DNF (for now). Will hopefully come back and try again at another time. I really wanted to enjoy this but I struggled to get into it.

This is a dark fantasy about a woman whose job it is to hunt down and kill the nightmares that have come to life, although her trauma from seeing her sister turn into a nightmare and eat her father has left her unable to do the job.

Such fantastically novel world-building. I can't wait for the next in this series. This is my first Rebecca Schaeffer read, but I will definitely be reading her backlists.

Nightmares and monsters, cults and corruption! What more could a girl want?!

City of Nightmares swept me away from the start and plopped me right in the middle of the most interesting (and scary) world. The city has Gotham-level corruption…but with monsters.

The world and the fantasy elements were so unique and the plot unraveled into something bigger and more sinister than I was expecting! I finished and immediately looked up if there would be another book and thank god there is! I already preordered it.

I loved how our main character grew so much and learned to trust herself and others. I loved her new friend and their sweet friendship and how much it grew over the course of the book. I hope their relationship blossoms into something more in the next one!

So so good! And the narrator for the audiobook was spectacular!

Just noticed I never reviewed this. I definitely will be rereading this in the future but from what all I remember I loved the story. I gave it 5 stars and told a few friends about it but forgot to write a review. I will reread this when City of Cages comes out and write a proper review. All I know is... don't sleep or you will turn into your nightmare -shivers-

There was a lot going on in this book. I didn't find it very enjoyable. People turning into spiders. I love fantasy, but this one was a bit over the top for me.

It was too slow of tge start and unfortunitly I gave up. I liked the story but it was just not keeping my attention.

3.5 stars. The premise was great, but I wasn’t a hundred percent sold on the delivery. I loved Ness and Cy and the natural development of their friendship, and I loved Ness’ relationship with her best friend. I didn’t really care for some of the rants, and considering this is YA, some of the wording/ phrases used is more closer to middle age than a teenager.

Spoiler ahead::: I was confused about the nightmare origin- is the guy locked in the dream realm a monster, or other? And what’s his origin? Hopefully this is explained in the next book.

REVIEW

City of Nightmares has got to be one of the most interesting concepts for a plot and story I’ve ever read. The whole world is plagued by nightmares, to the point where they have special drugs in the water supply to keep you from dreaming. They are not normal nightmares, oh no. If you have a nightmare and things go wrong, the old you is gone, to be replaced by a feral monstrosity of your own creation. And then you are likely to go on a murder nightmare rampage and eat some people. This is such an awesome premise for a story and I was really interested in how people go to sleep and then just wake up as these demons and how sometimes nightmares can still get through the cracks.

Our FMC, Ness, works for this company that hunts down and destroys people who’ve become nightmares. The only problem with this is that she is absolutely terrified to the point she will RUN AWAY FROM THE JOB. She can’t handle being in the same vicinity as a nightmare due to the PTSD she has when her sister turned into a nightmare and ate her father in front of her. I can see why she has trauma. She ends up traveling on a ship for work where she meets this Vampire nightmare boy, Cy. The two end up in circumstances outside of their control that lead to being hunted down by more than one assassin 👀 There’s drama, there’s action, theorems intrigue. I’ll still be checking out book two, for sure.

One thing that really stood out to me and that I LOVED was that there didn’t seem to be any hint of romance between Ness and Cy??? That’s so REFRESHING. There was no longingly staring at lips or turning away and blushing. No accidental hand brushes—it was solely focused on these two lonely people and how they developed a real friendship despite their differences and trust issues. It was AMAZING and I wish more books would focus on friendships and not romantic relationships!! That is what I am here for. Now, who’s to say what will happen in book 2. I’m hoping they stay friends. Also I’m picking up on Cy maybe possibly being into his old friend who is very much not a girl so… 👀 there’s that.

Now, the issues I had with this book were minimal, but there. Mainly frustrating was the fact that the book felt very repetitive. I caught myself reading the same sentence or explanations or feelings over and over and over. It didn’t make me want to stop, but I hope that’s something that can be resolved in book 2. There’s only so many times I can read her saying “he’s gonna kill me and eat me” before I’m like dude, calm down and chill for 5 seconds.

