Look, when the book’s blurb starts out with “ever since her sister became a man-eating spider”, how in the world could I not pick up this book? And while I was initially put off by the cover (seriously, it doesn’t not match the book at all), I’m so glad I picked this up. It’s a quirky story but one I very much enjoyed.

For over a hundred years, people have been afraid of Nightmares. If you dream, you have a chance of turning into a Nightmare, a representation of the thing you fear the worst. Sometimes it means you turn into a lizard man but are otherwise still the same mentally, while some turn into giant spider monsters. People regularly take pills to prevent dreams.

“It’s hard to stop being afraid when the whole world is literally full of monsters.
And anyone could become another one whenever they go to sleep.”


Ness ended up in the big city of Newham after her sister turned into a Nightmare and killed her father and several others in their small town. She fell in with the Friends of the Restful Soul after getting therapy from them and her tiny brick-walled room is the only safe space she knows. Eight years later, Ness is still terrified of Nightmares, constantly wearing gloves to prevent contagion and taking extra pills just in case. Even the thought of one makes her cower and hide so it’s not a surprise she’s terrible at all the assignments the Friends give her. But when her latest assignment goes sideways, she’s forced to face her fears – if she can survive them.

The world building is great. It seems to be set in a sort of 1920s era with Prohibition and speakeasys and flapper hats. The entire premise – turning into your worst nightmare – is inventive and enthralling. Newham is corrupt to an almost hilarious extent. No one even blinks when the mayor’s pet pterodactyl gobbles up a journalist who asks a prying question. People clamor to watch one of the city’s superheroes defeat the latest monster du jour and then get autographs from them signed in the monster’s blood. Ness has a sort of cynical resignation to the whole thing which is at times dryly humorous and at other times, well, horrifying.

“The cult?” he asks.
“It’s not a cult,” I insist.
He gives me a disbelieving look. “It’s called the Friends of the Restful Soul. It’s so a cult.”


Watching Ness grow from being a complete self-described coward to someone who can stand up for herself was very enjoyable. Of course, she has a lot of help from her friends. I loved Priya whose goal in life was to become a Nightmare hunter and who argued constantly with her sister about it. And then there’s Cy, the mysterious person who rescues Ness. Cy’s the one who makes Ness start to question her fear of Nightmares and she definitely didn’t thank him for that at first!

As for cons, there were moments where it got too preachy, where the author felt the need to wallop the reader over the head with a particular revelation. And yes, it was based on the story, but at times they felt too complicated for Ness to come up with at that point in time. That’s not to say I didn’t like the themes. There’s a lot around how the media represents frankly abusive relationship. My favorite, though, was exploring Ness’s idea of safety. Ever since she survived her sister’s Nightmare by hiding in a kitchen cabinet, her idea of safety is hiding herself away and hoping the monsters don’t notice her, like her tiny room at the Friends. But when that safety is ripped from her, what else is left?

Overall, while I had some quibbles, I enjoyed the book and its fascinating world. This looks like it might be a series, and if so, I’ll definitely read the next book! Recommended for anyone looking for a YA fantasy about how a regular person survives life in a dystopian, Gotham-like city.

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I absolutely Loved this book!! The characters were very interesting and relatable. I really loved how the author kept the story moving without it slowing down and getting boring. I will be recommending this book to all of my friends and family.

A highly unique premise that I hope Schaeffer considers lending out to other authors or *something*. I will be looking into more from her for sure. It was well rendered, with just a smidgen of polish needed. I hope to see her and Laini Taylor plot to destroy my peace and happiness by merely writing YA dreaming fantasy forever, instead of levelling up into adult fiction.
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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity with this title.

This book did not end the way I thought it was going to, but in a good way. I can’t wait to see where else we go with these characters and story.

The premise of this book pulled me in– people go to sleep and wake up as their worst nightmare! In a city filled with crime!

Unfortunately the energy of the first couple of chapters did not carry through the rest of the book. The plot felt disorganized, and the voice lacked the grittiness that the premise promised. While initially I was interested by the originality of the MC being, in her words, a coward, this passiveness soon varied between being inconsistent to being frustrating.

