The Nightmare Virus - Nadine Brandes

★★★☆☆

Inception meets Gladiator in this fun sci-fi fantasy

Narrative Voice: 1st person

Cussing/profanity: 0/5

Drug/alcohol use: 1/5
Kissing: 0/5
Sex/nudity: 0/5
Violence/gore: 2/5

Had a fantastic premise. The dreamscapes and Real World were great worldbuilding. Inception-like. Having it be Roman-themed I think might have made the world less spectacular, as it is a familiar aesthetic, rather than something unique and new. Lots of great action, doesn’t shy away from being dark and gritty, a love-to-hate villain, fun twists, and the question of morality in dreamscapes.

Well-paced for me, action-filled and a fast read, but I liked Wishtress more.

Really wish it wasn’t 1st person. So many characters I would have loved to get in the heads of, then maybe the interactions wouldn’t have felt so surface-level.

Main character Cain; whose age I don’t even think was even mentioned but is allegedly in his 20s…I thought he was 16 from the tone and writing style because it came off a little weak with mostly exposition and no deep internal emotion [when he’s not angry.]

The premise starts to unravel as the story goes on, (bringing this from a 4 to a 3) and then gets quickly mashed back together under a sloppy bow of “Have Faith in God and that’s how we win.” I’m a devout Christian and love allegories, but the Christian themes in this book just stuck out like cactus prickles and weren’t seamlessly incorporated to the story. They just didn’t feel authentic, sounded cheesy sometimes, and felt random any time they popped up.

So. Many. Pop culture references. Not a fan. Cringey.

The ending was lackluster and disappointing. I get it; thematically it makes sense but…ehhh.

Exciting premise. Solid themes. Okay story.

(Also Cain SHOULD have woken up with soiled pants multiple times but it’s never mentioned…that oddly bothered me lol!)

If you’re not nitpicky on story structure or character arcs, or you like a younger-sounding MC with movie/book references galore, you’ll enjoy this one. I’m happy I read it.

3/5 would recommend to teens.