new, but it worked fine here, too. Remy stole the show for me with "Who's your daddy?" No dialogue will top that for me (except for "Keats", maybe), so Remy's number 1. I'm also interested in Izzy's background story.
Nicknames: Yes, this deserves it's own category. I did not like their nicknames - Clem's and Jude's nicknames just seemed clunky to me, personally, and I think that I would have rather seen flashbacks to build up that history rather than going this route to insinuate a history. (On a personal level, some of those did not roll off the tongue well)................. Having said that, I was a fan of the nickname of "Jean-Jerks." I'll die in the minority on this opinion, and I accept that, but come on, it's just FUN (and who doesn't love fun alliteration, it added character to Clementine, too).
Plot: It was bonkers. It sucked. It was great. It was all of the adjectives rolled into one. I can't explain it, but here are some plot elements:
Survive a storm/hurricane/natural element
Learn magical powers in a stressful/dangerous time (with high potential to die)
Monster shenanigans (feeding, running from, and fighting)
Time shenanigans
Ghost/Apparition mysteries
School(/prison?) survival with bullies/"Jerks"
Evil (?) headmaster/mother subplot
Mysterious "No, I'm too dangerous to date" boy romance subplot
Mafia tie-in (ending)
I'm probably missing something, because a lot happened in this book, which leads into...
Worldbuilding: What worldbuilding? This is not the story you want to read if you crave consistency in your story.... or a sense of logic (as pertaining to our own real world structures). Honestly, this should have annoyed me a LOT more than it did. For me, I would have liked more about the power structure/hierarchy of all these creatures (or get into the specifics of this magic-block the school uses, since it seems oddly lax when it comes to MCs), but alas.* That was not really the focus unless it needed to be for the plot, and even then, nothing is explained. Having said that, I do think this lack of worldbuilding lends itself more easily to a YA audience. It was sort of annoying when things came out of left-field, though, so it seems like the author likes to leave things open to add things in when she thinks of them. On my end, I was able to just ignore a lot of things. I don't know why - I was just fine with it.
Editing: Overall good, probably. I didn't see any spelling/grammatical errors, but there were some odd moments. At one point Remy starts asking about boats... and there were no boats ever mentioned in the story, and I think there was something inconsistent with a dialogue between Simon and Jude at one point, too. Or at least, not expanded on. In both instances, it seemed like something had potentially changed in editing (boats-->portal, perhaps? Scene change/elimination?) and part of the dialogue forgot to be updated. I could be wrong, but it just threw me for a loop... Or I just wasn't reading well. Either way, it ended up being sort of par for the course since the plot does throw you around, so... Yup. :D
*Note: I did NOT read the Crave series, so it's possible a lot of the worldbuilding was done in her other series, but I stand by the notion that this is the first book in a separate series. Quick run-downs would not have hurt.
Setting: It's a school on a small island in the Gulf of Mexico. It didn't need a lot of scene-dressing, and what I got, I was happy with.
That's about it. I'm not really happy with this review, as I don't think it captures the true essence of what I felt toward this book. I faced a lot of feelings while reading this, ranging from boredom at the repetitive monster-fighting scenes to laugh-out-loud absurdity at the reveals happening at the end. Also, I did like the idea of the monsters and the nightmares (so I understand why we had the long set-up that we did), so add some interest in the magic/overall bigger plot in her world, and... yeah, I'll probably be around for Book 2, though I really only want to read it if it can match this book's energy level, because this one was a journey.
I won't be checking out her other series, though. I'm here for the bonkers magic/world-building/crazy chaos. I didn't know I was, but here we are. I am now. :D
So, yes. I understand the reviews from the lower end of the spectrum.
Would I read this again? No, but I'm glad I read it once, so I think that is deserving of a 3-star rating.
So far, out of all the books I've read this year, this book easily wins 2024's "Balls-to-the-Wall Most Bonkers" award from me.
