I will give my feedback when harpercollins union will pay their workers a living wage in NYC and diversify their house book picks. Until then i will be holding back my review. I love the book so i cant wait to share once this happens.

I thought the idea of nightmares coming to life after dreaming was such a cool concept, and one that was expertly explored. The world building was very well done here. You really got the feeling of corruption and general weariness of just living through another day, but making the best of things. The characters were well written and Ness especially had some pretty serious character growth over the course of the book. It was interesting watching her come out of her shell little by little, usually drawn out by Cy, who was very emotionally vulnerable himself. They definitely brought out the best in each other.

This book was a charming surprise. It had bits of everything - horror, action and adventure, and humor. Ness lives in Newham where you can literally become your nightmare. She walks the streets with more harmless nightmares like lizard-like people and different strains of vampires. She witnessed her older sister become a giant man-eating spider and eat her father, and since then she's been terrified of everything. She survived a boat explosion with a nightmare named Cy, and she begins to discover that not all nightmares are terrifying. They begin a quest to figure out what really happened on that boat, who was the target, and why.

The world-building in this book was inventive, and I enjoyed the slight touches of humor, when talking about the Newham corruption, I can see Ness rolling her eyes and saying, "Why of why Newham."

I look forward to the next book, where we hopefully learn more about the phantom and what the cult is really up to.

"Dreaming means waking up as your worst fear," you say?

Let's also add in some "eh, might die, but I can't afford to be anywhere else" vibes and I'm sold. This was such a fascinating concept and a really fun read.

Concept: ★★★★★
Characters: ★★★★★
Plot/Pacing: ★★★
Enjoyment: ★★★★★

Man, I really wish I'd gotten around to my advanced reading copy sooner so that I could have been an AGGRESSIVE promoter of it during its release week. I have fallen down on my duties!!

This book was such a good ride, y'all, and I am definitely paying attention now.

Ness Near lives in the City of Nightmares. No wait, Gotham. No wait, it's not either of those places—it's Newham. Either way, the vibes are the same: this is not the kind of city you'd like to live in.

Rampant crime and violent death. In-your-face political corruption. Unbelievable living conditions. And none of those things are the worst selling point—it's the Nightmares that you have to worry about.

What if every time you dreamed, you rolled the dice on the chance that you woke up as your worst Nightmare?

Ness is very aware of the tragedy and horror of that gamble. When she was younger, one night her older sister, Ruby, went to sleep and woke up as a giant, man-eating spider. Ruby was gone, and the spider in her place killed their father and others in town.

Let's just say that Ness never quite got over that.

Now a young adult living at the Friends of the Restless Soul compound—a charity (cough cough, cult) organization that provides "pay as you can afford" therapies to Nightmare trauma survivors—Ness is eeking away a frightened and barely there existence in the country's most dangerous city and surrounded on a daily basis by her worst fear: Nightmares.

And then, to make matters worse, Ness ends up embroiled in an embroiled assassination attempt beyond her wildest imaginings and finds the little ground she's scraped and bled to assemble ripped out from under her.

Oh, and then there's the Nightmare that ends up in (and on) the same boat she's in, who just might turn out to be her only friend.

Yep. Things are about to get...interesting.

(And that's saying something for the city of Newham, where the current Mayor keeps a Nightmared-pterodactyl on a leash to eat her political enemies.)

Okay, so if you've made it this far into the review and are somehow NOT already interested, let me just say that City of Nightmares was such a fun and self-aware ride.

As a reader who burned herself out on traditional young adult books, it's getting rarer and rarer these days for me to find a hook that invites me into a story. I'd like something new—that I haven't read before—and I'd like it to be done well and with the right amount of believable character traits. I'm ruthless with my reading tastes when I want to be, and for the past year the genre under the chopping block has been young adult fantasy.

But not this one. This one, I devoured.

Ness is the right kind of character for this story. In a world where fear itself is the commodity of choice, Ness is true scaredy cat. She's a self-professed coward, one who can barely handle the benign Nightmares that walk the streets harmlessly, not to mention the actually dangerous ones. Ness jumps from safe zone to safe zone under the constant internalized threat of Death by Nightmare. She's a right mess, alright?