Again, this story’s premise held a lot of promise, but I don’t think that it followed through, and ended up feeling like a collection of story ideas rather than a cohesive story.

Review will be public when Harper Collins Strike Resolves - Post on blog scheduled for January 31st. Will postpone if strike is not resolved by date.

Ness has been terrified, seemingly of everything, since her sister transformed into her greatest nightmare and devoured their father. She lives in a city that seems riddled with corruption and Nightmares (those transformed that have retained their sanity) and the chance of becoming a Nightmare lurks around every evening when sleep comes. Pitched as 'Holly Black meets Gotham' or 'Strange the Dreamer meets Gotham' this had so much potential - plus that cover is gorgeous. Unfortunately it stumbled very quickly out the gate and never really picked itself back up for me.

It starts with a character so riddled with fear that she barely functions. She's obsessive about the pills she takes to prevent her from going Nightmare at night. She sleeps in tiny, enclosed spaces to feel safe. At the beginning of the story she encounters a Nightmare while working and seemingly runs out a window, down a fire escape, half way across the city, and back up into her tiny closet room to avoid it - leaving behind the girl she calls her best friend in the world. She barely, barely functions. Not to mention this gripping fear of Nightmares seems a bit much considering the entire city is full of them. I'm sincerely confused on how this girl made it as long as she did.

The story from there is best described as 'weak'. She survives an explosion on a boat with the help of a young man, a Nightmare I might add, and then ends up with assassins on her tail. I will not spoil how this happens here - see my Goodreads review for spoiler tags - but the way everything ties together is completely unbelievable and incredibly messy. This would have been tolerable if not for the heavy handedness of the moralizing in the book.

Entire sections of this book are dedicated to how fiction can 'normalize abuse'. For example, Ness sees a poster for a vampire movie - think Twilight - and goes on a page long interlude of describing how this 'can and does' normalize the removal of consent from relationships. How women who view these movies/read these books are willingly giving up their free will or give up the ability to thing critically and just become victims. It was, in a word, gross. While yes, fiction can influence people it does not always do so. Fiction can be a catharsis, it can be a critique, and it can simply be an escape. The blanket, heavy handedness of the moralizing here allowed for no room for nuance. It broke the argument down to the simplest of black and white and took the high ground.

By the end I was exhausted by this and frustrated. With the exception of two friends, and two adults the entire city of Newham (and very annoying play on Gotham that took me the whole book to see) is vile and corrupted. There is no goodness in this world, and it crushes everything. The book is suffocated first by it's very heavy moralizing but also by it's 'dark atmosphere'. I don't recommend this one sadly. The cover is the best part, and besides tone has little to do with the story itself!

2 Giant Hairy Spider Monsters out of 5

Also - fucking rude, spiders are adorable

Enjoyable, and certainly compelling; I finished it in two sittings. Ness is an excellent, fully formed character and the exploration of fear and the power of nightmares was great. But the worldbuilding was so flat, like absolute grimdark nonsense treated as mildly humorous. It was fine, but none of it felt real, and the tech and attitudes felt incongruous in a way that mostly just drew me out of the story.

But the most immersion breaking thing was that there were several points throughout that felt like the sentences were written specifically to avoid getting cancelled on YA twitter or to subtweet other books/authors. The extended discussion on how you're a bad person who supports rape culture if you think vampires are sexy was particularly egregious.

To be honest i wasn't sure I was going to like this book after reading the first few chapters because the world Ness inhabits is definitely.... different. However, as I read on I found Ness, a 19-year-old suffering from PTSD to be a very compelling character and while the world is not something I am used to it completely drew me in.

If you're looking for a fairly quick read and something different than your typical YA novel I would definitely give this one a chance.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC!

This was WEIRD. That is absolutely the first word to use. When I started the book I was sure I was going to give this maybe 2 stars. It started in just a strange way, learning that the main character’s sister turned in to a giant spider while she slept and then ate their father. It had a very “wait…what?!” beginning. However, as I learned more about the main character and the world, I was hooked.

