In a Gotham-inspired city that is comedically chaotic and full of so many villains they literally trip over each other’s plots in Bacanno style chaos, people are literally transformed into their worst nightmares. We follow a perfectly normal, non-Nightmare, non-villainous girl, who just happens to have joined a cult for the free rent. As one does. She’s also a huge coward (which really, relatable given this is the kind of city where the Mayor has a pet pterodactyl that eats people). But when she gets blown up in some random villain’s plot, she need to grow a semblance of a spine before she ends up a casualty in multiple villainous wars. Prohibition bans alcohol across the country for the simple reason that alcohol nullifies the Helomine and most other Nightmare-prevention drugs. Priya’s eyes are shining with anger, or maybe reverence. They kind of look the same on Priya. “They took out a monster.” City of Nightmares has an incredible premise. The world is full of literal nightmares- humans turned into horrors based on their bad dreams. Nightmares can be sentient or 'animal-like monsters, but the world's residents now largely drug themselves to avoid dreaming. They walk among monsters every day and have to learn to live with them in this new world.

I fell for Ness and Cy’s friendship, and I still think it’s wonderful, but I have a bad feeling it’s going to turn into a romance, which will be a disappointment for me personally, though I’m sure go over well with some other readers. I just love a platonic coupling! I love a platonic love story! I want those couple of moments implying Ness might actually be aspec to not be accidental! But, well, we’ll see. My sister’s worst nightmare was a giant, man-eating spider. I know because that’s what she turned into when she went to sleep for the last time. I genuinely hope an anti-substance abuse organization like D.A.R.E. paid this author to write this novel about a city where drinking alcohol transforms Teens Who Think They're Cool into monsters, because the idea that someone would sit down and write this story just as a creative passion project is the bleakest thing I can imagine. I don't think "alcohol reacts with chemical in water supply to transform people into monsters" is an inherently terrible idea for a story, I actually think it could be very complex and cool, but this narrator happens to be the world's biggest wet blanket straight-edge judgmental goody two-shoes, and she stays that way throughout the entire novel. And people always seem to think that Nightmares are a thing that happen to other people, not themselves. Sounds scary, huh??? Maybe even a little weird??? 🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣…Trust me, everyday I spent time thinking about the following: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. D) What if I never became my nightmare but close family and friends did, would I be able to physically survive this new world? I really love this book! It’s a wild ride with characters that are easy to be ride or die with, and a world so out there that nearly anything can happen. I’ll take the sequel now please!

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

We’re only here to tell you what’s available,” I tell her. “You’re under no obligation to do anything you don’t want to do.” 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. I took a whopping zero notes whilst reading this book, so please excuse me if this review is short.

The world is one of my favourite parts of City of Nightmares, it's so well developed and I'd like to live there despite the fact that I could be killed at any moment. But I'd like to live in Gotham too which this city is inspired by soooooo... In the city of Newham, no one is safe. Corruption is rife, violence is commonplace, and if people dream when they sleep, they become their worst fear. Ness's sister Ruby dreamt once, for once is all it takes, and became a giant man-eating spider, killing her father and leaving Ness traumatised. The characters are charming- Schaeffer hasn't lost her ability to write characters you actually like to follow, thought their interactions can sometimes feel a little wooden. I really enjoyed Ness's relationship with Cy, the nightmare boy that saves her life. There is absolutely potential here and I think a lot of folks will find themselves attached to these characters. 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. In a Gotham-inspired city that is comedically chaotic and full of so many villains they literally trip over each other’s plots in Bacanno style chaos, people are literally transformed into their worst nightmares.We follow a perfectly normal, non-Nightmare, non-villainous girl, who just happens to have joined a cult for the free rent. As one does. She’s also a huge coward (which really, relatable given this is the kind of city where the Mayor has a pet pterodactyl that eats people). But when she gets blown up in some random villain’s plot, she need to grow a semblance of a spine before she ends up a casualty in multiple villainous wars.

So in this book the main character, Ness, had an older sister who turned into a giant spider and ate their dad alive. It was a super traumatic experience ya know, your older sister turning into a giant spider and eating your dad alive. Did I mention that he was alive while his daughter, who, and I cannot stress this enough, turned into a giant spider and ate him. Yep, a giant spider. She turned into one. And ate her dad. Deeply traumatic event, your sister turning into a giant spider and eating your dad that is. Did I mention that she turned into a giant spider and ate her dad? Her older sister, that is, turned into a giant spi-

The sci-fi-esque elements of the book work better than the paranormal elements, such as the Nightmare Boy. 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. 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.She ignores me, piling up all the pamphlets she has. A gust of wind chooses that moment to come in through the small, open window and whip the pamphlets around the room, making them soar like it’s raining therapy advertisements. Undeterred, still grinning, Priya whips out a spray can from her belt and starts spraying something in the air at the Nightmare. Pressurized salt, maybe. A lot of the ethereal Nightmares come from people’s fears of old ghost stories, which means they can often be stopped with salt because that’s what the legends say stop them. Of course the Mayor has a pet pterodactyl that randomly eats citizens. At this point, I don’t even consider this an odd thing to happen in Newham. Now Ness is tangled in the aftermath of the explosion and, alongside the only other survivor, decides to look for answers. Because the accident may not have been soo accidental after all…