Last button topic is that this book deals with a lot of issues with trauma and consent and emotional damage. I myself am not triggered by any of these things but it will be good for anyone going in to take a look at any warnings for this book.

Overall a very wild read. I’m interested to see where it goes and hope that some of the kinks in this one get worked out in the second! I would say definitely worth a read for the intrigue!

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 know about creatures such as Vampires. I loved that it all revolved around nightmares. Schaeffer has such a way of crafting an interesting story that I will always jump at reading.

The audio was done well and I think the narrator did great job.

I thought the premise was good and initially loved the story, but it kind of fell apart for me in the middle. Maybe the nightmare character is going to play a role in future installments, but he was so important and then he was just free. Did that mean people did not have to worry about their dreams anymore? It was also odd how characters were introduced as “white” or “black” with no other descriptors.

The audiobook was really good, it really helped me visualize the story and sucked me in just as much as when I was reading the digital copy.

The rest of this review is the same as my review of the digital copy of this book, as I was approved for both.

Ever since her sister turned into a giant spider and ate their father, and after a short stay with her aunt, Ness has been living at the Friends of the Restful Soul. They offer to pay what-you-can therapy for people whose lives have been affected by Nightmares. However, every time Ness encounter's a person turned NIghtmare her first impulse is to flee or hide, and this has gotten her into a bit of trouble with her organization. So as a last-ditch effort to not get kicked out of the only place she feels safe, she volunteers for the mail run, however, that does not go at all as planned when it blows up with her on it. And all her fears about Nightmares are challenged when a cute Vampire boy saves her life and doesn't even attempt to eat her... The nerve...

I loved watching Ness overcome her INTENSE fear, and make friends with Cy and how they worked together to figure out what is going on in Newham. I also loved her relationship with her bestest friend Priya, whose goal in life is to take down every NIghtmare she encounters.

I literally flew through this in just a few hours, and minus one part that came off kind of preachy really enjoyed this book. It's super fast-paced with a unique plot, I thought Ness was marvelous and liked Priya and Cy. I think the way this ended is that we are going to get a sequel and I would absolutely read that one too.

Schaeffer is not necessarily new to me but she's been one I've had on my radar since last year for the release of City of Nigtmares. I could not stop reading for so many reasons...

Murder? Yes.
Monsters? Yes.
Nightmares that turn you into murdering monsters? Hell yes!

It definitely lives up to its synopsis too. A mixture of Gotham City meets Strange the Dreamer with a frustratingly but so darn relatable cowardly main character and her growing band of unique friends. I am honestly having a hard time on where to begin.

From start to finish, I was hooked. Ness lives in Newham, one of the most corrupt and violent cities around. The cops accept the best bribes for underhanded deeds, gangs run rampant, monsters terrorize the streets and human trafficking seems to be the least of everyone's worries. Safety is a pipe dream and getting in with the Friends of the Restful Soul seems to be the safest long-term option for her. Little does she realize how deep the corruption in her town goes and just how far the most unlikely person will go to get rid of someone too close to the truth. Even if they are slightly oblivious at first.

I love the weird and unusual and this book was right up my alley with atmospheric gotham-esque world building vibes, vivid prose and detailed descriptives of monsters, gore and violence (be still my dark heart). Plus the character depth not only builds a backstory you don't see coming but pulls a major character growth plot from coward to coping. I say coping because Ness suffers from what I would label as PTSD and high level anxiety attacks due to fear. It's a realistic and relatable growth too. Even if some of her actions drove me nuts at times.

There is also themes that are touched on like poitical corruption, the power of media, facing fears, the wrongness of romanticism of vampires and so much more. There are some areas that had a little mental repetition but its trivial when compared to the whole narrative that crashes together in an excellent ending. I cannot wait for the sequel!

Favorite Quotes:

“Our greatest fears are warped reflections of our greatest desires,” he explains.

“Everyone wants to be strong enough to defeat the things they’re afraid of.”

"But the only monster here is my fear. The only one being toxic is this terror in my mind warping my perception of reality."