Our main character is Ness, who is suffering from PTSD and anxiety due to the trauma of her sister turning into a Nightmare and what she did that night. Nightmares are people who fell asleep one night, had a nightmare, and turned in to the thing that scares them most. The world is full of corruption, crooked politicians (including a mayor with a pterodactyl on a leash,) gangs, and crime is just brushed off as expected. I’m talking, “it’s time for the politicians to start their assassination attempts” kind of brushed off. It is a terrifying world and I think the Nightmares are the least of it!

Without giving any spoilers, Ness is thrown into situation after situation that makes her completely uncomfortable because she is genuinely terrified of all things Nightmare related. For some time in the beginning, I was having a hard time with her naivety and fear until I really thought about her dealing with trauma and her sheltered life due to the cult she joined for protection and therapy. If you start to get annoyed with her early on, stick with it! So many things happen one after the other, and you sit there knowing you can’t trust most of these people but you’re not exactly sure who is the bad guy. The “what’s next?!” feeling truly made for a fun read.

Hi everyone! Today I'll be reviewing City of Nightmares by Rebecca Schaeffer.
In this book we get to know the story of Ness, a nineteen-year-old girl whose sister became a giant man-killing spider. Now, Ness has an irrational fear of Nightmares —people that have been turned into their worst fear— and of ending up like her sister. To sum it up, she's a certified coward, and when she narrowly escapes an explosive murder attempt, her whole world is turned upside down.
I really liked this book. The concept of Nightmares is a very interesting one, and it surely has an immense potential. I loved each character's distinctive personality and I actually liked the romance bits —though those are not featured so prominently in this first book. I also loved the world in which the story is set in, and I'd love to read the sequel.
I’d like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a huge surprise!

I am so impressed with how entertaining the story was. It is very dark and yet very funny and the world was so unique with definitely the Gotham vibes.
I loved the characters so much!! The dynamic between Ness and Cy was exquisite. I felt very connected with Ness and how she deals with her fears. I think anyone could relate to that and it’s very precious to see how she develops into a strong character. I loved the message behind the book as well, everyone should read it to learn how to not let your fears take the control.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel. 4/5 stars.

I...look, I know it says it was inspired by Gotham but I was not expecting the level of absurdity and weirdness and just...chaos this was. It was BEAUTIFULLY strange and weird and there's a pterodactyl and lizard man and all sorts of other things?? Like...oh my GOODNESS. There's also your typical nightmares like vampires and werewolves and giant spiders and whatnot...all living together absolutely not peacefully in this world.

There's also a lot of corruption. And cults. And murder and assassination is just normal. It sucked me in so fast because a lot of it I couldn't believe what I was reading. The narration and writing style is also just *chef's kiss*

Anyways, Ness has a fear of nightmares. Her nightmare is becoming a nightmare...but of course, they don't dream anymore to prevent people from turning into nightmares by drugging their water supply and MANY sleeping drugs...so what happens when Ness starts to dream?

Oh, she's also on a boat. that explodes....and then befriends a...DASHING man (vamp) named Cy and their banter? It's glorious.

While this is a "solving a mystery of who tried to assassinate us but then continued to try to assassinate us and have us killed" novel....it also deals a LOT with Ness overcoming anxiety (like...she has panic attacks when she sees nightmares, she wears gloves to prevent contagious ones) and understanding what makes up her fear and how to overcome her fear.

Not going to lie, when I first started reading this I was concerned at what I got myself into...but oh my god this was AMAZING (deduction for some slight just absolute absurdity and the never ending plot) and I was sucked in SO FAST. I basically finished the book by only putting it down because I needed to sleep.

It kept losing my interest. I’d start and stop reading until finally sitting and soaking it all in. The suspense is there as are a wide range (a sister… who became a spider; humans, vampires paranormal and more) of characters. I gave a 4 star rating bec once I got going I did want to finish it. Also, bec I believe if you’re a fan of the genre I think you’ll enjoy it a lot more than I did.