So, let's start from the beginning. That book description you might have read on the back of the book, or posted here? Ignore it. It's not going to prepare you for this book's insanity. First off, the hurricane, or "storm" as they mention last-minute in the description, is a big factor in this book. Almost like a main character. The description, as it's written, made me think this was going to be more focused on the romance/tensions during class and maybe just the lights/power would go out and she'd have to survive this school in the dark (and avoid her feelings for this mysterious man, Jude), but uh... that was not really the case at all. There's way more going on in this book than that.
One could say there's TOO MUCH going on in this book, and I'd agree. HOWEVER... Now that I've reached the ending, I'm sort of cool with it? Honestly, the ending is what elevated this book for me (everything after the dialogue of "Who's your daddy?" is pure gold to me):
Spoiler
and I can't be the only one that, upon hearing that line from Remy REALLY wanted some time-travel shenanigans to have happened and it turned out Remy and Carolina were somehow Clementine's parents. And don't tell me it wouldn't make sense from a time-travel perspective because really, there was NOTHING stopping this author from going there, because she was already making up things in her own world/breaking her own rules as regards to world-building and how (randomly) some people get to keep their powers and others don't, plus the whole part of walking/fighting in a hurricane, so don't tell me she couldn't go there. I wanted that, but alas, t'was not meant to be and I got some dude in a tapestry being her dad instead (just... what? Also, who just walks out and starts shaving and none of the characters care, I mean REALLY! I sound sarcastic but I LOVED this, this was pure hilarity to me and I had a great time with the ending - so bonkers you just HAVE to love it)Spoiler
I laughed out loud at the reveal of her son's name. KEATS! My God, I was just having so much fun with all of that, that reveal and that name killed me... There's just a lot of elements in this book that I probably didn't appreciate enough... or appreciate in the manner the author intended. I respect the thought this took, but with so many plot elements, it was just too much... and that made it all the better, haha! (at least, for me; I see that for others it was definitely a negative, lol)Non-Spoiler Section:
This book was non-stop action. If you've read the Maximum Ride series, then you'll have an idea as to the type of non-stop action I'm talking about. This book doesn't take breaks to have our MC and her friends just breathe. No. This is NON-STOP ACTION, all the way through. Sure, there's pockets of moments, but even those moments are clouded by some action-oriented or mysterious plot element, whether that is the aftermath of feeding monsters or if it's trying to make sense of multiple layers of time being layered onto one another.
I'm getting sidetracked and this review is clearly nonsensical/out of order, so let me try to organize my thoughts into categories:
Writing: I personally liked Ms. Wolff's writing style. It's easy-to-read, but does come off as being very much geared to a young-adult audience, which can at times be at odds with how much cursing and death there is... but at the same time, I read dark stuff when I was 11 and 12, so eh. Overall, I think she succeeded in the young-adult voice. Her characters and main character in particular came off a teenagers to me. Great job here! However, there were many instances of purposefully keeping readers in the dark just to create tension. From a technical standpoint I see WHY the author did that but it didn't work for me (I mention this because I think more adults will be frustrated with this writing choice, but it probably is good for the YA/teen audience).
Description: It would have been nice to get a little bit more description on the physical attributes of some of the monsters. I knew what a manticore was going into this, but not everyone would. The description of chricklers came in at the end (instead of at the first or second appearance) - interesting choice, but it was what it was.
Characters: There's a lot of characters in this story, but the main POV is told from Clementine. She's fine - I had no qualms with her as a main character. She doesn't stand out to me regarding her actions, so I'm not sure how memorable she'll be for me, but I loved that she was a manticore as her shifting ability, because I find that unique. Jude's power/mythical element was cool, too. He was fine as a character - lots of pushing Clem away and then not. It's a used trope in other supernatural romance related stories, so it wasn't anything new, but it worked fine here, too. Remy stole the show for me with "Who's your daddy?" No dialogue will top that for me (except for "Keats", maybe), so Remy's number 1. I'm also interested in Izzy's background story.
