City of Nightmares: The thrilling, surprising young adult urban fantasy

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Cheesy, camp, hilarious and so much fun, this was so much fu Goodreads Description: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. 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. I’m blind underneath the couch, but I don’t need sight to figure out what’s happening. It’s perfectly clear from the crash of breaking pottery, the crunch of wood as Priya destroys the table, the angry and murderous wails of the Nightmare. Mrs. Sanden crumples my leaflet into a ball. “I’m sure your little cult would like that, me going in so you can brainwash me into believing my husband’s death was a good thing.”

Ah, Bestie Priya was everything girl could ask for in a friend. She is the definition of a Badass Female Character. I mean, Priya has no fears and literally can conquer anything. What I loved the most about Priya, though, was her constant support and love for Ness. Priya admits that she needs Ness as much, if not more, than Ness needs her. She was never ashamed in admitting how much their friendship meant to her. I am MOST DEFINITELY looking forward to getting more of Badass Priya in Book #2. I loved going on this journey with Ness, Cy and Priya. I loved this book from beginning to end. The development that Ness went through was amazing and I felt like it went very realistic and smoothly. Everything made sense. The setting of this book was amazing and I loved that the MC in this wasn't some strong, brave heroine like in so many other books. Following Ness from her scared, running away self to the brave and strong MC who overcame her fears was the absolute best and I loved every single minute of it! I thought the concept of the story sounded intriguing. In a town where going to sleep can mean waking up as your worst nightmare… literally. Ness has seen it up close and personal. Her sister woke up as a giant spider and killed their dad right in front of her. This made Ness terrified of everything. The only place that she could feel safe was at the Friends of the Restless Soul. There you train to fight and vanquish nightmares. Ness makes sure she does just enough at the organization to keep herself there but also just a little less to keep her out of harm’s way. The city is full of nightmares though and there is no way to hide from them forever. And that means you never- never- know where it’s going to go, or what’s even possible. And yet! What does happen always winds up feeling plausible and even foreshadowed! I don’t know how that’s possible.

Cy is a more complex character. A boy turned Nightmare Vampire due to the fear of his father who chose to become one, his wit bounces off Ness's sarcasm so well and the scenes they were both in were some of the best. I do want to see more from Ness's friend Priya in the next book, as she only appeared a few times. And this book sends a good message too, that you are not your fears and you shouldn't let them control you. And let’s not forget the actual mystery of the book – who blew up Ness? Just when I thought I had figured it out, the book takes another turn. And it all makes so much sense. This was honestly a joy to read and figure out. Logic – 8/10

I love that this book essentially despite being about people turning into their worst fears had so many great scenes and points about conquering those fears, self agency and consent. It was honestly just such a good book I loved everything about it and I just couldn’t put it down! I just loved how Ness grew and changed in the book and really evolved as a main character, it was refreshing to get such a strong transformation!And that's saying something for the city of Newham, where the current Mayor keeps a Nightmared-pterodactyl on a leash to eat her political enemies.) 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...

So I thought that thread of character realism in this caricaturized, fictional version of our real world's dark side was awesome. It lent a dose of grounding to the sensational world building. And it made for a very good reading experience. This fantasy adventure is set in a world where bad dreams come to terrifying life, as two teens are thrown together in a chilling fight for survival - Cosmo She’s small and looks even smaller in her tiny apartment. Like most apartments in Newham, it’s basically one room—double bed in one corner across from a tiny kitchenette against the wall and an attempt at a sitting room with one skinny sofa and table. Every available surface is covered in flowers.

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. Sounds scary, huh??? Maybe even a little weird??? 🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣…Trust me, everyday I spent time thinking about the following: Crooked politicians. Sinister cults. And dreaming means waking up as your worst nightmare. Welcome to the City of Nightmares.