I loved the world and the idea of people turning into their nightmares. It’s an intriguing idea that I think was super creative and fit into the “Gotham inspired” city that the story takes place in. I think the main character has a lot of fear stemming from watching a family member turn into a monster, I would be just as terrified too, which is why I think her fears are valid and realistic. It’s inspiring to see that character slowly fight her fears throughout the book. The action packed moments are good and the side characters have a lot of fun personalities. I can’t wait to read more in book 2!

After absolutely loving the Market of Monsters series from this author, I was so excited to read this new duology. Then I started seeing reviews from friends and got worried. Where this author shines is in her writing of relationships be it familial, friendship, romantic, adversary. In this book the worldbuilding was interesting but lacking. I stayed kind of confused about it most of the time. Ness is also a bit hard to tolerate in the beginning because her thoughts are on a loop for the first like 5/6 chapters and I heard no less than 4 times in the first like 2 chapters that her sister turned into a nightmare. I got that the first time she said it and since we get a lot of flashbacks to that scene it felt like overkill (no pun intended) to bring it up that much in the beginning. Once the story really started to get going around the 30/40% mark I was more into it and was flying through the book. That's one thing, even though we get flashbacks and dreams, the story has a pretty swift pace, maybe a little too swift once we got the end of the book. I felt like the reader was kept in the dark and then Ness ran around doing a bunch of things we didn't see but heard about later on, which is not my favorite kind of resolution. I am intrigued enough to read book 2 especially since this is just a duology. I am hopeful that we get some more worldbuilding or at least more explanation. Cy is great and lovely bean, like Kovit in a way. Priya is a riot and I loved her. Hopefully we will get to see some friend trio action in book 2.

I really liked this book! I think the comparison to Gotham was spot on. The author did a great job at world building and creating some unique warlords!

What a wild ride! Fans of Schwab’s This Savage Song duology or Marissa Meyer’s Renegades trilogy will find much to love here. In a corrupt city where gangsters reign and people transform into their own nightmares, our cowardly protagonist must face her past and her deepest fears.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.75 out of 4 stars.

Ness used to have a family - a father and a sister. Then her sister fell asleep and became a Nightmare - a gigantic spider that Ness listened to eat their father, crunching his bones, slurping his blood. Then her sister went and ate the postman.

Nowadays, Ness is living with the Friends of the Restful Soul - a place that provides therapy to those effected by Nightmares. Everyone else calls them "that cult." Ness loves it there - she has a place to stay, she gets to eat, she has her own little closet-size room where she feels safe. Her best friend, Priya, also works and lives there, but she is not afraid of the Nightmares. At least, not like Ness is. Priya is working to become one of the Nightmare Defense soldiers - the ones that hunt the violent Nightmares.

But not all people to fall asleep and come back as Nightmares come back monstrous. Some come back looking like lizards or whatever they are afraid of, but then they go on about their lives.

Ness...doesn't care. She is terrified of them all. Then she is running the mail, and the boat she is on to deliver the mail explodes. Right as she is trying to escape a scary vampire who is going to drain her blood.

But then the vampire saves her, and she reluctantly acknowledges that he might not be a monster after all. As one of the only two survivors, and the only one anyone knows about, Ness is suddenly famous, and not necessarily in a good way. In a corrupt city where the Mayor has her pet pterodactyl eat those who disagree with her, and gangs run rampant, Ness has caught the attention of someone...someone who sends an assassin after her.


Whew. There was a lot going on here. Nightmares. A cult. Backstabbers everywhere. Family drama all over the place. Corrupt politicians. A boat bomb. I am trying not to give away any spoilers because there are some loops in there. But surprisingly, for the most part it worked. There were some things that I wish had been more fleshed out, but the end of the book set it up for a series, so I am hoping that we are going to see more of one character and find out the origins of how this happened - how people started not being able to dream lest they turn into their worst fears.

I felt the characters all needed a little more fleshing out. We got to know them in angles - from Ness's viewpoint, since this is a first person story. But something fell a little flat. We also get a lot of information about Newham, but I still felt like I could not see it in my head. I wished the world-building had been a little more. But all in all it was a very interesting story. I will definitely be reading part two.

4.4 stars

The writing style was not my favorite, but I did enjoy this book!

If you're a fan of mysterious, gritty urban fantasies with conspiracies, a touch of dark humor, and unique world-building, you would like this book with its fast-paced action, strong character development, an intriguing blend of supernatural elements, and the unique premise of people with the terrifying ability to physically transform into their worst nightmares when they dream!

Also, if you like character ARCs about overcoming trauma, it is easy to relate to Ness after her sister's horrifying transformation into a monstrous spider and root for her as she faces and overcomes her fears in a city filled with corruption, crime, and monstrous creatures.

You may not like this book if you don’t like nonlinear narrative style, multiple POVs, body horror, descriptions of physical transformations, violence, and themes of abuse and consent,

"City of Nightmares"'s unique premise and worldbuilding make it a very engaging read!

I absolutely loved this book! Definitely a five star read for me. City of Nightmares instantly pulled me in and didn’t let go. I did not want this one to end.