3.75, rounded up. This was good, but not great. I didn’t love any of the characters and the plot got stuck/repetitive halfway through. I liked the action and some of the plot twists. The concept was cool….the execution was lacking for it to be great.

Don’t fall asleep and dream or you could turn into your own worst nightmare. This book has a likable main character who has to fight and overcome her fears while dealing with the aftermath of the tragedy that befell her family after it happened to her beloved sister. Strange and terrifying monsters populate the city of Newham, the safe haven she believed in turns out to be a dangerous cult, and the vampire she fears becomes her best friend.
The story is engaging and well written. I cannot wait for the next chapter..

This wasn’t exactly a book I loved but the storytelling is great. It could just be that I wasn’t in the right mood because I was so excited to read it based on the description and cover. I think I will give it another try sometime.

I was very curious about this title and jumped right in as soon as I was approved. Although I felt that the beginning was a bit slow, once I got into the world and started to understand how it all worked, i couldn't put the book down. This was an intriguing new world with great detail in its characters and history. I wish that there was more about the initial start of the nightmares, but I also felt that there was an opening for a follow up at the end. I would definitely read more from this author and be totally up for a sequel or even a prequel.

The audio of this book was a bit robotic and I did feel that it took away a little from the story. I would have preferred a more fluid voice that had expressions to really bring the characters to life.

A big thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for gifting me an eARC and early audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I fell for this book because it was pitched as Gotham meets Strange the Dreamer. But it more reads as The Raven Boys meets The Coldest Girl in Cold Town with the tiniest of sprinkles of Six of Crows. Which is bizarre and amazing in it's own right.

City of Nightmares by Rebecca Schaeffer is a YA fantasy novel fueled by literal nightmares. Ness lives in a world where dreams are forbidden. Mainly due to the facts that people's nightmares turns them into literal monsters. including the likes of her older sister, who nearly tried to eat her after becoming a man-eating spider. Ness will do anything to stay away from the monsters, including a "TOTALLY NOT A CULT" organization called Friends of the Restful Soul. Which leads to her becoming a mail person, and literally getting roped into a heist to save blood-thirsty monster that may or may not want to eat her. No big deal, right?

Before this, I attempted Schaeffer's first series, Market of Monsters, with little luck. I found myself enjoying the bloodier, action scenes and nearly snoozing during every other part. But this one is all action and no snoozing. Save for the kissy scenes as the end.

Overall, this is a great start to a new series, and I can't wait to see what else is in store for Ness and Cy.

The cover and title of the book really drew my eye, however, the description was a little too much information. It felt like it gave away too much of the book. Regardless, I gave this book a try and was pleasantly surprised about how well written it was. The main character goes through a classic emotional growth story that relate to anyone. I highly recommend this book to individuals that enjoys a good monster human relationship.

What happens when worse your nightmares come to life….they terrify the world. This post apocalyptic nightmare story follows Ness who is scared to fall asleep and become a nightmare like her sister. It competent debilitates her life until she has a mind blowing life change and she begins to see her life in a new light. Full of assassin, crime bosses, corrupt officials, and vampires this is dark venture down a nightmarish path.

I wasn't sure what to think about a book titled "City of NIghtmares" but once I began listening found the characters and the storyline interesting. Ness struggles with Nightmares, especially during a time when people can turn into their biggest fear and hurt/kill innocent people. She doesn't trust others, she can't sleep in a room with others, and prefers to sleep in a closet. She's been this way since her older sister turned into a huge man-eating spider and ate their father while Ness hid inside a cabinet.
Years later she is living with a cult, (that she refuses to see as a cult) the Friends of the Restful Soul, and is sent on an errand, only to end up the sole survivor of an explosion. Not only can she not explain her survival and innocence in the bombing, but she is left with no choice to rely on a nightmare, a vampire named Cy.
She and Cy are left to discover if the explosion was an accident, was there a specific target or targets, are people turned by accident, and why do things not seem to be "quite right?"

I enjoyed this book and can't wait for the sequel to come out, although I see it is scheduled for fall of 2023!

I was given the opportunity to listen to the audiobook for this title by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.