And that really worked for me. While we all like to pretend we're relatable to the hero of a fantasy story, we're really...not. How many of us would sign up for that dangerous quest, or that big bad boss showdown, or that heist against the odds? I'm self-aware enough to admit that given the actual facts, I'd be like Ness. "How can I survive this experience and avoid personal damage to the best of my abilities, please?" Sign me up for that self-preservation track. Yup.

So I thought that thread of character realism in this caricaturized, fictional version of our real world's dark side was awesome. It lent a dose of grounding to the sensational world building. And it made for a very good reading experience.

Did the pacing lag a bit? Yeah. Did we also kind of rush things there at the end of this first book? Maybe. But honestly, I had such a good time that I don't really care about that.

Book two, I'm waiting for you!

Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is strange to say the least, but in such an awesome and amazing way. The city is inspired by the city of Gotham with giant lizards, vampires and even pterodactyls. Its a strange mix of crazy along with a perfectly lovely girl who has joined a cult but after being in the wrong place at the wrong time she has to gain some courage to fight the nightmares of the city.

The tagline that calls this “Gotham meets Strange the Dreamer” is actually pretty accurate. Despite this, I was still surprised to find that it’s set in a fairly modern world. I suppose the synopsis didn’t really lend itself to a particular time period, but I did picture this as more of a traditional fantasy city setting. I was actually pleasantly surprised that it was more modern, with phones, trains, non-wind powered ships, etc. and it ended up feeling like a gritty version of Brandon Sanderson’s Steelheart world but with far more terrifying monsters.

Our main character Ness is introduced to us as she and her best friend are visiting a grieving woman with pamphlets from the Friends of the Restful Soul, the organization (cult?) that they both work for. The woman’s husband had just turned into a nightmare and had to be killed because you see, in this world if you allow yourself to dream you’ll turn into the thing you most fear. Since Ness’s sister turned into a giant man-eating spider years ago, Ness has been terrified of both becoming a nightmare and being attacked by one and she’s absolutely paralyzed with fear. She thinks she’s a total coward, but really she’s just traumatized and needs more therapy that isn’t provided by a cult.

Ness is forced to confront her fear when the ship she’s on is the target of an assassination attempt and blows up and the only way for her to survive is to accept the help of the vampire nightmare boy she just confronted. I love that the nightmares can be anything from the obvious man-eating spider, to mythical creatures like vampires, to the weirder example of a guy who didn’t like people much whose touch became addictive and people were constantly after him trying to get a high. It’s a really, really cool concept made even more interesting by the fact that some people retain their humanity/mental capacity when they’re transformed and they sort of assimilate back into society. So, there are accessibility considerations for, say, giant slugs. Oh, did I mention that the city Ness lives in is incredibly corrupt (hence the Gotham comparison) and it’s routine for political candidates to get murdered during election season?

Honestly, this book was a ton of fun for so many reasons. The author put quite a bit of thought into worldbuilding and the consequences and the infrastructure adjustments one might make in a world where dreaming could turn you into a 10 story tall monster. City of Nightmares did a great job exploring the subjects of trauma, loss, and overcoming fears and had great examples of navigating friendships and tough situations.

This one has for sure been a weird one!

Though entertaining for sure, sometimes the female lead can get a bit much.. at least for me. Living in a world where every one of your worst nightmares can become a reality, Ness is quite literally terrified of the outside world. Working in a place where these nightmares brought to life are their quarry well.. Ness is not succeeding at all. When forced with the reality of not having her home and safe place and when her last chance is literally blown up, Ness must face one of her greatest fears if she’s ever going to be able to live in peace again.

This one is for sure an entertaining read that while the female lead gets to be too annoying, the unique storyline more than makes up for it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The synopsis for this book drew me in immediately, and I’m so glad I received an e-ARC for this one!