Really enjoyed this book! A morally corrupt city and fear of sleeping as it could turn you into your worst nightmare have combined to create a riveting story. The humor and unexpected twists will keep you engaged. If you’re a fan of The Boys, I think you will enjoy this book. Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the arc!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

City of Nightmares
by Rebecca Schaeffer
Pub Date: 10 Jan 2023

I absolutely adored this book! Which doesn't even make sense considering it takes place in a world where nightmares can turn you into a monster. The setting and atmosphere were creepy and scary but managed to feel so realistic in how it was presented. The characters were brilliant, from our scaredy-cat heroine, Ness, her kick-ass best friend, Priya, and our vampire, Cy, who has a heart of gold. Their character growth and the dynamics between them all just made me smile. This book was an unexpected delight...there was a perfect balance of dark with pure, lighthearted fun. I can't wait for the next book. While I loved the friendship arc, the romantic in me has my fingers crossed that Cy and Ness can become something more...

5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I've been going back and forth in my head trying to decide what I wanted to rate this book. In the end I've decided to go with four stars, albeit a very low four star. On the one hand I felt like the premise was incredibly intriguing, I liked the characters and the setting but I found the beginning of this very clunky. There are some moments the main character, Ness, is discussing Vampires in media and the writing just feels very let me as an author speak through the characters to say how I feel. This happens again a few chapters later when our protagonist is speaking with a boy she barely trusts and suddenly they're both waxing on about what makes a relationship toxic, confessing fears, and examining what makes a good friendship. It's just so bizarre considering a chapter before Ness was trying find a weapon incase she needed to defend herself against this boy and even during this conversation admits to herself she's still not comfortable with him to consider the friendship they were discussing. So how could you be comfortable to have all these deep conversations? It really just read like the author wanted to talk about relationships and how she feels and just went about inserting it into the book in a way that just doesn't read right.

The book does eventually find its feet. I think the writing smooths out as the author and characters get more settled into the world and start working to uncover the conspiracy operating at the heart of the story. I really enjoyed how many layers were built into the various mysteries. There's one reveal at the end with a character I hadn't really bothered to take much note of and it was shocking to see how they were involved. Overall, I think the idea of a world where everyone is varying degrees of crook was a lot of fun to read. Ness as a self-admitted coward was an interesting type of protagonist to read and I think adds something new to the YA fantasy genre. Ness's best friend Priya was a lot of fun, I adored her attitude to everything in the city. I also loved how many different versions of nightmares were explored. Yes, there's the basic bug phobias and people turning into giant spiders or cockroaches but there's also people who turn into infectious diseases or twisted caricatures of people who have tormented them. I've yet to decide if I want to read the next book, I guess I'll see if I'm interested when it releases.

City of Nightmares is so much fun readers will stay up all night to finish it. Rebecca Schaeffer delivers another dose of morally ambiguous, delightful chaos--this time with a refreshing examination of how we view vampires.

I found parts of this book very funny and overall, the plot tracked well and made sense. However, I couldn't really get past the writing style personally and there were quite a few run-on sentences. I found I focused more on the writing and it took away from my focus on the plot. I feel this could simply be me and my preferences. I opted to give the story 3 stars yet or the wit and the plot.

I LOVED this book. It was super long, but gave me the cutest adventure while it lasted. Now when I say cutest, I don’t mean what normal people might consider cute. This book follows a young girl who is afraid of everything. And why not? She had two of her family members taken from her in the worst way. But, in this story, Ness, has to take it upon herself to free herself from fear. She’ll have a new friend and her best friend along with her. This book was so refreshing. It was an easy fun read and that’s exactly what you want. I would consider this a fantasy, YA, and horror-ish novel. I hope there is a sequel because I definitely want to find out what happens next.

Thank you for this arc! This was an honest review written by me!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for a chance to review City of Nightmares. I wish i liked this a little more. The concept is original , but the plot is erratic. characters are OK but noone i really vibed with.. Honestly, the best part is the cover of the book.