Nicknames: Yes, this deserves it's own category. I did not like their nicknames - Clem's and Jude's nicknames just seemed clunky to me, personally, and I think that I would have rather seen flashbacks to build up that history rather than going this route to insinuate a history. (On a personal level, some of those did not roll off the tongue well)................. Having said that, I was a fan of the nickname of "Jean-Jerks." I'll die in the minority on this opinion, and I accept that, but come on, it's just FUN (and who doesn't love fun alliteration, it added character to Clementine, too).
Plot: It was bonkers. It sucked. It was great. It was all of the adjectives rolled into one. I can't explain it, but here are some plot elements:
Survive a storm/hurricane/natural element
Learn magical powers in a stressful/dangerous time (with high potential to die)
Monster shenanigans (feeding, running from, and fighting)
Time shenanigans
Ghost/Apparition mysteries
School(/prison?) survival with bullies/"Jerks"
Evil (?) headmaster/mother subplot
Mysterious "No, I'm too dangerous to date" boy romance subplot
Mafia tie-in (ending)
I'm probably missing something, because a lot happened in this book, which leads into...
Worldbuilding: What worldbuilding? This is not the story you want to read if you crave consistency in your story.... or a sense of logic (as pertaining to our own real world structures). Honestly, this should have annoyed me a LOT more than it did. For me, I would have liked more about the power structure/hierarchy of all these creatures (or get into the specifics of this magic-block the school uses, since it seems oddly lax when it comes to MCs), but alas.* That was not really the focus unless it needed to be for the plot, and even then, nothing is explained. Having said that, I do think this lack of worldbuilding lends itself more easily to a YA audience. It was sort of annoying when things came out of left-field, though, so it seems like the author likes to leave things open to add things in when she thinks of them. On my end, I was able to just ignore a lot of things. I don't know why - I was just fine with it.
Editing: Overall good, probably. I didn't see any spelling/grammatical errors, but there were some odd moments. At one point Remy starts asking about boats... and there were no boats ever mentioned in the story, and I think there was something inconsistent with a dialogue between Simon and Jude at one point, too. Or at least, not expanded on. In both instances, it seemed like something had potentially changed in editing (boats-->portal, perhaps? Scene change/elimination?) and part of the dialogue forgot to be updated. I could be wrong, but it just threw me for a loop... Or I just wasn't reading well. Either way, it ended up being sort of par for the course since the plot does throw you around, so... Yup. :D
*Note: I did NOT read the Crave series, so it's possible a lot of the worldbuilding was done in her other series, but I stand by the notion that this is the first book in a separate series. Quick run-downs would not have hurt.
Setting: It's a school on a small island in the Gulf of Mexico. It didn't need a lot of scene-dressing, and what I got, I was happy with.
That's about it. I'm not really happy with this review, as I don't think it captures the true essence of what I felt toward this book. I faced a lot of feelings while reading this, ranging from boredom at the repetitive monster-fighting scenes to laugh-out-loud absurdity at the reveals happening at the end. Also, I did like the idea of the monsters and the nightmares (so I understand why we had the long set-up that we did), so add some interest in the magic/overall bigger plot in her world, and... yeah, I'll probably be around for Book 2, though I really only want to read it if it can match this book's energy level, because this one was a journey.
I won't be checking out her other series, though. I'm here for the bonkers magic/world-building/crazy chaos. I didn't know I was, but here we are. I am now. :D
So, yes. I understand the reviews from the lower end of the spectrum.
Would I read this again? No, but I'm glad I read it once, so I think that is deserving of a 3-star rating.
DNF @ 44%
I tried really hard to get into this but I just couldn’t. The book just felt off. The worldbuilding was off and the plot was weird. I couldn’t connect to characters to save my life. And the chemistry between the mmc and fmc felt nonexistent.
I tried really hard to get into this but I just couldn’t. The book just felt off. The worldbuilding was off and the plot was weird. I couldn’t connect to characters to save my life. And the chemistry between the mmc and fmc felt nonexistent.
challenging
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes