Review: City of Nightmares by Rebecca Schaeffer

Title: City of Nightmares
Author: Rebecca Schaeffer
Series: City of Nightmares #1
Genre: YA/Horror/Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Clarion Books
Publication Date: January 10, 2023
Edition: 352 pages, Kindle Edition
Source: Library
Purchase: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | BAM | Bookshop | Powell's | Thriftbooks

 

 

Synopsis:

 Ever since her sister became a man-eating spider and slaughtered her way through town, nineteen-year-old Ness has been terrified—terrified of some other Nightmare murdering her, and terrified of ending up like her sister. Because in Newham, the city that never sleeps, dreaming means waking up as your worst fear.
 Whether that means becoming a Nightmare that’s monstrous only in appearance, to transforming into a twisted, unrecognizable creature that terrorizes the city, no one is safe. Ness will do anything to avoid becoming another victim, even if that means lying low among the Friends of the Restful Soul, a questionable organization that may or may not be a cult.
 But being a member of maybe-cult has a price. In order to prove herself, Ness cons her way into what’s supposed to be a simple job for the organization—only for it to blow up in her face. Literally. Tangled up in the aftermath of an explosive assassination, now Ness and the only other survivor—a Nightmare boy who Ness suspects is planning to eat her—must find their way back to Newham and uncover the sinister truth behind the attack, even as the horrors of her past loom ominously near.

Gotham meets Strange the Dreamer in this thrilling young adult fantasy about a cowardly girl who finds herself at the center of a criminal syndicate conspiracy, in a city where crooked politicians and sinister cults reign and dreaming means waking up as your worst nightmare.

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   I went into this book with little to low expectations. I've heard some whispers of this book, but nothing that really was glowing or highly critical. It is a little goofy at times, a bit like a B-horror movie, and other times when it's horrifying, but the horror doesn't stick around long. The tone wasn't consistent. But I had a fun time reading this.

  I honestly can't say what the MC, Ness, looks like, other than her having dark hair. I don't think her appearance was ever mentioned. She's shorter than her best friend, and not as physically strong, but beyond that, I have no idea what she looks like. This is a downside to first person, there is never an organic way for a character to remark on what they look like that isn't cliche. 

That aside, I did like her as an MC. She is somebody with severe anxiety, and it's understandable why. Her fear is rooted in something that affected her in a big way when she was very young. I also like that she knows that her fear is mostly unjustified, but she can't stop her reaction to things. I think people who've dealt with irrational fears could relate to that aspect of her character. There are other slightly annoying things about her character, but I had to remind myself that she's around 17 and still young. 

I liked Cy as well. His personal struggle was something to empathize with. He was in a lot of this book, and a lot of subplots and character growth for Ness involved him, but I didn't feel like we really got to know him. Maybe there will more of him in book2. I like that while there seems to be a maybe romance blossoming, it is very slow-burn. I think the moments they had together, once Ness started to trust him, were cute.

In a world where joining a cult is the best way to maintain safety, and even that isn't a guarantee, knowing who to trust is hard. And as Ness tries to survive as a casualty of an assassination attempt that list gets shorter. Ness also learns something about the Nightmares that could save everybody, and the way the book ends leaves so much that can happen in the sequel. This is just a duology, and I have no idea how they'll wrap things up from here. But I look forward to finding out.