City of Nightmares follows Ness, a reluctant member of Friends of the Restful Soul, as she does her best to avoid nightmares. Ever since Ness’s older sister turned into a huge man-eating spider, Ness has become terrified of nightmares and becoming a victim of one. In this world, if you go to sleep and have a nightmare, you’ll wake up as a physical manifestation of that nightmare. The Friends of the Restful Soul, have taken Ness in after her aunt died and given her a sense of security. Although she’s not to most dedicated follower of the doctrine, Ness will do whatever it takes to stay with the group. It’s the only way she can stay safe.

Everything changes for Ness when she takes over a simple job of delivering some mail and inadvertently almost gets blown up. Now she’s forced to face her fears and join forces with a vampire in order to survive. Ness just wants to get back to her old life, but soon old secrets are brought to life and she’s dodging multiple assassination attempts. Ness will have to let go of her fear and trust her new vampire friend if she hopes to make it out alive.

This was such a fun and quick read. I really enjoyed the world building in this one. Ness is such a wonderful character and I loved seeing her growth. I cannot wait for book two to see what happens next.

This was an interesting read. A world of nightmares written into a book. Kind of reminded me of Clive Barker's book that I read when I was sixteen. I don't remember the book well but I remember the experience of reading it. And that it is something I'll not forget.

This book was weird and just so hard to get through. I didn't like the characters at all or the premise for that matter. I had high hopes for this book being that it was pitched Gotham meets Strange the Dreamer but it let me down majorly.

To be honest I wasn't sure if this would be a book for me but it sounded cool so I grabbed it. I really enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. It had an interesting atmosphere and characters. I will admit that the MC sort of annoyed me with her PTSD about nightmares, I mean it was getting annoying. I did like though that the more she had to face them the better she got about it. I loved the vampire guy (whose name escapes me) as soon as Ness met him I figured he would end up being a part of the book. I loved all the paranormal type creatures and the concept of the nightmares was interesting. I am curious to see how it will wrap up in the next book!

This was a deeply intriguing book and very unexpected. I liked the vibes and it had a unique plot (to me). I thought it very well done, just not my favorite!

I really wanted to like this book because the premise was interesting and original, and the world was fresh and gripping from the first page.

However, unfortunately this was a DNF pretty early on for me--the narration was just so on the nose and the dialogue unrealistic, both of which made the characters (especially the main character) annoying and unlikeable. I just didn't connect to her at all, and once she met Cy, it felt much more like his story than hers. Which I didn't actually mind, since she had pretty much no stake in the story. The intriguing plot just wasn't enough to overcome the flimsy characters and cringeworthy writing style. Overall this read like a first draft of a middle grade novel, not a polished version of a young adult story.

***Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for sending me a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.***

City of Nightmares is a book that deseves more love. It's slightly different from books I might usually read, but I loved it. It was a lot fun and was such an unexpected surprise that I had to give it five stars.

It’s a dark, gritty novel set in a Gotham-like city where all seems hopeless. Criminals run free and people turn into their nightmares. At the center of the novel is Ness, a cowardly girl who has to somehow find the courage to do more than hide and save herself. One of the rare times she does try ends with an explosion and her being stranded with a Nightmare boy...so it's a bit iffy whether she will overcome her crippling fear. 

As someone who loves a kickass heroine, I was often frustrated with Ness’s difficulty to overcome her fears--I swear I would feel differently if it was real though. They controlled her and adversely affected the people around her. Of course, it was understandable why fear maintained such a tight grip on her–her sister turned into a giant man-eating spider. While Ness has limited agency, her potential to be more pops out at various points in the novel. Her transformation from the beginning of the novel to the end was one I was proud of.

Overall good book. It was very fast paced with interesting characters, but it wasn't the best book Ive read.

This book definitely had an interesting premise, a person can turn into their worst nightmare. This is what happened to the main character's sister and she turned into a big freaking spider and ate their dad! What?!?! Needless to say, there are drugs to stop you from dreaming and turning into a man-eating spider, but alcohol nullifies the drugs. Unfortunately, it didn't quite hold my attention and I struggled to get through it. I didn't care much for the main character, I didn't really find her likable. I think the overall concept was good so it was a 3.5 star book for me.

3.5 stars

I was inspired to read this after I saw comparisons to strange the dreamer and the bone season by Samantha Shannon. Overall, I can see the similarities, but this novel just didn’t quite come together for me.

I enjoyed this read, unique concept (a bit creepy-scary) but it was fun. Got some Sandman vibes while reading. The characters, banter and worldbuilding was good too. I like originality that surprises me and this book did just that.

City of Nightmares by Rebecca Schaeffer - 3.5/5
Sci Fi & Fantasy - Teen & YA


This book honestly threw my mind for a bit, it was a struggle for finish, but towards the end I was becoming invested. A fantasy/horror book that left me curious for the sequel. In a city filled with crime and corruption, everyone is shattered when a man-eating spider is causing murder and destruction throughout the city. Ness is trying to survive in this world knowing the man-eating spider is her sister, and trying to find a way to fix what has happened.

Available for purchase on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BookShop.
Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for the eARC.

I liked this book a lot. It was fun and unique, with a lot of heartfelt moments. The characters were the strongest aspect. I feel like the plot was enjoyable, but that it's not going to stick with me. Like I'll have to reread this before the sequel because I won't remember anything about it. So not a favorite, but definitely not one I regret reading at all.

Struggled with this story. I had such high hopes when I was reading the description, however it was just one that I could not get into. I might try again at some point, but at this time I did not find it overly enjoyable.