I really liked this, I was worried because I REALLY liked the 1st 3 books following Nevada, but although Catalina was quite different from Her older sister; the characterization (aside from being instagram obsessed &saying “I Can’t Even”) -& why Nevada is no longer HoH- is well explained. House Baylor is out of their grace period & Catalina makes powerful allies &enemies, including some from their past. Alessandro is no Mad Rogan tho. 

It’s under 200 pages and basically pornography, but still pretty cute. Sometimes the gritty backstory is super cringy, & this one was a bit over the top but somewhat relatable

Following the fall of the Soviet Union, the author as producer tries to help Russia by spreading values of tolerance, individuality &friendship that Big Bird &friends are known for. Just when the shock gave way to tedium from all the murder &money problems, the focus shifted to the process of finding design &storytelling elements that would encompass the Sesame Street vibe while being something Russian children could relate to. Very interesting

Novella moving the series from Nevada to Catalina as Catalina is hired to solve a crime surrounding her sisters wedding. Quite a change from confident Nevada to the anxious, out of her element Catalina. But it makes perfect sense given the nature of Catalina’s power. Very enjoyable!

I liked the protagonist and the other Institute kids. But it felt really long in parts and the resolution was middling.

 At first I was wishing for a romantic storyline recap (things were a bit entangled) but the story focussed on the action. New nightmare creatures, all sorts of Wonderland magic &our MC facing down her fears.

Some of the real world emotional subplots were put to the wayside in favor of the resolution, but it was a solid conclusion to the Nightmare-verse

Felt random & ending reveal was rushed. The character interactions didn’t at all pick up where they left off in the last one, & what growth there was from Trace was completely erased here 

I don’t know that there’s much in the way of uncharted material as far as the subject matter (MLMs are bad, yes, even if you are making money) but the author took ownership for her own BS & related the insidiousness of MLM cults very thoroughly.

I truly did not want to like this as much as I did, I read it because it was on someone’s list for having THE hurt/comfort scene (yeah it was really good), the FMC is the smallest small girl with tiny baby bird bones which got a bit grating, & it did at times become ridiculous in general but it hit a lot of high notes.