Ness lives in a world where nightmares roam the streets. Sleeping isn’t safe because if you go to sleep and then have a nightmare, you become that nightmare. Ness isn’t a brave MC. Ever since her sister turned into a giant spider that ate their father and several others, she has been terrified. She’s focused on herself and doing whatever it takes to survive. In an unexpected turn of events, Ness finds herself in the middle of an assassination conspiracy where she has to work with one of the nightmares she fears.

The world that Schaeffer created is dark and gruesome and wholly unique. Dangers awaits around every corner whether from nightmares or from the villainous humans that have learned to survive in this world. I just loved the concept so much; this is a world I’m going to be thinking about for a long time. The book itself was very readable, it is fast-paced and action packed. Really my only criticism is that some of the plot points weren’t needed and/or were only barely connected together; this made it where the plot progression didn’t feel natural at times.

Overall, I loved the story and the world. If anything in my review piqued your interest, I highly suggest you check this one out!

This was not my favorite Schaeffer book, but I think it's set up for a great series. In true Schaeffer fashion, it was weird and twisted what we "think" we think we know about creatures such as Vampires. I loved that it was all twisted up with nightmares. Schaeffer has such a way of crafting an interesting story that I will always jump at reading.

City of Nightmares, by author Rebecca Schaeffer, is part one of a two part duology that is planned by the publisher. Set in the city of Newham, where criminal syndicates and sinister cults reign and dreaming means turning into your worst nightmare, the worldbuilding here is fresh and exciting. Like the vampires and monstrous Nightmares that roam Newham, readers will find much to sink their teeth into. This book is being marketed as Gotham meets Strange the Dreamer.

In this world, people are turning into nightmares in their sleep. Some have gone as far as to take nightmare trauma therapy as well as taking drugs called Helomine to ensure they don't sleep. 19-year-old Vanessa (Ness) Near lost her family when her sister turned into a deadly monster, and went on a killing spree. Ness ended up with the Friends of the Restful Souls. Ness is terrified of all Nightmares, even though not all of them are mindless. She lives in a tiny room provided by the Friends of the Restful Soul, which basically is like the Salvation Army.

Everyone calls it a cult, but as long as they let Ness stay, she doesn't care. Because she's afraid of nightmares, she's a liability. Thankfully her roommate, Priya, a Nightmare hunter in training, often keeps Ness out of trouble. To prove herself, she agrees to go on a mail run to a resort on Patton Island. But, before she can finish the job, the ship explodes and the only survivors are her and a vampire named Cy who saves her life. Though he saves her life, she's still terrified of him until she learns whether or not he is going to attempt to bite her

Soon thereafter, Ness and Cy learn that the ships explosion wasn't an accident, and now there are assassins after Ness in order to silence them from talking. Ness soon digs into who brought the bomb on board and why, and the only people she can now trust are the boy who saved her, and Priya, the girl who is supposed to be joining the Nightmare Division group which has a whole lot of secrets of their own. Oh, and let's not forget the powerful mayor who has her own man eating pterodactyl or the fact that Ness meets an actual Nightmare who becomes extremely curious about her.

One thing this story has going for itself is that it doesn't take itself seriously. There's a bunch of dark comedy and Ness isn't your typical heroine who wants to save the world by somehow suddenly having strange and unusual powers to defeat the horrible nightmares. Nope, she's just a girl who got a bad rap as a child after her sister's episode, and has been living in fear that the same thing could happen to her. Plus, having Cy and Priya around let's her become someone she can actually like.

City of Nightmares by Rebecca Schaeffer
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This is a story about 19 year old Ness, who lives in a city where people are afraid to dream. When they dream the wake up to become their worst nightmare. Ness is afraid of everything and tries her best to hide in her little cubby hole. Until one day while on an errand, her whole life seems to explode.
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I wound up loving this book more than I thought I would.
The plot was well thought out and super different from other stories I’ve read and I LOVED THAT.
Ness was a great character with a great back story, I could understand her. She had this traumatic event when she was younger, it shaped her fear and made her (understandably) terrified of nightmares.
And then she met Cy, and the irony was beautiful.
I was expecting some reveals, but the reveals even surprised me. (No spoilers) I loved how it ended and would love to read more in this world.
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4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The premise for this novel, along with the title immediately drew me in. I was extremely excited to get approved for this one. The story starts off quickly so as not to drag, and then it pretty quickly turns into a who done it. I went from learning about the world to wanting to know what the heck was going on. I was also intrigued by the characters and their motivations. This ended up being rather quick to read because of the pacing, and the ending left me wanting to read the sequel.

