ARC Review: City of Nightmares by Rebecca Schaeffer

Genre: Urban Fantasy Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What a way to start out 2023! While urban fantasy and vampires aren’t typically my favorite things, I wholeheartedly enjoyed City of Nightmares by Rebecca Shaeffer!

The story follows Ness, a 19-year-old self-proclaimed coward, which is not a great thing to be in a world where people turn into their worst nightmares when they dream. Trying to avoid being kicked out of her current residence, Ness ends up being involved in a life-threatening conspiracy theory with Cy, a nightmare-turned vampire.

I will start off by saying that I had high expectations for this book since it was compared to Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. Although I wouldn’t quite say that it achieves the genius that Taylor does, it was a fantastic story! I would certainly recommend it, especially for people who enjoy fantasy, but maybe don’t read a lot of urban fantasy.

One aspect of the novel that I appreciated was Ness’s character development. She starts off as a bit immature, and for that reason, I think this book fits in the YA category, despite her age. Ness is a coward, and she’s not afraid to admit that. Part of what I loved about her was her authenticity. Why are all our protagonists fearless, strong people? The way that Ness embraced her cowardness, but also grew as a person was realistic and added a lot of depth to her story.

Additionally, there wasn’t necessarily romance in the book, but it definitely hinted at it. I’m excited to see what Shaeffer does with the next book in this series, as I’m hoping Ness and Cy develop a romantic relationship. The way we see their friendship progress over the course of this book was fun, and added a lot of tension to the novel. I liked that Ness starts off distrusting Cy, but the two are kind of thrown together through circumstances.

Finally, perhaps my favorite part of the book was the fantastical elements. The premise behind the story, that people turn into nightmares when they dream, was intriguing, and I think the author took that to interesting and unique places.

As a whole, I will certainly be adding City of Nightmares to my collection, and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.