City of Nightmares
Books | Juvenile Fiction / Fantasy & Magic
3.7
Rebecca Schaefer
Face your fear . . . or become your nightmare.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.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, or 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 this 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.
Buy Now
Buy now:
More Details:
Author
Rebecca Schaefer
Pages
352
Publisher
Hodder & Stoughton
Published Date
2023-01-10
ISBN
139971211X 9781399712118
Community ReviewsSee all
"One of the books that starts fantastically and then goes down at the end. First, the plot seems amazing. I absolutely loved the idea of the corrupt city that never sees dreams. The characters are interesting and wholesome (at least at the beginning), it doesn't feel boring the slightest bit. But when the plot thickened, I realized that there are just too many things happening at once that don't allow us to see the real backstory of other characters and their growth in the present. This book should be a trilogy or at least a duology. There are too many unanswered questions and plot holes. Wish the author would write the second book that could complete this one."
"I lightly compare this to Welcome to Night Vale. A podcast about a strange town in the desert and its "average" day of being simply odd. This is a corrupt city full of once human monsters. People who dreamed while sleeping and woke up their worst nightmare. Some are giant spiders eating people, others simply gain ape arms. Fun concept.
The character Ness is fantastic. She is so relatable in her thoughts. She is anxious, afraid, and just wants to be in a safe corner of the world.
The ending, as mentioned before, doesn't answer all the questions you have. But seeing as this is the first of a series (at least one more), I'm good with it. "
Similar Books
4.3
4.1
4.3
3.7
4.3
3.8
3.7
4.1
3.9
4.5
3.6
3.4
3.8
4.1
4
3.9
3.7
4.3
3.7
5