I will be withholding my full review until HarperCollins meets with and agrees to terms set out by the union. I look forward to adding my review here and elsewhere once the strike is over.

I loved this book so much but will be holding my full review until Harper Collins has agreed to the very reasonable terms set out by the union. I look forward to adding my full review when the strike is over.

My first ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read of 2023!
Out now!!

Holy smokes this book is amazing. If you have seen Gotham, or watched any of the Batman movies and thought “why in the world would you live in Gotham?? Just move already!” Then this is the book for you!

When you read it, go in blind. It will make the story even better, I promise! I loved that the main character has anxiety, she was so relatable and brave. But also not your average heroine that jumps into danger just to be the heroine! This book makes every character face their biggest fears head on, and it really makes you think!

This is the first book of a duology, BUT it doesn’t end on a cliffhanger (thank heavens) so you can read it now and not hate yourself for having to wait until September.

I highly recommend this dark and twisty young adult book! It’s so unique, and nothing like a typical YA book.

This was a strange book--not to say I didn't like it--it was just kind of odd...An interesting urban fantasy about nightmare-ish like creatures who are a living reality. An interesting premise.

“Dreaming means waking up as your worst nightmare”.

This sentence itself from the blurb is just amazing and I absolutely loved the concept. That’s all I had to read to request an arc! Also, of course the cover and the title drew me. That being said, I really enjoyed this book. I found it creative and unique. The story itself is fast paced and I never really knew what direction it was headed.

Our main character Ness was much too cowardly for me. Yes, that makes her more real and maybe relatable? But I just thought she was a bit too much. I wasn’t expecting her to be Katniss or Batman or something but she was too pathetic for me. I think that took away from the story for me personally. She does become a bit more brave at the end but by then, the book was over.

I will be continuing the duo-logy to see how it ends though and hopefully Ness will be growing a backbone.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book!

This book was excellent!!! As soon as I saw it was like Gotham meets Strange the Dreamer, I knew this would be a great book, but due to the HC Stike, I will hold onto my review until something gets resolved. Still, I would check this book out!

Corruption, assasinations, cults, and monsters. Nightmares coming to fruition and people living out their worst nightmares in full view. This book was just what I was wanting.

Ness lives in a city full of dread and monsters and being a self-proclaimed coward this can only be hell on earth. I loved the characters and how the story developed. I fell immediately into this world and didn’t feel rushed or confused at any point with what was happening.

I do feel that sometimes there were parts that dragged out the same conversations over and over but this only happened a couple of times and in real life I feel like when conquering our fears we tend yo go over those thoughts again and again.

The concepts and creatures that were brought to life were outstanding and I can’t wait to see how this series progresses. This being my first from this author I will be searching out other books in her repertoire.

Thank you to Netagalley and Clarion Books for an advanced copy of this publication for my honest opinion

Ness lives in Newham, a city full of the monsters people change into if they have a nightmare. Newham is really interesting, it's has a 1920s feeling and also practices prohibition and has many gangsters throughout the streets. In other words, it's a perfect vibe for the city of nightmares.

This book has a surprising amount of depth to it. At least it was surprising to me. Ness is terrified of nightmares, which, unfortunately, walk the streets here. They are living with a cult like group so they can keep their tiny room and sense of safety. However, when the lizard director threatens to kick them out, they wind up with a whole new set of problems.

I loved the whole vibe of this book. Ness's character is so relatable as are the side characters that are their friends. I loved this read and can't wait for the sequel!